[dkabab]

anyone else here think its a good idea to jump out of a perfectly good plane?

ive always wanted to skydive and basejump (ive been bungee jumping before)
but have never got around to it...

anyone done any skydiving or basejumping?

[Ferrari Fissatore]

anyone else here think its a good idea to jump out of a perfectly good plane?

ive always wanted to skydive and basejump (ive been bungee jumping before)
but have never got around to it...

anyone done any skydiving or basejumping?

yep.....

and my chute failed.... NO SHIT!

I had to use the reserve...

I did a "static line" jump... which is where you're attached to a line that automatically pulls the chute as you leave the plane...

but mine failed.

I waited a while, did the count etc... then looked up to see this floppy old laundry bag above me...

Thought to myself... "I'm too exited, I counted too fast... I'll count again....



1000


2000



3000


4000... check canopy



Nope... still just floppy old laundry up there.....

Oh well, pull "cut away" first.... then reserve..... and "PHEW"

BUT, first out the plane had been my then girlfriend....


who just saw a pile of screwed up chute whoosh past her at a gazillion miles per hour and slam into the ground...


and we all had an incoming radio link from ground.... so the radio crackles... "are you ok no.2 ? Move your legs if you can to signal ok"

I moved my legs... I was fine... I was still a few 100ft above my GF

The radio remianed quiet.

My GF was shitting herself!


Speaking of which, I had hiking boots on with lace hooks, which had to be covered up with tape in case of a tangle.... so my whole trousers etc were sealed at the ankle area.... which was good 'cos I HAD shit myself by this time!

So anyway, there's me sailing down, almost caught up with my GF, who's panicking about me......

and then I remember... The reserve chute is smaller = faster than the main... and I'm going a little off course....


and the airfield we land at is........










 wait for it.........





















Next door to a fucking lion sanctuary!!!!





So, anyway.

Yeah Dave.... Go for your life 

[Ferrari Fissatore]

I did the static line 'cos it meant you can go solo rather than strapped to another bloke, but you SHOULDN'T get any freefall that way....



I got BONUS! 

[AshSimmonds]

I've always wanted to skydive - Point Break style

[dkabab]

can you take a few extra backpacks to put on just in case.....?

[Rat Boy]

FF, I hope you got the beers in... 1st jump, 1st mal, 1st reserve ride... Big beer fine there...

I have skydived and I am going to be getting back into it soon. Currently planning a trip to Spain over xmas to get some jumps in. My aim is to move on to BASE in a few years time. Its a lifelong dream of mine.

A good mate of mine BASE jumps regularly aswell as skydiving. Has maybe 500 BASE jumps and about 2k skydives. I've crewed for him on a jump from a live power station chimney. Pretty fun dodging security while trying to get through razor wire fences...
He's the same mate that got me into "urban exploration"... And he's the same mate that got caught after jumping of the 155th floor of the Burj Dubai last year...

[dkabab]

how 'dangerous' is base jumping? apart from the whole falling to earth thing, it looks like more fun than skydiving to me.
is there anywhere legally you can do it?

[Ferrari Fissatore]

FF, I hope you got the beers in... 1st jump, 1st mal, 1st reserve ride... Big beer fine there...

I have skydived and I am going to be getting back into it soon. Currently planning a trip to Spain over xmas to get some jumps in. My aim is to move on to BASE in a few years time. Its a lifelong dream of mine.

A good mate of mine BASE jumps regularly aswell as skydiving. Has maybe 500 BASE jumps and about 2k skydives. I've crewed for him on a jump from a live power station chimney. Pretty fun dodging security while trying to get through razor wire fences...
He's the same mate that got me into "urban exploration"... And he's the same mate that got caught after jumping of the 155th floor of the Burj Dubai last year...

Well, the guy that packed my main chute certainly needed a beer or 5.

Obviously, it's pretty serious when things like that happen, and he was in for a major grilling and investigation.

The reserve chute was packed by a different guy. That guy gets some kind of good karma for saving a life with his work apparently.

The instructor later said that my chute would probably have opened eventually, but that I did the right thing.

Because it was my first (and only) jump, the whole "cut away - reserve" thing actually happened quite calmly... as all the training was so fresh in my mind.

If I had done maybe a dozen or so jumps with no problem prior to the failure, I might have had to think more about what to do.

The main reason for me doing the jump was due to my Glider fliying progress. Having begun solo flight in the Gliders, and wearing a chute of course, I thought, I better do a jump, just in case I ever need to!

But then I realised I've rarely actually been over 3000 ft in a glider, and that if I did need my chute, I'd probably be too low for it to work anyway 

[Ferrari Fissatore]

Oh, I managed to avoid landing in the Lion sanctuary, but only by a few 100M or so.

They were all toothless old knackered Lions anyway........

[PA]

Oh, I managed to avoid landing in the Lion sanctuary, but only by a few 100M or so.

They were all toothless old knackered Lions anyway........

Kinda like what we have around here.