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hey, just wondering what the opening altitude is for an average BASE jump? I have seen several videos of BASE, and seems like canopy inflation is pretty damn low (some at less than 50' it looks like).
oh, and by "opening altitude" i dont mean when you throw the pilot chute, but at what altitude is the canopy open? thanks.

I'm not a base jumper except for on a video game .

the answer you'll get though is "depends how high ya jump from"
some terminal jumps open low like at 200 feet
where as some low level jumps are made lower then 200 feet.

Average opening altitude is hard to pin down. People make their own choices on where to pull, and it's greatly dependent on the object.

From terminal? From 200 feet? I think the question is too big.

Like its been said, depends on your delay/jump height/object (at times). 50' is pretty damn low, I think I'd be giving a 'mom' lecture at that point to the low puller.

Major generalizations going on here, but from a terminal jump (say 1800') most jumpers will take a 10-11 second delay leaving them open at 450 feet, give or take 150.

On a slider down jump (low altitude, 3 seconds or less delay) it varies greatly. It is what it is... take the jump height, use a freefall time chart, then we'll guesstimate 110-140 feet for opening, and thats the parachute time you've got to play with. Also its dependent on whether the jumper goes stowed or handheld with the pilot chute. Stowed can cost a fairly significant altitude loss, I'm guessing 50 ft at the least, its delay dependent as well. <--- Someone correct me there or if possible provide more input on significant differences.

Thats the basics, now if we're talking PCA (pilot chute assist) or direct bag... the opening time is even less than the handheld pilot chute.

Hope this helps

which is not to be confused with "pin-down at opening altitude."

pope

general rule of thumb is to walk away uninjured. Unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way.

How you achieve that result is up to you.


pope