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JohnRich

Why do whuffos walk on skydiving gear?

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I was on load #1 Saturday morning. Got done, laid my gear out to pack, and within minutes a whuffo walked across my lines. No shit. Ended up yelling loudly twice during the day at people, to please not walk across the lines.

So, I observed the problem all day, and came to my own conclusion about the cause of this dastardly whuffo phenomenon. I see three whuffo reasons for walking on lines, which combine together to create a "perfect storm" of bad whuffo behavior. They are:

1) Ignorance: Whuffos don't understand the importance of our parachute lines, even though it's obviously expensive equipment, upon which our lives depend. It should be obvious, but it isn't. Would they walk on someone else's golf clubs laying on the ground? No. But all those strings don't seem very important, compared to golf clubs.

2) Laziness: Rather than walk an extra 20-feet to go around the perimeter of the packing area, they cut straight through all the laid-out parachutes. Why should they go out of their way to respect important equipment?

3) The path of least resistance: This is the new idea I came up with this weekend, and sort of goes along with "laziness". Look at the attached photo of our packing area, with the manifest window and status screens on the far side. Now, think like a whuffo for a minute. If you wanted to get to that manifest window or check your load number on those screens, what would you do? Would you walk around the perimeter on the right around all those laid-out chutes? Heck no! That's an extra 20-feet of walking, by gosh! Whuffos are savvy enough to know not to step on rigs or canopies, because they're bulky and stick up above the floor and you can trip on them - that seems to be an obvious bad thing to them which keeps them away. They're not going to exert themselves leap-frogging over all those rigs and canopies, no more than they would jump over a big pile of boulders on a hike. All is okay with that.

But look at that photo. We skydivers tend to arrange our gear in parallel rows for packing, with rigs and canopies at opposite ends, and nothing but lines inbetween. In that photo, you have an obvious path of least resistance to get to the other side: straight over the lines! The lines lay flat, they don't get in the way, and it seems like almost an open pathway to walk across. I think whuffo sub-conscious brains instinctively see that pathway, and, not thinking about the bad effects of walking on lines, they stroll right across, stepping wherever their feet naturally fall. So a big part of this phenomenon, is the pattern we make on the floor with our chutes.

If the floor was randomly lumpy with gear scattered everywhere, it might look more like a difficult obstacle course that would prompt pea-brained whuffos to decide to go around rather than negotiate the obstacles. But that doesn't happen. We arrange our parachutes together in this pattern because space is limited, and we fit them together like a puzzle pieces to get more chutes in the available space. So this arrangement is natural and efficient for us. And consequently, helps lead to a pattern that encourages whuffos to stroll right through the middle. Ta-da! That's my big psychological revelation.

Now all we need is a sign right at the opening of that middle section where the "pathway" begins, saying "Please don't walk on the lines!" Maybe that would job their pea-brain consciousness into recognition of the need to stay off the lines. One can hope...

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Set up a trip wire. Connect it to Nerf gun trigger.:)



Funny you should say that, on a rainy day in the fall all our packers went to walmart and ended up spending $150 or something on nerf guns and the packing shed was a war-zone for the weekend.
"Do you really want to take advice from the guy we call Tarmac?"

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John, Why wouldn't "you" "close" the technical packing area with orange cones and "No crossing" tape ? Easy, cheap, visual enough, can be crossed if wanted/needed, but can not be crossed unvoluntarily. :)B|

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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A claymore would have a little more impact.....

but it might damage the gear and the packers. Good thing is it will generate more gear orders, and maybe decreasing gear prices.. But packers.... Their population will decrease, and therefore there will be a rise in packjob prices, which will create a major crisis in the US skydiving scene...
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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which will create a major crisis in the US skydiving scene...



Yeah, like people packing their own shit. :D
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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John, Why wouldn't "you" "close" the technical packing area with orange cones and "No crossing" tape ? Easy, cheap, visual enough, can be crossed if wanted/needed, but can not be crossed unvoluntarily. :)B|



Very good suggestion! This is a temporary hanger that we've just moved into, while awaiting construction of a permanent facility for the skydiving business. As such, everything is new, and we're still working out procedures. The staff is very busy just getting basic things done, and we haven't had time for the more detailed refinements yet. There is also talk of taking over an adjacent hanger space, which would alleviate the problem. I like your idea and maybe I can convince some people-in-charge to move in that direction. Thanks!

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Very good suggestion! This is a temporary hanger that we've just moved into, while awaiting construction of a permanent facility for the skydiving business. As such, everything is new, and we're still working out procedures. The staff is very busy just getting basic things done, and we haven't had time for the more detailed refinements yet. There is also talk of taking over an adjacent hanger space, which would alleviate the problem. I like your idea and maybe I can convince some people-in-charge to move in that direction. Thanks!

Will try the same in our brand new hangar and facilities :)
Maybe you could also add "zoo-style" signaletics, to indicate where things are, what kind of wild animals they can see in the hangar, and a kind reminder to "Please do not feed the packers" :D
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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Very good suggestion! This is a temporary hanger that we've just moved into, while awaiting construction of a permanent facility for the skydiving business. As such, everything is new, and we're still working out procedures. The staff is very busy just getting basic things done, and we haven't had time for the more detailed refinements yet. There is also talk of taking over an adjacent hanger space, which would alleviate the problem. I like your idea and maybe I can convince some people-in-charge to move in that direction. Thanks!

Will try the same in our brand new hangar and facilities :)
Maybe you could also add "zoo-style" signaletics, to indicate where things are, what kind of wild animals they can see in the hangar, and a kind reminder to "Please do not feed the packers after midnight. Dont get them in contact with water" :D


there, corrected it for you.

thinking about it, maybe the last point is useless anyway.. :P
“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

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Since it is a temp location, put a duct tape line on the ground around the edge of the packing mat leading to manifest. Add little arrow head pieces of tape pointing the way. A sandwich board barricade with a sign pointing the direction to go and with tape, even a stupid whuffo might have a chance making it to manifest without having to be told to stay off the lines.
50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

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And ad a sign that says: "If you don't step on our parachutes, we will not step on your car and even better, if your kid does not trample on our parachutes..."


If you find that to unfriendly the sign could say: 'Stay well clear of the parachutes - automatic openers contain explosives!"

:PB|:)


"Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
A thousand words...

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i studied your picture VERY carefully.....;)

i certainly WOULD walk the Long way around everything to get to that window......

and when i ask someone in that office about the "Check", that's in there... hopefully for ME,,,
would you have
any idea, how MUCH it will be written out for?????. i might need that $$$$$ to get a new container to replace the one that some whuffo used for his pillow!!!
:o:)jmy

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and when i ask someone in that office about the "Check", that's in there... hopefully for ME,,, would you have any idea, how MUCH it will be written out for?????. i might need that $$$$$ to get a new container



I believe that the sign saying "Check In Here" means that YOUR paychecks go IN there. Not the other way around. In order for you to get a check OUT of there, you've got to work for them. Life is so unfair. Good luck with your new rig funding.

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I looked at the picture, and the problem is sooo obvious: You've got a big fat black line in the form of carpet tape running exactly where you don't want people to walk. That line just screams "FOLLOW ME!!!". If you were to run black lines the other way, or better yet, a criss-cross pattern in the suspension line area, it would cut the traffic way down. I'm not sure how to do this. That's all I got.
I believe you have my stapler.

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If you are so anal about your 'life saving device', then you'd never even set it in a packing area.
I love it how the rest of the world is expected to respect your valuables when you throw them on the floor in the middle of a bunch of strangers. :S

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

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If you are so anal about your 'life saving device', then you'd never even set it in a packing area.
I love it how the rest of the world is expected to respect your valuables when you throw them on the floor in the middle of a bunch of strangers. :S



Let me put this kindly: yours is the minority opinion.

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I still think packing areas should be nowhere near where whuffos shuold be, but if that isn't possible, the easiest solution would be for the skydivers to actually do something to alleviate the problem.

Simply rotating their packing 90 degrees springs to mind to leave clear lanes down to the manifest.

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A claymore would have a little more impact.....



but it might damage the gear and the packers. ...



that's a good point. Gear is hard to replace.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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