advice and help

[guest]

im a novice base jumper out of cr course. have my own gear. im a coast to coast longhaul trucker (all 48 and canada). i want to jump regularly but am always moving. would like to locate sites i can regularly jump. can anyone recommend sites, particularly in the eastern us? or texas? having a predigested site will cut the amt of time i have to spend locating and analyzing a sites variables when im driving an 18 wheeler. i am not interested in burning your site. your rules are my rules. i will follow your protocol. thanks for any help!!! anywhere in us is fine particularly along main travel corridors: I80, I40, I70, I35, I81, etc. currently im in tennessee headed for boston, ma. today is 9/22 night. appreciate. cya

[guest]

Dennis,
When you are driving around at night, just look for bunches of red lights. Whites strobes are usuallly higher, but I have found just about anywhere I am, I can locate a tower to hop off. That is as long as you are comfortable jumping 300-400 foot towers. Even if it is too low, you can get a lot better view from the top, especially with binoculars as to where bigger towers are. If you are always looking for 1000+ towers, you might have trouble finding sites everywhere. Just remember,
more lights=more altitude
Hope this helps,
Tom

[guest]

thanks for the reply and help , tom. have been looking at a number of antennas. is there a technique for doing these things or do you just climb it with the wind at your back and jump off? also on a 300-400 ft tower clearly, you just jump and throw virtually immediately, right? or would you give it a second? lastly would you recommend rear risers or toggles on this kind of object for guide wire avoidance? thanks again very much.

[guest]

I'd recommend a local partner. With your experience level it would behoove you to get beta and experience working for you. Experience is gained by making mistakes. Wisdom is using someone elses experience. Mistakes in this arena are unacceptable.
Secondly, if you insist on going it alone make sure to learn enough to avoid an AM antenna which can be deadly when touched the wrong way.
Good luck. Be patient.

[base615]

On a 400 ft tower with the landing area right close you can afford to give it between 2 and 3 seconds. That way you've got maximum distance from the object if you have a 180, the guy wires are further apart if you have off headings and you still have altitude to play with if you do have a 180, line-over etc. With your experience I wouldn't go it alone just yet in my opinion.

Hope this helps,

Craig

[guest]

KNow what tower you are jumping before you touch it. A tower near my house seemed benign enough, 580' with pasture all around it(no bulls), what appeared to be a solitary transmitter on top of the structure and no appendages whatsoever. Appeared to be an FM tower, and A FCC website confirmed it was(by locality). There were also smaller 200 foot towers in the same field which I assumed were a.m. because of their appearance and insulators on the guy wires. The big tower also had "insulators" periodically placed on the guy wires which I've heard from several sources could be static dischargers. I did a test fingernail flick on this baby about a week ago and got a red-orange arc when I got withina 1/2 inch! I then declined and came home dejected but relieved. What baffled me more was that there were no "porcelain insulators" at the base which I expected there to be were it a AM tower. Now I'm left wondering, are there towers which can serve a dual function...that being FM and AM transmission??? Any experts' opinions appreciated. Be nice.

Smokin' in Ky...

[MT]

Any better test than your fingernail. There is an antenna I've checked out with an odd base but not insulated. Surely it isn't possible to have an AM without insulation.

[bps]

Hi Dennis -

Welcome to the sport! Once your armed with a good knowledge level and experience base, your profession may allow you to visit alot of different sites. On the down-side, your profession may not allow you to spend time in a certain area getting to know locals in order to gain the experience you need. But it certainly isn't impossible, it just may take some patience and time.

I used to live in Northern California, but recently relocated to Colorado Springs. Adam, Nancy, and Marty are great folks and I'm sure that you learned a great deal while you were at CR. But as you already know, the course is only the beginning of many things to learn.

I'm not speaking for Adam, but I know that he is always available for further questions and advice. Beyond that, most of your experience will be gained in the field. This will come from your own jumps as well as observations of others (whether they are good or bad).

My new job in Colorado keeps me terribly busy, so I don't have heaps of objects dialed in at this point. And quite frankly, the ones that I am jumping are in no way, shape, or form suitable for a beginning object. But I do make frequent trips to the Perrine in Idaho...even though my schedule or yours may not link up, keep in touch with me and I'll let you know when I'm going.

I must tell you up front that I am not a "BASE Instructor" nor do I carry all the experience in the world (I have 190 jumps). But I can assure you that I'm a thinking BASE jumper that enjoys evaluating all of the differnt variables in BASE. And I love to pass the knowledge that I do have on to others if I feel they will use it in a responsible manner.

I recommend traveling to the Perrine or Bridge Day with a knowledgable jumper because it provides you with a couple of things.

1) a legal jump - less things to worry about - it allows you to focus on the true mechanics of the jump rather than looking over your shoulder at the exit point in poor lighting conditions

2) more jumps - this will increase your learning curve dramatically

3) your likely to meet more jumpers - this will expand your network - more friends in the community means easier access when traveling

I'm sure you realize this as well, but never let anyone lure you into thinking that an "easy" object is completely safe. If your not well-trained and on top of your game, even a 480ft bridge over water will kill you in a heartbeat.

Stay patient, learn all you can, and have fun!

Bryan

[guest]

First of all:

<If your not well-trained and on top of your game, even a 480ft bridge over water will kill you in a heartbeat.>

Or, severly injure you. Case in point: Recently from a bridge, a jumper with 300 jumps broke his ass - literally - and his back - badly (Get well soon Tom, so we can jump some more) because, from what I was told, he dirt dove on jump run and had little experience with rounds. Critically analyze your intentions before acting, and always have a plan B.

Furthermore:

<is there a technique for doing these things or do you just climb it with the wind at your back and jump off?>

Surprised you did not learn this in the CR course, or maybe you were not paying attention, but you have to be aware of the wind direction, i.e. is it on the wire or down the center of your intended third of jumping space, and how strong is it? - Know which way to turn your canopy regarding wind direction and wind intensity.


<also on a 300-400 ft tower clearly, you just jump and throw virtually immediately, right? or would you give it a second?>

Again, were you paying attention or was this not covered in the CR course? download the "delay-altitude and equipment chart" on the <www.basicresearch.com> website. This gives SUGGESTED delay times/appropriate pc.


<lastly would you recommend rear risers or toggles on this kind of object for guide wire avoidance?>

What did you learn in the course? There is no right or wrong answer, but generally rear risers are suggested (although I've never made an off heading correction with risers, only toggles, but I have not had a 180 degree off heading when it was critical.

Towers are often hot - find out first. I won't jump the hot one's anymore, not worth it.

Good luck

[guest]

actually, cr did an excellent job. and i did pay attention. the first posting i made to the board re the subject of predigested sites drew zero (0) responses. people enjoy giving advice to the newly initiated so my interest was to draw comment and elicit potential contacts or accessible sites. meant no disrespect to cr or their course. i have the highest respect for their intellect and would recognize them as easily one of the premier gear producers on the scene in terms of meticulous construction and state of the art design. i should have thought ahead in my methodology...strange, though, that a beginner would have to prod a bit to get this kind of information from the base board but it seems to have drawn comment from you this time around. thanks for the responses and apologies to cr...