Basejumper.com - archive

http://icthewharf.icnetwork.co.uk/...ull&siteid=71670

they get paid for this shit????? - a 12 year old school project would have been more informative!!

BASE DESIRES OF FLYING LUNATICS Sep 25 2003


word from the water cooler

William Ham Bevan


A SINISTER form of mass delusion appears to have reached Canary Wharf.

Once, it mainly afflicted celebrities, such as the R `n' B singer R. Kelly. As he so memorably confessed: "I believe I can fly - I believe I can touch the sky".

My response? Prove it, mate - the window's over there. Do the charts a favour. And take those wet gobsh*tes Westlife with you, with their drivel about "Flying Without Wings". (Splat. Splat. Jaysis! Splat. Feck! Splat.)

Anyway, the latest manifestation of this mental illness has hit the headlines in this very newspaper: the so-called sport of base jumping.

As you will have read, this entails hurling oneself from the top of a tall landscape feature, such as a half-completed skyscraper, and deploying a parachute only at the last possible moment.

For a while, I had wondered where the name of this lunatic pastime came from. As ever, the Internet came to the rescue: "base" is an acronym for building, antennae, span and Earth - the four objects from which these people leap.

"Span" is a clumsy synonym for "bridge", which is just as well. Otherwise, it would be known as "babe jumping", which brings to mind a far more attractive prospect. Those with filthy minds can insert their own joke here about the "reserve chute".

Mystery still surrounds the identity of the bird-brained birdman who leapt from the top of One West India Quay. I suspect we'll only find out when he ends up splattered all over the Quay: a likely prospect, since an average of 10 base jumpers meet their maker each year, although it's not the UK's most dangerous sport.

That accolade, incredibly, goes to angling.

But I'm reminded of a story I heard from a local newspaper hack from a small town up North. He used to work with a coroner who prided himself on his precise use of language.

At one inquest, after a woman had leapt to her death from a church roof, the coroner got increasingly annoyed with a policeman who kept referring to "injuries sustained in the fall".

Eventually he interrupted the hapless copper: "No, no, constable, it weren't the fall that killed her," he fumed. "It were the impact of the landing."

I kind of like the idea of BABE jumping...

I couldnt agree more. If you just cant be bothered to research a story wots the point?

It sound pretty accurate to me Mike!

WTF is angling? All I could find was some sort of fishing...

That's the one.

I'm pretty sure that Australia's most dangerous sport is Rock Fishing (more fatalities per year than BASE and Skydiving combined) as well.

Now where is that Extreme Bass Fishing link?

 

Have a look at the Extreme Bass Fishing helmet.

PMP!!!!!!

I,ve heard, that most dangerous sport is Mallorca hotel balcony jumping. Time to time they miss swiming pool. Ten to twelve fatalities every year.

Whats the point in buying an extreme bass fishing helmet, with this disclaimer?

THINK HELMETS LTD. has made every attempt to build our products to be as safe as possible. However, neither THINK HELMETS LTD or its dealers are in any way responsible for any injuries, losses or damages sustained while using these products.
These helmets are not DOT or Snell certified and are in no way developed to be protective. The wearer uses these products at their own risk with full knowledge of the risks involved in their activities.
Though no activity is 100% safe and no helmet or other headgear can provide 100% protection against injury or death, the wearer can greatly reduce their chances of serious injury, or even death by using good judgment regarding safety and not to perform maneuvers that may be beyond their capabilities.


BASE jumping? No thanks, I'll stick with fishing or golf...

WTF? I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

Make fun of skydivers or BASE jumpers all you want, but at least they're trying to achieve something noble - human flight. As a child, I know I never dreamed about catching fish... I dreamed about flying. And now I'm learning.

hey now, while it may not be a huge adrenaline rush landing a nice bass is a great feeling. Plus, I've had dreams about fishing beautiful mountain streams on a fly rod and they almost rival my flying dreams. Not quite though!

p.s. I do not wear a helmet during fishing so don't ask! hehe

Is that the Bass fishing equivalent of a McConkey ?

yeah I have to concur... there's nothing quite like having a big ol' fat-daddy striper slam a top water lure, then to have it drag out almost all of the line on your reel - and having to use two hands to hold it up for the camera after you've landed it.

It's all about variety and quality.

Gardner

p.s. the GaDNR has recently begun a program to re-establish lake sturgeon in Georgia - probably will be a couple of decades before they're ready for serious sportfishing, but I'm looking forward to it for sure. The last documented lake sturgeon caught in Georgia was circa 1960.

"...not to perform maneuvers that may be beyond their capabilities."
LOL - it's bloody fishin'

That's the kind of complacency that kills. I'll bet you're one of those know-it-all anglers with between 200-500 catches. Think you know everything and can do no wrong. You're a risk to yourself, our sport, and your fellow anglers. Godspeed my friend, you'll need it...

its people like you described that burn good fishing holes for the rest of us extreme anglers.