Basejumper.com - archive

 
I keep getting presented with poor wind direction/ speed upon upon arrival at my local A's. I've even bought a tank of helium to use balloons at the base of the towers to see the winds. They have been somewhat helpful. Some dorky jumpers up in Mi clued me into that trick.

How many times in a row have you had to back off a jump? Whether it was because of the winds, a nervous partner or possibiliy of getting busted.

Oh the posts I make when I'm bored...

Not sure how many times in a row, not that many though. But I do back away for various reasons.

You need to one night just get on the ground around the A(s), with a compass and actually stand in each sector and determine the optimal wind direction for that sector. Memorize, right it down, then, on the night you plan on jumping, log onto a weather channel and get the wind direction before you head out. This will save you many useless trips, as far as wind goes. But, sometimes you just never know until you get out to the site though.


Rod

I think that most jumpers have a plan when it comes to checking the wind directions before heading out to a site. I have run into the situation where the winds on the ground aren't moving at all. Then you climb up 100 feet and the winds are smoking right down the wires. The weather stations aren't going to tell you that. They only give winds on the ground. We have even called flight services and told them that we are going out to do some night flying and they can give you the winds aloft. I think they will give you winds on the ground then at 1000' and so on. Im not sure what altitudes they give. But it will help you see if the direction is shifting and how much it is increasing the higher you go.

I like the balloon trick when your going out and you know it is questionable. It can certainly save you some valuable drinking time if the winds are bad. I also like to watch the smoke stacks on factories, on the way to a site. They are also helpful.

Matt

i dunno what its named out site DK,but flight weather like METAR and TAF,often gives you the right info(even in varius of highs).It can only be used rughly but it has made it posibly to me to make some jumps were i couldnt belive from my home that it would be a jump day,however it has also told me when i dont even need to consider to make the drive.But that you should normaly beabel to see just out the window(unless you live along way from your object)

A compas is a great tool,that way you can draw your weires into maps,and then see when the wind should be down a wire or not,again,drive out there will give the best result,but if your as lazy as i am,well then its a tool you can use..

When you get to altitude is there anything better than throwing pieces of paper over the side to get direction?

i personaly dont through anything.. i spit...

Why? becours even while paper will disapear by time,its still visible to people the next day..,not somthing i want as i live under "try to leave les posible signs that you has been at the sight".

a electrical wind indicater could do the job if you has too much mony,or you really need it for a special tecnical jump or so.
Normaly i has no problems by judgning it by spit,if i has.. well am i then sure i really want to jump this thing?
This said i normaly jump slider off jumps,so if your talking higher stuff im sure someone more experienced than me(70+jumps so far) could say some words about that.

If you stage your opening to be at or under the first wire, the winds down the wire are no big deal. At my local A. the first wire is attached at 170ft off the ground. We jump from around 300ft. A sec and a half delay or longer puts your opening under the wire. Luckly all three sides are good for landing, so unless the winds are too strong to land in, wind direction doesn't matter. Another option is to static line or PCA a little abovethe first wire giving you the same opening altitude. Having openings where wires are still underneath you is the biggest risk in jumping A's IMHO. If you can't get high enough to track away and take them out of play, go low and do it that way. Jumping from the 400ft range up to around a 1000ft is putting yourself at risk. Especially with winds down the wire, or no wind conditons which is as bad in my opinion. Given a choice i'd rather have 5 to 10mph winds down the wire then no winds at all especially when going slider down from the low exit point. I've had off-headings in those conditons and simply flown under the wire. If you can take the wire out of play you are much safer. Of course it all depends on where that first wire is attached also.

just my 2cents
Mike

Mike, do you a 45" PC?
Jim

The fuzz made me back off once. Thats a shame

edit: Please read the "Before You Post" link at the upper right corner of every page in this forum. Thanks! ~ Tom Aiello

hey Jim, how are things in the midwest? I use a 46zp when I go from 300ft.

later
Mike

well i thourght of your teory aswell,just sadly that my LZ and my brain dont allow me to go that low

yes ofcours.. that means more climbing and most times a slider... sliders are bad..(psst they are made to slow the opening,now is that cracy or what)

Mike,
I know that you know exactly where 300' is on your A. However, the first time did you carry an altimeter to determine the hgt or use a lazer?
Also, is 170' some sort of government construction standard or do the first wire attachments vary?
Things are great out here, Mike but I miss you guys. I leave for the Turkey Boogie tomorrow morning.
Jim 719

at my local A(900ftér) the lowest weire is attached at the 180ft basket.
At my 300ftér ,they are attached at 200ft

i guess it warryes...

Unless you have strong winds in a good direction, short slider up delays off a tower are very BAD. No winds is even worse. I've seen a few openings that would have resulted in wire wraps or strikes at the least if the jumper would have opened higher than the first attachment point. That extra 100ft of altitude that you think you need can actually put you at greater risk.Unless you can get long enough delays to track away from the tower, average 6 or 7 secs, lower with a good push and form, a slider up jump is extremely dangerous. Winds down the wire are no reason to back off if you take them out of play. Open below the first wire or track away if altitude permits. Opening at 400ft with guy sets underneath you is not the place to be, if you are close to the tower.There have been far more injuries from wire wraps or stikes than Pc's not deploying your shit from low altitudes. This is a theory of course but on ant's, you need to be at the top or at the bottom when you jump, the middle ground is very dangerous. Of course as you said, Lz's can dictate otherwise.
bsbd

I wanted to re-respond to this question because of what I experienced last night being so fitting with it.

My new answer is twice. In one night. Off the same object. I hope to never experience it again.
Won't bore ya with the details, but long story short, set out to make a quick jump from a local A, was only gonna climb to 400' since it was very cold, (35 deg. is very cold in Texas), and I wanted to get up, off, and back home in 1 hour.
Well to continue making this long story short, last night turned into a 3 hour evasion and escape mission. And after the first one, my dumb ass went back up the second time. I spent way more time on that tower than I wanted. And didn't get to jump.
Oh, and low crawling back to the car and playing the "who's gonna leave first" game, tops it all off. I lost.
In the end, I was seen. But at least not climbing or jumping.


My body hurts.

Have a good day.


Rod