High enouf?

[Faber]

Any tip,how to look at a building,to see if its high enouf.I know that i just could use the altimeter in my whatc,but would like to know how many stores it will take(normaly)to make BASE posible.
im interestted to know becours i always wonder while im driving near them.I dont have the experrience to jump them,but would like to know if it could be done.
Thanks
Ps afther acouple of mails i found out this could bee miss understod.I will NOT jump them before i have the experience,just wanne find out

[BASE_689]

Obviously, the first thing to look up in a B is its height, just to see if it is jumpable in freefall or SL (Static Line), or not jumpable at all. Then, they come another 5 or 6 other issues concerning the B jump, but if you don't have the height, simply forget about it!
A simple rule of thumb to determine a B's height (in the sense of determining IF it is worth to come back later with a laser rangefinder to EXACTLY measure it) is counting floors and considering 1 floor 3 m high. So, 15 floors, 15 x 3 = 45 m high, 20 floors, 20 x 3 m= 60 m high, and so on.
Now, with these VERY ROUGH figures, you can determine IF it is worht to come back later with a laser rangefinder to EXACTLY measure it.
Remember: to count a B's floors and estimating 3 m per floor is simply a STARTING POINT for coming back later with a laser rangefinder, and then evaluate also all the other issues about the jump: landing area, alternate landing area, distance exit/landing area, existence of (sound) exit point, access to exit point, location/position of ground crew/getaway car, etc etc.

> but I would like to know how many stores it will take (normally) to make BASE possible.
DON'T. DON'T. DON'T. Don't go and BASE jump the B simply after having counted the floors. Counting floors is (as I said above) simply a STARTING POINT to determine if it is worth to come back with a laser rangenfinder to EXACTLY measure it bla bla bla.
Minimum B's jumpable height: difficult to say. It is not an absolute value the jumpable height of a B. A generic "object" of 61 m - 200 ft CAN be freefallen (if you are a very good indeed packer, perfect launch, etc etc), but with absolutely free area under exit point. Consider that freefalling a 61 m - 200 ft object you will not go so far (speaking of horizontal distance), especially if you keep (and you MUST keep) a margin for horizontal distance travelled under open canopy to keep into account possible off-headings (90°'s and worse...).
So, from a theoretical point of view, a 61 m - 200 ft B with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AROUND IT and grass/soft earth everywhere under exit point, COULD be freefallen (having the right experience and so on...), still being jolly extreme (you would end up with something like 4 - 5 s of open canopy time, having as a MUST a Vtec (or equivalent) canopy...).
If you put into account that hardly a B has got grass/soft earth under it, because B's usually have got concrete/solid tar under them, you are NOT going to have a soft landing area but a very hard soil indeed. And so you MUST increase the 61 m - 200 ft figure for the desire of keeping your ankle/legs/limbs integer :D .
If you put into account also the fact that usually a B has got under it street lamps, parked cars and whatever and that the "free-landable-area" is NOT immediately under exit point, now you have to increase the above +61m - +200 ft figure of another bit.
So, it DOES NOT EXIST and it CANNOT EXIST an ultimate figure of height of a B that is jumpable (being a figure for frefall and another figure for SL off of it), because the "jumpable height" of a B (as of any other object, in the end) depends so much from ALL the aspect of the jump itself.
Moral of the story: counting the floors and considering 3 m/floor is simply a good starting point for determining if it is worth to come back with a laser rangefinder to EXACTLY measure it and to study ALSO ALL the other isuues of the jump.
COUNTING FLOORS = ONLY STARTING POINT!!!!!

Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689 :D

[kleggo]

my god man!
i wonder how i ever managed to survive my buIlding jumps without using a
LASER RANGE FINDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


he he he

kleggo

[crwper]

Just a quick note on floor heights... Office buildings tend to have floors about 10-12 feet high, but residential buildings tend to be closer to 8 feet.

A laser is nice if you can get one -- it's a very fast way to find out the height of a building.

Otherwise, you can estimate by counting floors. If you can get inside, you can measure the floor-to-floor distance in a stairwell. Be sure to measure a few floors, because sometimes some of the floors are bigger than others.

Michael

[BASE_689]

Hi my dear good friend Kleggo!!!!

>I wonder how i ever managed to survive my
>building jumps without using a LASER RANGE
>FINDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are absolutely right, ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!!!!!
But....
1) when you did your B jumps, you ALL were a different breed of skydivers/BASE jumpers
2) Laser Range Finders did not exist at the time...
3) Now laser range finders are available and do not cost a fortune, I don't see why a relatively unexperienced BASE jumper, being the only BASE jumper in his region, should not take advantage of these new technology, that, beyond giving you the exact figure of B's height, takes away from you the worry about the height (see next point 4) and, moreover, refrain you from getting access to the B's roof (that sometimes, dealing with B, is the most difficult issue...).
4) In USA the most "unlucky" B is in the 150 m - 492 ft range (where failing of ±20 m - ±66 ft during the guess is not a big issue...), or, anyway, is "jolly" high; on the other hand, here in Europe (generally) B's are NOT so high and so knowing EXACTLY if a B is 65 m - 213 ft high or is 85 m - 279 ft high can make the difference between a jump and a non-jump!!!!! ...and with a laser rangefinder, at least, it takes another (big) worry away from you!

Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689 :D

[JOMAN]

I only have one thing to add. make sure you go from the corner of the B if you can. be safe c-ya

[Skinflicka]

I just jumped my neighbors shed.

One floor (plus attic)

11 feet 8 & 3/4inches

46" ZP (stowed). I used the "super mushroom" method (the red ones with the white dots).

What are you worrying about?

Babies.

PS Twisted my ankle a little on landing and have called 911 but I'm hard enouf to type this out on my laptop while I wait for the helicopter.

:*

Happy landings.

[Faber]

Thanks guys,This were what i wanted to know.I would newer try an B whithout help from an experienced jumper.Also i wouldnt jump ANY objekt whith out knowing the higth.
All this just went out of my newbie-dream of jumping off a B.
Onse again Thanks

[crwper]

Did you laser it? Did you get video?

Michael

[Skinflicka]

I did get video. I'll post it later after I convert to Mpeg.

The laser didn't work and the rock drop broke my beer cooler. I finally resorted to measuring tape.

My wife declared my exit "fat & unstable"...at least I think she was talking about the exit.

I don't see anyone else out there repeating this ground (beer cooler) breaking gag. Are you not hard enouf?