Re: [iride] The angry BASE jumper
iride wrote:
Hi all, first post and i just wanted to kill the elephant in the room ( well to me anyway)
I have got
my first skydives coming up in two weeks and the plan is to become qualified,
do 150 jumps soon as possible and make the transition to BASE.
There are two of your problems.
Lots of people would like to skydive, BASE jump, etc. but can't or won't. Half the people in my first skydiving jump course didn't make it through AFF and apart from me the rest didn't stick around long enough to be thinking about BASE. With those long odds almost no one not being paid will invest time and effort indulging your BASE jumping dreams that statistically speaking aren't going to pan out. With some evidence you're going to stick around (you actually make a few hundred skydives, hang around the drop zone for a few years, buy your first BASE rig) you'll find people more receptive as long as they don't think you're going to kill yourself with bad judgement (when people die it sucks less when they're not your friends).
While there are people who'll take your money and teach you BASE jumping at 150-200 jumps there's nothing magical about those numbers which bestow the skills and judgement that make your chances of BASE jumping without death or significant injury reasonable.
There are at least four things you need to start BASE jumping with below average injury risk:
1. Parachute skills that are about preventing object strikes and landing you safely away from obstacles. Flat turns, flying backwards in a stall, landing accuracy, landing down-wind/cross-wind, landing up-hill/down-hill, deep brake approaches, flying and landing on rear risers only. You need to do these things instinctively. You need to do these things under a BASE canopy. This could take less than 150 jumps with appropriate focus, but many if not most skydivers only learn enough to deal with ideal sunny-day conditions.
2. Basic rigging skills and some intuitive sense on how the gear works. You need to be able to inspect your gear (things like a worn 3-ring loop that lets go will really suck without a reserve, less bad things like incorrectly stowed brakes lead to potential problems like flying and landing on rear risers where you're more likely to over control and have a hard landing from a low stall) and pack consistently since that influences heading control that keeps you away from objects. This should take less than 150 jumps with appropriate focus, but most skydivers ignore it.
3. Mental state. You can't be overwhelmed just because you're jumping with a parachute. When bad things happen you need to remain at a low enough stimulation level to deal with them. I don't see this happen a lot with less than a few hundred jumps. One guy I started BASE jumping with couldn't even count to three which isn't a good thing when you'd like to open below bridges where off-heading openings don't matter. You need to have had somewhat bad things happen and have dealt with them successfully. If that's been happening enough before you get to 500 skydives you probably have bad judgement and shouldn't be BASE jumping.
4. Judgment. There are times when it's inappropriate to jump (winds that are turbulent or blowing towards an object). There are objects which aren't the best idea (I won't jump anything that doesn't leave be enough room to turn around and get to a safe landing area from an off-heading opening). There are things beyond your current skill level. People learn judgment through experience; although with parachuting sports experience often involves trips to the orthopedic surgeon so you want to learn from second hand experience. You need to participate in parachute sports long enough for that to happen. You need enough time to realize how much you don't know. I don't think I've ever seen a guy (with less testosterone women do better) learn this in just 200 jumps and think 3 years + 500 jumps as an active skydiver is a better starting point.
Just putting in your 150 jumps before moving on to BASE jumping isn't going to get you there and without the skills you'll have a harder time finding people you're not paying to support you.
I had 800 or 900 skydives when I started BASE, didn't really know how much I didn't know before that, would not have survived as long if I'd started much sooner, and wouldn't have had hairy tree/boulder landings if I'd gotten into classic accuracy before starting. All the people who really stand out in my mind as 'that guy' with object strikes that happened jumping in marginal winds or were scary to watch kicking their legs like little girls were close to the recommended 200 jump minimum.
In reply to:
HOWEVER i read on these forums people complaining of people with 150 skydive jumps trying to buy there way into BASE. I was asking on another forum if anyone would be up for teaching me and i would get shot down right away..
Take up classic accuracy and consistently dead center the pea gravel or your packing mat, earn a FAA senior rigger's ticket, don't do anything to make people think you're a dead guy in training, and provided you don't have social defects you won't have many problems.
Do nothing to differentiate yourself from all the other people who drop out of skydiving, show evidence of being a dead guy in training, and you're not going to get much positive attention or free help unless you're a girl in which case the special treatment may not be good for your health.
