For more information on suspension visit – http://www.suspension.org/

Every year we, the organizers, ask for comments and criticism regarding the Dallas Suscon.  Each year we make note of everyone’s suggestions and even reply to some that we feel need to be answered.  This year, 2012, was no different.  However, we did have some concerns about admission and registration selection that we feel needed to be shared with the entire community.

As some of you may know, admission requirements for the Dallas Suscon have become stricter every year.  Furthermore, the registration system has also become tighter in that we have required team leaders to pick and choose who is allowed to attend.  Why might you ask?  Well here’s your answer.

First, there is limited space.  This year we had 208 people attend, our highest attendance yet, and in many ways too many people for the venue to accommodate.  If we were to open the event to every person wanting to attend the venue would simply be overcrowded.  Besides not allowing everyone that wants to suspend the chance, a problem we are already having, it’s also a safety issue.  With so many people packed into such a small area, chances of cross contamination increase dramatically with every extra body.

Safety is also our second issue.  The Dallas Suscon and its protocols are designed for trained practitioners only.  Unlike smaller suspension events, that are open to the general public, our event has no safety measures for dealing with untrained people.  With the exception of the 15 aspiring practitioners we allowed in this year (A new program we are testing to allow a small group of untrained people to learn at the event) all people in attendance need to be trained and competent to limit the chance of accidents.

Lastly, there is the issue of team attendance.  The Dallas Suscon mission statement states that the objective of this convention is to promote international communication within the suspension community, share information on techniques, protocols and safety measures.  To do this we try to bring together as many different teams as possible.  This year we had 40 teams from 7 countries register for the event.  In the future we hope to have even more teams and countries represented.  As the number of teams grow, it is quite possible that the amount of people per team may have to be reduced.  Understandably, this might be an issue with larger teams.  However, we hope that members of each team will be understanding and realize that the admission limitations are a necessity for the event to run smoothly and benefit the suspension community as a whole.

Final Note:  To those that feel excluded, please understand this event it not designed to be elitist, nor provide special treatment to those whose registrations are approved.  We are simply trying to keep the event from growing too quickly, maintain the highest level of safety, and provide education to as many suspension teams as possible. Organizing and running the Dallas Suscon is a difficult, time consuming, and expensive endeavor.  Every year I personally donate hundreds of hours of my time and sacrifice thousands of dollars of potential income to focus my attention on the convention.  I am not looking for thanks nor asking for pity. What I want is for people to comprehend what it takes to make this event happen and to respect the decisions that both team leaders and the event registration team need to make when it comes to choosing and ultimately limiting attendance.  Every year we do our best to improve the Dallas Suscon and help the entire suspension community as a whole.  Sometimes that means making some pretty tough choices.

Thank you for your support and understanding.
-Allen Falkner
Dallas Suscon – Event Organizer

Here at Hook Life we receive photo and video submissions every day.  Usually our job is to decide which are the best, but occasionally we are faced with another task.  There are times that we have to determine if the suspensions are safe or not.  This next video from the crew of Sinner Team is prime example of our concerns.  Now don’t get us wrong.  We’ve been known to do some things that I would never recommend trying.  So, at times it’s hard to act as the voice of reason.  However, what you are about to see comes with a huge warning.  Please do not attempt a death swing from hooks unless you are prepared, experienced, and willing to accept the risks.

Warning – Free falling onto hooks is extremely dangerous. If the stopping distance is too short the impact force will exceed the breaking strength of skin, hooks, safety equipment or possibly your bones/internal organs.

When you think of dangerous suspensions what comes to mind?  I’m sure one of the two helicopter suspensions might be your first thought.  Yes two, Criss Angel was the second.  Joey Strange did it first 5 years prior but that’s another blog all together.  Maybe it’s one of the crane suspensions.  Stelarc did hang over 200 feet (61 meters) in the air from a tower crane back in 1985. There is a beautiful video of him suspended in the center of Copenhagen, but we have yet to find a clip a online.  Possibly one of the human mobiles?  Again another entry you will see in the future, but today’s blog deals with something a lot smaller, but potentially just as dangerous, the 360.  The video below compiled by Ron Garza shows some clips using the device, created by Steel Fetish, with multiple warnings included.

We realize, to many people, suspension is all about pushing boundaries, but safety cannot and should not be sacrificed in the name of performance art.  If you do have a wild hair and feel like trying something that’s never been done before, please do the research, test the physics and check your math.  Being the first has its rewards, but putting yourself or your team at risk is never worth the glory.

If you’ve never seen a suspension, then chances are that this photo might draw your eyes to the redness or the blood.  Are you an artist or a photographer?  Well then chances are you’ve noticed the soft blur, short field of focus or maybe the richness of the colors.  However, if you are a suspension practitioner your first thought might be why is Robin aka Dadilydoo hanging from snap links? The answer is actually very simple.  Rigging is evolving.

Over the years suspension teams have been making improvements in both techniques and equipment.  There once was a time, not so long ago, that snap links and non-locking carabiners were come place in suspension.  Now with research, experience, and training our community has steadily progressed gaining praise from professional riggers throughout the world.

Over the years there has been a lot of discussion on how to minimize cross contamination while rigging a suspension.  The main problem we found is that each team had a slightly different protocol.  Some were better than others, but in the end we thought it was best to have one universal system.

People have asked for a nice printable version. So, we have made a letter size pdf that is print ready.  Feel free to click on the image below to download the file.