Basejumper.com - archive

I just saw this on the news and thought I would share it
http://www.abc15.com/...perstition-mountains

I don't know him or any details, except what was in the article. It sounds like he may have been climbing up to a launch point or something, as they said his harness was not on him but it sounds like it was near him.

Very sad.

Don't you normally have someone with you when you go BASE jumping? Poor Brian, I hope he wasn't just seriously injured in the fall and died on the side of the mountain... 😞
Never go by yourself!!

Solo BASE jumps is one of the most challenging you can do, and also in some way better than many other jumps. It is you, alone in the nature, or wherever you choose to jump.

I would always say, keep in contact with someone, and update from stage to stage where you are, and what you are doing.

I do not believe in not going solo ever, but you can make it easier for those who is worried about you, and those who is going to rescue you!

Agreed. I guess it all goes down to the discussion of PLB´s and/or other messaging devices with better messaging capability than pure cell phone network (like sat phone, SPOT etc). At least if you´re mainly operating within cell phone coverage, it is super easy to install an app to your smart phone (there are multiple available for all OS´s) which sends your gps location and nearest street address over SMS etc. I use such an app every time I go solo but of course you have to remember that this only works in urban environment.

BSBD!

I have a Spot messenger, grab one there awesome

I think this is a separate discussion (so feel free Tom to take this as a separate thread) but my experience has been that the SPOT is not so awesome. This has also been discussed here extensively (MattG has written quite good article about this as well). I had SPOT for couple of years and used it quite extensively while jumping in the Alps. The key problem I found with it was that the messaging feature seemed quite unreliable, I ran into a situation time after time where SPOT was not able to get a message through. My gut feeling was that it works fine in quite open terrain but once you´re in a shadow of a wall, thick forest, gorge etc, the SPOT cannot be trusted (I guess this is due to the limited satellite coverage of the Globalstar satellite network). I lost my SPOT once while it rolled over the edge of a new cliff and made a "SPOT drop" into unrecoverable terrain. After that I haven´t been replacing it as I´m not doing any serious alpine jumps alone anymore. If I would go back to that space I would seriously considering purchasing either a sat phone and/or proper PLB.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/...eviews/buying-advice

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/...cator-Beacon-Reviews

I second Markus opinion. I bought a spot as a tool for a virtual ground crew. Even with good reception sometimes it took up to 20 minutes for an SMS to reach the recepient.

It is not good good for the peace of mind of your spouse if she gets a message "Exit in 2" and then 20 minutes of silence till the "All OK".

I am thinking of getting a satphone adapter for my IPhone.

Also some useful information by Steph Davis:
http://stephdavis.co/.../delorme-inreach-se/

I have this one:
http://www.thuraya.com/SatSleeve

It works very well! You can test it next time you are here if you want toys for boys :-)

Do you remember what it cost?

This article states about $500 for the case and then minimum of $1/minute of usage and going up to $8/min depending on the plan you buy and location you use it at.

http://gizmodo.com/...to-a-satellite-phone

Biggest kept secret in Oz is if you have a Telstra post paid account with global roaming enabled and you wack that sim card into any Iridium phone, anywhere in the world -- it would just work.

So you'll have a sat phone with the same number you are usually on and no additional plans. The cost of a call is about A$4 per minute incoming, A$8 outgoing and about $1 for outgoing SMS, Incoming SMS are free. Rates may have changed since I got it 4 years ago.

But calls to emergency services are free of charge. In fact I beleive that on Irridium network you do not even need a sim card for that. Not 100% though as it may depend on the phone model.

Also there is a 50% government rebate on sat phones for Australians, you just need to apply in writing.

I've been using this setup for over 4 years and it works great.

Oh, and you can pick-up a second hand phone for $400-600 so there is your budget right there.