Basejumper.com - archive

First of all, nice to meet you all. I'm from Canada.

I have about 40 jumps, no "A" license yet, but getting close.

I currently jump with student gear.

Eventually, some day, I would like to base jump. Here is my plan, please correct me if I'm on the wrong track:

I will practice accuracy. Eventually I will try CRW and try to get good at it.
I will only try base jumping once I have 1000 skydives with accuracy practice with my canopy.

Now, what should I be looking for as far as gear goes when I'm skydiving? If I want to eventually base jump, should I be strictly looking for a F111? I have read that F111 canopies that are in good shape are hard to find now, as they have been phased out by other designs.
What about the PD ZERO? Yes, it's not F111, but it is designed for accuracy. Would this canopy choice be good to set myself up as a solid accuracy lander, in hopes of transferring my canopy skills to base jumping?

if you aren't going to BASE until you have 1000 skydives I would just get whatever skydiving gear you want because you will be jumping it for many years, and worry about the right canopy after you downsize once or twice

Yeah yeah yeah, 1000 jumps before base jumping....suuuuure People that do 1000 skydives before their first base jump usually do not plan ahead like you, I guess you just wanted to sound conservative in base jumpers eyes ;) ;) Enjoy and explore skydiving first is my advice as a begginer too :) Its actually alot of fun ;)

Take your time and have fun skydiving. 1000 jumps to land your canopy in a vansized LZ? Hmmm are you a slow, really slow learner?
Best bet is to get your: a. license. b. to get on a program for for BASE skills. c. Have fun skyjumping.
Then all the questions you ask will reveal their answers.
You learning to fly a canopy has nothing to do with anything BASE. You learn that via skyjumping/paragliding/speedflying. A pilot is a pilot. or payload.

Sort out which canopies you need for BASE. Buy them, jump them skyjumping and have fun and the knowledge of the way the canopies fly will come.
You seem over concerned with accuracy. What about tracking? I think you should fly your body also. Proper flight suits can help.
Bottom line is this. No canopy is going to make you a better canopy pilot. No track clothes are going to make you a better tracker. They only enhance the skills you have or do not not have. F111 or ZP that is not an issue at your stage in the game.
I hope this helps and if any veterans disagree speak up.
Take care,
space

but the skydiving gear "I want" is the kind of gear that would sharpen some base jumping skills early on in the game. I don't ever want to downsize, as speed is not my goal, only accuracy. I did a bit of reading after I made my initial post, and I have decided I am best off to aim towards a 7 cell rather than a 9 cell so i can sink better onto my target.. and yes I am being very conservative. I view safety more important than anything and believe that 200 jumps would not be enough for me to feel qualified enough. 1000 is my objective and I'm sticking to it. :)

not really sure what to make of these responses..

If a kid was just starting out in highschool, and he wanted to specialize in accounting, he should be able to ask what he can be doing to set himself up for his goals. We shouldn't tell the kid, "Don't worry at this point, just enjoy highschool and do it all, and then focus on accounting after". He should proceed to tell those people to fuck off.

See what I'm saying? If I have a goal, just tell me what I can be doing during my skydive education to aim myself towards that goal. I don't want to swoop, I don't want to downsize, I just want to do all the things a base jumper would at a DZ.

I appreciate the advice on tracking. That's a good start..

Read as many threads on this site as possible and every article article twice. Also read the articles/wiki posts on the blincmagazine site. You will have answered your questions and more.


for skydiving: get what your instructors suggest for a first canopy.

re you analogy: If you wanted to swoop you wouldn't start on a 170 katana. Same for BASE you won't pack a Flik/mojo/troll or BASE canopy into your skydive rig and learn on that.

re your analogy/metaphor again: A brain surgeon starts with a university degree just like the family doctor and just like the ER doctor, or any other doctor. then every single one does med school, then then 5 yrs of general practice (varies by country), and then speciailizes for 5yrs in brain surgery. The point is, learn every single thing about skydiving you can and enjoy it. Then when your new skygod friends say you're ready to start BASE/BASE training worry about it then.

What part of Canada are you in? It may be that you have an experienced BASE jumper right on your DZ that could help you

 

He should proceed to tell those people to fuck off.

And
just tell me


nice work champ, good luck

My guess a base jumper would do some tracking, two ways, four ways, horney gorillas, freefly, downsize, downsize again, wing suit, and BASE jump way before 1000 jumps. But you should not ask me you have more skydives than I do.

Dood! just skyjump, learn to fly, Get a mentor and go for it. Sky jump the canopy you want to BASE. Become a rigger.
If I understand correctly you want to to practice for a nasty LZ. That aint BASE. BASE covers a lot more than sinking it in. You think that the answer is if you can land on a dime 800 times that you will be safe taking up BASE. I really hope that you are a positive troller.
I have a deal for you. take the 1000 skyjumps costs,
We meet out of this fund and I take care of you and help you find your dream. But just know some dreams are nightmares.
Take care,
space

Sorry, I never noticed how harsh and rude I sounded until you eliminated the context from my post and isolated those words! I apologize!

Thank you, advice is appreciated!

What about training for off heading openings, things like that which could slam a BASE jumper into what he's jumping from? You guys are saying I'm over preparing myself, I hope your right.. cause now I feel like 500 jumps might be enough

I think CRW teaches you a thing or two about fear and stress in a particular environment that might be beneficial for a BASE-jumper. It also gives you the habit of getting on your toggles early.

It's challenging, it's fun.

Do CRW.

I think you're ready.

So its like this through my eyes. Most openings are off heading. You may be throwing the term around like a boomerang. Off heading is an opening that is not conducive to your flight plan. If your flight plan dictates that you need to fly East to the LZ and you are facing North when you jump and you canopy opens facing North then this is an off heading opening. Oh... Did you file a flight plan to your brain before you jumped? That could be a nasty oversight.
.... If you are jumping low verticals where you cant track away, then your likelihood of an object strike is higher. and throw in that maybe you didnt calibrate your PC because you are not a rigger and couldnt be bothered. Go for it dude. just buy the top battle gear so you can hopefully survive the object strike at a kinda high speed because you didnt dial in your brake settings.
Or you could have done all correctly and slam it at a lower speed suffering only minimal injuries. A tib/fib or Femurville. 6 weeks to 6 months and you should be able to go again unless you shatter your heel(s)
because of improper footwear. Those heel shatters are quite nasty from what I heard. Pain for every step you take for the rest of your life to remind you that that jump was stoopid and not worth it. Or Maybe it was.
Risk ID and Risk Management! That is as simple as it gets. it applies across the board of life. But with BASE....hmmmmm.... Death or injuries replace bankruptcy or divorce.
But lets say you do everything wrong and do a stand up landing in front of your mate and you don the hero halo. thinking you got it! Or you do everything right and and you get nailed with a tib/fib.
Or what if you did everything right and it works out and you will now know true freedom. It tastes so good! Can you hold onto your priorities? If you can, The World is yours, If you cant, you will get your BFL number. But the taste of Flight is so sweet I do not know how to stop flying.
Thank you for letting me go on a nice rant. Not at you. But for allya.
Take care,
space

Honestly, if you do 500-1000 skydives, you will learn to fly your body, canopies of various sizes, possibly wingsuits, tracking skills, and most of the other things that will make you a great potential BASE jumper. Enjoy the skydives and just try everything you can. If you actually get to 500 before you try base, youll be much less likely to injure yourself than people with 20 skydives.

First, I'd like to applaud you for referencing accountants. Second, if your plan is truly to do that many skydives prior to base jumping, I wouldn't fixate on only jumping a fat 7 cell. Flying different wings will give you a better understanding of handling dynamics/airspeed/stall points/recovery arc/etc. I put a lot of time under a small elliptical and was surprised by its impact on my accuracy in base. I hardly even hit shit anymore. When it comes to experience, more is better..so try as many canopies as possible.

im jealous.......everytime i base jump i hit something!!!!!!

Take what I say with a grain of salt because I'm just a skydiver like you (with maybe a few more jumps) but what I am hearing from everyone is that you just need to skydive.

Skydivers don't like off heading openings either. If you end up opening to close to someone else you don't want to be flying towards them. After some more jumps you will learn that it depends on more than body position. It can be the way you pack or the type of canopy you are using. If you just learn to skydive better, you will be preparing yourself for BASE.

You don't even have enough experience at this point to know how many sky jumps you will need before BASE. 400? 1000? 2000? And numbers are good but its not all about numbers. The more you jump, the more you will know how well you are tracking and how good your canopy accuracy is.

When I had 40 jumps I was still doing old school delta tracks. And my canopy accuracy was terrible (although I had a roof landing that I guess I could call BASE prep).

Let me give you the same advice a mentor of mine gave me that helped me relax: "Just try not to hurt yourself".