BASE specific gear

[guest]

Hi there Tom A, or whoever chooses to respond;

What is the difference between between a 7 cell raven or PD seven cell, and a BASE "specific" canopy? I read your product review (Tom A) and it mentions that they should not be used for BASE jumping. Why?

I use these canopies and I am rookie enough to barely be able to tell a difference between them and my FOX. They have been modified for BASE with tail pockets from CR... and maybe even other modifications like attachment point spot or something.. I am not sure. I think that they have BASE jumping lines on them... these lines are the exact same as my FOX lines, was that a modification or are BASe jumping lines and skydiving lines the same?

What are the standard modifications put on a non BASE specific canopy to make it suitable for BASE jumping?

I have heard that Ravens snivel with the slider up, is it O.K. to jump these non BASE specific canopies with the slider down, but not up?
thanks
jt
holmsy@hotmail.com

[imported_Tom Aiello]

I strongly recommend you read what John LeBlanc of PD had to say on this topic in this thread:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=306774

In relevant part:

"For BASE, get a canopy designed for BASE. Can I get any more clear than that?" -- John LeBlanc, Performance Designs

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

[imported_Tom Aiello]

First I'd recommend reading the entire thread I referenced above. It has lots of people's general views on the subject.

>...and maybe even other modifications...
I'd call CR and check for sure. It would scare me a bit to be jumping gear that might have modifications I was unaware of.

>...are BASE jumping lines and skydiving lines the same?
The standard dacron lines used on BASE canopies are generally the same as the ones on the big skydiving canopies in question. Obviously, any kind of micro line (spectra, vectran, etc), like that used on most modern skydiving canopies will be visually different.

>What are the standard modifications put on a non BASE specific canopy to make it suitable for BASE jumping?
I'm not sure what you'd consider "standard", and since the standard thing to do is to just go get a BASE canopy, that's what I'd recommend. In the past, to use a skydiving canopy for BASE, various modifications have been made, including tail pocket installation (always), changing lines (in particular using continuous center A's and B's) (sometimes) and crossport modifications (sometimes). The only one that I'd say is "standard" (i.e. done by everyone) is the tail pocket.

>I have heard that Ravens snivel with the slider up, is it O.K. to jump these non BASE specific canopies with the slider down, but not up?
I've jumped a Raven for BASE exactly three times. They were all slider down. I've heard that older Ravens snivelled slider up, and that the newer "super" Ravens didn't have this problem. But I'm hardly a Raven expert.

In all seriousness, my advice is to get real BASE specific gear. Especially now, with the Flik and Ace on the market, there are plenty of cheap FOXes and Mojos for sale.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com