JaapSuter

Yes, you are correct. But replace [] with NPS, 'conversation' with 'encounter' and the analogy becomes only marginally less ridiculous. It is only a significant difference to the reader if he actually offered the background of his experiences. He hasn't done so, so his post in isolation remains similar to my analogy (given the suggested changes above following your observation on making a different generalization). I guess I'm failing miserably at getting my point across here. I'm not argueing whether or not Chad is wrong. In fact, if the many stories and rumours I have heard about Link and other NPS people are true, I am even inclined to agree with him. But without a specific background, a single-handed public threat towards a single individual remains a less than ideal form of communication.

If the board is the general audience this forum is meant for, I suppose I could be considered a part of it. I won't use the word testify, but it is generally considered beneficial in discussions to substantiate opinion with fact. In this case my ignorance and my unwillingness to take your word for it forces me to be skeptical towards the stance you're taking, unless you would take the time to provide some background. Sorry Chad, the smoke from those rotating wind vents is fucking with my head. I'll shut up now...

I'm pretty sure I don't, but you're not giving me a chance to learn about it either. How about this one? Sounds kinda familiar? That's too bad. Usually when people resort to physical threats they're not even given a chance to explain how they got to their opinion. We gave you one, and instead you resort to rhetoric. I must admit, I'm surprised that Tom didn't remove your comment in the first place. I apologize if my posts are pissing you of Chad. I really like and respect you too, and I certainly believe that having been busted you might have a different attitude towards NPS folks than most of us have. But I stand by my opinion that that is no excuse for an unjustified physical threat. To reiterate; I'm not asking you to renounce the physical threat, I'm just interested in what experience in particular makes you feel Link deserves one.

Nobody, that was precisely my point! None of us argued that, but physical threats are not doing us any good either. They won't necessarily harm our cause, but it's still considered unpolite in most parts of the world. The main point I was trying to make was beyond any issues between BASE jumpers and the NPS; it's about how human beings interact in a civil manner. Maybe Link did something to deserve his kneecaps being blown to pieces -within somebody's justice system-, but without the accompanying justification such a remark in isolation serves nobody.

I think Diveout got that. Him and I are actually going to tear apart Vancouver and Calgary this summer. Woohoo! And you haven't even jumped that new 310 footer yet. That's a really sweet one. You can see all the way to downtown brother! I'm back in town on Friday, let's huck 'r then!

Instead of acting skeptical and publically announcing you want to do something to his kneecaps, I would much rather hear your side of the story and see you share what you think Link, in person, has done wrong to us. I've heard some of the stories, but I don't have the sources to back them up. If you can share them, then Link is given a chance to give us his side of the story. We can then decide to call bullshit after that, but at least it'll make for a more civil conversation. What I will ask is this; is this the first time in the history of BASE and the internet that a park official is posting on a BASE forum without hiding behind a secret identity? Regardless of whether or not Link is an asshole or a great guy (I simply don't know yet), I think it's a point in BASE history worth remembering. January 16th 2006, the day the rangers started talking to the jumpers, or the day we retaliated by threatening their kneecaps? With all due respect Chad, you knew full well what risks you were taking when you made that jump. It doesn't make it suck any less when you get busted, but we shouldn't complain to the NPS any more than we should complain to a building owner when we strike his building because of a 180.

Great question and I'm very interested in what advice other people have. I've run into multiple occasions lately where I wanted to have a 'chat' with a person. Unfortunately my lack of experience greatly limits my credibility. So I usually just shut the fuck up. I'm worried that with the growth of our sport we'll see an increased need for being able to deal with situations like this effectively. So I hope this will be a constructive discussion.

Hey everybody, I've recently been exchanging some emails with a guy living not very far away from me. I won't go into too much details on the contents of the discussions, but two things in particular deserve attention. He originally told me he had done two FJCs, one with Morpheus and one with Basic Research. When I enquired with both manufacturers, neither of them had ever heard of this guy. When I asked him about this he admitted to lying about it. In response to my discovery, he said: "...as you know base jumping is an easy sport..." and "...i've heard of lots of people that never got it [an FJC] and maybe their dead right now but it doesn't mean they died as a result of not taking a 2 jump course at perrine..." His emails contained several other comments that ultimately led to the conclusion that this guy is either pulling an elaborate prank or that he is on what is probably going to be a successful suicide BASE mission. He says he managed to pick up some used gear somehow, we're not sure how or from whom. He assures me he has used this gear 29 times so far, although he got "big wounds" on his last attempt to freefall a 132 foot bridge by "throwing out a 46 inch PC." All in all I'm no longer sure what to think. I just hope he isn't going to kill himself on one of my local objects. Even more so; I hope that my assumptions are wrong and that he will turn out to be one of the most skillfull and naturally talented BASE jumpers ever. The real reason I am posting this message is to serve as a reminder; do your background checks! I recently found myself doing a background check on somebody from Oregon. Initially I felt bad since I'm just a beginner myself. But the other jumper took it remarkably well, was very understanding and could easily prove to me with some references that he was a heads up jumper who I am more than happy to welcome as a guest on any of my local objects. Quite the opposite from the guy above, who demonstrated quite effectively that we should always take five or ten minutes to ask for references and backgrounds. Nobody ever died from being asked how many skydives they have, where and if they took an FJC, who their mentor was, and how many jumps and objects they have. If anything, it'll give them a chance to share a great story. If they're giving you shit about doing a background check, they usually have a reason for it; be suspicious. Thanks for reading, Jaap Suter

You might as well leave your rig at home. One of the locals always carries a truckload of sand in his vagina, one of the locals is too afraid to jump illegal objects and likes to dance to Abba music, and the last two are too occupied with fluid dynamics to actually have time to jump. But other than that, it's Canada's finest!

Hahahaha, that's awesome! And don't forget the water bassin midway with a bunch of sharks in it. We'll all be jumping with condoms. Ha!

Awesome, simply awesome. I can't wait to see what the hell we're doing in twenty years. It's going to be incredible.

Aaaaargggghhhh.... This DVD is currently sitting in my mailbox. But because I'm a stupid cunt my mailbox key is with a friend who's out of town. I'm pretty close to putting a crowbar into my mailbox. Meanwhile, I'll go watch Virtus one more time.

BASE WIKI has a page on helmets that may have some advice too.

That was actually a BASE quote, made by Roland “Slim” Simpson, RIP. More BASE nuggets on BASE WIKI.

I totally agree. I was mostly referring to Tom's original post where there was initial syntactial confusion about whether experienced BASE jumpers fly canopies with a lower or higher wingloading. I find it much more intuitive if I read: "experienced BASE jumpers will tend to choose larger canopies." Two cents...

Sort of, but I bet it took you longer than a millisecond to type that answer. I'm well familiar with wingloading and what they mean. I was trying to convey that wingloading always takes a fraction of a second longer to understand than big and small does.

That's what he meant, he has since edited the post. Thanks for the clarification Johnny. I'll actually admit that I've always found the term wingloading confusing. I prefer to speak in terms of bigger canopy and smaller canopy since it appeals instantly to intuition; big is slow, small is fast. Quick, anybody, answer this question in a millisecond without thinking; how do you calculate wingloading, weight over area or area over weight? Did you cheat? Obviously at some point the weight to area ratio is a useful metric, but in general discussions I like big and small. And in life in general I like big; really big. But that's another story...

Should probably say: "very few experienced jumpers"? Please self-destruct this post after reading.

Uhm.... 245 / 330 = 0.74 < 0.75 So you'd be okay with a 330. There is actually another canopy-sizing rule besides the 0.6 to 0.75 rule that says; take your naked body weight in pounds and add 100. Some say this rule more accurately describes the ideal wingloading since heavier people can actually benefit from slightly higher wingloading; e.g. the 0.6 to 0.75 rule is actually non-linear. Jumping with a canopy this big does bring some considerations that not everybody is aware of though. When the time is right, I would recommend getting in touch with other people jumping canopies in that range and asking their advice. Also, note that higher wingloaded BASE canopies can be great for some areas (terminal jumps with easier landings) and poor for other areas (low jumps with sketchy small landing areas that require deep approaches). Adjust your jumping to your abilities.

As per this thread I am looking for somebody from Arizona who has sold some BASE gear (Troll and Gargoyle) to a guy in Canada. Since this was a bit of an interesting sale, I suspect that the seller may not be a regular BASE jumper and therefore not hang out on the BASE forums. If you have any idea who this may have been, let me know. Thanks, Jaap Suter

Hey, I'm looking to get in touch with somebody from Arizona who has sold a Gargoyle and Troll to a guy called Chris Chalifour (rsx_tech) from Canada. What happened to doing background checks when you sell gear? You might as well hand a loaded gun to a suicidal person! Moderator; feel free to remove this post if it's not appropriate, I'm a little agitated over this. Thanks, Jaap Suter

Yes, which is awesome if it's old-timers that know what they're doing... Yes, which totally sucks if it's somebody that's about to make his first BASE jump and think's he knows what he's doing...

Probably could have used an NSFW... Bored, Collin? I guess all that time you're spending not opening new objects allows you to learn Photoshop? Awesome...

Oh we will!

Hello, Please take a look at the attached image. How high would the rockdrop in the red-circle have to be in order to outfly the bottom slab? I know the picture is kinda fuzzy and low-detail, but it's all I got to go on. I'm not looking for exact answers anyway, just trying to start a discussion on altitudes, glide-angles and feasibility of cliffs. It turns out that we have a lot of slabby stuff around here, but every now and then we find something with a vertical table on top of it. I guess I just have to become a good wingsuiter or tracker then...