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My Buddy and I just got back from Canada's Largest Bungee jumping place. While were on our drive there we thought if we could take the chest harness and turn it around so you are now facing belly to earth instead on back to earth you could practice exits and get 3 seconds of free fall with it ... So my question is do you think this would help at all in preping for base??? (after asking they said no so were working on it . So we just did ankle jumps and launched belly to earth did a pretend pull they changed our body position to head down (no not good for basehaha ) and finished the jump. ) also I have video i Can show you wat i mean cheers

Check with vertigo bungee, They had a simular setup at Royal gorge bridge

Heather Swan also did the same sort of thing from the bungy in Nevis Gorge (134m) practising for BASE exits in the documentary Base Climb 2... Though she tore a hole in her duodenum doing that if I remember correctly.

what the hell is a duodenum...

edit: Just checked on wiki. For all the ignorant like me, it's the connection between your stomach and the intestins.

But tell me if im right here. Because she's straignt horizontal at the moment that the elastic is starting to stretch, that makes her body arch a lot and then at full stretch it makes an opposite momentum which had enough energie to fissure her duodenum?

I jumped a 500 foot span with a bungee cord in March.

I had a ankle harness too.

I did a clean BASE style exit - although a bit more swan dive with the arms because I exited a very narrow railing so I needed some extra balance (arms out) before I left, plus it felt fun so why not...

I did a practice throw at 1.5 seconds, and around 3 seconds took the jump head down (once in BASE a parachute would have been deployed) on purpose so I could get some extra ground rush and not be whipped around... Plus it was a hell of a lot of fun to dive to a river.

Two things... 1) The harness I had at the Bridge wrapped each ankle separately, not AJ Hacket style where the ankles are bound together. 2) The bungee was held up on exit and let go when I left, so it was in freefall with me, not below me, like they often do on shorter jumps (I had about 30 jumps in Vegas before they closed it - thanks to multiple business trips with nothing better to do). These two atributes made the bridge jump feel exactly like a BASE jump until the head down part at the end.

I have attached a photo that reminds me of the ground rush... Damn that was fun.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=11756130426

Im the second jumper only my second need to work on lots but still fun ... Everybody there was confused as to what we were doing haha. And it was alot easier to get headdown than i thought it would be after 2 seconds of ff

In the wayback, Basic Research used to use a bungee jump for launch practice in their FJC.

I still like the simple (and lower) pendulator better, since it allows you to do more practice exits in a shorter time.

I'm sure that would not happen to everybody, but it's possible Heather had a weak spot in the duodenum wall and the force generated when the bungee took load was enough to push some air or something through the weakened area.... But what do I know.

>>we thought if we could take the chest harness and turn it around so you are now facing belly to earth<<

Here's a photo of me from 1988 doing what you describe. This is from a Norcal bridge with the Kockelman Brothers. These are the guys who basically started the whole Bungee craze in this country. They generally used ankle harnesses but this way seemed "more natural" to us . . .

And Tom, yes we (BR) used bungee jumps for BASE training in the early 90s from a hot air balloon. The students would then progress from the bungee to live parachute jumps with BASE gear from the balloon. It was the best way, at the time, to simulate BASE in a fairly controlled way since there were no (legal) potatoes back then. It also gave the student a large open and flat LZ for landings.

We never thought of using something like a pendulator, but I can see the value in it. We did however experiment with super short bungees from what is now pendulator height. However, one thing you can say about our balloon method is there was a definite fear factor involved. And controlling fear is a basic skill set for student BASE jumpers that needs working on just like packing or anything else.

And also since what we were doing was technically illegal (FAA-wise) the students also got their first lesson on how to keep their mouths shut . . .

NickD
BASE 194

What kind of harness are you using here? Other than a full-body climbing harness (more popular in Europe than North America), I'm wondering what other sorts of harnesses might be suitable. A tandem passenger harness might be okay but the connection points aren't quite in the right spot..

Reminds me of the harness I wore doing iron work.

>>Reminds me of the harness I wore doing iron work.<<

That's exactly what it was. I would have beefed it up on a harness machine but we were on the road . . .

Being the shock load on bungees is on the low side and we inspected the heck out it before every launch it got us through the weekend.

But I wouldn't recommend that setup for general use . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Did you notice that in 1988, you did not have a head? (No, wait, that just might be the contrast on my LCD monitor... Turn it up... Nope, still no head.)

Why bungee from a balloon?

It seems like you could go up high enough with TSOed skydiving rigs - like hopnpop altitude - and say:

"Exit, count to two, and pretend to pitch. We will video. Once you get up some airspeed, pitch for real. If you go unstable you will have time and altitude to get stable, and once you get airspeed you will have the known skydiving skills to do so."

Was it for the quick turns? Repeated jumping? Why? (not to criticise your technique, just to learn your logic process)

The balloons were tethered.

Yes, the logistics of taking a balloon to altitude precluded getting a lot done without attracting a lot of notice, having a chase vehicle, more propane, etc.

The balloon was tethered at an altitude of 800-feet. The students, after using the Perris pool for initial launch practice, would do one or two bungee jumps, and then if ready, they were started out on pilot chute assist jumps and eventually cleared to go hand held. We could usually take several students through that whole process in a single morning.

It was as close to a real BASE jump, as we could set up without actually being one, using BASE gear without the chance of hitting anything, except a very slight chance of hitting the tether, or being chased by the police. We used 800-feet, instead of say 400 or 600-feet as even in the early morning there was always a bit of wind at that altitude to keep the tether on a large angle from the balloon. But it was an advantage for the student to have it there to worry about as that's like a real BASE jump too.

You've got to remember that except for Bridge Day once a year most peoples first BASE jump, in our local area, was a middle of the night scared stiff event in those days. These low daylight balloon jumps made the first night BASE jump a bit easier to manage while giving them an idea of what's required.

The reason for the BASE gear with a BASE canopy was because even by the early 90s few newer skydivers had any seven cell experience. And sure you can find a big rig and do that at the DZ, but it's not as realistic. Knowing you must get the canopy going the right way, un-stow the brakes, and set up a landing right away is more like the real thing. And that's what we were going for at the time. And no matter how serious you try to be, a hop and pop from an airplane will be spent geeking the view and just fooling around for the most part. Plus we were right there to offer critics and make suggestions on how they were doing.

There was also a geographical angle to it too. If we had a high enough local bridge with a decent landing area and a low bust factor I'm sure we would have used it. But anyone that knows Perris knows there are some sites close by, but none of them could be considered suitable for beginners.

Nowadays there are more options of course and sooner or later those townies in Auburn will wake up to the potential that's in their backyard. The only problem then is all you guys who moved to Idaho would have to pack up and move again . . .

NickD
BASE 194

haha... and i guess all the un-intentional handheald front flip dont end up that bad at bridge day. screw the exit training, its just to funny to watch.