First "Oh Shit" moment today

[Mad_Jasper 1]

Did my 16th and 17th jumps today. I'm only able to do a couple a month because of my new job, divorce, etc. The only problem I've had is a slight spin that I worked out after jump 8.

Anyway, I was practicing my rate of decent my moving my arms in and out. Nearing my 4500 ft pull threshold, I tumbled. Don't know why... didn't feel unstable. Actually felt very smooth and in control. I just tumbled, turned on my back for a brief moment, and righted myself. I pulled around 3800 and under full canopy at 3000.

While not a big deal, I don't know what the hell I did wrong, thus I can't work on correcting the problem.

[jonstark 8]

Just consider it as "you pushed your own envelope" today. Gotta leave the comfort zone once in a while to stretch and grow.

jon

[airtwardo 6]

Stability Gremlin takin' ya for a rodeo dive!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[skygnat 0]

I had a few of these by my 18th, and the last one took me out of action for awhile, but I will be making my 19th jump soon.

First was from testing my canopy on my 4th jump and turning a quick left followed by a quick right , which twisted my lines. Some hard pedaling while muttering oh shits got me out of that.

The next was from flying around too far away from the DZ with an expectation I had plenty of time to make it. By the time I started to head toward the DZ I was against the wind and sure I was not going to make it and would have to land in a fully grown cornfield. Just barely made it to the start of my approach pattern at the right heading and altitude.

The last jump started with two quick oh-shits followed by a body slam on the ground followed by several more oh-shits.

The issue on that was my approaching with toggles shoulder height to slow me down so I could make my target. When I was under 50 feet I raised the toggles quickly to give me more room for final flare, and I learned a hard lesson on cause and effect of Forward Surge too close to the ground. Raising the toggles quickly caused the canopy to surge forward, which in turn swung me forward, and I was on the ground much quicker and harder than expected.

Fortunately that ended a little better than it could have, as I was able to barely walk away and get a ride to the ER for treatment of a minor spinal compression fracture.

So while these may be considered dumb-ass nube mistakes by many, I present them here so that others may hopefully avoid repeating these and getting hurt.

Especially the forward surge matter, which everyone should have a clear understanding of. Brian Germains "The Parachute and Its Pilot" has a lot of great information on this and other topics of interest to new jumpers.

[Andy9o8 0]

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I don't know what the hell I did wrong, thus I can't work on correcting the problem.

It could have been any one of a number of brief unintended inputs you weren't aware of, like dropping a knee, de-arching, etc., etc. And you can work on correcting the problem: do a 2-way with someone experienced who can fly relative to you and critique you. If s/he can video you at the same time for after-jump review, so much the better.

[virgin-burner 1]

u're still a student; i still get a main out around 4500-4000ft, and i will keep on doing so..

just food for thought..

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

[npgraphicdesign 2]

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u're still a student; i still get a main out around 4500-4000ft, and i will keep on doing so..

just food for thought..

You're full of it. Didn't you tell me yesterday you always pull at 3K or less?

[virgin-burner 1]

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u're still a student; i still get a main out around 4500-4000ft, and i will keep on doing so..

just food for thought..

You're full of it. Didn't you tell me yesterday you always pull at 3K or less?

maybe i cant remember, but always try to go for my handles at 1200meters, around there, or SLIGHTLY less.. ;)

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

[steveorino 7]

Get some coach jumps, the outside "eyes" wil help you determine what you did ... most likely drop a knee or something like that

steveOrino

[ibx 2]

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u're still a student; i still get a main out around 4500-4000ft, and i will keep on doing so..

just food for thought.. Smile

You're giving stupid advice ! Pulling higher than 1000m is dangerous especially if you're jumping in larger groups, with other larger groups behind you in the plane !

Just food for thought !

[virgin-burner 1]

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u're still a student; i still get a main out around 4500-4000ft, and i will keep on doing so..

just food for thought.. Smile

You're giving stupid advice ! Pulling higher than 1000m is dangerous especially if you're jumping in larger groups, with other larger groups behind you in the plane !

Just food for thought !

oh yea, i bet..

see you on your funeral!

and hey, i do have a cypres2, but i dont rely on it..

better to have 20 seconds to do something than only a hardly 10, but yea, i might not have your mad skills..

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

[Heatmiser 0]

You seriously think some one is a crater waiting to happen if they're dumping at 3200 feet, (1000 meters), but they're an idiot if they ask someone else to give them a gear check? Btw, at average terminal velocity, you're 17.6 seconds from impact, not 10.

What you say is reflective of your knowledge...HOW ya say it is reflective of your experience. Airtwardo

Someone's going to be spanked! Hopefully, it will be me. Skymama

[billvon 2,400]

>oh yea, i bet..

You'd lose! At larger boogies if you plan on pulling higher than 3500 feet you have to talk to manifest to make sure that you do not pose a collision hazard.

>better to have 20 seconds to do something than only a hardly 10

Well, by that argument, better to have 40 seconds to do something rather than only 20 - but most people manage.

[virgin-burner 1]

ok, lets put it in meters then; i usually pull somewhere around 1200 meters, give or take.. say, by 1100 meters i've actually managed to get my hand behind my fat ass for average.. i STILL have ALMOST 20 seconds!

please read what i spot to billvons post for further explanation..

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

[virgin-burner 1]

mate, while i respect you for lots of stuff u are doing, i still think that this kind of "low-pulling"mentality, not only supported by the FAA and the USPA continues to kill jumpers in the US and abroad, it's better to be a "dirty high puller" - and get away with it - than behaving like the "bigger boogies tell you to" - and not be smart, and eventually, die..

your choices may differ!

for fairness sakes, i choose to jump a highly loaded canopy, be it before your, or brians "recommended" list..

anyway, if things go awry, i better have 20 seconds than only ten to re-act; so far, i havent had a cutaway, but yes, since jump #1, i packed for myself; maybe that has something to do with it, or i was just lucky.. but probably, i'm doing it all wrong.. u tell me!

and just for the sake of soul-stripping, i was thaught RSL's (or skyhooks for that matter, were bad, tough i kinda favored them), but i was told, better to pull higher than relying on some sort of equipment; and i just got a UPT-product.. so, take it for what it's worth..

i'm just a dude that (kinda in your terms, likes to stay safe, even opposing your canopy-recommendations), yet, i land better than most americans i've met so far with, say, double the experience i have..

fair enough, our landing-zone is tiny; and we dont give shit about what other people say, because we see way too many foreign jumpers fucking up..
oh, and ALL americans say our LZ is tiny.. bad for us i suppose, but our LZ is smaller than most peoples backyard in the US...

yea, i'm drunk, and i like to argue when i'm drunk, doesnt take away of the facts tough..

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

[billvon 2,400]

>i still think that this kind of "low-pulling"mentality, not only supported by
>the FAA and the USPA continues to kill jumpers in the US and abroad, it's
>better to be a "dirty high puller" - and get away with it - than behaving like
>the "bigger boogies tell you to" - and not be smart, and eventually, die..

Hey, no problem. If you want to pull high because of canopy reliability issues, go for it. Just make sure you tell the people you are jumping with so that we can reduce the odds of a freefall/canopy collision - those are ugly.

> i was thaught RSL's or skyhooks for that matter, were bad . . .

Huh. They're just a safety device, like an AAD. Used correctly they can help save your life; used incorrectly, or relied upon too heavily, and they can endanger it. Nothing inherently bad about them.

[airtwardo 6]

If the spot is good, I like to pull at 2000' because that puts me down below most of the traffic confusion high pullers and bad trackers tend to make.

I pack for myself so usually the the parachute opens, if it doesn't I don't need any time to play with anything I just initiate plan B.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[sebcat 0]

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i'm just a dude that (kinda in your terms, likes to stay safe, even opposing your canopy-recommendations), yet, i land better than most americans i've met so far with, say, double the experience i have..

I land better than most swiss, it's probably genetic. I pull at 700 meters. I win.

[virgin-burner 1]

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i'm just a dude that (kinda in your terms, likes to stay safe, even opposing your canopy-recommendations), yet, i land better than most americans i've met so far with, say, double the experience i have..

I land better than most swiss, it's probably genetic. I pull at 700 meters. I win.

U WILL DIE!!!

give me a buzz if you're around town anyway soon tough!

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

[mdrejhon 8]

At 1200 meters, that's 3937 feet. If you initiate a waveoff, then a pull at that altitude, most likely you'll snivel down to below 3500, rendering some arguments in this thread completely moot.

That said, are you quoting your pull altitude or full-inflated-parachute altitude?

[virgin-burner 1]

pull

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

[popsjumper 2]

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You're giving stupid advice ! Pulling higher than 1000m is dangerous...

You may want to re-think that before you declare what's stupid or not.

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...especially if you're jumping in larger groups, with other larger groups behind you in the plane !

Not necessarily. Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan. Then load the plane properly.
It's not about vertical separation...it's about horizontal.

Just food for thought !

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[popsjumper 2]

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You seriously think some one is a crater waiting to happen if they're dumping at 3200 feet, (1000 meters)

Nice job of putting words in someone's mouth.
Since you're speaking for the Swiss, can I ask a question about Swiss Cheese?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[popsjumper 2]

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>oh yea, i bet..

You'd lose! At larger boogies if you plan on pulling higher than 3500 feet you have to talk to manifest to make sure that you do not pose a collision hazard.

And what boogies would that be that would override or dictate the dive plan?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Mad_Jasper 1]

Been doing some thinking about it. I'll probably get someone, maybe a coach, to jump with me next time as I work on my fall rate.

I'm thinking the most likely scenario was that I bent my legs too much and as I spread out to slow my fall rate, I didn't extend my legs. Having long legs and arms... I have to be very aware of their positions. I may have been a little complacent due to my recent successes.