Future BASE enthusiast

[S_a_D]

I am an 18 year old student about to graduate and have always wanted to skydive ever since I can remeber, and recently my craze to jump out of a perfectly good airplane has come back. I have been doing some researching and found that at the local certified DZ the first AFF class is $180 cdn and $65 cdn for every class after that until I get my solo ticket, not bad. I notified my parents of my intentions and they are behind me all the way, so I have all the financial and parental support I need to get started out. I have my gear picked out (Aerodyne Research Corporation Icon Sport container w/ Triathalon sport 7-cell main/Smart reserve, Airtec GmbH CYPRES, Altimaster III Galaxy altimeter (hand mount), Parasport Italia Z1 lid, Pheonix-Fly Track pants and jacket, and some shinny new DCs for jump shoes.) but am still unsure if it is the right gear that I need. I plan on going through all necessary classes until there are no more to take, canopy control, body control etc. I plan on tuning my body control/canopy control/tracking capabilities to the fullest and after I have enough experience I plan on buying a BASE rig and experimenting with BASE jumping. A minimum of around 2500 jumps is what I promised my mom before I even try jumping off a Building, Antenna, Span or piece of Earth. I plan on getting all of my certificates of proficiency and what not, dabbling in RW and basically a lot of freefalling. What I was wondering, this is for all you experienced BASE jumpers, is am I on the right track? Any comments/advise/help is greatly appreciated. P.S. sorry if some of this doesn't make sense, I had to re-type it all since I already tried to make a thread, but it was erased when the forum redirected me to something else.

[ZegeunerLeben]

>>700 some-odd bucks that's pretty cheap for AFF. You should probably know that approx. 100 jumps a year is normal for an average skydiver, so to get 2500 jumps will take 25 years! Unless you go real hard and have $50,000 for jump-tickets. A minimum of 150-200 skydives before BASE is about what the current concencus is. Using a 7-cell canopy (preferabley F111) is a good choice for a BASE-oriented skydiving main.

>>I would reccomend doing alot of canopy control work; you can downloand some drills from many of the BASE-gear manufacturing websites. Don't know where you're planning on jumping but if you plan to do terminal BASE-jumps tracking skills are a must.

>>You need to think seriously about whether BASE is something you really want to do. Read Nick's list and ask yourself if this is still something you want. There are alot of way more experienced jumpers on here that can give you better advice than I. Good Luck!

[S_a_D]

Thanks ZegeunerLeben, I'm young, wealthy (not meaning to brag, I don't like being spoiled) and have nothing to do with my time, except for school but I'm taking a year or two off before university. I plan on spending almost every day of the summer at the DZ, and for the cessna to take me up to 11,500' it's only $36 and they have like a seasons pass sort of deal, I plan on going almost every day from right in the morning until the DZ closes. I plan on hooking up with a diving mentor, the guys at the DZ were stoked to hear that a young gun was going to start diving so i don't think that would be a problem. Last but not least, yes I am sure BASE is something I want to do. I am kind of an extreme sports guy, this will be a new one to add to the list of freestyle motocross which I am very disciplined and talented at, I do alot snowboarding too, I happen to be sponsored by the local shop. The reason I am persuing this is because I am sort of an adrenaline junkie, and I have become so comfortable doing everything else it no longer gives me that rush that I crave. I am willing to put myself through whatever it takes and I am willing to put myself through the risks involved. My parents know that as well, and they know they can't stop me and always love to see me get into something new, and are very willing to support me. Oh yeah, I'm not sure if I will wait untill after 2500 jumps but I plan on making as many as necessary to feel comfortable with myself enough to start BASE jumping. As for places to jump, I live next to the rockies, and plan on going on a trip around the world to jump off various BASE objects like the KL, and Pedronas towers in Malaysia and what not. But that won't be for a long time.

[soonere36]

>>

>>You need to think seriously about whether BASE is something you really want to do. Read Nick's list and ask yourself if this is still something you want.

i'm pritty shure base is what i wanna do but once i get my 150-200 jumps in i will reconciter and think long and hard and then make my finle distion thow base is suposte to be more of a thrill youve gotta be crazy to say skydiveing is boring

[ensoniq-canada]

At one time my uncle Warren (Searle) was the oldest skydiver in the Canadian Maritimes. My cousins have experience jumping, but I never have. I am now 47, and my 21 year son has expressed interest to try it, and I've told him to let me know when he is going to jump... because I'm going too. I'll let you know afterwards.

[mf-nren]

Hey man, sound like you have a great opportunity to do what you want.. I would suggest trying out different types of canopies, containers etc. before deciding on what to buy. Use the student gear for a while, then start renting and demoing gear when you can. It may cost a little more than buying right away, but you'll have a better understanding of gear , and why you like it.

[jupija]

...experimenting with BASE jumping. .

dont think its gonna b just that, eather u ll do and got into it, or b not able to do it ...

[Mac]

dont think its gonna b just that, eather u ll do and got into it, or b not able to do it ...

.........or are we not just all experimenting? I like to think of us all as low altitude parachute deployment scientists..........

[LawSchoolBlues]

.........or are we not just all experimenting? I like to think of us all as low altitude parachute deployment scientists..........

You know Lawyers and Doctors call what they do "practice." Does that ever bother you?

[Faber]

You know Lawyers and Doctors call what they do "practice." Does that ever bother you?

But we dont practice,people are pushing the limits=experimenting

[S_a_D]

Haha, you guys rock, thanks for the comments, I have my first AFF booked for july 10th. I'm SO STOKED!

[Mac]

Haha, you guys rock, thanks for the comments, I have my first AFF booked for july 10th. I'm SO STOKED!

enjoy your skydiving, once you got your licence go off and have fun with it........ (you may find base leaves your interest anyway as you can have lots of fun skydiving....... ) - if you find your draw to base is still there, then go off and do some CRW and accuracy jumping............. to be honest have some fun head down before you even think about BASE - at least this way you get to have some "relaxed" fun with your friends before you throw yourself into a a stressed out high risk situation........

[ZegeunerLeben]

Haha, you guys rock, thanks for the comments, I have my first AFF booked for july 10th. I'm SO STOKED!

>>What Mac said. Go have fun and set BASE aside for a while. You're about to have so much fun it'll take plastic surgery to remove the smile from your face!

[S_a_D]

Thanks once again for the help you guys. Like I said before, I don't plan on trying B.A.S.E. until I am completely comfortable with skydiving and have refined my tracking, body, and canopy control. (i.e. Sit-flying, head down, ect.) I do want to get into relative work and go to the May boogie every year, basically I just want to fly.. err, I mean fall. I will probably stay with my goal to get into B.A.S.E. but I will focus more on skydiving than anything. P.s. have any of you seen the trailer to 2nd base, I thought it kicked ass, I've already ordered a copy.

[JDATC]

Like S_A_D I too am an aspiring base jumper.

I have devoured a lot of articles on the sport, pros, cons, etc. Any FAQ I can find, etc.

Finaly, I will start skydiving in April with an AFF course. Hopefully after I too become comfortable (i.e. many jumps) I will be able to take a proffesional base jumping course from a reputable manufacturer.

I have tired a lot of different sports, and this one seems like the final frontier.

Besides, as a pilot and a controller, I think this is as close to real flight as I can get.

-J