Basejumper.com - archive

been exchanging with a wannabee and have touched on this topic.

I'm curious as to how the community thinks. Who are you more likely to help out?

currently, about 26 people have voted. 52% went with the cautious option. (I was one of them.)

I've exchanged a few PM's with possible jumpers who think they are getting shunned for cliquish reasons, they are not one of the cool kids, etc. BASE seems important to them, thus it hurts to be unable to achieve their dream. obviously, they seem to fall into the enthusiastic option.

the following is one of my responses. maybe I need to expand and fill out some points...


if you disagree (or support), care to share? hopefully explain why? a good discussion might help aspiring jumpers.

May I suggest you add an extra option to your poll.

"not behaving like a spoilt little prick when told something they don't want to hear"

Healthy enthusiasm is good. Unbridled enthusiasm is bad. Why? Well, it's creating a monster. At what point is this unbridled enthusiasm curbed? Most of the time, jumpers in this category also tend to be the same ones to burn objects and get negative attention.

+1

Nicely put!

BJ

Ask advice, listen, and do what you are told.... no arguement...

Being told something by a BASE jumper (who is in the sport for fucks sake) normally means you need to take that advice and suck it up... to argue as a skydiver is meaningless...

Its like me argueing against my doctor after watching Greys Anatomy....

 
But you do that anyway mac

Lets face it - newbies tend to turn up all of the time expecting someone to hold their hand, pack their rig, transport them to the nearest SAFE exit point and to understand that despite a lack of knowledge (from the newbie) the experienced base jumper ought to understand that they as the newbie are actually the first person to be able to be given the divine right and ability to BASE jump simply by watching 'YOU TURD' videos...

I completely understand when someone has a question that needs answering and cannot find the answer in any place that they could reasonably be expected to look, but when someone turns up without having even taken a moment to do the most basic or cursory of searches then it worries me how suitable they are going to be in this sport ...

When i started out i asked lots of questions (I didn't always listen to the answers or understand them sometimes ) but i tried to gather the right sort of information at least ...

I will always remember learning to pack between the hours of midnight and 4 am because those were the only times that the person teaching me could do, so despite working all day long i would grab a few hours sleep wherever i could and i was immensely grateful for the help given to me by Ron and the others.

I suppose with hindsight i should have whined more about how 'unfair' it was that they wouldn't come to my house and teach me at a time that was convenient to me!!!

But then i guess i'm simply not RAD enough ...

I think someone who is

self motivating,

ask more advanced questions because they have researched/know the basics

and doesn't ask 'when will i be ready to jump?'

would more likely get a positive response from 'the community' than someone who pops on here and says 'Hey, I'm the 'motherfuckingcaptain', fuck, skydiving, I want some real in your face kinda shit.

Let me explain why. Someone who is self motivating will read what the world wide web has to offer, they will take the time to find out all they can on their own. Which in turn, leads to the asking of more advanced questions, like, 'How big of a loop is the primary stow, is it bigger on longer delays and smaller on shorter delays?' Instead of 'Can I take a wing suit off of this 250ft cell tower? I plan on buying a wingsuit, but Ill have to wait untill I finish AFF first.' Which in turn leads to the last one, Im sorry, but if you have to ask, go do a tandem. If you can't sit down and take everything you have learned and be able to apply that, when you get to the exit, you know, plain and simple, you know.

And someone who is not as fucked up as me right now...

Troll!

Another thing I'd like to add:

You guys act like there are all of these people wanting to learn how to BASE jump, when in reality, there are like TWO newbie skydivers that read this forum. Me and that Johan420 guy. And he probably isn't even real! So that leaves me. So quit with all the 'fuckin whuffos think they can BASE bullshit'.

Troll. Really. Please don't let 'stupidity' carry over into your BASE career, it will get you killed.

Further more, I really didn't direct that towards you, it just kinda 'rolled' off my tounge. Seriously.

Do you really think you are the only skydiver-wanna-be-BASE jumper?

And lets leave Johan420 out of this, he broke my heart.

Are you going to BD this year?

[quote "themotherfuckingcaptain"there are like TWO newbie skydivers that read this forum.
I hope that was a joke. we've had more wannabees than that, posting in the last month, from the UK.

Naw I'm not going to Bridge Day this year. Maybe next year when I have a real job and can afford it.