outrager

Yes yes yes! You are always free to reject their service, but an option of not having to pack is the sweetest thing in the world. It gives BASE another chance ;-) Such voluntary services would remove the unethical practice of enslaving younger jumpers to pack for you by means of brutal force, trickery and false promises. I personaly don't care which direction a canopy opens, so as long as it opens at all and the price is right you've got my business! bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I remember the time when packing a parachute was fun. Trying to figure out the best way to pack was a challenge, and deploying a new version of a packjob was exciting. Then things get dialed in. It becomes a 10-minute quickie, really not an issue when you make ten jumps a night on autopilot. Later yet packing becomes boring, but that's the price we pay to jump, right ? Well, now it came to a point where i hate packing with a passion, and many jumps are simply not worth a packjob. I have asked, begged, tricked and blackmailed other people to pack for me on multiple occasions. This is ridiculous. One would imagine with all the recent advances in technology and marketing BASE manufacturers could at least supply a packer or two with every rig... but nooo, all you may hope for is a lousy video describing a horrific torture with clamps that would make your nipples bleed! Thoughts of base competitions judged by a pack job perfomance give me the creeps. Like a quick trashpack wasn't enough pain and suffering! What's next? Carrying a judge to the exit point??? So, how do you handle this? Is packing fun, routine or a pain in the arse for you? bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! A very dumb and meaningless comparison, especially considering the fact that a mess in Iraq is only beginning and will be getting worse for many years to come. bsbd! Yuri.

IMHO DC area is one of the worst in the country to pick, especially if you are a jumper. The only positive thing is a lot of high-paying jobs - that's the golden chain still keeping me here in this horrible swamp. A place to live will probably depend on where you work - moving around during rush hour is a nightmare. Rents are high, it will start at about 1k/month for a cheap appt. bsbd! Yuri.

He looked like a retarded child failing an exam. An IQ of a watermellon. Stupid and stubborn. I find it sad but quite understandabe that a large chunk of US electorate, including many skydivers here, relates to him so well. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! BASE175 and i did a downplane in Norway in '97. It was fun, given our very limited CRW experience. A bunch of real CRW dogs could easily do a few 4way rotations from any of the big walls, maybe even put together an 8way. Of course it'd be unreasonably safe over the water, but the taller ones have acceptably rocky taleses ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

The difference? How about we don't machine gun the cars of innocent civilians who are protecting the supplies of food and medicine for our children and then burn their bodies and hang them from bridges like pieces of meat? Hows that for starters? What an ignorance. US forces fired on dozens of civilian cars in Iraq killing a huge number of innocents, whereas the "innocent civilians" you mention were armed mercenaries, ex-US military. In the last three days US forces have killed _hundreds_ of Iraqies, huge part of them civilians, plenty of women and children. Machine gunning an ambulance on the way to a hospital yesterday is just one fine example to your point. Emotions towards US stretching from dislike to hate are spreading much wider than the public here realizes. They go way beyond a muslim world, and they will bite hard eventually. Bin Laden's vision of spreading the hatred towards US is being implemented very efficiently. Incredibly, a lot of people who have oppose muslim fanatics now begin to hate US about as much as they hate the terrorists. It will only get worse. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! A fun way to relieve jesus freak related annoyance (or any similar emotion) is to stock up on little stickers with a picture of a screw. They instantly modify "i love jesus" or "jesus saves" stickers on freak cars. Use creatively. bsbd! Yuri.

Chris, Have you seen any detailed reports on the 4th plane crash ? I remember reading about one of the engines being pretty far from the rest of the debris, and other details indicating that plane didn't come down in one piece. Would any passenger actions take it apart in mid-air or would you rather think of it being shot down ? bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! A more interesting question is what has happened to the fourth plane... original news on Sep 11 indicated 2 debris fields and witness reports of the plane coming down in flames. This has later been replaced by hero passengers story. Not much has since been said about that crash... bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! Such an ultimatum - about skydiving or fishing or playing golf - is a reason enough to break up ASAP. You cannot have a healthy relationship with a person who demands you to give up whatever passion you have. If you try to stay you will inevitably end up with conscious or subconscious negative feelings towards the person you assume to love. The only way it may work out is if skydiving wasn't your passion in the first place. bsbd! Yuri.

It has been successfully repeated at another object by a different crew. Better yet, ask how they got a couple more rigs through at the same time - that's just a testament to stupidity of rent-a-cops. Nothing better than security personally carrying rigs in for you ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I believe it matches DW's delay with Birdman pantz there. bsbd! Yuri.

Yep, and it can also be a criminal offence (misdemeanor). bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! Does anybody know a good traffic lawyer in Farfax county in Virginia ? It's an old boy network kind of place, one must have a lawyer even for basic negotiations or pleas with a prosecutor. Need to beat a reckless driving ticket here (55mph in 35mph following too close). PM if you have any info, it will be greatly appreciated! bsbd! Yuri.

Yo! I have read the english translation - it's a great book! Get it whenever it comes out. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! LQRS is a nice option to have as a backup, especially if you are going to pull low (i.e. BASE) and run out the landing, or if you're composed of metal and grease (i.e. Tom A). Now with all the low pulls i do, i have only used LQRS once to practice the procedure and somehow never needed it in real life. Then again, i have only ever used wing cutaways twice (on sub200' openings). Guess i'm really happy with zippers. I would still get the option on the new suit. It doesn't hurt to have an efficient zipper backup. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I couldn't vote on this poll because my opening altitudes depend on what type of a jump it is: 300' for an all-out BASE flight 500'-1000' for an easy and conservative BASE flight 2000' on a skydive under a larger reliable square 3000'+ under a small elliptical 4000'+ after a big break when i'm not current Variety is what keeps the life fun! ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

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Yo ! A member of our BASE crew is considering a breast reduction surgery. Please help her to make a wise and conscious desicion by offering your honest and unbiased opinion before it's too late. Save the rack! bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! We are sitting here partying and watching BASE videos, and just realized that the best stuff has probably never made it out to the public... there's plenty of mediocre tapes for sale, but have you ever seen any of these: Vrank Le Poole's compilation (best edited BASE video, ever) Jeb's art (multiple videos - South Africa, Demo Tape, Year In The Life, etc) Big Way (Moscow BASE Open Air 2003) I don't think any of these are offered for sale, and that's a real bummer! Don't ask me to make copies, but it may be a good idea to contact the authors. These beauties must be seen! ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! If i had time to zip up, i would - at any altitude. If an emergency happened fast and i had to bail as is (unzipped) - i would try to partially zip my arms to the elbows and probably keep my arms close to the body. I wouldn't worry about the leg wing - it's usually tucked under a leg strap or snapped in out of the way. Another midway solution if there's a few seconds is to zip up quickly skipping the time-consuming booties, it will fly fine and stable without them. My altitude comfort zone goes down to about 300 ft so i really shouldn't share an opinion in this area ;-) A couple of things to consider, though - if you are zipped up and an airplane is still flying level and you do a good exit, you shouldn't loose any altitude in the first few seconds. Your opening will start semi-horizontal - for a reserve, it cuts the opening height almost in half. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I wonder if any of you ever noticed or thought about a sensory and/or emotional "desensitizing" that seems to come along with long-term BASE jumping. It feels like a sensory scale gets recalibrated to the point where normal "input levels" are pretty much ignored. BASE brings a wide range of emotions - from extreme pleasure to extreme pain, so it affects the entire spectre of feelings. It has a power to take a central part of your life, and this is where many jumpers end up trapped for years - or maybe for their entire life. "Happily trapped" may be a better term, though, since the high it gives you is absolutely priceless ;-) However, there may come a point where you grow up enough (or degrade, as you wish) to find, with a great surprize, that BASE has shifted to the sidelines. You still jump - not as much as you used to, but getting more fun out of each and every load. You don't care about the numbers any more and feel happy after a single jump - quite a contrast with all-night non-stop marathons that in the earlier days still wouldn't satisfy you enough. You can choose the best objects in the most beautiful surroundings at your leisure. Basically, BASE jumping becomes as good as it gets ;-) The problem is the rest of your freshly rediscovered life now works on a different scale. You can't really stir it up to the same emotional tsunami. Adjusting your own sensors appears to be the only way. (A major warning here: if you succeed with such an adjustment, BASE jumping becomes much scarier!) Meanwhile the dark side creeps in, and the last couple of years have been particularily rough. In October i sat down and made a list of people i have met BASE jumping but will never see again. Some were my good friends, some were on the same load, some i just met the day before... The list has 16 names - all during the last 4 years. 12 went in BASE jumping, 4 more from various, mostly related causes. Dealing with death in person is a shock, and it only gets harder every time. When you realize you now deal with statistics it is a shock of its own. The only other people i know who deal with this kind of emotions are people who went through war. It is far from healthy, and my friends have quit jumping because they couldn't take it any longer. If you stay, your brain will eventually desensitize and build walls to protect itself. You hardly notice other non-fatal carnage any more, it's just part of doing business. I have been incredibly lucky so far keeping my body intact, but emotional scars are all over the place. To sum it all up - BASE consists of short peaks of incredibly intense emotions, followed by a relatively long rest period. Most other activities are more balanced, giving a much lover level of excitement over a much longer time. While a balanced life has a potential to be longer and happier overall, it is rather hard to swallow once you tried the extremes. Anyway, how do you deal with your everyday life ? Is there anything that fills it as much as BASE did ? Anything that is as intense and brings as much joy ? Or better yet - instead of trying to substitute BASE with something else, did you manage to recalibrate your scale and find a happy balance ? bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! In my experience, this has not been the problem - rather, just the opposite. In the last couple of years new and highly motivated jumpers have opened a dozen virgin sites in our small and object-poor area. They have provided all that fresh energy, entertainment and general carnage that kept the old and brittle sufficiently excited. They will be the ones pushing your wheelchair off the edge some day. Life goes on! ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I have put about 50 jumps on Cruislite at the beginning of my base jumping career. It was a rather lame canopy, even with an extra steering line mod. Pegasus on other hand has served me much better - i had a couple at some point and their openings (especially slider-up) and landings felt better than BASE-specific canopies of that time. Like Tom said, today it makes very little sense to BASE jump anything other than a BASE canopy. Any old skydiving canopy will be very questionable from a structural integrity point of view, at the very least. It may make sense to use a disposable canopy on an easy high-bust jump, but that's about it. I know, some of my good jumper friends like pain ;) but from a pure financial point of view, any broken bone will cost more than a brand new canopy... bsbd! Yuri.