Hey Mick. Regarding the 4 catagories of objects, there has always been some difference of opinion as to what is a B. At first of course it was the traditional B, or skyscraper since Owen doing the Trade Center in 75 which sparked everyones interest in jumping a Building. Then in Jan. 81 Phil S, Phil M, Carl and Jean did a 1000' skyscraper. So at first, the idea was that a B was a skyscraper. Of course our gear back then and our mind set, coming from a lot of years skydiving, was we liked more altitued than a lof of the Buildings getting jumped today. My guideline I sort of follow is if it is large enough to present a similar wind and object strike hazard as a skyscraper then it can be a B. I've done B's that were under construction and others that were occupied so in my mind, the presence of current occupants is not that relevant. Admittedly the bust factor is scary and goes up if occupied, but the bust factor really can't be counted otherwise legal building jumps couldn't count. I go by the similiarity of the hazard potential to a traditional building. I've even counted some smokestacks as Buildings so long as it was wide enough to be a real object strike hazard with possible reverse wind eddies. For instance, a smokestack coming out of the middle of a powerplant where at opening you face a wall behind you and no wind passing through to assist you get away from the object, it's a B. Buildings are man made. If it's natural, i'ts not a B. That presents an issue for Dams v. Earth jumps. Same hazard for each usually, but can a dam be a B? I've wrestled with that, but to me it's still closer to an Earth jump even if it's man made. Quarries count as earth and they are man made also. I had an interesting application for a BASE number once from a guy who had done a large smokestack. From his description, after a series of messages between us, I told him we would qualify the stack as a B so we issued his BASE number. In my last message to him, however, I told him he owed it to himself to go to an urban setting and hit what we all know and agree is a Building. I told him that with the rush of the urban setting, the bust factor, and just the psychology of the exit off a downtown building it was a unique feeling that he would understand once he did one. About a month later, he emailed me back and told me he got a real B downtown and said how awsome it was. When BASE started, I think Carl tried to come up with objects which would give a pretty full array of experience from things to figure out, like guy wires on towers versus freestanders, but wind still blows through both so they are both antennas. Like anything, the classifications get muddy with all the stuff we can jump today with BASE gear. Hell, when we did the first train jumps, we jokenly called it Hobo BASE since we actually saw hobos sneaking on the train several cars behind us. We also called it BASET since we added the train, but in reality it was just a Span even though it was a moving span. Anyway, Keep up the good job and if someone really gets hung up on what my opinion is, just give me a good description and I can usually pigeon hole it into one of the 4 catagories.
Rick H
#38