Squirrel CORVID

SketchySketchy

Re: [DFR] Squirrel CORVID

DFR wrote: ...I should be able to put my first jumps on it next week but based on what I've seen of it in Moab while jumping my AURA3 next to it, seen on video, heard from pilots flying at, and understanding some of the technical info and changes on this vs the other suits, I think this will be the ticket into increasing margin and safely jumping more exits in the Eastern Sierras.
I wonder if this is the way that higher performance suits are used when they appear on the market? Do margins of safety increase or are more risky exits that were not possible suddenly become possible? Perhaps it is a bit of both.

I didn't know Daniel but I followed him like I have a lot of the high profile names of the past and present. I'm sure many jumps became safer for him but the lure of opening more exits brought with it inevitable risk, as it has to so many others.

I don't WS BASE, yet, so I can't speak about the sport from any authority. Certainly, better equipment must be a good thing. As with anything, the limit will be pushed and pushed until the risk becomes normalized and then one day bites you in the butt.

Heat

Re: [SketchySketchy] Squirrel CORVID

Suits are better than ever, base jumpers remain the same. Although the regular jumping of technical (what should be called super gnarly) exits is impressive, I expect more deaths. Being on the bleeding edge of what is possible in wingsuit jumping never lasts, one way or another.

Base jumper: "A safer suit with good start and glide? I'm gonna jump this super low exit! Really strong flare power? That means I can brush the terrain the whole jump and just flare before I pull, no need to conserve height and margin anymore!"

Isfjorden B.A.S.E.

bluhdow

Re: [Heat] Squirrel CORVID

Heat wrote: Being on the bleeding edge of what is possible in wingsuit jumping never lasts, one way or another.
I've had this conversation a lot...and a lot more lately. The simple truth is that the more you jump, and the more aggressively you jump, the more likely you are to die doing it. Period.

Better gear helps, but it's not a solution. More skill helps, but it's not a solution. Currency helps to a certain point, but it's not a solution. (As much as we like to point to currency...it has diminishing returns.)

I understand that some people push their limits for all the right reasons, and in all the right ways. But it's also undeniable that a lot of decisions in BASE jumping are made for attention, or admiration, or whatever miniscule amount of financial support might be possible. For anyone who is even remotely in the second camp...it's never worth it.

I've been on a BASE hiatus for about 18 months and the real world has reset my view of risk. In BASE land it's so easy to let your risk tolerance slip to a point that is unrecognizable to most rational people. I've seen it happen over, and over, and over...to myself and others. Opening a new, low, technical WS BASE exit is incredibly risky...with (opinion) incredibly little reward relative to flying even a little more safely. But in some circles opening exits like this and flying as aggressively as possible becomes the norm.

Every grown ass adult can make their own choices. I believe that strongly. But I think BASE has a way of distorting those choices by magnifying the relatively small reward of flying on the "bleeding edge," and minimizing the massive impact that a youthful death can have. Not only on your friends and family, but on one's own inability to seek out the infinite number of other ways to live a meaningful and happy existence in this world. BASE is wonderful, and amazing, and an experience I wouldn't trade for anything...but those traits are not unique to BASE jumping.

Maybe I'm just getting old...or soft...or my wife has really gotten into my head. I think BASE will always be a part of my life, but the more I'm around it the more I know it's not worth dying for.*

*Mindset not guaranteed to prevent injury or death.

#1816

MrAW

Re: [SketchySketchy] Squirrel CORVID

SketchySketchy wrote: Certainly, better equipment must be a good thing. As with anything, the limit will be pushed and pushed until the risk becomes normalized and then one day bites you in the butt.
Yep, exactly. AKA Booth's Rule #2:

"The safer skydiving gear becomes, the more chances skydivers will take, in order to keep the fatality rate constant"

dmcoco84

Re: [SketchySketchy] Squirrel CORVID

SketchySketchy wrote: I don't WS BASE, yet, so I can't speak about the sport from any authority.
I don't agree with anything that has been said, from SketchySketchy on... as far as DFR is concerned.

This is exactly why the BFL is so important. -- (Note: I'm also not a fan of the term "ego".)

What if Steven didn't clear the talus, & these words were instead written by DFR?

When I saw he had gone in, I was shocked. I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him (what I thought was, "yet"), but we did DM a bit. Having also told him that every time I jump my Phantom 1 OG off the NRGB, I'm unable to get Lukas Knutsson (BFL 72) out of mind. Though, I had , mentioned the pilot chute problem I had in skydiving that almost killed me. (Which is fully on video; & for a time on SDM.com) -- Having shared an exit point with many of the OG individuals doing the most of the most of this type of flying, in western states, when I learned of these details (no tools, no info, no guide) ... I was even more shocked.

StevenM wrote: There’s the facts, now our biggest mistake was we didn’t have our tools.. no lazer, no video footage, and the jumper who opened the flight was 45 minutes behind us. Just one of those could have changed the outcome of the jump. Overall i believe it was our ego, saying we got this even without our much needed tools. At this point of the sport it is mandatory to have at least one of those in my opinion. -- Daniel was proficient on how to get, and analyze data to make the margin of error in our sport as low as possible. And the one time we skipped these steps this accident occurred. This report is to help other jumpers not make the same mistake and for closure on what actually happened in the mountains that day.

dmcoco84

Re: [SketchySketchy] Squirrel CORVID

Correction wrote:
Heat wrote: Suits are better than ever, base jumpers remain the same.

hashtagBFL .. %#

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