What have you learned?

[Klassen 0]

I thought as I am new to the sport and am excited about learning everything I can about skydiving I would start a thread called " What have you learned". I know its a HUGE topic but its raining here and I got the time.

Jump in and get it rollin if ya fell like sharing something you have learned lately or anything you feel like sharing...freefall,canopy, gear,...whatever.

[dragon2 0]

Earlier this year, I have gained some more respect for the "old guys doing accuracy" as I did 1 jump on a ParaFoil 252 and had trouble just to get the slider down, to steer a bit and to flare the canopy. I need to go to the gym! Man those things are heavy to steer/flare

I can comfortably do 12 camera jumps (video + heavy still camera) in a day, but 1 accuracy jump had me beat

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[fallinbear 0]

I've learned that the "incidents" column helps keep me more focused on safety every day...

I don't want to make all the decisions because if I screw up, then I can't blame it on you...

[stratostar 5]

I've learned that a lot of the "new kids" have a lot to learn and for the most part are in too big of a hurry to reach what they think is the winners circle, to slow down to learn the info and skills needed to make it 10 or 20 years in the sport.

Skydiving is life long learning process, and even then you'll never know it all.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[Glitch 0]

I've learned to fear the THUD! That's the feeling you get when ya get bitch slapped by the planet and all you can do is lay there grunting while you try to breathe...

I've learned that no matter how good ya are something, there's a couple of asshats right over there that are much, much better at it than you are... Skydiving is a very humbling sport.

I've learned that I alone am responsible for my actions, or inactions... and that I am sometimes responsible for the actions or inactions of everyone else on the load as well, depending on how the dive went.

I've learned that just cause I got my foot jammed into the crotch of a hottie while packed into the back of a 182, it DOESN'T mean that I should wiggle my toes to keep my foot from falling asleep....

But mostly.... I've learned to light it BEFORE I release my brakes, to watch my rigger when he's working on someones else's rig, that it don't really matter how I pack cause it'll prolly open anyway... eventually... and that jump numbers dont' mean shit, regardless of how color coordinated their gear is or how small their mains are....

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

[matthewcline 0]

I have learned that I have a lot more to learn.

I have learned my "a lot more to learn" attitude is not shared by most of my students (even though I get coaching and training along side of them), but is shared by my peers and mentors, mostly.

I have learned I dislike incident reports since I hate filling them out.

I have learned I like this sport, near love it, but could leave it tomorrow or next year and it won't affect my life.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Freefall gets lots of attention.... But canopy control lets you walk to the hanger.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[DBCOOPER 1]

I've learned, that the more I learn, that I never realised how much I didn't know.

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[NWFlyer 2]

I've learned that skydivers are not special. They're just people who skydive.

"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

[wildcard451 0]

The ground is tougher than I am.

[virgin-burner 1]

physics is a bitch!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[anthonyfellows 0]

I've learned that sometimes you have to take it down it low, just to show gravity who the fuck you are!

Serious relationships turn into work after a few weeks and I already got a fucking job :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
H.A.F. = Hard As Fuck ... Goddamn Amateurs

[thrillstalker 0]

never say the f word, ASSHOLES always want beer if you do

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[labrys 0]

I didn't understand how bad turbulence can be when I was learning. To me at the time, it was just "bumpy wind"

I learned to respect it for the bitch-slapping bad-ass it can really be the hard way.

Owned by Remi #?

[Klassen 0]

Great post!

[Klassen 0]

Very nice. I hope you still give the toes a little wiggle.

[aresye 0]

Most important thing I learned was not to attempt swooping at 70 jumps. Hitting the ground still in a dive and walking away with a bruised knee is about as humbling as it gets.

*And by humbling I mean realizing how easy it is to kill yourself under canopy.*

Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

[turtlespeed 212]

I have learned that tyhe really really good ones get taken first.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[rhanold 0]

I learned that everyone I jump with has something to teach me.

[RMK 3]

Here’s a few for new jumpers:

• Make certain you’ve got “your” rig on
Most dropzone student/rental gear all looks the same (brand & colour). Also, students/novices may not use the same rig from jump-to-jump on the same day.
... On about my 15th jump, I noted that the legstraps seemed slightly shorter when gearing up. I thought nothing of it, geared up rocked up to the boarding area. Only due to quickly needing to run back inside the hangar did I notice that this was not my rig and had a canopy a few sizes smaller than what I was using – I was glad to not get this surprise on landing

• Ask if anything else looks like the dropzone?
Upon getting a briefing when visiting a new dropzone, ask if anything in the area looks similar to the dropzone from altitude.
... this one has caught out many people – myself included (tracked like a madman to the perceived DZ only to find the real one was now well behind me and I couldn't fly back

• Brand new gear may be mis-rigged
Have a new rig checked by another person for a “second opinion”. The person that assembled your shiny new rig may not have been a rigging genius.
... I got a new rig from 35th jump; I found on my 70th jump that the toggles were attached incorrectly (one came loose on flaring). The result was a PLF and grass stains, but we all know loss of a toggle can result in much worse.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[virgin-burner 1]

Quote

• Ask if anything else looks like the dropzone?
Upon getting a briefing when visiting a new dropzone, ask if anything in the area looks similar to the dropzone from altitude.
... this one has caught out many people – myself included (tracked like a madman to the perceived DZ only to find the real one was now well behind me and I couldn't fly back

i once managed to land on the wrong side of a lake. take-off and landing zone were different. happened to have a race-track (where you run around in circles) on both sides, and i didnt see any other canopies, so i assumed i was right since it was right under me and we were out last.

probably scared an old couple to death that had a stroll on the lake, think it was a downwinder too, i came in shithot..

soon enough a car came and a guy got out, smiling. i walked up to him and asked if the dz sent him to pick me up. apparently his wife was in the kitchen fixing something to eat and all of a sudden got a shadow over her.. nice guy!

oh, it was with another dz.commer too, she was her on business, surprisingly, she found the right spot..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[againsthumanity 0]

I have learned that even the youngest and newest members of the sport have valuable insight and ideas just as the older ones do. That and: radical hook turns are bad, long spots suck so become good friends with your rears, skygods are stupid, a broken airplane is frustrating, packing is FUN, getting paid to skydive is awesome, and DON'T RUSH ANYTHING!!!!!!

I love BASE because cliffs don't crash
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves

[MikeJD 0]

Quote

I've learned that skydivers are not special. They're just people who skydive.

I've learned that Krisanne tells it like it is, and I like her posts.
I've learned that some of the skydivers whose achievements I most admire are also among the most humble and helpful.

Finally, I've learned that whatever you do in the sport, you can't be at the cutting edge forever. Today's proximity-flying, wingsuit-landing, super-swooping hotshots are tomorrow's 'old accuracy dudes'. People will eventually do things in skydiving that are inconceivable to us now - I hope.

[shropshire 0]

I've lurnd that the Earth is not coming up to meet me to be my friend and I will not turn into a bowl of Petunias, if my canopies do not open.

And further, I now know that the last thing to go through my mind is likely to be my arse.

In short ....
It's MY responsibility to safe my own life.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[jsreznor 0]

When jumping a new aircraft that has a jump run speed higher than what you are used to, you need to adjust, as in, SPOT better.

Especially if you're the last ones out and everyone before you were taking their sweet ass time and don't want to end up in a field 1/2 mile away because the winds shifted and you have no penetration and find yourself over a river at 1500 feet.

(true story)