Basejumper.com - archive

heyall


I have always had the idea to base jump but have recently made it to a point in my life where i want to persue it. i know that much, but now where do i start???

i have over 500 skydives but the only fear i have in base jumping is the opening, I keep having an image of a canopy sniveling into the ground. i dont know how many feet it takes a canopy to open and this for some reason is the only aspects that bothers me because really i dont know anything about it, so any advice?

well with 500 skydives , i am sure you have come across those devil wearing horned base jumping flim flam, maybe start by asking em if ya can hang out and have a beer and shoot the shit....good start

from there its all woman (hookers), fast cars (ambulance), and lots of cash (fines)

honestly mate talk with ya local guys, find the most experienced or get in touch with a fjc around ya area..and learn as much as you can....read everything on the boards all articles, go to other sites and also get books and immerse yaself with base.....

if ya wanna start base why not put everything into it...dont go half assed as it wont be good on ya bones...

Go to you tube and watch a few videos of low object jumps... You will see that it takes an incredibly small amount of time to get a base canopy out, open, inflated and pressurized. Absolutely stunning how quickly it can happen.

My advice to you? Learn more about your gear than learn all you can about base specific gear.

jon

wow... I can't believe it, but I'm doing it! This must be my ZZ post
Here's the thing: knowledge is power! If you'd research this forum a bit (and the articles), you'd find some answers to the "how many feet it takes" question.
That aside, I can tell you this much: the hardest thing I had to do in the whole Skydiving-to-BASE transition process, was to write a letter to the loved ones (had to really think hard about that one) in which I stated that I died BASE jumping, and the reasons behind my choice... I do realize that this was a while ago and the whole context has changed.. but, it made me (at that time) question my reasons for getting into BASE (already had 15 jumps by then). I know... all the "seasoned" jumpers and "trolls" know where I'm coming from, and some will start the "black-death-nazi" bash... in the end (pun is sooo intended!), you have to be the one that is AOK with it!

There is no hard and fast answer to this question, because there are too many variables (is it slider up or down, how fast were you falling when you deployed, how did you pack, etc).

Go watch some BASE jumps, and see how long it takes the canopies to open for yourself. That will give you a gut feel for the fact that they do get open, and also some re-assurance that they aren't going to snivel into the ground.

Borrow a big skydiving rig and a BASE canopy with a mesh slider. Pack slider up, with brake lines routed through the rings and the shallow brake setting. Do not roll the nose. For bonus points you can skip the deployment bag and use the tail pocket. Don't use a pilot chute bigger than 42". Have your friendly neighborhood Cessna driver take you for a hop-and-pop with a BSR compliant 2025 feet being the preferred altitude. Do a student exit hanging from the strut. Pitch immediately and note how you're almost at the same altitude as the plane.

Slider off from a few hundred feet works similarly but with much better visuals.

Since I've started with Base, My crossfire openings scare me... they last forever....

hey

so i guess what i am also asking also is do most base canopies open roughly the same? You know in skydiving different models act completley different. but is base just a reserve with a mesh slider for all models? roughly the same feet to open for most models?