newbies & mentors

[Tree]

Hi all,

With all of the talk about how we can help (protect them from themselves) newbies, I've been thinking of a couple things. For starters, I think it would be a good idea to round up all the newbies from dz.com and make them understand that Blinc was, is and hopefully will always be the place to learn about base and meet base jumpers. There is always some annonymous poster there asking "how should I pack to jump the 175' B in my back yard", or similar rediculus request. Being Dz.com, 6 skydivers with no idea about BASE will chime in about how they think it should be done, and then Tom will try to set them all straight. If they are serious baout getting into base they should be on Blinc, reading the archives, asking real qustions, and geting hazed when they ask something really stupid.(like the 170' B)

BASE is a community, and like many other tight knit communities, hazing is am important right of passage to show commitment to mentors and other jumpers that the new member is worthy of the time investment. Hazing doesn't mean beating someone with a stick, but it does mean that new folks coming in SHOULD expect to ground crew and listen, and to get "talked to" by those with the experience and knowledge they need to survice and thrive in BASE. We all know that re-inventing the wheel in BASE is a quick way to the hospital or morgue.

City contacts: In every city there is a crew, maybe two, and each crew has someone who is willing to be a city contact. If we are to be truly concered with helping newbies, we should have an e-mail directory of city contacts. I know, its already so easy to hop on the BB and ask for a contact, but lets face it, people still go out on their own for a lack of easy contact.

Honestly, I don't really like to take newbies out anymore. I guess I should be more open & accessible to help prevent accidents that ultimately affect us all.

Just a thought, what do you think?

Tree
BASE 610

[greeny]

Be care full how you treat the newbies. If you ignore them compleatly and just hope they'll go away, then some of them will do the only thing left and teach themselves.

TO ANY ONE THINKING OF DOING IT. DON'T I am talking from experiance and I konw I'm not the only one out here.

I brought a rig off the net,learn to pack from the video and soloed my first 4 (1 125ft E, 2 240ft S, 3 280ft E, 4 800ft A). I also soloed 70 of my first 100.


I've run out of fingers and toes to count the number of times I've walked away from a jump that I should have..............

I now have 144 jumps and am in love with BASE, but don't let it happen again.

[Faber]

Out of my 68 jumps i has soloed aprox 50%most in the start of my BASElife.7 jumps has been whith other BASE jumpers,the rest of my jumps were there were GC, were whith wuffos that i brought as a kind of safty net just in case...I have 1 slider up jump the rest range in 140-600ft slider off jumps.. i have one injury,from a solo...

I got alot of help from BB DZ.com UK board and at the Aussi board,i also used my mentor for the first 2 jumps..He lives 500km from here and im the only jumper in the area...,nearest jumper lives aprox 200km away,theres noway im gonna travel that far for a weddensday jump from a similar object as i have in my backyard..

Sometimes you just cant stop people....Sometimes the newbies deside for themself.

No matter i think the people out there who answeres most of the Q´s around gives a great gift for our comunity.

Blinc will always be the tecnical place to ask Q´s,dz.com is might a nice place to get it explained in a newbie way if you dont get how the experienced jumpers talk..

[QuickDraw]

Hi Tree,

I understand where your coming from as regards the newbies on dropzone,
me being one of them... although its a related forum, nevertheless its a start.
I think its a place for skydivers to 'prod & poke' and talk on a similar level, I have never thought of it as a 'pure' BASE forum

I was lurking on here just before the BASE forum came to life,
and I suppose not really knowing anyone on here meant I had to rely on my own judgement and understanding of what I was reading.

The good points of dizzy to me are, the fact that I can ask as a whuffo skydiver and not get my ass chewed over it,
its also where I started learning about skydiving too (really ?) so, I have a sort of liking for the place.
I used to find the forums on here a bit too technical (a lot of stuff still is to me) and would try and cross-reference it on dizzy
to give myself a better understanding of it, or at least a good idea of what was being discussed.

That aside, I know what I want and need to do, and that's way before a FJC comes my way,
I suppose I'll never be that 'underground' type geezer who everyone admires and secretly respects,
but I want to have a whole lot of fun before I 'go in' and enjoy good company, and talk #### (which I excel at) and make and some good friends along the way.

I can understand you not wanting to take newbies out anymore, I'm not sure I would ever want to (put in that position).
but at least your giving something back, even if its just advice, its still listened to... and wherever its put doesn't really matter to me.

I still do come here, but I still have a lot of skydiving disciplines to learn and perfect.

I want my 'hazing' to be as un-embarrassing as possible. ;)

Adrian.

[motherhucker]

>I think it would be a good idea to round up all
>the newbies from dz.com and make them understand that Blinc
>was, is and hopefully will always be the place to learn about
>base and meet base jumpers.

I think it's important to point out to everyone that NO NEWBIE SHOULD LEARN *HOW* TO BASE JUMP FROM THE INTERNET!

Notice Tree said; "...learn *about* BASE" --that's a very important distinction. The proper way to learn to BASE jump is from a qualified mentor, IN PERSON. Always back up any information you find ANYWHERE on the internet with a current, qualified BASE jumper...even the stuff you read here on BLINC.

BASE events are happening more and more frequently. The best way for one to meet a BASE jumper (if they can't find one lurking about their DZ) is to man up and go to one of these events--just to watch and make new friends. I'm not necessarily saying to buy a ticket to KL in hopes of meeting a mentor, but a trip to the perrine as a spectator or the turkey boogie or Bridge day, etc. might get you the opportunity you need also.

mh

[imported_Mac]

In the UK it is harder for people to find mentors - there are tight knit and insular groups here and to be honest I imagine there are less than a handful of people qualified to "teach" BASE. It is very easy to meet BASE jumpers at the DZ but most are cautious about talking about what they do. I think generally people are expected to spend a phuqk load of money and go to the states and take a FJC and buy kit - this shows a level of commitment that then starts to open doors to you. Generally you are still expected to stand on your own two feet, I never had a mentor when I returned from the USA - I just had the contacts of more experienced jumpers to talk too, but this has been beneficial to me in honing my skills.

It maybe easier to find mentors in the USA - but there is a whole world out there that read this board and the struggles of becoming a BASE jumper are perhaps are slightly harder.............

In the end it takes work and dedication - and a certain amount of "hazing"! I know I had my fair share when I was a newbie trying to get in!........

.......but man is it way worth the time effort and energy......even if the UK is windy as phuqk!

Be safe people............