{"id":17935,"date":"2018-02-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=17935"},"modified":"2019-05-28T16:20:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T16:20:34","slug":"2018-02-07-choosing-base-training-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2018-02-07-choosing-base-training-gear\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing BASE Training &#038; Gear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Article by Matt Gerdes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p><!-- Squirrel Leaderboard BASE [async] --><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement(\"script\"); s.async = true; s.type = \"text\/javascript\";s.src = 'https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || [];\nvar abkw = window.abkw || '';\nvar plc356731 = window.plc356731 || 0;\ndocument.write('<'+'div id=\"placement_356731_'+plc356731+'\"><\/'+'div>');\nAdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(175942, 356731, [860,106], 'placement_356731_'+opt.place, opt); }, opt: { place: plc356731++, keywords: abkw, domain: 'servedbyadbutler.com', click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER' }});\n<\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/77629f11-795c-4e72-9a77-cecfaa21852c.jpg\" alt=\"Regina Elwell getting some wingsuit BASE exit practice on the Next Level EBSC Mega-Pendulator in California\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing BASE Training and Gear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pre-BASE Training<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Learning to BASE jump while learning to fly a BASE canopy at the same time is too much for many people, even if they don\u2019t realize it. If you show up to your first BASE object (a bridge, hopefully) knowing where in the control range your parachute stalls, how to complete a rapid 180 degree turn using risers <em>or<\/em> brakes, and how to stomp the spot after a steep or flat approach, you\u2019ll be way ahead of the game. Throw some packing skills on top of all that and you\u2019re going to get much more out of your first few jumps, when many new jumpers are fumbling through their packing and landing in the bushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you do this? Take a course that is designed to prepare you for your first BASE jumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to Pre-BASE education, the best (ok, the only) thing available is the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nextlevel.ws\/courses\/base-training\"> Next Level Elevated BASE Skills Course<\/a>, which teaches you everything that we covered in Part 1 of this article, and much more. It encompasses not only all of those canopy skills &amp; drills, but also water hazards (including actually experiencing line-entanglements in a pool), rigging, configuring your gear for different delays, and preparing yourself mentally and physically (including some fun proprioception exercises) for fixed-object jumping. Next Level EBS courses take place at DZs around the world and give you the tools you need to get exponentially more out of your BASE FJC and early BASE progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if you don\u2019t take any sort of pre-BASE course, at least skydive your BASE canopy. Again, see part 1 for more on this. Every hop-and-pop at your home DZ will give you ten times as much airtime to learn your parachute. Take advantage of this time and altitude and get aggressive with your parachute, so you can experience the full control range. But when you\u2019re getting advice on the DZ, keep in mind that having a few BASE jumps and really knowing how to fly a BASE canopy are two different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>having a few BASE jumps and really knowing how to fly a BASE canopy are two different things<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/a1994c1d-46d2-4d68-9af3-5f407ce43280.jpg\" alt=\"rigging, Next Level Elevated BASE Skills Course\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning to BASE Jump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re considering FJCs, do some research before you commit. Ask about what is covered in the course, how long it lasts, and where it will take place. In 2018 there are many dozens of options and they are not all equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Commercial FJC, or Mentor?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I strongly recommend taking the time to find the best example of both. Get a mentor, <em>and<\/em> take a good FJC. The FJC will miss things, and your mentor will miss things, and there are things you need to know that will inevitably be missing from both. Get all the help you can and try to absorb every piece of information from the experienced jumpers that you come into contact with, and then decide what works for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Examine the motivations of any BASE instructor that hard sells you on equipment<\/strong>. If your instructor tells you that you must buy gear from him, or must only buy gear from one particular brand, then maybe take a step back. It is up to you to do your homework and learn what is available for equipment choices and what is appropriate for the type of jumping that interests you. BASE is about individual responsibility and deliberate, conscious decision-making. Use your self-responsibility to your own advantage, and think for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>BASE is about individual responsibility and deliberate, conscious decision-making<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For better or worse, BASE has become an industry. Even if it\u2019s a small one, there are people who are financially invested in giving you brand-specific advice. Full disclosure: I am a co-founder of Next Level, which is a Not-for-Profit organization working to educate wingsuit pilots and BASE jumpers. I am also the founder of a BASE manufacturing company, and I believe that selling should not be disguised as advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/f0953221-2627-4c6b-971b-d9a19c11bf1a.jpg\" alt=\"All BASE canopies are 7-cell, low-porosity, designed to be flown at light wing loading. Pilot \u2013 Mark Rickert\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What gear should I get?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>All<\/strong> BASE canopies are low performance (compared to typical skydiving mains) and are suitable for a skydiver with 200+ jumps. Regardless of what you buy, it\u2019s practically guaranteed to be larger than what you\u2019ve been skydiving, have worse handling, and less flare. It\u2019s going to be slower, and probably have less glide and headwind penetration than the 9-cell ZP canopy you\u2019ve been jumping. All of these characteristics will need to be adapted to, and all BASE canopies can be described by these broad generalizations, regardless of how amazing the manufacturer makes them sound, or how special the features are. Certainly there are real differences between each BASE canopy, but they are all 7-cell low-porosity canopies designed to be flown at light wing loading (generally at around 0.7lbs per square foot).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>It\u2019s not that you don\u2019t have a reserve system in BASE, it\u2019s that you ONLY have a reserve system.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Basic Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Buy new:<\/strong> If you can, avoid gear with an unknown history. BASE parachutes need frequent re-lining and more intensive maintenance (the brake stows, for instance, endure more load, wear &amp; tear, and are arguably more critical to your safety than a skydive parachute). It\u2019s not that you don\u2019t have a reserve system in BASE, it\u2019s that you <em>only<\/em> have a reserve system. Get a good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Seriously consider light fabric:<\/strong> Ultralight, low-bulk fabric (the best is, without question, Porcher Sport PN9), has now been in use in BASE for more than ten years. The science is in on this: Light parachutes have proven to deliver better opening behavior, pack easier, fit into smaller containers, and are more fun to carry on those long hikes and climbs that you will be doing. Unless you\u2019re landing in thorny bushes and sand every single time, a light parachute is probably right for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zero-Porosity Leading Edges:<\/strong> Like lightweight fabric, the science is in on this aspect of parachute design. A ZP leading edge improves parachute longevity, glide, flare, and opening performance. More than a decade of widespread field use in all BASE applications has proven that a ZP leading edge is a significant benefit with minimal cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/c107bec9-2b51-4182-9edf-e75c5449a6ca.jpg\" alt=\"A ZP leading edge gives a significant benefit with minimal extra cost\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Talk to your friends<\/strong>: Find out what the people around you have been jumping, and ask them what else they have tried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Talk to the manufacturer<\/strong>: Gear evolves. Believe it or not, some new parachutes are better than old ones, and manufacturers can explain the progress to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t cheap out<\/strong>: You get what you pay for. Is saving a couple hundred bucks worth getting a parachute that won\u2019t function as well for low freefall, or be as suitable for tracking and wingsuit use? Not in my opinion. Your friends are going to offer to bring you to a low object that you\u2019ll want those slightly more expensive extra vents for, and on that long hike that you\u2019re going to want a lightweight setup for. Don\u2019t cheat yourself out of performance and comfort for the cost of a few skydives. Every major manufacturer offers a versatile lightweight parachute \u2013 get that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Article by Matt Gerdes<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related article \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/when-to-buy-base-gear\/\">When to Buy BASE Gear?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p><!-- Squirrel Supersize BASE Book [async] --><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement(\"script\"); s.async = true; s.type = \"text\/javascript\";s.src = 'https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || [];\nvar abkw = window.abkw || '';\nvar plc363390 = window.plc363390 || 0;\ndocument.write('<'+'div id=\"placement_363390_'+plc363390+'\"><\/'+'div>');\nAdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(175942, 363390, [860,480], 'placement_363390_'+opt.place, opt); }, opt: { place: plc363390++, keywords: abkw, domain: 'servedbyadbutler.com', click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER' }});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article by Matt Gerdes Choosing BASE Training and Gear Pre-BASE Training Learning to BASE jump while learning to fly a BASE canopy at the same time is too much for many people, even if they don\u2019t realize it. If you show up to your first BASE object (a bridge, hopefully) knowing where in the control [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":18600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[27,57,58,56],"class_list":["post-17935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-your-first-base-jump","tag-base","tag-education","tag-next-level","tag-squirrel","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.5 (Yoast SEO v25.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Choosing BASE Training &amp; Gear - Skydivemag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2018-02-07-choosing-base-training-gear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Choosing BASE Training &amp; Gear\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Article by Matt Gerdes Choosing BASE Training and Gear Pre-BASE Training Learning to BASE jump while learning to fly a BASE canopy at the same time is too much for many people, even if they don\u2019t realize it. 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