Basejumper.com - archive

I have heard in skydiving that approx. 200 to 500 jumps is considered to be the most dangerous time in a jumpers 'career' - people think that they know it all (but don't) and overconfidence leads to unwise practices.

Is there any conventional wisdom as to the corresponding jump numbers in BASE (assuming that the person started with a FJC and has received mentoring during the first 100)?

Personally, I'd say jump #1 through jump #2000 or so.

That doesn't look like a BASE site to me

I have heard several "experienced" jumpers state the period around 30 to 70 jumps is the "danger zone" - luckily 850 has just come through this period with just bust up tib and fib!!

Also is it accepted that you will have a mentor during your first 100 jumps???????? I have never had a mentor and most people I jump with have never had one........... in the UK there is not enough people experienced enough to mentor (and the ones that do IMHO dont have enough experience too). We are all adults and we make our own decisions - we are just thrown out there to make these decisions early on in our jumping........... i think this makes us learn more faster!

just my 2 groats......

but what a bust


I have been pretty much at my owen most time in my jumping carre,i dont think its cool and i really miss all the stuff i havnt learned yet..

I have learned alot from people i have visited,and some(its a different thing)from online notes...You learn to make desisions your self(in another way than if you had an experienced jumper by your side),that can make jump proces abit slower,as you will rethink evry aspect over and over again..

example:
I cant rember how long time ago i started asking Q´s about SL jumps as i wanted to jump a S that later gave me my word.

Many people got Q´s,i got really many answeres i also did a couple of test jumps at my local A to get confident on SL jumps.i drowe the 1,5 hour drive to the S serval times to make the jump,but to redeside in the last moment..
I guess it took me 3+month to get this object done,which i had seen been pcaéd before.
It were a proud jumper that after the jump could say that it all went perfect as planned,and by 4 sec under canopy and landing on the dryland i do belive i were the first to do so(not complete sure).Im confident now to jump it directly over the grass area just below it.

I can only ask people to do it the right way and not as i did it..even while i think i has progressed the best way i could so far(you can always do better i know)..

Just stay safe out there...

love it

I guess it depends on what BASE stands for...Brittney's Ass See's EvilDave'sFinger?

Seriously though...I'm not sure the way you're thinking is a safe one. This is a sport where we jump off fixed objects low to the ground and open a parachute mere seconds before impact think about that. Not to sound like Kenny Loggins, but you're in the Danger Zone when you're BASE jumping...PERIOD. With the possible exception of a 6000m "S", there is NEVER any room for complacency. Ask ANYONE who has reached 1000 BASE jumps...they'll tell you the same thing. The longer you feel uncomfortable while standing on top of an object, the safer you're likely to be.

An INFAMOUS ragged-out old BASE jumper came through our town many years back, and we somehow ended up on top of an antenna with him. He shakily climbed up to the top rail of the antenna, looked back at one of us who was doing his 5th or 6th BASE jump and still a bundle of nerves, and said: "Kid...It never stops being scary." With that, him and his clapped out Wonderhog and Fury and whatever shite he was jumping disappeared into the darkness. There's a nugget for ya.
mh

I think we're singing the same tune here. My post refers to attitudes or perceived competency, not to reality. I was partly wondering if there tends to be a point in a BASE jumping career when one starts to think of oneselve as a BASE god. I understand that although risks in BASE jumping can be mitigated, there will always be significant risks present.

Cheers for the reply.

Numbers depends on the person who accumilates them.

Taking stupid risks and getting compacent, where ever in your number galery it greeps in, is going to bite you. As for me, I dislike complaceny the most. I get complacent the more onheadings I get, the better my jumping gets. Until it's going to be time to react, and react fast.

I hate complacency in BASE. Strange, that in most places in live, you can walk away being complacent, but not in BASE. Equipment gets better, and to me, it has it's little drawback as well. It's not 100%, but the more I jump good equipment, the more complacent I get. It's bad.

Personally, this is what I should be working on......