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Everything posted by DexterBase

  1. Team Ill Vision is in hibernation. Not in the past tense by any means. You'll see.
  2. Aside from the comment about the open pin flap... one of the most unhelpful posts I've read here in this forum in quite some time.
  3. You'll be dead soon regardless of whether you survive the bingo dates. You're probably above average in terms of experience in other activities which give you a natural tendency to do well at skydiving. I'll give you that. That, unfortunately, combined with your attitude equals you dead sooner than later. You'll get lucky a lot in relatively benign situations that don't matter much, and you'll mistake that luck for skill. You'll make leaps ahead without really adding much to your skill bucket. Soon your fear will wear off and one day, when you least expect it, you'll dig yourself into a hole (literally or figuratively) that you were too cool to bother learning the skills to get yourself out. Luck bucket empty. I think you're probably not solely out to impress others, which is good because your skills and attitude aren't going to impress anyone. You have your own ideas of why you need video... I don't really care what they are. Just know this: when you do die, you will not be the first person who "knew more" than the more experienced jumpers trying to warn them. The irony is the people who are trying to warn you are doing so because they care. Maybe someday when you roll your buddy over and feel his bones grind together and then look into his lifeless eyes.... you'll develop some respect for the finality this sport is capable of delivering. My guess is it's one of your buddies rolling you over. Harsh post? Definitely. But the ground will hurt more.
  4. This wingsuit was loaned to a male wingsuit flyer in Byron a few weeks ago. It was not returned. The suit belongs to Katie Hansen and she needs it back. Nobody is trying to imply that the person who has this suit stole it or meant to keep it. It is possible it's in your closet or gear bag. So, to facilitate the return of this wingsuit, if you have it, or know the person who does, please put it in a box and ship it to Katie Hansen 13130 Purvis Rd Herald CA, 95638 Write an email address on a piece of paper and put it inside the box. I will send a $100 paypal payment to whatever address is on that paper. No further questions asked, no hard feelings. No attempts will be made to identify the person who shipped the suit, she just really needs the suit back. Please spread the word. The suit was loaned out in good faith and should be returned. Thank you. Edit: Typo
  5. I've never jumped from a tailgate aircraft with a wingsuit so this question may be totally stupid...but... didn't that exit look like a near miss in terms of the two jumpers colliding with a lot of energy? It could just be the video that makes it look worse than it was but I think anybody getting kicked in the head that hard is going to sleep for awhile. Anyone?
  6. I don't think any company other than Phoenix Fly has sent me an IM on Facebook to update me on the status of my order. I was surfing away one night and a little window popped up. It was Robert Pecnik just wanting to tell me the suit was coming along nicely. That he even knew who I was, in terms of the number of orders they must be processing, is evidence that they actually care about their costomers. I have nothing but good things to say about PF
  7. I landed an ACE 220 (WL: .9) on a BASE jump with both toggles (and brake lines) trailing behind the canopy. This was a result of one toggle firing because I climbed over the handrail with the canopy in my hands (rollover) and one toggle got dislodged prior to exit. Upon seeing the situation, I decided to release both toggles to see how it would be to land with no toggles. (I did fully understand that the proper procedure is to retain the remaining toggle but the landing area at this site is massive and as close to a controlled experiment as I could imagine on a BASE jump.) As I set up to land, I prepared myself for a fast landing and a PLF. I pulled just enough on my rears to level the flight of the canopy being very careful not to stall it. The landing was fast (no wind) and I was able to run out the speed. On another occasion I had both toggles in my hands as the risers spun into a 180 with a 1/2 line twist. When the risers came together, my hand was compressed between them resulting in the toggle falling out of my hand. This time, I retained the remaining toggle and flared with the both rear risers. (I had no interest in the asymmetrical flare that would result in flaring with one riser and one toggle. I believe that is is far more dangerous to impact the ground on your side, in terms if internal injuries, than performing a PLF to bleed off the speed.) Same fast landing as a result. Bot of those were on a lightly loaded BASE canopy. I would NEVER attempt to land my skydiving canopy (120) without my toggles. F That. That's why there's a reserve.
  8. Giselle, I really hesitate to pop a dreamer's bubble. If it were not for dreamers none of us would be flying wingsuits at all. That is a fact. The ability to imagine something that is not currently possible, and then make it into reality is the essence of the human spirit, IMO. I was a little disappointed to see your posts meet with such strong opposition and people saying, "that will NEVER work." I've seen enough amazing shit in my life to know better than to use the word NEVER in association with the types of personalities prevalent in the skydiving/BASE communities. Having said that... My only advice to you is to arm yourself with a little experience before continuing to debate here. There is an extremely valuable perspective that inexperienced people bring to a situation. They are not confined within the limits of what is currently thought possible, so their minds are free to come up with ideas that would be immediately dismissed by people with more experience in that area. But, now that you've hatched your idea, you need to find out for yourself if it's a realistic one. Go learn to fly wingsuits. I trained for years to go to war. I learned to shoot, blow things up, employ various tactics. I knew exactly how fighting would least I thought I did. I was ready and nobody could convince me otherwise. I even thought I could concoct some fancy new moves if I needed to. One day I found myself on the battlefield where people were shooting actual bullets at me. I shot at them too. It was confusing, scary, I couldn't see shit, sometimes had no idea were the enemy was... in short, real war was abso-fucking-lutely nothing like I thought it would be. (And this was after a ton of uber-realistic live-fire training.) Things are a lot different on the two-way shooting range. I walked away from that first firefight armed with a completely different perspective. What does that have to do with your original post? Go fly some wingsuits and then you'll have a better idea of what we're capable of up there.
  9. U.S. Navy/ Marines 1998-2005 Explanation: I joined the navy, became a Hospital Corpsman, then my uniform magically turned into camouflage and Marines were the only thing I ever saw again. So I was technically in the Navy, but everyday it seemed like I was definitely in the Marine Corps. And I loved every second of it!
  10. My personal policy is to NEVER put a car battery in the trunk. Never. Unless I am the original owner of the vehicle, no life support equipment goes in the trunk. Because I carry skydiving, BASE, and climbing gear in the car... its just not worth the risk. And because I BASE jump, from time to time there will be canopies in the passenger area that are not inside gear-bags or stash-bags. So for me, if I need to transport a battery, I ask someone for a ride.
  11. Did your suit tear along a stitch line? Open up the stitches per inch. Your stitches are very small (many holes per inch) and they just don't need to be that tight. You're basically perforating the material. You could get away with 7-ish stitches per inch and as long as you use E thread it will be plenty strong. It will also allow you to sew faster. It will also be a hell of a lot easier to rip apart for changes or repairs. Less stitches per inch can also mean less bunching. Great looking project though!
  12. Ed, can my little brother ask for you specifically as his AFF instructor?
  13. Problem is, he ships off to Bootcamp in August and doesn't turn 18 until November. Sooo... looking like Lodi.
  14. I have it on good authority that my Phantom is getting cut on Thursday.
  15. Yeah, but look how much trouble that method caused him.
  16. Will Hollister do AFF for a 17 year old? Just wondering because my little brother wants to start skydiving.
  17. Wow... I didn't think my protrack was that outdated... now I feel old...
  18. If the unit can tell what altitude you are at when you deploy, why not record that figure instead of what altitude you were at when the clock ran out?
  19. The protrack reads 119 on almost all of my jumps now. (maxed out) where the Neptune reads around 160 seconds. All of the freefall alarms seem to be right in the ballpark. Stumped. Could it be that the Protrack records the deployment altitude at the time it hits 119 seconds??? Edit to add: According to the Neptune today's jump was: Exit: 17750 Depl: 3100 FF Time: 157 seconds AVG: 62 MPH According to the Protrack: Exit: 17900 Depl: 6600 FF Time: 119 (maxed out) AVG: 59 MPH Mudflap mounted altimaster III agreed with the 3100 foot deployment. Maybe its time to email L&B...
  20. Average vertical speed was between 55 mph and 63 mph
  21. Did a couple jumps this weekend. Both were solo wingsuit jumps with a Skyflyer and Sabre 120. Fall rates in mid 50's to 60's. Normal deployments, no crazy hard openings or line-twists. Protrack mounted on Oxygen helmet clip, set to SLO. Neptune hand mounted on left hand. On climb, Protrack did its thing at 1000 feet and agreed with other altimeters. POST JUMP On all jumps, exit altitude reads pretty darn near the same. Speeds recorded on both were pretty close as well. BUT, the deployment altitudes listed vary a lot. Jump #1 Protrack shows deployment 2200 feet higher than actual. Jump #2 Protrack shows deployment 2300 feet higher than actual. I like having an audible but if it thinks I'm 2000+ feet higher than I am, its pretty useless. I am comparing these altitudes against a mudflap mounted Galaxy. The Neptune and Galaxy tend to agree, but the Protrack is on its own program. Could it just be the combination of helmet mounted and wingsuit that's tricking the protrack? Maybe I should swap them and see what happens. Any ideas?
  22. I had a chance to do a few jumps with the altimeter mount. It is very easy to see in freefall and packing with it installed didn't present a problem. I'm digging it so far.