I hear about kick ass canopies that incorporate paragliding technology, new design pilot chutes that don't hesitate or oscillate, magic dust that makes you levitate, etc... What are the most recent rumors for the next breakthrough advancement in BASE gear? I still want someone to make me an airlocked canopy with bottom skin vents/valves.
A cursory response:
Revolutionary gear is getting harder and harder to invent. Except for some major advancement in material/fiber science, I think the following are now the current and future directions.
1) canopies tailored to the object environment, i.e, low cliffs, high cliffs, hazardous buildings, long flights... This is currently in the works by a all the manufacturers.
2) tailpocket design to incorporate line separating flaps.
3) incorporation of a new reserve system into base rigs. instead of piggy back with one canopy above the other, imagine packing your main on top of the reserve, separated by some flap system. To deploy this reserve, you must get your main out. BASE 38 used his reserve 2 times and it saved his life. My mentor, Steve Morrell, BASE 174, used his reserve 3 times and it saved his life. I needed a reserve once but managed to clear the malfunction. The constraints in a system are complexity, weight, and size.
4) system to release your spandex pouch if you cannot deploy you pilot chute from that pouch. Remember Jan Davis?
5) ditter system that works on a timer that is triggered using an accelerometer upon launch. Remember Lee Werling? Or others flying on their back who died on Italy's terminal wall. A mercury switch is too tempermental in such an environment. Only thing is that an accelerometer is expensive. I want to construct one of these myself sometime this year.
cannot think of other improvements... however, the science of parachutes, etc is poorly understood. we need a large drop tower as a start for measurements. also, acoustic sensor technology exists that can be placed on a canopy to provide telemetry, hence position, data on deployment and canopy deformation during flight. The acoustic system I've seen (developed by another physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) can measure 20 separate positions at 20 times per second, with <1 mm accuracy.
would people start jumping BASE rigs whith a reserve like that?
I mean if you still want a big canopy over your head you´ll have a problem unless you want to wear a "tandem" harness(the size of it)..
I know i personaly wont compromy my big canopy for a smaller main or reserve,personaly i cant think of many places were I would be abel to use it,in case i had a mal.
I think its a dangerus area,most jumpers get hurt under canopy,which means that a slower= bigger canopy probaly will set you down abit softer...
Also if people start trusting a reserve like in the skydive envioment will they then start "slobbing" the packjob of the main as seen in skyworld??
I guess im not in to a "BASE-reserve",but then again i usaly jump slider off...
I think that the ditter option is the choice,i dont think that i will use it as i jump now(no arials or ws jumps).. but i guess a few people could use one...
I agree with you Faber somewhat. I just think it's a little foolish to completely abandon the concept of a reserve. The schools of thought have been around a very long time. The tersh is always an option, but as Mark Hewitt noted, who wants to land under a tersh? The BASE rig provides simplicity and an easy reliable packjob/opening. Some people believe that if you can't get your main out, then you deserve to die. Thus the idea that the reserve be flat under the main with a separator is a new one to me though - thought of by Mark Albers, as far I know. I don't think being sloppy will ever be much of an option in BASE since an off-heading or line-twist is now the standard for what we could consider a malfunction, since it can easily result in an accident. My thoughts are not very elegant. I just think there are options that have not been explored, and there are malfunctions that are possible where a small main would be better than a large malfunctioning canopy.
BTW, do you think there is much interest in purchasing programmable timing ditters for BASE if I decided to make some?
I wont abandon the idea of a reserve,i just say that as i jump at this point i find it as no use in my case,perhaps the day i start jumping slider ups or pull higher i would see it as an option.
I think its great that people tryes to make the gear even as there might wont be many buyers for it...
I dont think you would be abel to sell alot of your ditters,but that might becourse i personaly look at the ground all the time at this point.I would however not say no to test one
As far as reserves in BASE rigs, I would rather go the direction of making the one I have work 99.9999999% of the time, instead of having the extra complexity of a second setup.
Concerning dytters, I think it would not only take away from the spirit of BASE, but if it didn’t work one out of 1000 times, and you counted on it to work 100% of the time, which would be the only way it would make sense, that would make things pretty sucky. Plus, part of the fun is dialing in your eyes to enjoy the groundrush and figure out when pull time is…
Re: What part of BASE gear will be revolutionized next?
I was thinking more along the lines of canopies that have advancements like bottom skin vents, then the valves came along. I like my Blackjack so much once I tried vents/valves, I don’t think I would ever go back… And apex vented PCs. Mmmmmm...
-Canopies that can fly, instead of stall, at much lower airspeeds. Not to over simplify everything in one statement, but aren't today's canopies based on designs from 7-cell reserves from the 80's, that early pioneers helped integrate into BASE? Yes they work great, but there have to be new ideas out there... (Make some, I will try them in ID if that is the holdup).
-Pilot chutes that eliminate oscillation even more, and eliminate hesitation too.
-Airlocks to prevent collapse in cases of object strike, coupled with bottom skin vents. It would stay rigid even when backing up, stalled, and deep stalled. Quick opening, no jellyfishing… I really love the idea in theory...
-Maybe look into alternatives to F111, not that it doesn’t work great, but there might be something better today.
-There has to be a way to get a canopy out and flying even faster, from a freefall exit. Somehow...
All of these might be horrible ideas, I just want to start some discussion and get some thoughts going. There are a lot of smart BASE jumpers out there...
I just witnessed a jump on a new, low glide ratio / High lift canopy that Stane designed. The canopy responded immediately to input, turned in place via actually flying backwards on one side whilst the other side flew forward. The off heading and recovery looked more like a sashay. I am very impressed. It looked like the wingtips swapped and only sunk 4-5m in the manuver. Good one Stane! Respect!
take care,
space
How about line technology - low friction - memory residual stuff ?
I've seen a lot of posts lately about burns/tension knots & lineovers etc.
Or even boot/leg protection which would maybe have a wider sales potential.
--- Hope you don't die. ---
My buddy and I were recently talking about sort of a cutaway system for the BASE PC pouch on wingsuits. Basically, you take the same tabbed cutaway system on wingsuit and run it alongside the bottom of the pouch. Use a small velcro-mounted pillow handle (loops would obviously be bad). This system wouldn't be necessary on spandex pouches, as you really shouldn't be getting an "impossipull" on one -- just the ZP pouch on wingsuits.4) system to release your spandex pouch if you cannot deploy you pilot chute from that pouch.
I had a stuck PC using the pouch on a skydive and went to my reserve -- deadly on a BASE jump. The other possibility is trying to create a spandex pouch on the suit.
Another possibility is an integration option on wingsuits and certain rigs. I've heard people talk about this, and I've seen a homemade wingsuit used with a modified rig where the suit zipped right into the rig. The suit itself wasn't that great (did a 2-way with the creator/pilot), but it made the rig flush with the suit. Seeing the integration between the wsExtreme and the S3, I could imagine an option on both a suit and a rig in order to make it all one piece. Either a zipper or the tabbed cutaway system could put the rig and suit together. When using the wingsuit for skydiving or with other rigs, you could just have a piece of fabric that is tabbed to hook up in its place. The rear deflector could lift up to "sew" to the top of the BOC with this integrated rig, and then your could "sew" it down to a different position on the piece of fabric, if that makes any sense.
The rest of the wingsuit BASE innovations are apparently underway with the PF suit.
Yuck. Bottom skin vents take care of this. Airlocks = off heading openings.
We were brainstorming about a shrivel flap that is split in half long-ways. It could be held together as one with cut away cable like wingsuit sides are. In case of pc being caught in a burble maybe at least you could pull the shrivel cut away thus opening thecontainer and getting some canopy out. We were thinking along the lines of long wingsuit jumps. I think I was stoned too.
I think magic pixie dust is being developed as we speak. I heard it worked great in early tests. The only bummer is that you have to wear green tights. I also saw a company called Acme that is developing boots with springs or rockets on them. That will be sweet.
"Are flames supposed to be shooting out like that? "
I think comparing an airlocked, elliptical 74 sqft skydive canopy's heading performance with a 280 sqft airlocked BASE canopy is misleading.
Think of the potential advantages of having airlocks, build me an airlocked BASE canopy, and then we can decide if airlocks would affect off headings. No more than saying that one side of the bottom skin vents would lock up and inflate first. When I first got my Blackjack, I thought that it would remain inflated if the nose was pinched off on a cliff strike, that the downward descent would keep the canopy inflated through the bottom- I have heard from reliable sources that it isn't always so. If it was airlocked, it would be rigid full-time...
Space, I want to hear more about that canopy that you saw...
PS I have magic pixie dust, and magic pixie plants- problem is they don't help me BASE, instead I get demotivated to get off the couch..
The nice thing about a cutaway pilot chute system is that, I believe, a similar system has been developed in the student skydiving arena. However, in BASE, we would need something a little more specific and possibly even spring loaded to ensure the pilot chute clears the jumper.
Regarding a base ditter, the same arguments were made in skydiving years ago. Now the cypress and ditter are almost mandatory for pushing the envelope in skydiving, i.e., freeflying. I always rely on ground references to open while on base jumps. In fact, when I used to skydive, I never used a cypress, ditter, or even an altimeter - and would never be able to push the limits with an real margin of safety. However, imagine the future realm of group acrobatics or other types of stunts in base if one could marginally rely on a new safety device such as a timer-ditter.
Last edited by 460; October 8th, 2004 at 01:04 PM.
How abouta skyhook system for the PC, If the main PC fails you would have a reserve PC. that is an easy idea.
take care space
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