looooooow

[guest]

Hi,
1 week ago i made my lowest freefal jump from an antenna of 60 meters with a 46 inch pilot. i was open in the middle or maybe a little lower. my question is: how low can u go ??:))(i was pc hand hold)

thanks and stay safe

ps: the eiffeltower is fantastic under canopy ...!

[guest]

Oh great! Another "how low can you go?" posting. I guess to find the real answer to that, someone has to kill themself. You said you were open at the middle, maybe a little lower. OK, jump from the middle next time, or maybe a little higher. Just keep jumping lower and lower until you have a slight hesitation, and then you DIE!! Then the rest of us that couldn't/didn't want to go that low will keep jumping and say "Gee, that guy went waaaaaay looooooow, too bad it didn't work. Hey I guess it's time to make another jump".
it will just be to bad you are dead and can't jump with the rest of us ALIVE people.

[guest]

Come on Merlin - the question is a valid one, a lot of jumpers find that question a big challenge.

I've not freefalled as low as many (220ft lowest) but I went low enough with a SL to break my leg due to slow pressurisation and now I've revised my minimum altitude.

I think the 2 real questions are;

1. How low is a particular person willing to go.

2. How low can someone go and still leave themselves a margin for error to deal with problems.

Nobody can answer those questions - it's just the personal choice of whoever you're talking to at the time.

Craig

[guest]

Hey Steviboy:

Can you give us more details on the gear used?

In particular:

ZP or F111 PC?
Number of tapes on PC Topskin?
Pin or Velcro rig?
Canopy type and size?
Canopy mods if any (i.e. v-tech, multi)?

Any special PC presentation (i.e. did you pitch it up, out, forward, or what)?

And how was the heading on the opening?

I'm very interested in low freefalls (as far as I know the current unofficial record is 153 ft [47m] by some long haired pretty boy from Oz).

Any more info you could give us on your jump would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@ucdavis.edu

[Dwain]

>I'm very interested in low freefalls
>(as far as I know
>the current unofficial record is
>153 ft [47m] by some
>long haired pretty boy from
>Oz).
>

Lasered at 159ft over hard earth, to be exact. 12 freefalls to date, all with standup landings. Preferred choice of equipment is a BR customized ultra-light weight 52" zp p/c, Vtec FOX, Primed velcro (barely mated) or pin rig with spectra closing loop/s, DBS.

However this jump is far more dependent on the participant than the equipment used. P/C presentation to the airflow is absolutely critical, body postion on canopy extraction (to minimise resistance) compared to body position on line stretch (to minimise swing through), as well as the speed, timing, and method of releasing brakes (actually more about rapidly easing off the brakes than releasing them).

Even with the same equipment, technique and conditions, the opening height is extremely variable. Some times you're cruising and sometimes you're opening in the dirt. No guarantees, implications or suggestions that freefalls of this height will always work with the current level of technology we are using -Russian roulette without knowing the exact odds against you.....
If you get hurt freefalling something this low then you deserved it (myself included).

135ft over water is the lowest freefall I have heard off.
(but then again is it really a BASE jump unless you need canopy deployment to avoid serious injury?)

[guest]

Ten years or more ago, BASE #178 told me about having completed a free fall from a 98 foot tower, over water (quote: "I bet somebody that I could get a canopy open from that object. I used a 54 inch pilot chute, and had maybe a three-quarter second canopy ride. It would have been something really impressive if it could have been done over land."). With a fellow having been killed belly flopping into Lake Powell from just 76 feet a couple years back, perhaps one can make a case that these heights over water constitute legitimate jumps. In any event, congratulations to Dwain on the over-solid-ground free fall(s) from that 159 foot bridge; was kinda wondering if he'd actually done it!

[guest]

"was kinda wondering if he'd actually done it!"

Done it and done it to the point of giving me the
willies.

The treat of our relationships in Portland is that we respect each other ad nausea.....however this does not mandate we agree on all facets of this sport, we don't. We all try to learn from each jump and recognise our limitations, sometimes we go home with wet knickers sometimes wet thoughts. But to us it's all about the smile.

[guest]

"and recognise our limitations"

Amen to this part!

Knowing myself and my abilities, I wouldn't even direct bag 159 feet over land! Thankfully, I'm finally getting to the point in life where I care not about what others think of me and no longer feel compelled to impress them. It is obvious from Dwain's discussion above, that he does his low jumps out of a desire to perfect his craft/implement his vast knowledge and skills. Anyone doing such a jump for the reason I just mentioned would be in for serious trouble.

To BASE #178, I apologize: you may not be the one who did the 98 foot hop over water. My memory could be off by a few numbers there. (The guy who did it may no longer be active in BASE.)

Also, speaking of direct-baggers, Dwain once related that he performed a jump from 60 feet into "knee-deep water." Amazing!

[feral]

I fell out of bed this morning 2ft with the legendary poo star on my back and it was a stand up and someone had left a disk next to my bed and i nailed it .

bsbd feral

[guest]

Hi, sorry for the late response.

>1 week ago i made my
>lowest freefal jump from an
>antenna of 60 meters with
>a 46 inch pilot. i
>was open in the middle
>or maybe a little lower.

I don't have as much experience as the others who've answered you, but I can tell you this:

First, 60 meters is 200 feet.

Second, from my experience, along with videotaped research, I found that on a PCA jump, ie. immediate deployment, you reach a flying canopy that you can break with at 100 feet. Note that I'm not talking line stretch here, because line stretch can only save you from bouncing, it can't help you break. Now, I find it hard to believe (yet I don'y rule it out) that on your 200' freefall you were open AND FLYING at the same altitude as you claim. There is no way, the way I see it, you were open and flying at 100'.

My "research" ( :-) ) was done on two Mojo 240s, both my friend and I weighed around 135 at the time.

I'd like to hear your opinion on these findings, along with others who have experience in low altitude jumps.

Inbar.

[guest]

hi,

first of all u have to know, i am not asking this to try to impres just wanne know like a beginner wanne know.

i used a zp pilot chute hand hold, i just took it my hand, it was not a small package... i had a nice front opening;)
i am jumping a perigee pro , i let the flap open(maybe psicologic i don't know...) and a mojo 260.

hope i had answered your questions

stay safe and ejoy your flights

stieviboy

[guest]

Inbar,

maybe i am wrong, but this i can tell u for sure : i had a canopy time of 9 sec. which i made a 90°c turn, so lost more altitude faster.

stay safe

[guest]

Humm...9secs...Are you sure someone was in the harness at the time the canopy was deployed??

[guest]

The local shaz that we go down on all the time here is 180ft and gives about 7 sec canopy ride if static lined and about
1- 2 1/2 sec canopy ride if freefalled with my 46' pc.

9 sec canopy ride for a freefall sounds like the height is at least 230ft. Maybe I am wrong but that doesn't sound low.

As feral said he popped a 2ft out of the bed with his hand on it

[guest]

I think it's a little funny that no one seems to relize he is talking about freefalling the first level of the Eiffel Tower :) which is at 180ft.

Now, if you did do that, cool for you man :) The only othere person I have heard jumping from there did a static line and broke himself pretty bad :)

The other thing that means is in the last month it has been jumped by at least 4 people from all 3 platforms :) 1, 2 and 3 :) Man that thing has become a dropzone :)

Jeb