What out-of-the-ordinary things do you do for safety?

[JohnMitchell 14]

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Figure out what everyone's doing on every load I'm on. Usually chat to the people exiting after me about winds and separation.

That's a damn good one. I've had too many folks follow me out too closely.

My thing is that I try to remember that there is not a skydive you can make that can't kill you. I'm not real obsessive about safety, but I try to be thorough, and survive each jump, one at a time.

[tbrown 26]

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I PLF whenever I'm not absolutely certain of the landing.

Wendy W.

Jerry Borquin (license D-22 and a founding member of the Golden Knights) does a textbook PLF on ALL of his landings. Saw him do it a couple times on a beautiful day at Elsinore a few weeks ago. Everybody else was doing easy standup landings (even me, so it really was a perfect day for it), but Jerry prefers the tried & true PLF. And he really does a perfect PLF at that, rolls over, feet up & together.

May not be as graceful or as cool looking as everyone else, but I bet he doesn't go breaking a leg the way I once did either.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[jwynne 0]

I scan who's on the plane and think about canopy sizes, aproachs and what the landing traffic is likely to look like. Then I look for everyone under canopy and decide if I'm comfortable heading for the main landing area. I have a serious fear of dying close to the ground under an open canopy, due to someone else HP swoop

[Duckwater 0]

1. I always use a packer. I have over 900 jumps and I have NEVER packed a parachute. I have never had a bad pack job.

2. I never jump on the weekends. I jumped at Perris during the week and I usually know everybody on the plane. No offense, but go watch landings during the week, then the weekend. The 'weekend warriors' are all over the place and a lot of them cant fly their canopies well.

3. I keep my rig in top shape and ask my riggers for any advice. Tack your Slinks. Get hard riser inserts, get elastic to stow your excess. I had a cut away and a rear riser landing because I did not tack my slinks or stow my excess at first.

4. Take a canopy flight course. This was by far the most important thing I did. A canpy is a complex airfoil with complex controls and characteristics. You HAVE to be taught to fly it properly. Training yourself is the dumbest thing you could ever do.

5. Listen - Go find the people with 10,000 jumps and ask them for advice. Watch how people like Tony Dominico fly their canopies. You dont have to swoop, ever. Wisdom on the DZ is free and it is easy to find. The people with it are usually very open to giving it to you, but they wont force it on you.

6. Read the incidents forum on DZ.com. It is a gold mine of knowledge and full of stories of what, and what NOT to do.

[AMax 0]

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1. I always use a packer. I have over 900 jumps and I have NEVER packed a parachute.

and you list this as a "safety thing"?

[loumeinhart 0]

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I always make sure I dont have a nut under one of my leg straps before I jump.

I have tears coming down my face

[bodypilot1 0]

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I always make sure I dont have a nut under one of my leg straps before I jump.

I have tears coming down my face

You'll also have the same out come if you dont do the safety procedure as I mentioned above!


Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[Andy9o8 0]

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1. I always use a packer. I have over 900 jumps and I have NEVER packed a parachute.

No offense, maybe it's because I started in the sport when it was practically unheard of for anyone (other than S/L students) to jump a rig they hadn't packed for themselves, but this is just mind-blowing to me.

[winsor 186]

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Example:

Somebody posted that they put all new rubber bands on their dbag after a weekend of jumping. Seems like a reasonable thing to do. Got some others?

One thing I do is to request that everyone on the load check their straps and handles one last time, typically as we climb through 10,000 feet. If Orly King or Scotty Carbone is on the load I don't bother, since they tend to make a similar announcement.

Though some people roll their eyes - and it appears to rankle the hell out of a few others - I have seen enough people rapidly rethread a chest strap or pull out a cutaway handle that was tucked under that I figure it is worth it.

I know of too many incidents that would have been avoided if someone had made that last check, and I'll be damned if it will happen on my watch.


Blue skies,

Winsor

[HydroGuy 0]

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I always make sure I dont have a nut under one of my leg straps before I jump.

I had a "nut-under" mal on one of my AFF jumps.

I check my leg straps EVERY time before I exit.

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[HydroGuy 0]

As for extraordinary things I do...every time I dump, I assume that I will have a high speed mal...like I TRUELY believe I will have one.

And I give my pilot chute a solid throw to clear my burble.

The thought of a high speed mal makes me more nervous than anything else in the sport.

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[Schoenauer 0]

I take off my St. Christopher and leave on the ground in my gear bag at the start of the day. My mother...... gave it to me when I had about 50 jumps, for safe traveling.

The way I see it, I had about those 50 jump and felt the St. Christopher would just upset the balance.

Memento Mori

[Schoenauer 0]

I handle check my PC just before I climb out even though I checked it several times before.

Memento Mori

[steelyeye 0]

Straps, handles, rings, hackey, and, most importantly, high fives all around (the two cutaways I have had were after NOT high-fiving...not superstitious, just believe in empirical evidence!).

"Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

[tbrown 26]

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1. I always use a packer. I have over 900 jumps and I have NEVER packed a parachute.

No offense, maybe it's because I started in the sport when it was practically unheard of for anyone (other than S/L students) to jump a rig they hadn't packed for themselves, but this is just mind-blowing to me.

I just don't see where using a packer makes a person safer. If anything, packing your own gear, at least some of the time makes you safer by keeping you on more intimate terms with your rig and the condition it's in. And every now and then you hear about some boogie that had 8 cutaways in a single afternoon and that makes me think Uncle Fester must be on the loose again.

The one other thing I do for extra safety is I now carry my copy of my Cypres Owner's Manual in my gearbag - just in case anybody has a question or issue about their Cypres. I am NOT an authority on the Cypres and I don't go talking about them either. But IF somebody voices a concern, I can tell them I have a copy of the manual and they're welcome to have a look if they think it will help. Hasn't happened yet, but it's there anytime somebody wants to find an answer.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[bob.dino 0]

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I just don't see where using a packer makes a person safer. If anything, packing your own gear, at least some of the time makes you safer by keeping you on more intimate terms with your rig and the condition it's in.

As said by a mate of mine last weekend: "The problem with always using a packer is that you don't know how shit your gear's become." His last 400 or so jumps have been team training, and at 10-12 jumps a day you gotta use a packer...

[Inthebuff 0]

When it rained in Spain in January me and my mucker handed over our 20 Euro's and did a packing course.
The faithful Rigger cast his all knowing eye over our work every now and then in between packing reserves.
On presenting him with my third attempt that had drained all my strength and took over half an hour he said is it good ? to which I replied yes.
Jump it then he said.So I did.
With a fair bit of trepadation pulling well high just in case, I looked up on opening and 'she' opened like a a beautiful flower, perfect.
It was quite a moment in my Sky Diving Life.

Just thought I'd share that with you 'brothers and sisters'.

( Awaiting wise cracks

***********************************
Fly Like Zie Eagle, Not Like Zie Chicken !
Good advice from an instructor I know.

[TrickyDicky 0]

Thats good.. When I was taught to pack (using student equipment) one of the first things I was told was "If you wont jump it yourself, why should anyone else?". Heard of people who have replied to "Would you jump it yourself?" with a "No" and instantly got a bollocking and had the whole thing pulled out. Its only fair.

As for safety, I always check handles pads just before all the hi-fives.. and get someone to check my pin on run-in too.

UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.

[grasshopper 0]

I just don't see where using a packer makes a person safer.

[Praetorian 1]

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Who do you think can pack more reliably, a person with 100 pack jobs or someone with 1000's

Ok I will concede this point... but who cares more about a packjob a packer who is packing for cash, or me a person who is packing to save my own life?

Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad
judgment.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Who do you think can pack more reliably, a person with 100 pack jobs or someone with 1000's.

It's a good reason why not everyone is allowed to pack reserves.

How can anyone call him/herself as an independent skydiver if he/she is not able to pack his/her own main.

[mjosparky 3]

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but who cares more about a packjob a packer who is packing for cash, or me a person who is packing to save my own life?

Riggers pack reserves for cash!

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[kelpdiver 2]

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How can anyone call him/herself as an independent skydiver if he/she is not able to pack his/her own main.

Do you get a special patch for being an INDEPENDENT skydiver? That's a meaningless label, framed by your personal point of view.

If I only used a packer, I'd have gotten many fewer jumps in last year. If I never used one, the same is true. I'd max out at about 4 instead of 6-7 / day.

But I'm am a bit gunshy of packers at boogies now, unless I know them.

[Guest 1010]

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2. I never jump on the weekends. I jumped at Perris during the week and I usually know everybody on the plane.
...

This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for - I never would have thought of it myself. Thanks & thanks all.

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[billvon 2,400]

>If I never used one, the same is true. I'd max out at about 4 instead of 6-7 / day.

I thought that too. But nowadays it takes me 6 minutes to pack. The more you do it, the faster you get.