Basejumper.com - archive

I'm new to skydiving and would like to try BASE eventually.

I have a question regarding a BASE logbook though. Can't this be incriminating?


I've detached this into it's own thread and re-titled it. ~TA

Yes, it can.

In general, I recommend that you treat your logbook as a secret document. Don't ever take it to a less-than-legal jump site with you. Avoid writing actual names and locations of most objects. If you can remember what "KimCo Tower" is, then there is no real reason to write out the actual name and GPS coordinates of the site in your log book.

Nicknames are good. Leaving your log book at home when you're playing at night is also good.

I was told by an Australian jumper that in Australia if cops find his logbook they will arrest him and throw him in jail just for that...

I saw another jumper's online base log and decided to copy it. I really like using a blog for several reasons. First, you don't have to carry anything around. You can access your logbook from anywhere in the world that has a computer. I also like giving the link to my friends who've done GC for me so they can leave comments if they like. As long as it's anonymous (using base # for instance), no one will be able to find out who you really are. Also since it's electronic, maybe if you wanted to do stat analysis on your jumps sometime you could do it much simpler. Anyone else like using an onine log?

I can't imagine that a BASE logbook could be used as evidence in a court of law. It would be nothing but hearsay. I seem to remember one overenthusiastic prosecutor trying, handing it to an accused BASE jumper on the witness stand. The jumper explained that he just made all that stuff up, "to get laid." And how would you prove otherwise? The prosecutor didn't.

Yeah, like a BASE jumper would ever get laid...

As far as I'm concerned, a good reason to not take it with you on a less than legal jump would be the chance of losing it the man. I suppose a cop might try to use it to get laid.

The logbooks were seized during the Lake Powell arrests in the mid 1990s. They can only work against you.

Even if they're not used against you, an over-eager police officer (or D.A.) could always start notifying property owners of other sites you had jumped, or even try to set up a surveillance to catch you (or other jumpers), especially if you beat the charge when they got the log book.

Leaving it home makes good sense...that way it can't be lost and it won't fall into the wrong hands.

As for Butter's comment about them being incriminating, sure it they find it on you after landing but I find it very difficult to believe that any judge would issue a warrant to search a jumper's home. There has got to be real criminals out there that deserve the time and attention.

My last two cents on ALL log books, skip them. Each book costs money and takes a while to fill out. Being a geek I just store all my jump data in an Excel spreadsheet. It is very easy to search for specific information at a later date or gather aggregate data for a given variable. Plus no one brings a desk top computer to an exit

I like to include physical artifacts in my log books (I tape them onto the pages of various jumps). This is difficult to do with a spreadsheet.

That's what the monitor is for, stupid.

Michael