DexterBase

Here's the hot tip: If you're going to PCA someone from a low dodgy cliff, put on a climbing harness and tie in to an anchor of some type. Or have someone hold you by your waist. If you think you're gonna get pulled off the cliff, you're a lot more likely to drop the PC.

Yes, everyone post pics of all your rigs.

ahhhhh.... the search continues.

You don't even need a car!

I know, I know, but I just bought a BlackJack 240 and an ACE 240 in the last two weeks! Hmmm... aidclimber, you selling either one of those Mojos?

Or your altitude back.

Don't drop the PC! Use the DexterBASE approved bridle folding method and you'll never drop another PCA. Guaranteed.

I'll show you the super-duper neato pin closing method for.... say.... half your velcro rigs. That should leave you with about ten right? Edit: Oh yeah, what canopies are in all of those?

It' further than that but depends on the skill of the person holdig the PC. It can range from your feet being at 75 feet below the exit point on bottom skin inflation (good PCA), to no difference than freefalling (bad PCA).

Aw come on. That's too damn hard to say and you know it.

With limited exceptions, no. There's a lot of gravity to packing someone's only shot at surviving. Most BASE jumpers will pack for themselves. Sometimes we may pack up a rig for a buddy if they're running late and we need to make a load, or if they're really busy helping someone out with something then they might jump someone elses packjob. Personally, I will never jump another person's packjob (with the exception of hookitt). I don't ever want to question what would have happened if I had just packed for myself. I am the one jumping from the (whatever) and the only person who is getting blamed for me smacking that wall, is myself. It's not that I don't trust another BASE jumper to pack for me, I just choose to carry the entire thing on my own shoulders. I guess I could try to tell myself I won't question their packjob while I'm sitting in the hospital, but I think I know myself better than that. I will gladly pack for another BASE jumper though. My packjobs are impeccable, so if a buddy needs a rig packed to make a load, I'll do it. At certain events there are packing concessions for BASE jumpers, but they're certainly the exception. Also, it might take a skydiving packer 4-10 minutes to pack your main. Then you have a reserve if that doesn't go as planned. A BASE packjob takes anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour and will probably cost you $40-50. You're basically doing a reserve-level packjob for every jump. edit:clarity

Oh, but they unpack so much faster than they pack. It's odd really.

I'm inclined to believe that the less experienced number would be correct.

Oh boy...

Aw shit... that is pretty messed up.

Correct

My girlfriend and I got popped on a BASE jump. We lost: *Perigee Pro BASE container with an Ace 240 canopy *Perigee Pro Container with a Mojo 240 *Oxygn helmet *Nvertigo-X helmet Plus, $2000 each in fines, and 12 months of federal probation.

My experience in past relationships is that if she cannot accept that BASE jumping is a serious part of you (and was before she entered the picture) then she is never going to be cool with you going out and spending time away from her, especially at a time when normal couples are cuddling, watching movies, or sleeping. I've literally been walking out the door and had a girlfriend tell me that if I left and went on this jump she wouldn't be there when I got back. I thought about that for a second, realized that the girl that just made that demand knew absolutely nothing about what made me tick, looked her straight in the eyes, and left. Never would have worked. My advice to you, see if you can clone Katie. She's super hot, a solid BASE jumper, and if you're being lazy and sitting around when conditions are good, you're likely to hear "well, if you don't feel like making a jump will you at least ground crew for me?" Women are usually "cool" with BASE until it starts to make them feel less important to you. Then she will either come to accept it as part of you, or she will be gone.

Interesting. When I got busted in the Valley here, I was handcuffed in the meadow and a park ranger was searching through my pockets. He puuled out two crumpled up water bottles. Looking up at me he asked, "What are these for?" "Water" I answered. "Why do you have them?" he asked. "Because I didn't want to litter" He thought a moment and said "Well, thanks for not littering." I just shook my head. "Yeah, no problem." (There's more to that story but it has nothing to do with littering) So I agree. Litter in the backcountry, not just exit points, makes me sick. I think it's disgusting having to walk around with somebody elses trash in my pockets because they couldn't take a moment to see to it for themselves.

Funny the ratio of BASE-skydiving huh?

My theory is that parachutes actually don't work. I believe that we're just in a weird statistical anomoly. Parachutes actually only "work" about one time in 5,700,000. Everytime a parachute opens, it's really just a freak accident. As with all statistics, there are periods where the sample does not accurately represent the whole. That's now. Parachutes just appear to work because of the anomoly. One day. we're going to wake up and the anomoly will be at its end. Then we're all gonna go in. One at a time. I wonder how long it'll take us to catch on?

I'm sure a lot of jumpers believe all of that, but how many have made enough jumps on both types to really have an educated opinion, rather than just believing that the new magical "thingie" really does something? You're going to have to jump the same canopy in both versions, under identical conditions, and remain very objective. I think even with all of that, a lot of people will "believe" that the ZP canopy has better performance. I seriously doubt that anybody has done enough empirical testing to say whether the ZP option really does increase performance significantly. I know that there are plenty of ZP BASE canopies out there that have been jumped like college cheerleaders, and still have that flare that they had when they were new. I also know there are F111 canopies out there with similar jump numbers that flare like crap. Who really knows?

The ZP topskins aren't really to improve performance, but to preserve the initial level of performance for more jumps. You really won't notice that much of a difference between a canopy that's all F111 or the same canopy with a ZP topskin. Also, the entire topskin isn't ZP (at least on CR canopies) but only the topskin from the nose back to the B lines. A ZP topskin will not negatively affect your headings either. As far as contributing factors to offheadings, a ZP topskin will certainly be low on the list if even present. The same canopy built entirely out of ZP is not going to fly any faster than the same canopy built out of F111. Over time, the performance of the F111 canopy will degrade faster, then the ZP version will seem to perform better. Trim and angle of attack make a canopy have a fast forward speed.

Once you realized that, you were pretty quick to post huh?

Hmmm.... very, very tempting...