Basejumper.com - archive

I'm a rookie skydiver (don't even have a license yet), but I am interested in the specialized gear you guys use. I read Tom's article awhile back on BASE rigs, and found it quite interesting.

My question regards sizing of base canopies - are they sized similar to skydiving canopies - i.e. start under 1:1 loading, and downsize in progression?

Most BASE photos I've seen appear to have large canopies in them. I'd think you'd want something big, but when you guys need to turn, you NEED to turn.

Just wondering. . . . . .

.7-.8 is the normal loading from my lurking of Blinc and other places. Smaller will almost certianlly get you busted up on some of the base sites out there.

Smaller canopies might rotate faster, but they're covering much more ground while doing so. Larger canopies can actually turn in less space because their penetration speed is so much lower.

As far as "Downsizing with progression" is concerned, I would say No. In fact, from my (limited) experience, and from talking with other BASE jumpers, it may be just the opposite. It's not uncommon to hear of BASE jumpers actually upsizing.

My personal wing loading is around .72, which suits me just fine for the objects I jump, and the landing areas I land in. Normally, soft dirt. But I can easily understand why a jumper would want a bigger wing. I guess it all depends on what your comfortable with, and experience level, and whether your landing in a field, or city sidewalks.

Rod

 

Apologies for not putting anything in the article about wingloading. I was unable to get information from one gear manufacturer on their recommended wingloadings, and was told that my loading of .724 on their canopy was a "gross underloading". Therefore, I decided to leave out wingloading numbers until I had a chance to get more precise information from them.

Everyone else has pretty much covered this, but, textbook BASE wingloading is .75. Most experienced jumpers upsize as they gain experience, to the point where the (arguably) world's best jumper weighs around 160, and has been spotted under 265's (I've got no calculator here, but you can work out the wingloading on that). I've seen very experienced jumpers preferring wingloadings as low as .60. I weigh 205 at exit, and jump canopies in the 280-290 range. I'd upsize, but my arms are a bit stubby, so I have trouble using the entire control range on the larger (310ish) canopies.

When you need to turn, you'd rather have everything happening in slow motion (including your forward speed). The same is true when landing in tight or obstructed areas. In BASE, slower is almost always (95% of the time) better.

At http://www.thebasepoint.com
There used to be a tool to,where you could put in your weigth size of canopi and so on,and then it would tell you what you load your canopi whit,there also were rules for what you could load your canopi whit as a newbie at Kjerag(0,86 i mean).anyone who know where to find that kind of "machine"?it can be a good tool,also for skydivers,to find out how much their wingload is

http://www.dropzone.com/...ator_wing_load.shtml

the fist thing to be blind at,are the eyes rigth