John Vincent Documentary

JayhawkJumper

Hey, I just got handed a documentary of John Vincent's jump from the WTC towers. It only had about 2 seconds of actual jump footage, but its the best BASE video I've seen. Anyone else seen it? It's called "FreeFallin" Guess what song it uses, lol.

So where is this guy now?

NickDG

Re: [JayhawkJumper] John Vincent Documentary

Anyone smell hot tar?

There's "another" vid you should see . . .

NickD
BASE 194

cvfd1399

Re: [JayhawkJumper] John Vincent Documentary

where can I get a look at the video? I haven't seen him in about 6 months.

GaryP

Re: [JayhawkJumper] John Vincent Documentary

In reply to: So where is this guy now?
He got jail for killing a little girl while driving drunk then leaving the scene. He's not a popular person.

re: the "other" vid - I would love to see that - can it be uploaded somewhere??? John Vincent tarred and feathered by his loving peers.

g.

TomAiello

Re: [GaryP] John Vincent Documentary

In reply to: ...the "other" vid - I would love to see that - can it be uploaded somewhere??
No way. Think about the content that you're asking to be made publicly available. I'm sure that whoever had a copy of that kind of potentially incriminating evidence would never let it be distributed in any way--much less upload it to an internet server.

Base626

Re: [TomAiello] John Vincent Documentary

tfelber

Re: [TomAiello] John Vincent Documentary

ha ha

iiro

Re: [NickDG] John Vincent Documentary

Jagshemash!

For years, i thought John Vincent's tar and feather story was a myth - just like Bigfoot, Santa and un-corrupted US president are. I could not believe my eyes, when i saw it just a few weeks ago.

I loved the part, in the beginning, where he does not know what is happening and he keeps asking if some anonymous woman had set them up for it. He seemed to be relieved, when he found out the mob were his "base buddies", not some other people he had screwed with. You can clean tar and feather faster than you would heal from a bullet wound, in the back of a head. :)

This thread started by someone saying how cool John Vincent documentary was. Everyone's negative opinion of him as a person, does not change the fact, he was a hard-core jumper at his time. I know his jumping inspired some of todays best jumpers to get into base-jumping.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but in my opinion Vincent was a jumper, who occacionally did a high profile jumps and ALWAYS remembered to bring the media along. In some ways, he was a bit like Thor-Alex and that Austrian guy, who thinks wearing tight-pants is a cool fashion statement...

skreamer

Re: [iiro] John Vincent Documentary

In reply to: Jagshemash!
My name Borat, in my country I am greatest BASE jumper (but my mother she never love me).

NickDG

Re: [iiro] John Vincent Documentary

I actually liked John on a personal level, but there's no doubt he was the biggest site burner of the 1980s. And like too many "newbies" then and now, he used the sport to gain personal attention outside the BASE community without regard to the harm it caused. He brought the heat down on several long time sites and was warned over and over to stop doing it.

So one local crew tracked him down and did what they did. Actually they seriously debated killing him, but cooler heads prevailed.

John was hardly a BASE jumper when he first tried the ESB jump with skydiving gear. Her later paid a BASE rigger to send him an already packed BASE rig and then made the jump.

John did eventually become a rather competent BASE jumper, but the damage was already done and his name was mud in the BASE community. John is the reason old timers roll their eyes at Felix B. and the Red Bull guys.

It's human nature to want to be known, to be a name, but there's a right and wrong way to go about it. I can't count the opportunities I've turned down to be interviewed by people outside the BASE community. Sure, I could have gotten a certain amount of fame and made some easy money, but it's more important to me what my true brothers and sisters thought of me, and it's more important I stay true to the sport.

I was never in the group that said BASE jumping should be kept entirely underground. And I believe a certain amount of "good" publicity is necessary for growth and access. The problem is when the wrong people are doing our public relations.

John actions were especially galling as he made it look as if he invented the sport; it was all John, all the time. And the MTV generation swallowed it whole. To this day I still get occasional media inquirers about John and my stock answer is always the same. "I've never heard of him."

The lesson for folks new to the sport is you are standing on the shoulders of the jumpers that came before you. And you have an obligation to pass on what was given to you. We all need role models at some point, and the sport is full of good and bad ones.

My advice is be more like an Aiello and less like a Vincent. That way the next time a pretty girl knocks on your door in the night you won’t be afraid to open it . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Base733

Re: [NickDG] John Vincent Documentary

All this T&F talk makes me want to go jump with the Atlanta BASE Crew tomorrow morning...

TomAiello

Re: [Base733] John Vincent Documentary

Dude, you are the Atlanta crew...

In reply to: All this T&F talk makes me want to go jump with the Atlanta BASE Crew tomorrow morning...
So is that like playing with yourself?

base736

Re: [NickDG] John Vincent Documentary

In reply to: The lesson for folks new to the sport is you are standing on the shoulders of the jumpers that came before you.
That help explain some of my unstable exits...

raym666

Re: [TomAiello] John Vincent Documentary

Naw there are a few in the ATL that actually do jump

cesslon

Re: [skreamer] John Vincent Documentary

In reply to: In reply to: Jagshemash!
My name Borat, in my country I am greatest BASE jumper (but my mother she never love me).

I like Sex!!.
hahah has borat made it big in the USA yet ?

and just to keep this thread on topic, did this guy get tar poored on him and feathers thrown on or is an an expression of speach thingy.

leroydb

Re: [cesslon] John Vincent Documentary

i believe it really happened in this case..

RhondaLea

Re: [leroydb] John Vincent Documentary

It really happened, and as Nick mentioned above, when he jumped the WTC, he jumped a pre-packed rig. What Nick didn't mention is that the rig was packed . John had quite the canopy ride from what I understand.

Nonetheless, I always liked him, and I'm very sorry to hear what he has done to himself. I'm even sorrier, though, about the little girl and her parents.

rl

leroydb

Re: [RhondaLea] John Vincent Documentary

what kind of a delay did he take?

base311

Re: [NickDG] John Vincent Documentary

In reply to:
(stuff snipped)

So one local crew tracked him down and did what they did. Actually they seriously debated killing him, but cooler heads prevailed.

(stuff snipped)

That way the next time a pretty girl knocks on your door in the night you won’t be afraid to open it . . .

NickD
BASE 194
I can say with authority that the planning discussion never included killing (though 'he needed killing' is still a legitimate defense in The South). Castration was tossed about for sure... but never homicide.

And the pretty girl knocked on the door about 8:30 am on a sat. morning.

311

NickDG

Re: [leroydb] John Vincent Documentary

>>what kind of a delay did he take?<<

Among the "known" jumps made there, and considering the altitude the ESB still hasn't been jumped like it could be. John did a 2, maybe 3 second delay, and the other two guys static lined it . . .

And, my bad on the details of John's T&Fing, that was the way I heard it by the time the story got to me . . . thanks 311.

NickD
BASE 194