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JoeyH

HOLY SHIT!

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My favorite part is how he's still figeting with the hest strap even after he lands.



Fairly normal psychological response to danger. Goal fixation. His brain hasn't stopped making that chest strap the most important thing in his world yet.
Owned by Remi #?

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labrys

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My favorite part is how he's still figeting with the hest strap even after he lands.



Fairly normal psychological response to danger. Goal fixation. His brain hasn't stopped making that chest strap the most important thing in his world yet.



Yup.

Far from berating the guy, I think this is a fantastic lesson for all of us. You may think you'll be cool in an emergency, but your brain does strange stuff in extremis.

1) Build a routine to check your stuff, and follow it exactly the same way every time. If there isn't time because you're rushing to make a load, have the discipline to hold off...

2) Know your shit. Learn everything you can about your gear, how it works and possible failure modes. I think the Safety and Training forum is really valuable for exactly this - there have been scenarios in there that I never thought of...

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I was discussing this video with some guys at my DZ the other day. Our conclusion is that in this situation (finding a chest strap undone) I would grab on to the right side chest harness with my left hand, pitch and then as quicky as possible grab the left side harness with right hand. Essentially locking yourself in the harness. Then under canopy reaffix chest strap and get down safely.

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I loosen my chest strap a bit under canopy but wouldn't dream of taking it off completely (not a swooper, flying a very lightly loaded docile canopy).

I think if that happened to me I might be tempted to do it up once open as well. I sure as shit hope it wouldn't, though. I still make sure I get (and give) gear checks every single jump.

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flyingdrinkard

I was discussing this video with some guys at my DZ the other day. Our conclusion is that in this situation (finding a chest strap undone) I would grab on to the right side chest harness with my left hand, pitch and then as quicky as possible grab the left side harness with right hand. Essentially locking yourself in the harness. Then under canopy reaffix chest strap and get down safely.



That's probably what I'd do as well, but I can think of issues with this strategy too - be damn sure where you're gripping your webbing - you don't want any hold of your cutaway or reserve handle.

Would I be heads up enough to remember this in the situation? I hope so, but who knows.

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We had two incidents at our DZ in 15 years where a jumper exited the aircraft without his chest strap secured and properly routed. The first case the jumper lossed and his harness and undid hi chest strap for comfort on the ride up. The other case the jumper misrouted the chest strap and upon a RW exit his chest strap came undone in the opposing jumpers hand. In both cases the jumpers executed a stable opening and were retained within their harness as they normally would. The first guy realize what happened untill he noticed that his harness main lift webs were further apart under canopy. Check, check, check, and then check again. Scary stuff.
www.geronimoskydiving.com

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Why on earth anyone would need to undo their chest strap and loosen their harness "for comfort on the way up" is absolutely beyond me.

I'm ready to jump out every single time I get in the plane. Whether it's at 12,500, or sooner if needed, at a moment's notice. And I try to instill that in the novices/students I teach, too.

*edited to change "you" to "anyone", did not mean to imply personally the previous poster :)

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Why on earth anyone would need to undo their chest strap and loosen their harness "for comfort on the way up" is absolutely beyond me.



Ditto

My thought as well. Each jumper at our DZ was received a warning and given mandatory remedial safety training.

This is a fun and exciting sport but unforgiving for those who make a careless mistake.
www.geronimoskydiving.com

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gunpaq

The first case the jumper lossed and his harness and undid hi chest strap for comfort on the ride up.



No, no, no no no no NOOO !
I don't even get on the plane unless everything is the way it's supposed to be, and I have checked 28934923842 times. Even then, on the ride up I'm still checking. I can't even picture myself or anyone, undoing their chest strap for comfort.

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That's probably what I'd do as well, but I can think of issues with this strategy too - be damn sure where you're gripping your webbing - you don't want any hold of your cutaway or reserve handle.

Would I be heads up enough to remember this in the situation? I hope so, but who knows.



If your rig fits properly and it hasn't already slipped off your shoulders during freefall it would be extremely unlikely to come off your shoulders during opening, chest strap or no. Heck, throw out the PC and simply point your arms down at the ground and it'd be practically impossible for it to come off. Just think about how the harness is aligned and where the force comes from.

If this guy goes so completely to pot in an "emergency" situation like this then he needs to take a long hard look in the mirror before getting back in a jump plane, 'cos there are far worse things that skydiving can throw at him.
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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Seriously! My holy shit wasnt at the chest strap it was at the fact that people like this are in the air. he lost all altitude awareness and let his aad fire, then he didnt flare at all. seriously. AFF much?
Carpe Diem, even if it kills me

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JoeyH

Seriously! My holy shit wasnt at the chest strap it was at the fact that people like this are in the air. he lost all altitude awareness and let his aad fire, then he didnt flare at all. seriously. AFF much?



Go read the lists of AAD saves... you'll be surprised at how many are in some way related to loss of altitude awareness/failure to take action despite being physically able to do so. Surprisingly few are because of being knocked out or otherwise physically incapacitated.

http://www.cypres-usa.com/CYPRES%20save%20list%20for%20download%2006.11.11[1].pdf

http://www.vigil.aero/life-saving-list
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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Altitude awareness - it's a common term but a complex concept. I was reminded last weekend how very simple differences and things you aren't used to can really change your perspective.

I am accustomed to having clouds, checking their altitude on the way up so I have some simple reference points to have in the back of my mind during the dive. Sunday was completely clear. Not a cloud in sight. I had my usual gear - analog hand alti and audible. At about 8k ft I started getting ground rush. It felt like I hadn't been in the sky very long. I hadn't heard the audible at all yet. And I start panicking, seeing ground coming faster. Things still looked pretty darn small, and I tapped my altimeter a few times and saw the needle was moving, but I was stuck in a moment of indecision. As I went through 7k, I was questioning how high I really was and at what point I'd just go straight to reserve if I did end up really low. I figured the chance of my analog and audible both failing unconservative at the same time was very small. But, staring at the ground, I thought, why wasn't I pulling already?

Well, I didn't want to actually be pulling at 7k and end up with AFF/tandems falling through me. Was basically locked onto alti at this point and checking the ground, making sure things didn't look too close. All these thoughts were going through my head in about 5 seconds.

Finally at 5k, I deployed the main, then heard the audible for the normal 4.5k tone. Turns out everything was working just fine and I was freaking out over nothing but a misperception. Without the sky looking the way I was used to, I was focusing, probably staring, at the ground, and noticed changes in scale a bit more than I usually do. It really distorted my normal altitude awareness. I imagine it's even easier with gear distractions.

There's a reason you don't want to change too many things too quickly and keep things as consistent as possible. Your brain relies on pattern recognition for a lot of its decision-making, and when something doesn't match the expected pattern, you can get all sorts of confused

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