Simple data gathering - average pull height - above, or below 2500?

[yoink 321]

To inform discussion in the USPA BOD thread, I thought it might be interesting to try and gather some data.

So for C and D license holders only - On your typical skydive will this mandatory increase in container opening height change your skydive?

[Remster 24]

Typical: no. I pull at or just below 3k on most normal jumps. This being said, I have enjoyed the odd low hop and pop before that this would have rendered impossible.

Remster

[yoink 321]

Same here.

I used to like low hop and pops when it was solid cloud from 2000ft up. If the BPA follow suit then there goes the majority of skydives done in the North of Britain!


Interestingly I did see that the BPA has a separate opening altitude specifically for demos - the USPA could follow suit and take the liability back from the S&TAs.

Quote

OPENING HEIGHTS

Minimum canopy opening heights for main parachutes:

4.1. BPA ‘B’ Licence parachutists and below 3000ft AGL

4.2. BPA ‘C’ Licence parachutists and above 2000ft AGL

4.3. Student Tandem Parachutists 5000ft AGL

4.4. BPA ‘C’ Licence holders, on displays 1500ft AGL

[Trafficdiver 8]

I pull above 2500' so the rule won't affect me.

An ADD with a higher firing altitude may affect me if something goes wrong and I do end up pulling lower. I see that causing more 2 out canopies and more accidents.

I still don't plan on getting in that situation, but I'm sure no one does.

[billvon 2,380]

No; I do mostly video and thus pull high. At most it would affect low exits.

[Squeak 17]

I typically "wave off" at 3000. But I’m not at all averse to taking it lower if I don’t feel like adequate separation has occurred.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[ridebmxbikes 0]

i use to pull below 2500' when I had my sabre with its 500' openings up until craig saucier saw me pull at 2k and had a little chat with me then I started to pull on average by 3k and now I have a katana so I pull at least by 3.5-4k. not sure of the consistency of this one yet. so no it really doesn't effect my skydives unless I go for some bonus points but I still don't agree with the pull altitude being raised for the aad's i don't even own one...

[Deisel 35]

3.5 is my preference. Decision alt is 2500 and landing decision by 1.5. Anything lower and I'm cheating myself. But I admit that I suck it down for instructor training on a regular basis.

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[devildog 0]

I usually pull by 3.5, sometimes closer to 3k.

You stop breathing for a few minutes and everyone jumps to conclusions.

[crotalus01 0]

I usually pull either right at 2500' or between 2500' and 2000', but my canopy is typically open in +/- 500'. I like that little bit extra seperation I get from tracking a bit longer and pulling a bit lower.
FWIW I think its a mistake to enact a BSR that may well cause the next generation of skydivers to be in panic mode just because they find themselves in freefall at or below 2500'...

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[emmett751 0]

99% of my jumps are pulling by 3.5k, allows more time to deal with mals and start my set up for my turn.

[topdocker 0]

I usually pull just under 8K.

top

Jump more, post less!

[ILUVCHUTERS 1]

Not USPA, but CSPA C license here...

I generally pull at around 3,500 - 3,000, having a canopy that takes longer to open than some. That being said, I do hop & Pops from 3,500 with a bit of a delay, so sometimes I do open lower, I guess... but still rarely below 3, I'd say.

[julius 0]

I'm not going to pull above 2000' on a regular basis, exception being a long spot. Lets see someone pull out a tape measure.

[ctrph8 0]

On a typical skydive I like to be open by 3000. I also like the option of doing a low hop & pop if that is what is available. The rule doesn't really affect me that much but I'm not seeing the benefit, just the restriction.

yoink

To inform discussion in the USPA BOD thread, I thought it might be interesting to try and gather some data.

So for C and D license holders only - On your typical skydive will this mandatory increase in container opening height change your skydive?

[wmw999 2,116]

I used to regularly open down below 2500; I had a reliably fast-opening canopy that I trusted to be predictable. My current one isn't quite as reliably fast, so I'm opening my pack above 2500 nearly all of the time now.

But I don't really see the point of making it mandatory. Of course, I have a feeling that in the days before 2000 became the minimum pack opening altitude, lots of then-low pullers thought that was stupid, too.

One thing to consider is the impact of a 2500-foot opening altitude on Cessna DZ's. When your exit altitude is lower, you really don't want to take a whole lot off the bottom.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[nigel99 143]

yoink

To inform discussion in the USPA BOD thread, I thought it might be interesting to try and gather some data.

So for C and D license holders only - On your typical skydive will this mandatory increase in container opening height change your skydive?

A very important distinction between USPA and BPA, APF. USPA talks about container opening i.e your pin has been extracted, whereas BPA and APF talk about Canopy opening.

APF is 1800ft.

Initially I missed the subtle difference, but I seriously doubt that very many people are literally pitching at less than 2500ft.

I think the wording should be updated to have canopy open by 1500-2000ft. That way you avoid issues with hop and pops, and also account for the canopies different opening characteristics.

So container opening as per USPA wording, no difference whatsoever, but on 8 ways I am almost always under canopy between 1900 and 2100 ft (as reported by a Viso 2)

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[stayhigh 2]

I'd like to have fully opened canopy by 3.

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[tbrown 26]

On most skydives, with 8 or less people, I'll pull as I get good seperation. My pull alarm is set for 3 grand and it usually goes off at line stretch. If I'm jumping with more people, 10 or more, or escaping from a funnel situation, I'll usually track thru 3 grand before waving off. Even so, I'm still reliably sitting in above 2 grand without triggering my hard deck alarm.

With all the criticism of USPA for raising the limit, I've thought for a while that 2 grand is just too low for a lot of today's canopies. The fact that most people with those canopies choose to pull higher speaks for itself. I am old shool, so I don't rely on backups (though I use them). The sport today IS safer because of better gear, backups included. I don't think USPA is enslaved or beholden to the parachute industry for seeking their input on the subject. I think an extra 200 ft. or so on an AAD fire could give some poor soul a chance to land off a busy freeway,cornfield, or the local woods. As always, those who sit back and take cheap shots at USPA are welcome to run for the Board in the next election, but that might involve doing some real work beyond excercising their jawbones.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[rwieder 0]

Quote

I usually pull by 3.5, sometimes closer to 3K

Same for me. My Canopy (X-Fire 169) takes a little while to open. First one I've had that does that. I used to fly a quick opening Hornet way back when, I used to smoke it down to 2K before pitching, not any more. My alerts on my dytter are 6500-4500 & 3500, when I hear that 3500 alert, altimeter check it's time.

Best-
Richard

[skydiver30960 0]

Back when I was jumping a Falcon 265, then the Saber I 190 (pre-Y2K), I'd wait until the needle was firmly planted at 2000' before pulling, knowing beyond a doubt that I'd have a fully inflated canopy about 50' later (that's what it felt like, at least). This was also at a Cessna DZ that only took us to 9500AGL, so it seemed like every foot counted back then.

Now that I'm at a turbine DZ taking me to 13,500 and jumping a canopy where a typical opening burns 750-1000 feet, I'm more of a 3000' kind of guy. Anything higher than that and I worry about ending up in the crosshairs of somebody from the group before or after us that got lost along the way.

Elvisio "will always have a soft spot in my heart for hop and pops out of the 180" Rodriguez