Basejumper.com - archive

How do you deal with the big WHAT IF?

I'd like to try BASE but cant get my head around 'what if the canopey fails'. That last few seconds before, and then, the impact itself.

Is BASE simply not for me or is this something you guys and girls consider but are able to overcome / control..?

that's one reason to start with skydiving. let the technology earn your trust over a couple hundred skydives, and I bet you'll feel differently.

Wonder how much trust it would earn if he had to cutaway on the first jump

I can understand that skydiving allows you to build confidence in your ability and supress / overcome the fear of 'what if', but I have little to no intrest in skydiving. BASE jumping however has captured my imaginaton.

I think that whole issue surrounding the fear and danger for some (sadistic) reason excite me and Im fasinated and scared by the thought of what happens to a person mentally when they have a malfunction or problem and if I could deal with that (I know you have little choice once you've stepped of the edge).

I hope that doesnt make me sound too sick and twisted..

the best I can offer, is then to move along, there is nothing to see.

knowledge allows people to manage risks and minimize bad stuff. if this has no appeal to you, then there is an activity that involving a bullet and a revolver. I would NOT recommend it...

Thats what I thought..

Skydiving really offers nothing for me, the thrill of climbing a building and leaping of does. Suppose its a perspective thing which is lost up in a plane - that said, I've never been skydiving. Maybe I'd enjoy it..

1 in 6 chance either way isnt it..

That's an interesting question. :-) The whole life is a big "what if". You never know what lies ahead, even next moment you can get hit by a falling brick, or a drunk driver. The whole point of life is to enjoy yourself in every moment through it. If you feel that BASE is for you, then you just simply go for it, and if it's not, then enjoy the life in other ways. The big "what if" is just here to keep you in check, and to make sure you do everything to not screw up the enjoyment for as long as you can. Life is a death sentence. Don't make a mistake thinking otherwise. One day you'll die, and it's just a matter of how you want to live from the start till the end. Maybe you'll die young or maybe old, but your goal is to enjoy that ride. And what you do, is up to you. That's how I see it.

Without skydiving you won't be able to BASE jump..

You need to learn how to control your body in freefall and land your canopy..

Do you want to learn that within a 4-8s limit (where you can't fuck up) or 1 min (where you can fuck up)?

And yeah... go skydiving, it's also a lot of fun. :-)

Good post.

I accept Im going to die, its just do I have the mental strength to go in an almighty SPLAT (IF it came to that) or not. Atleast with a falling brick or a drunk driver you dont have that last few seconds to think about whats comming next. Also, just becuase I am going to die one day doesnt mean I want to increase my chances of doing so before my time which I suppose bring us back full circle to the Big What If..

I like the fact BASE scares me, thats a good thing right? With fear comes respect. All that said I should imagine the rush you get having done a jump is something that little else can replace and drives you to want more.

Then, as they say, ya you take up bowling

Honestly, try skydiving first and see if it's for you.. If it's not and you ain't gonna continue, then there's almost no chance BASE would be for you either, cause shit there is many times scarier and more complicated..

You just think you'd enjoy that fear sitting comfortably in front of your PC, but once you're actually on the edge doing shit like that, the story is completely different..

You don't need mental strength to splat on the ground. :-D As I've said, if you really want to BASE jump, then you simply go for it, and accept that shit might happen. Now, there's another question if you can actually do that while standing on the edge. The doubt in your speech kinda tells that you probably don't want to. Simply answer yourself the questions, do you really need it? Why? Is is worth getting seriously injured or even dying? Before trying to get involved, you can always try something less risky, like skydiving, rope jumping, bungee jumping or base flying. These should help to get a little insight of what you might expect from BASE.

Then don't base jump. Seriously.

The main thing about skydiving isn't to build up confidence in your ability - it's to build up your actual ability. Do you know how to rig up a canopy? Pack it? Open it? Fly it? Land it?


Whether you're psychologically able to deal with a parachute malfunction is a moot point when you don't know how to deal with a parachute malfunction.


Don't believe everything you hear on TV.

Of course, if you do end up parachuting for the very first time from a very low, very solid object over a small and difficult landing area surrounded by trees, lamposts and other buildings in the dark then you're going to significantly sway your odds in that direction.

Back to the original post...parachutes rarely "Fail." Problems happen, that are usually fixable, it's not often especially in our era of the sport that shit just fails. The danger comes into play after your canopy doesn't fail which is where skydiving experience comes into play. Muscle memory, knowing how to fix things quick, identifying issues quick, turning away from a strike quick, reaching over line twist to turn without thinking. Parachutes, containers, pc's, don't "Fail," the user fails, then the user has to quick enough to fix his/her screw up before THEY kill themselves, not the gear. It's like guns, gear doesn't kill a basejumper (anymore with the proper gear and knowledge) a base jumper kills themself by screwing up. Read the fatality list and you'll get my point. Before 2000ish jumpers were stil figuring shit out and gear failed, now jumpers fail.

Can I take a wild guess and say that you watched the Base jumping program on Channel 4 this past week?

No, you cant. I didnt watch the program on Channel 4 last week called 'The Men Who Jump Off Buildings'.

Why worry about the chute failing when you can hurt yourself just fine when it doesn't fail?

http://www.youtube.com/...&feature=related

I've been retired from BASE for a while but can offer some insight.

When I was at exist point on the last 10 or so jumps I found myself wondering why the hell I was doing the jump. I would jump anyway (because that *is* what jumpers do, after all) and when my canopy opened, I had my answer. I did it because it felt really damn good.

At some point that answer was no longer enough so I stopped.

My point here is that until you make a BASE jump, you will have no idea what your real motivation is for doing it and whether that motivation is enough to overcome your very valid concerns about its inherent risks, e.g., what if the canopy fails.

That first jump is a leap of faith. Learn all you can about BASE, try it under the close guidance of experienced BASE jumpers, and then you'll have your answers.

Either you will be motivated to continue and will understand that you need to carefully manage the risks, or you'll decide it's not for you and the risks will become non-issues.

Best of luck.

Walt

great answer. As for me I'm more concerned with stable exits and off heading openings. I wish balloon jumps were a little easier to come by. Maybe then I could build up my skill/confidence with stable exits. As for off heading openings; I suppose a good span would take away some of those fears.
Either way, I don't know if/when I will make my 1st.

When trying anything new with BASE (or skydiving, for that matter), it is often wise to eliminate as many variables as possible. Ideally, you want to be trying only one *new* thing on a jump.

I may get some crap over this but I personally think that PCAs and handheld direct bags are a fantastic tool. They do a couple of things for you. First, they eliminates any rational reason for wondering whether you will get a canopy out quickly. Second, a DB enables the bag holder to control the direction of your deployment.

If you can get an experienced BASE jumper to give you proper coaching and then give you a PCA or DB off a bridge or (even better) a catwalk under a bridge, take good video and give you a solid critique, then that could give you a higher comfort level with the idea of doing a freefall exit.

Keep in mind that even a DB, which I consider to be a highly reliable system for deploying a canopy on a BASE jump will not and cannot eliminate the fear you will experience when making your first BASE jump. It is still a leap of faith until you develop the confidence that can only be achieved by experiencing it.

I know of no way to completely eliminate all pucker factor from a BASE jump and personally think that anyone doing a BASE jump *should* be scared. That being said, there are ways, like the aforementioned, to do it in a controlled fashion.

For all you fuckheads that want to hate on DBs and PCAs, all I have to say is that I'm much more of a pussy that you and when I man up and grow a pair, I'll probably think like you do. Until then, I'll continue to think that DBs and PCAs are ok.

Best of luck.

Walt

I like douche bags too.

Being black listed and teaching yourself is a long road my man. I'm on it now. Follow your gut!

You didn't have to be, I personally spoke with people trying to help you and you wanted a short cut and ignored the people trying to help you. You will be lucky if it's a long road and not a really short one from what I hear.

When you're ready, BASE will be here. No need to rush into something like this if you're not sure.

Which is why its been 5 years that I have been somewhat "seriously" considering it yet still haven't done one.
The voices in my head screaming do it are a little louder than the ones saying not to so I have a feeling I'll eventually end up giving it a shot.

It will be, but it won't be like it is today..

If you want to experience BASE jumping as it is today, you have to do it now, because in the future you never know how BASE is going to turn out and if you're going to like it at all..

Sangi, you have limited experience skydiving and
zero experience BASE jumping... so please, ssh.

To the OP: only you can decide WHEN and/or IF
BASE jumping is for you. Guys and gals who have
jumped for decades (not me) have shared with me
stories of how their interest in jumping has gone up
and down over the years with changes in their lives.

Based on my own life I see how that makes sense!

As for me. I have pleanty of experience. I watched a video on youtube

I cant believe this Sangi dildo is still spewing diarrhea from its mouth....go drink a buddingweiser and STFU.

You need to skydive. I've lurked on this site for a while and seen some BASE jumpers tell people to "go for it" with no skydive experience, but from my observations that suggestion is far from the general consensus.

I'm a low count skydiver who is also interested in BASE, but I think it's a little insane to jump without any parachute experience.

I'm hoping to make my first jump on BD with (I hope) just enough skydives (100) to be able to register....and IMHO and probably many others, that is an aggressive approach.

Stay safe...and don't under estimate the "oh shit" experiences that can be had (or the invaluable experience) with skydiving.