I am Brian's father. I have been reading your posts since about the 1st of July. I have refrained from posting as I did not want my emotions to spew out on all of you. I would suspect that the majority of Base Jumpers are decent human beings and some of the posts would support that. However, there are a few of you out there that would not meet that definition.
I wish to say as little as possible; but, much needs to be said. Brian had a family - a family that loved him very very much. We miss him more than we enjoy life. I for one wish that I could have had an option of dying in his behalf. My life has changed since Brian's death and right now, I am not confident that my life will ever be whole or worth living again.
The entire family reads this base board on a regular basis. Some postings immediately after Brian's death were well received. They came across as a tribute to him and as a sincere and tragic loss to mankind. While we were hurting, we were still able to hold our heads high and be proud of the men and women that Brian associated with in this sport.
Then the posts got ugly. Different levels of ugliness and at different times different family members would be angry at what was being said. I asked each family member to hold their tongue and to not lower ourselves to the level of the author of the ugliness. I asked them all to refrain from posting. The family has abided by my request.
But, I have to say that the posting that I read this morning about "Who is the Most Hated Base Jumper" authored by Thomas Mauch is the most sick and disgusting piece of editorial production that I have seen in my 53 years on this earth.
To Mr. Mauch: If you wanted to hurt me, you did so. I cried. I actually cried as much today as when I went to Twin Falls to retrieve my dead son and have him cremated on Father's Day.
If you wanted to make me angry, you did so. Because after I cried, I got angry, a very unhealthy killing type of angry.
If you wanted to just tease me and make me think, you did so. Because after I cried and after I got over my initial anger, I felt a great deal of contempt for you; but, odly enough I felt sorry for you. You must be a very sad and bitter human being to start this post in the manner you did. For the life of me, I can not imagine why you would put Brian's name in this post as a hated base jumper when Brian was so new to the sport.
I am not going to go into the many questions I have with regard to your post. I actually think you are too sick to carry on a conversation of this magnitute. I also don't want to give credence to your post by repeating any part of it. I simply wish you to know that your post hit a target that you probably were aiming at or didn't care about.
I do however wish to point out something that is relatively important in your post. You stated in a couple of different posts that Brian either "screwed up" or "made a mistake" and is "dead for his stupidity." (If the quotes are not exact, they are at least the meaning.)
There have been many requests by many Base Jumpers for knowledge of Brian's death and the potential cause. I was awe struck by how quiet everyone involved was. Mr. Mauch, your irrational comments might make most people conclude incorrectly that indeed, Brian did do something stupid.
I want the entire Base Jumping community to know what killed Brian. There were two official investigations into Brian's death and nothing was ever posted concerning the outcome. I will tell you that both of those investigations concluded that there was no conclusive evidence of what caused the equipment failure. In other words, Brian's pilot chute was in tow for the majority of his jump and .4 seconds before he hit the water, his pilot chute inflated - obviously too late.
The investigations correctly identified Brian's equipment that he was using; but we are again awe struck as to a lack of reason for his pilot chute opening failure in their conclusions.
Two of the major manufacturers of Base equipment have internet sites with training information posted for their clients. Both of these sites would suggest that Brian was dead before he walked out on that bridge to jump with the other 7 jumpers.
Brian was using a 38" Pilot Chute, a 6'9" Bridle, went stowed, and was assigned a 1-2 second delay for deploying his Pilot Chute. Any one of these factors alone would not be a major cause for alarm - all of them in tandem were a death sentence for Brian. Brian had jumped that rig 3 or 4 times during that weekend and all went well because he did a 3-4 second delay. We have the tapes of his jumps and you can easily count 3 seconds on each jump.
The assignment of the 1-2 second delay is, in my mind, the biggest factor in Brian's death. I doubt that I have to educate the Base Jumping community about Pilot Chute size, the smaller Bridle, and a 1-2 second delay. But, if you go to the training sites, you will find that one company would suggest a 3-4 second delay with poor performance and the other would require a 4-7 second delay with his Pilot Chute and his Bridle.
Brian was a "low-timer" as you would call him. He really should not have been on that load at all. He actually had less than 20 Base Jumps to his name when he jumped his fatal jump. His stupidity, Mr. Mauch, was to trust his friends and the more experienced Jumpers on that load. Brian's inexperience in Base Jumping did not ring an alarm in his mind when assigned the 1-2 second delay. He knew nothing about the "Birble" created by the lower speed, he knew nothing about how the 6'9" Bridle would interface with a 1-2 delay. Lastly, he knew nothing about how a 38" Pilot Chute would be considered too small of a chute for 486 feet when all the other factors were in tandem.
So, Mr. Mauch, I was forced to react to your disgusting commentation concerning Brian's death as I do not want another Father or another loving family to lose a Base Jumper as we have. Brian's death was preventable. A couple of Saturday's ago, there was a Base Jumping article in the Time News there in Twin Falls. It also made the on line edition and made a posting on this site. But, on the same date, there was an article on Brian. It, however, did not make the on line edition. Too bad, as I proposed a procedure that could save lives and it was not posted on your board.
It might well be worth your time and effort to review that article. Among other things, it will tell you that Brian had a family that loves and misses him. Additionally, it proposed to the residents of Twin Falls a procedure that could be called "Brian's Paper" or the "Stout Paper." What it does is outline the proper combination of gear and delay for the most optimum of jumps at the Perrine Bridge. Somthing this simple would have saved Brian's life as it would have told him that his equipment, at best was marginal for that jump, at worst, was not allowed unless a 3-4 second delay was used.
Mr. Mauch, I really do feel sorry for you. But, your caustic post has spurred action on my part in the form of this post and between the two of us, perhaps someone will read this thread, think about it seriously, and maybe a life will be spared. I actually hope it will be yours as your after life will be unpleasant.
Please, please, please, to all who read this post. You don't have to like what I have said; but please do not be ugly. If you have something to say, be it positive or negative, you have the right to post it. But, I truly would love to hear from you if you have something positive to say.
For all the decent Base Jumpers who go out and perform this sport - please be safe!
Wayne Stout
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