Basejumper.com - archive

planin a 600ft fm (A) 3 sec delay great landing area , i know a 38" pc isn't recommended but will it b ok? i should be using a 42" maby one of the new squirrel snatch pc (have u seen them.... wicked cool) but i just dont have a new 42 yet

what ya guys think i figure it will work but whats your thoughts

42" PC's are a stock item you can get from almost any manufacturer in a couple days. Why not just buy one?

I'm with Tom. However, think of it this way:

3s delay: 16x3^2 = 144
Add 140ft for slider down snivel = 284ft (approx.)

4s delay: 16*4^2 = 256
Add 140ft for slider down = 396ft

The penalty for a 1s delay is 110ft - and that puts you in the basement.

I'd only ever use a 38 for 5-8s; solid 4s is okay but I personally think it's a bit marginal - especially if you have a larger canopy. Typically for 8+s I'm on a 36.

We're already at the margins with this sport; why push something unnecessarily? Get a 42" if you don't already have one - you will use it!

O i deff am for sure i need a new one the old mesh has rips and looks beat, im lookin at apex's and squirrel, , its just i seem to spend the money on bills, ive been reading a bunch on sizing and i figure its doable for now, its just every time i see that sweet sweet A i wanna hit it,

Send me a PM. I will loan you a 42 for this jump if you want to use one.

sweet thank you guys! its better to be safe than sorry, and theres always a 1400 fter near by, and thank you Tom i appreciate it! but i can wait untill i get the new pc

Exit height to impact is one consideration, but how high do you need to be to make your intended landing area and set up for landing? If your landing area is right where you open, fine. If there are trees or other obstacles that must be cleared before landing then the delay and pilot chute need to correspond with the opening height which will allow you to safely land.

Example: If you need to open 300 feet below the exit point on a 1000 foot cliff in order to reach the landing area, then you'll be using a 42 (or even a 46 possibly) and height to impact can become irrelevant.

Height to impact should always be considered but BASE rigs need to be configured for the airspeed you intend to deploy at.

Why take something simple and make it complicated? Here is what I was taught and it's worked fine for me and everyone else i jump with. If you are going hand held (objects 200ft - 350ft) take a 48. Anything above feel free to use a 42. Stowed slider down, use a 42. Slider up, use a 38. Keep it simple and live another day.

because gear and techniques are changing.

What size is your canopy? Is it Ultralight fabric? Lots of us have been finding that a lot of people have no idea the logic behind pilot chute selection. We see people jumping in moab with 42' PC's, doing 1 second delays, with a Blackjack 280...a very heavy canopy...and having crap openings. Some people are rocking 46 inch PC's with a 220 UL canopy and taking a delay...and having just as crappy openings.

Optimum PC size has more to do with the weight of the canopy and intended delay than the size of the object. I regularly have used 38 inch PC's slider down...with an ultralight 240.

This is a viable question, but deserves analysis on both ends.

Is there a technical reason that 44" PCs aren't sold or marketed? I've never seen one and they aren't on any of the major manufacturers' websites.

If you get one of the squirrel snatches, get a bigger one.

supply and demand. i think sizes just got standardized.

i actually have a 40 and a 44 in my aresenal. not normally made anymore.

thanks guys yea its a dagger 244 i was just wondering and id rather be safe since theres not alot of room for error, those squirrel snatchs' look nice!!! prob get a apex vented 42 there cheap enough and seem nice :)

This is just a friendly observation:
You're jumping a Dagger and you're planning to purchase a PC that is "cheap enough and seems nice".

Please do not put price and gotta-jump-itis above your safety. It seems you may be scraping together money to BASE jump. If so, jump ONLY the objects that are reasonable for the gear you have. Live to jump another day when you can buy more versatile gear.

Hugs,

Chris

what Chris said.

learn learn learn...then learn some more.

know your limits. (and the limits of your gear)



also, never get all your information from one source. especially not the internet. or me.

hey now, some of us still love and jump that ol' dagger :)

thanks guys

i know daggers are older its a 2004 but there not horrible right? theres prob better tech out there but is there anything wrong with them

I have some jumps with an old dagger and i'm still here. That being said I don't think I would jump one off anything but a bridge or antenna With the right wind.

Know the strengths and weaknesses of the gear you choose to jump. Think of it this way, if you were out with a friend and they gave you a packed rig to jump and said its "not horrible" would you feel good about it on a sketchy object?

 No ... they are not horrible. I have 4-500 jumps on nothing but daggers, and still own a bunch of em. There is newer vented tech out there, but Daggers are a perfectly good canopy for slider up and down jumps.
Ive jumped low moab jumps and monster cliff jumps with great heading performance overall . Don't buy into the hype of "your jumping black death" if you dont have a shiny brand new 2600$ ultralight vented,valved, glow in the dark 2016 gizmo.
Having said that.... I bought a 205 osp ultralight last year.... and really like it. Ill probably sell a couple of canopies, but will keep a few Daggers for backup rigs.
Just my .02$

Jay is right but you also have to take into consideration that he is a jedei canopy pilot

In reality there are not too many shitty BASE made canopies out there... even the early ones did a good job of saving our asses.

Not really a technical reason but more of a marketing reason. BASE manufactures many years ago got together and discussed posible future expansion of the sport and knew that the largest market to exploit was China and other Asian countries. But there was a slight problem with introducing to the masses over there... it's called tetraphobia (the practice of avoiding the use of the number 4). 4's are bad luck in many Asian cultures because it sounds like the word many of them use for 'death'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia

BASE manufactures decided it wasn't a smart move to associate the PC with death (44=death, death) so they instead attempted to cancel out the negativity of 4 and only combine it with 'good luck' numbers like 2 and 8. It was a very forward thinking maneuver that still is just taking effect over there. They love the sport but are still leery of fully accepting it. Most who participate only do so with smaller PC's and canopies sized corresponding to their beliefs/superstitions. Some have even gone so far as to have special sized canopies made, like 289sf.

Really?!

Couldn't they just measure them in centimetres or perhaps even have their own names for each size? Like Dragon / Rat / Goat PC.

USA should adopt the metric system yesterday.

As for #4 in Chinese, YEP, did Chen Style Tai Chi

for 15+ years and this one master who came and

did a seminar would literally count: 1, 2, 3, 5.A, 5.B

i use a 38" snatch, with my ibex 250, off 500' power towers and definitely not doing a go and throw....
not suggesting it pulls harder but its not lacking.

No fucking kidding.

I had to go to 4 different hardware stores to find a metric measuring tape. Even then the best I found was metric on one side and the crushing imperial empire on the other side.