What It Takes From Atlantic City to Kuala Lumpur, BASE jumper Miles Daisher goes over the edge
Miles Daisher is seven leaps away from joining the BASE jumping
elite who have made 500 parachute jumps from fixed locations such
as bridges and buildings. This week Daisher, 35, of Twin Falls,
Idaho, plans to put himself over the top, as it were, with leaps
from Malaysia's 1,483-foot-tall Petronas Towers and from
Thailand's tallest cliffs. He has already launched himself off
Seattle's Space Needle and tossed himself from the Trump Taj
Mahal in Atlantic City. Here he gives the lowdown on what he'll
use to join the 500 club.
TWO-WAY RADIO
Motorola Talkabout T5950 ($130) motorola.com
Communication is essential in BASE jumping. You need a guy at the
bottom (about a mile and a half away) to check on the wind
conditions and for cops. We talk in code. If I'm about to jump,
I'll say, "How's the fishing down there?" When I get the green
lure, I'm ready to cast off.
CARGO SHORTS
Sessions GI JOE ($52) sessions.com
I like to wear cargo pants because all those pockets are good for
holding your stash bag and bail money. If you don't have cargo
pants, you've got to shove your stash bag down the front of your
pants, and that doesn't look cool on camera.
SUNGLASSES
Bolle Extreme Downdraft ($90) bolle.com
Sunglasses are a must in BASE jumping because when you're
dropping down at terminal speed, your eyes start watering like
crazy. These help keep out the bugs, dust and UV rays and keep
your line of vision clear.
ALTIMETER WATCH
Suunto S6 ($399) suuntousa.com
This is the perfect measuring device. I like that it's hands-free
and that you can use the watch's logbook function to estimate how
long it should take to walk up to your jump site and records how
long it takes to come down. As for its altimeter, I've never had
a miscalculated reading. My friend Shane McConkey has a laser
range finder. We'll test our gear and come up with the exact same
readings.
HELMET
Bonehead Mindwarp ($195) boneheadcomposites.com
The last thing you need to worry about is bumping your head on
the landing. The Bonehead is form-fitted so it sits on real nice.
I attach a handheld Sony DVR to the helmet so I can shoot some
cool visuals when I jump.
BASE RIG
Ace 240 canopy ($1,258), Perigee Pro container ($755) crmojo.com
For canopy accuracy the Ace blows the doors off its rivals. This
rig is highly maneuverable and has more tail than other canopies.
The Ace makes it supereasy to set down on a dime--especially
important if you have to land on, say, a steep hill or a boulder
field. My Perigee container is custom-fitted and is aerodynamic
so I can get good tracking in the air.
COLOR PHOTO: JENNING STEGER/SLP (LEFT AND INSET) LEAP LOVER Daisher's jumps include this 457-footer off Lover'sLeap at Lake Tahoe.
COLOR PHOTO: JENNING STEGER/SLP (LEFT AND INSET)
SIX COLOR PHOTOS: ROBERT BECK (6)
