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What do you think is the typical stereotype for BASE jumpers to a person who doesn't know anything about the sport?


Now, how would you actually explain to someone what you think about BASE as it is today? (not going for sarcastic answers here)

I’ll start with what I think…

I would say they think of a bunch of crazy and reckless daredevils...


I see it as a sport that requires a high level of seriousness, dedication and professionalism... otherwise that list of ours would be a lot longer than it is...and if you look at how many doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, etc…who are involved in our sport I think that says something. Sure everyone has fun joking around, but when you watch someone pack their rig or step out onto that exit point, I think that’s when you see what the sport is today.

-Male
-Muscled
-Not educated
-Tattoo's
-Drug usage (alcohol, smoke, and other)
And some other things I guess

If I'm not mistaking there has already been a thread about this.

-- surrounded with the hot chicks
-- doing some sub-criminal fun sometimes
-- doing other extreme sports
-- "a totally f**ed up adrenaline junkie":) with the bunch of speeding tickets in his pockets and "that was the day then i broke my..." stories in his memories
-- a hero of the "xXx" movie

it was an issue that came up with me so i thought it would be interesting to hear other peoples thoughts. i did a search for the same topic to see if it had been discussed before but couldn't find it. do you know what the previous thread was??

Young

Invincible (so we all think)

Not as smart as we think we are

Selfish

Dysfunctional in relationships

Dependent on chemicals (alcohol, adrenaline, etc.) to make us feel like we aren't missing out on anything.

Societal dropouts



All of which very well might be true....

I think to get an accurate answer you would have to go to your local grocery store and take a survey. Most people really don't understand what BASE jumping is (even when you explain it to them) and will give you their view according to their beliefs on skydiving.

Explanation on BASE -Calculated risks, part physicist
part meteorologist, part athlete , high level of awareness under stressfull situations.

Could you get me some Twinkies while your there , Thanks?

Probably your best indication of any steorotype would be movies, since they pretty much feed off of them and promote them.

So what movies have BASE in them?

Along Came Polly
xXx
Mission Impossible 2 / random Bond flick
Art of War

Can't think of any others myself. Though I've seen 2 commercials with BASE in them and they were protrayed better than the skydiving commercials I've seen.

I don't know that there's much distinction between skydivers and BASE jumpers to someone who doesn't know anything about the sports. Except that maybe they will have known someone who did a tandem once, so maybe skydiving seems a little more "in reach".

Last Holiday the jumper was yours truly

you played queen latifah's stunt double?? haha, nice, i had a smile on my face that whole movie

thanks for everyone's input!!

I just found this forum. Looking at your profile I'll be more than happy to tell you about base if you can tell me the name of the standard spin recovery in a Pitts.
Rob

male
Highly educated
to much money
unable to grow up

She's legit.

Kid,

Take your bullshit somewhere else.

well...i've owned 2 pitts s2c's, currently own the newest edge 540 on the market, and have over 1000 hours in high performance aerobatic aircraft. I am currently flying at the unlimited level with a 6-figure free. i flew an airshow in maine today and tomorrow i'm off to fly another in nebraska.. promise, this really is what i do

this topic was about base stereotypes, not legitimizing my flying. please pm me if you want to discuss that. thanks

 
this topic was about base stereotypes, not legitimizing my flying.

----------------------------------------------------------

Oh snap!

Geez, no wonder why I don't fit in. I'm old, "vincible", know I'm dumb, giving, married with kids, choose my poisons, contributor to society.

What activity / sport do you recommend instead??

cf attached -> You cheeky temptress!!!!!!! Aero is amazing fun. And what a place to do it... I did some high speed, variable topo + flora, ground level, chopper flights recently. It scared the living crap out of me. I love flying relative to things. It really gives you a true perspective of what you are doing.

Stereotype is how the media portrays us AND more importantly, how we portray ourselves to the media.

Depending on YOUR objectives and what you actually do in the sport, and who you hang with, you do have some control over the perception that the media and/or general public has of you. BASE can be another feather in your cap. Just make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

How would I explain myself or the sport? I currently have no need to. It is a personal thing for me and I do not need anyone to understand or accept what I am doing or why I am doing it. I have no need to justify my existance.

What do I think about contemporary BASE? It is a different animal to 10 years ago. It is evolving from a sub culture to a mainstream activity. Whilst it is wonderful having more people to share my passion with, it is also disconcerting (but inevitable) that I am having to share my personal space with many more people.

The sport seems to attract a lot of people who are both consciously and subconsciously opposed to the new world order that we are living in. They want to experience freedom, excitement, camerarderie, adventure, etc. All the things that may be deficient or missing from their daily lives. There are many high achievers in the sport: academics, techno boffins, doctors, lawyers, aerobats, pro sports people, engineers, etc. There are also bums, nomads, sea changers, motivators, druggo's, etc.

Most people who are conscientious seem to portray a high level of professionalism in what they do. Most jumpers are very systematic - this is a VERY transferable skill to general society. Their is a degree of independance, intelligence, rapid decision making ability, rapid response to changing situations, etc.

I think BASE today is a combination of an outlet for high achievement and self expression, as well as an acitivity that lures a monority of individuals destined for the afterlife due to lack of self control. Most of the participants are amazinf individuals in their own right.

There are parts of society that don't like BASE due to it's inherent characteristic of personal independance. This is something our society is moving away from. Society wants to control and BASE jumping is the antithesis of where man is heading.

I think we are all a bunch of freaks.

Funny, in our little group, we have me with a physics Ph.D. (man), an upcoming biotech Ph.D for ovarian cancer treatment therapy (woman), one J.D. ex-lawyer (man), one J.D. federal attorney lawyer (man), one computer person (woman) , one personal trainer (woman), etc.

In other words, a little over half of our group has doctorates.

Can I join you guys too?

I have a masters and PhD in chemistry from Oxford, now work as an advisor in M&A transactions

Guy who trained me is an engineer

Guy who trained with me works in a hospital

My mentor is a programmer

One of the guys I was with last night has a PhD

Not all "thrill seekers" are tatooed-up, uneducated "ruffians".

So what you are saying is that you like educated men??



unfortunately that is true, as those people are just much more fun to jump with!

I don't trust basejumpers without tattoos.



what is really unfortunate is that a lot of highly intelligent and educated people lack all common sense and an innate physical understanding of their actions (gained through experience, visualisation and intuition)

very recently one of the most intelligent and educated jumpers I know fell off a fence while trying to gain access to an object

he had no tattoos - coincidence? I think not.


It's also simple pattern recognition to see that the uneducated ruffians are far less likely to think they know it all and take themselves out by being wrong.

Wow Sam,

Great piece of social psychology

I was deliberately providing a one-sided view to emphasise a point; specifically that a certain widely-held stereotypical view of BASE jumpers is wrong. The text you chose to quote just happened to be true and, because it was recent, I remembered it. In my experience so far, BASE jumpers come from a broad cross-section of backgrounds although usually they have had access to a decent disposable income at some point since it can be a bit of an expensive game to start.

Also, I am only too aware that "academic" or "intelligent" does not neccessarily equate to having "common sense".

Lastly, I would like to add that I don't have any tatoos and have yet to fall off a fence. Oh, and I would jump with you anytime.

A little close to home for you?

i would like to follow this little bit up with a personal experience..

once upon a time, i was on tour (part of my "employmenr") on the west coast... we had been working all day in vegas, (eric ryde is the man) and then flew up to san jose that afternoon, flew three high profile flights the next morning, cue exhaustion.

naturally the next thing to do is find the hotel bar.
so were patronizing this fine establishment when this beautiful young(ish) woman, whom iive been chatting up all day, tracks me down.. and proceeds to hang out and drink up a fair share of my money..

no big deal im thinking...im also thinking "this chick is fucking DUMB" i mean no common sense whatsoever.. none .. airy ditzy hot as hell the whole bit.

an hour later we go outside for a cigarette, and i pack the sneak-a-toke, cleverly designed to look like a cigarette... im sure noone here has any idea what im talking about, since were all so responsible and all but hey...

spark the fucker, cue dumbhotbitch "whats that" ?

nothing?

pot?

yes.

exit dumbhotbitch, stage right, with great haste

im talking jumped in the car and peeeled out, like i was on fire and radioactive, all at the same time.

fast forward to next morning, pre-work..

boss/friend/shaner : so howd it go w/dumbhotbitch last nite?

not so well..

boss: you know she has a phd right? in aerospace engineering. shes working on the avioncs systems in the boeing f-22..

me:... fuck

spark the fucker, cue dumbhotbitch "whats that" ?

nothing?

pot?

yes.

exit dumbhotbitch, stage right, with great haste
A damn fine argument for NEVER saying too much, to anyone.

A very wise old bail bondsman once told me..."Son, I wouldn't plead guity to being born."

I find it much easier to drift through life following these simple rules...
1. Never admit anything.
2. Deny everything.
3. Make counter-accusations.

359

Oxford huh?

Perhaps you should join the DSP - M Lister was the founder I think. Unless you are already a member. The book is a good read. Includes an interesting story about the Cliffs of M in your neighbouring country.

Yeah, I've got multiple paperwork too. There are lots of us, including many of our all time greats (rip).

But the best thing is this:

on the edge it does not matter!!! We are all created equals, and that is how we are whilst undertaking the activity. Perhaps some of us are more equal than others???

And now you are generalising. There are some intellectually challenged / uneducated jumpers who stuff up too. There is an old cliche: Gravity does not discimminate!. The amount of information in your head has an insignificant affect on your wing loading. So the educated ones probably fall at the same rate as the non-educated. And more than likely feel the same pain.


Being a "know it al", is a personality trait, not something you learn at University. I am what I am regardless of how much I learn. It is possible that I may be influenced by egocentric peers, but in the end it is up to me to act the way I act.

Yours Sincerely

Moir BE BSc JP PHd ABC Def GHI JKL MNO pqr stu vwxyz

I said 'a lot of', not all, so I am not sure that still is a generalisation.

I have no doubt that the laws of physics know and care nothing about someone's educational background.

Now we are into 'nature vs. nurture' regarding the know-it-all attitude?

I think highly intelligent people are by nature more prone to develop a know-it-all attitude.

To add to this higher education by nurture seems prone to develop this personality trait in some individuals.

I also think that by no means do all highly intelligent and highly educated people have a know-it-all attitude, but the ones that do are that much more likely to take up BASE than the ones that do not.

better?

You wanna stereotype a group try "Free-Climbers". Those guys are out there, like Pluto.