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A fellow skydiver at Atlanta Skydiving Center was recently developing a “how to” article on BASE jumping for Chuting Star Rigging Loft’s “Rave” section when he had a change of heart. “I had a friend that I jumped with earlier in the summer killed in a cliff strike last week and began having second thoughts about proactively introducing people to BASE,” said Baxter Gillespie. “It is one thing if they seek the sport out and want to learn; that sort of drive and passion is what you want to see. But to offer the sport up as though it is just another way to fly a canopy is dangerous.” Compared to skydiving, BASE jumping is a whole other sport. From exits (launches) to body positions and gear to legal aspects, nearly everything is in a 180 degree direction from skydiving. Baxter, who has dabbled in 4-way formation skydiving, freeflying and BirdMan jumps has also added BASE jumping to his repertoire. The recent BASE accident wasn’t the only reason he stopped writing the article. “I was working on one when I saw Tom Aielo's excellent article on Dropzone.com,” Baxter said. The article, “Getting Into BASE,” can be read in its entirety at this direct link. I highly recommend anyone interested in BASE read this article first. A good portion of the article addresses the concerns Baxter has with introducing others to the sport. Aielo’s article focuses on your personal makeup (is this sport right for you?), as well as the intensified risk of BASE jumping compared to skydiving. If you make the decision to start BASE jumping, he highly recommends gathering as much information on the sport as possible, finding a BASE mentor, making skydives that enhance BASE skills, buying the correct gear made for the sport, watching lots of videos and taking a BASE first-jump course. Personally, I have thought about getting into BASE since I am familiar with the packing techniques. But I know there is so much more to it and I can’t accept the risk...yet.

Strong Enterprises recently updated its tandem passenger harness and Atlanta Skydiving Center recently purchased 6 of them to see how they work. The first thing you notice on the harnesses is the padding on the leg straps. It is unbelievable the amount of padding Strong has stuffed in there. I first thought it was a bit overkill, but I have yet to have a student complain about their legs in the 25+ jumps I’ve done with the harnesses. Thigh pains had become an almost every jump occurrence in the old harnesses. The new harnesses are similar to Relative Workshop’s Sigma harness. Strong’s upper attachment points, which used to be on top of the shoulder are now farther forward, similar to Sigma, and the belly band is lower (more like a hip/abdomen band), also like the Sigma. The new harnesses, when adjusted properly, puts your student’s legs in a good position for a butt slide on no wind days. Our first week with the harnesses took a bit of trial and error with the adjustments. Jumpmasters were adjusting them like the old Strong harnesses, which caused the chest strap to ride up into the passenger’s throat on opening. After a call to Strong, we were set straight on the preferred adjustment. Strong is working on a fitting guide for the harnesses, but until then, this is the recommended adjustment. Tighten the belly band first, bringing the hip rings forward and close together. Tighten the chest strap to match the width of the belly band. Snug the leg straps down. Tighten the main lift webs evenly until the yoke is up against the passenger’s neck. Finally, tighten the butt band and back laterals as needed to snug the harness up. Any final tightening before hookup in the plane should only be with the back laterals and butt band. All other straps should remain as adjusted on the ground. This will keep the chest strap down, put the bulk of the weight on the top connectors and keep your students legs up for landing.