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Saturday, June 14, 2008

No honor among theives, no ethics among storm chasers

I give up. There is no sense in beating a dead horse when it comes to chasers doing stupid shit both on and off camera. The bar has been raised to the next to last rung. Only someone getting killed on a live video feed is left at this point to raise it to the final level. The data chasers out there who cry about not having cell phone coverage, data, etc in order to enjoy a storm is the group where it will come from. A chaser who I have respected for years said it best. "Shut off the computer. Look out the window instead." Pretty obvious success in this game can now be purchased for the price of a laptop and air card. Injury and death can also be purchased for this same price if you have little or no experience or worse yet, no common sense. Tech junkies who can find a couplet on a velocity scan from 5-7 minute old data, nose glued to the screen, camera in hand looking right were the computer says there is a tornado. Nice.

Lets talk about the death pool. Boy, some chasers sure have their panties in a bunch about this. Guess what paranoia dwellers? It DOESN'T EXIST but the concept sure is effective at getting people riled up when they know their name is on a list which they didn't give permission to be included on. Who in their right mind would willfully want to be named on something reserved for individuals whose only qualifying requirement is a total lack of common sense?

Fleas. If you have the balls to follow someone using Spotternetwork, SWIFT, or whatever, you better also have the balls the stand up and defend yourself when confronted. It is not courteous. If there was an official list of ethics, I would put this one up pretty high. We all saw the thread on ST regarding this subject...and it is still going on. Some people just don't learn.

This being said, as the public perception of who chasers are, what they do, and how they do it gets warped by the ability to broadcast live from the field, it will be interesting to sit back and watch the heat. As our society has moved (we are already there folks) to the point where nothing is too shocking, we have become desensitized to danger, pain, and suffering. If the owners/admin of severestudios.com read this blog (and I am counting on it), delete all my information you have. I have no desire to be associated with a structured organization which will end up doing more damage to chasing than good in the end. I'll say it again: hiding behind a veil of public service will fool most of the people...but not all of us.

For those of you who have messaged me expressing your disappointment in my views and opinions, I couldn't care less. I removed the "I need a friend" sticker from my forehead a long time ago.

7 comments:

CloudStalker said...

wow Bill is it realy that bad out there? Are there realy people that stupid? Well I guess if it wasnt for you, I wouldnt of knew the rules of the chase. Then again I dont see my self back to the plains for sometime, and if I do it will be with someone alot more weather wise then me.

Donald said...

Speaking of stormchaser ethics, what are your thoughts about chasers destroying rental cars, posting about it in public and selling the video? Seems a little more un-ethical than driving to close to a tornado with your own car to me.

DM said...

Amen, Mr. Doms.

The station we chase for received an email from them trying to "sell" their feeds and they kindly declined. I wonder if everyone who has to "pay" or that thinks their "free" service knows that those guys are banking on their feeds without them knowing.

I've never heard of these SS guys before last year, and up until the other day, was pretty sure that tornado was the first they saw.

They continually spam Reed's site, trying to get him to broadcast over there, which is laughable.

Gotta love Steve Miller's "chart" he posted, that's pretty spot on of how things work!

I've compiled a lot of video of "veterans" and "superior" chasers doing stupid shit this year, and will be selling a DVD this year called, "Whoops, is that you bitch?" To show everyone how saying one thing, and doing the other couldn't be further away from each other!

Andrew said...

There are some newbies listening and learning from all this, just so you know.

Unknown said...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I have never claimed to be a role model or mentor for newbie chasers. So you want to be a chaser? Spend the time in the field looking at as many storms as you can. Watch every chaser (not Skywarn) video you can. Figure it out on your own. No one is going to take you by the hand and walk you down the path.

Andrew said...

Lol Bill,

You're not my idol, so breathe easy.

I do admire your work and viewpoints though.

Chris White said...

I like the point on data, I use it as much as I can get it, it comes in right after my eyes and common sense. On the other hand when it's dark out or your retreating from a HP poor visibility conditions you rely on it significantly more. I try and avoid any low visibility conditions as much as possible.

I think Kenny and Kory just had bad luck in a freak incident. I think they generally do good work, they constantly promote public safety. If this happened to me, I would quite honestly take advantage of it to promote the dangers and unpredictability of storms, and try to recover some of the damages sustained to my vehicle and equipment at the same time. (and briefly put in my condolences of the scouts and others who lost their lives along with the the thousands of people experiencing massive property damage in Iowa due to flooding and the volunteer opportunities that exist to help).

And like I said elsewhere, the more we learn from others mistakes make us better chasers. Always have a backup but sometimes $hit happens very suddenly. Quite a few close calls they year, too many in fact.

Keep up the good work Bill.

-Chris White

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