skydive vs base rig

[jazzman318 0]

I'm new to skydiving. I'm going to be taking my AFF course in May/August but had a question about rigs.

What are the main differences between a skydive rig and a base rig? Are the chutes packed differently? Are they made to open differently?

Thanks

[likestojump 3]

Quote

I'm new to skydiving. I'm going to be taking my AFF course in May/August but had a question about rigs.

What are the main differences between a skydive rig and a base rig? Are the chutes packed differently? Are they made to open differently?

Thanks

yes they pack differently
yes they are meant to open differntly.

more than anything else the short(ish) answer is :

don't worry about BASE until you have a few hundred skydves. BASE rigs are not TSOd - thus cannot be jumped from airplanes. A BASEr system by Sonic of The Ranch can be skydived with but is NOT suitable to beginners, nor is really an every-day skydiving rig.

this is like worrying about getting a hi-performance sports car before you even get a drivers license - skydive some, and you will understand most of your answers.

BSBD

[mbondvegas 0]

Quote

I'm new to skydiving. I'm going to be taking my AFF course in May/August but had a question about rigs.

What are the main differences between a skydive rig and a base rig? Are the chutes packed differently? Are they made to open differently?

Thanks

Besides all the technical stuff....BASE rigs only hold one parachute.


(with a few exceptions)

- - -
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.

[jazzman318 0]

i know I wont understand the technicalities behind BASE rigs vs Skydiving rigs though its more of an inquisitive question.

Still, thank you for your answers

[CazmoDee 3]

I don't think he mentioned anything about being interested in going out and BASE jumping. Like me, he probably just wants to learn as much as he can about anything involving the use of a parachute. Things like sliders with the hole in them, mesh sliders, stuff like that. General knowledge about a wide variety of things is cool. Don't belittle him.

I'm behind the bar at Sloppy Joe's....See ya in the Keys!

Muff 4313

[BIGUN 1,371]

Short Course:

http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-23762.html

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[riggerrob 643]

First of all, most BASE containers only contain one parachute canopy. They are held closed by one curved pin or two curved pins or Velcro (shrivel flap).
BASE rigs also have much larger pilot chutes in the 40 inch plus range.
Some BASE jumpers even use static-lines when jumping from really low objects.

BASE canopies started out the same as skydiving reserves: large, docile, 7-cell canopies made of F-111 fabric with Dacron lines, but when skydivers down-sized during the 1990s, BASE jumpers moved in the opposite direction. Typical BASE canopies are double or even triple the size of skydiving canopies.
For example, while I may jump a Stiletto 135 out of airplanes, I would buy a 270 or 300 square foot canopy for BASE jumping.
Much of the size increase is related to keeping my knees intact when landing among the boulders often found at the bottom end of many BASE jumps.
In this century, BASE jumpers started building their own specialized BASE canopies. While they may still look like large skydving reserves - from a distance - up close they have numerous minor modifications to improve opening speed (bottom skin vents) and reliability (tail gates to prevent steering lines form wandering too far). BASE canopies also use a wider variety of sliders (fabric, X, mesh or even slider-less) to fine-tune openings at different altitudes. Obviously, the lower the launch point, the quicker you want the canopy to open.

There are also a wide variety of specialized BASE packing methods. Most BASE pack jobs start the same as skydiving reserve pack jobs, but are modified to suit the height of the object and airspeed at opening time.
A few BASE fanatics don't even bother to pack canopies into containers, they just hold their canopies in their hands as they step off of low bridges!

[Mountaineer777 2]

On 12/27/2007 at 12:14 PM, CazmoDee said:

I don't think he mentioned anything about being interested in going out and BASE jumping. Like me, he probably just wants to learn as much as he can about anything involving the use of a parachute. Things like sliders with the hole in them, mesh sliders, stuff like that. General knowledge about a wide variety of things is cool. Don't belittle him.

I'm behind the bar at Sloppy Joe's....See ya in the Keys!

Muff 4313

Thank you CazmoDee. . . Good point. Here's a hard truth. The sport of skydiving is full of assholes. Full of people who are vain and full of themselves. With that said, I am not surprised to hear these condescending answers. I'm an A License holder and have 39 jumps myself, which is not a lot by any stretch of the imagination. I come across assholes like this all day long at the dropzone. . . . Stay encouraged.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Mountaineer777

[Bokdrol 44]

2 hours ago, Mountaineer777 said:

Thank you CazmoDee. . . Good point. Here's a hard truth. The sport of skydiving is full of assholes. Full of people who are vain and full of themselves. With that said, I am not surprised to hear these condescending answers. I'm an A License holder and have 39 jumps myself, which is not a lot by any stretch of the imagination. I come across assholes like this all day long at the dropzone. . . . Stay encouraged.

The thread is a bit old but many of the points are current -  I've enjoyed reading it from the start. Thanks for bumping it. My only observation is that there are many more good people than a-holes in this sport. Pareto Principle would put it at 70-30 good-not so good (or 80-20 if you prefer that rule). I would say that skydiving has busted Pareto. But they are out there!! jazzman318 shows he has 1 jump, 13 years ago. Would be interesting to know how he progressed because I know that many jumpers often put 1 jump on profile when they have hundreds even thousands of descents.  

[BIGUN 1,371]

3 hours ago, Mountaineer777 said:

 I'm an A License holder and have 39 jumps myself, which is not a lot by any stretch of the imagination. I come across assholes like this all day long at the dropzone. . . . 

Whew. It's a good thing you showed up. I been waiting 14 years for someone to call him out. . 

[BMAC615 209]

LOL, I didn’t realize how old it was until I got to your reply