How to stay non-complacent???

[TKATC 0]

Just finished AFF the other day, did my high and low solos and a couple "fun" jumps so I am an extremely LOW timer. I had a though creep into my head today, that while trying to make multiple loads or trusting an experienced packer one could get complacent about gear inspection or ANY number of other issues. I noticed one instructor jump one rig and switch to another so he/she could make the next load. I didn't see this person inspect the new rig so maybe they did but it was such a short time span I had my doubts. Just wondering how easy it is to become complacent and was looking for a catchy phrase I could reflect upon so I can avoid ever getting that way. For example, in reference to having an AAD or not, I read a post here that said "I would hate to have $1200 in the bank and being buried while not having an AAD installed" That statement makes alot of sense to me...any others??

[Orange1 0]

From Dan Poynter's Skydiver's handbook:
"No-one ever died from a pin check"

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[kamih 0]

Be ready to PLF every landing.

[daniel_owen_uk 0]

One I read on here that made me chuckle.

"Tighten your legs straps!!! A ball under is worse than a line over"

__________________

BOOM Headshot

[BIGUN 1,062]

Some build habits, some become complacent. It "could" have been that Instructor's habit is to do a check of threes on the way up and get a pin check prior to exit.

1. Check your gear before loading.
2. Get a pin-check before exit.
3. Maintain a tight closing loop.
4. Better to blow a formation, than blow thru a formation.
5. Learn to track and do it faster, flatter and further than anybody else.
6. Pull time is pull time.
7. Always do a controllability check after opening.
8. Always make your decision at your decision-making altitude - keep it black and white.
9. Check left or right before turning left or right.
10. Wings level at landing.
11. It's better to PLF and be wrong; than not PLF and be wrong.

"That's just my opinion, I could be wrong" ...DM

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Ron 7]

Problem is you can't.

You become complacent in small steps. Yesturday I noticed I didn't Zero my alti on a fun jump. Not a big deal since I was at my home DZ and live there...But I didn't zero it.

Its the little things that build up over time.

You rarely notice them.

I would instead focus on not being careless.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[mjosparky 3]

Never forget the fact that when you step out of the plane you are effectively dead until you do something about it.

There are just 2 things you must do on every jump. 1. deploy a landable canopy. 2. land that canopy safely. Anything else you do on a jump is just fluff.

Never stop learning.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[krkeenan 0]

Quote

...looking for a catchy phrase I could reflect upon so I can avoid ever getting that way.

Blue Skies - Black Death !!

[kingbunky 3]

"always be sure."

watched a guy pack the other day and when he was done someone who had been watching came over and asked him if he remembered to un-collapse his slider. he said, 'yeah, i think'. the other guy said 'are you sure?' he thought for a bit, then unpacked his rig to check. it was un-collapsed, but the point was that he had been chatting away while packing and wasn't sure that he had done it. that and it was kind of a dirty trick, but it was raining anyway.

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[RogerRamjet 0]

Quote

From Dan Poynter's Skydiver's handbook:
"No-one ever died from a pin check"

Dan's book is wrong on this one....

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[Zoter 0]

Not so much a saying .....and as a low timer I probably should just pass this post on ....but something that has always served me well in many situations.

" Always...Always...listen to the little voices in your head telling you that something isnt right "

[FrogNog 1]

Carry someone's lunch tray for them while they're on crutches and can't do it themselves.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[mjosparky 3]

Quote

that and it was kind of a dirty trick

Not such a dirty trick, but a damn good object lesson. Imagine if your rigger was busy "chatting" while packing your reserve.

You are packing a parachute, not your lunch.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[skr 1]

> Just wondering how easy it is to become complacent and was
> looking for a catchy phrase I could reflect upon so I can avoid
> ever getting that way.

This is a great question.

I'm not sure you can keep from getting complacent.

Also the boundary between being really current and
relaxed vs sliding slowly into complacence is hard to
notice when you're sliding because it can happen
bit by unnoticeable bit over a long period.

And then there is being too tired to take the normal
care, or getting stupid from dehydration.

I remember one year at Quincy I caught myself going
through the motions of checking my gear. My hands
were raising flaps in the usual order and my eyes
were pointed in the right direction, but nothing was
registering. I wasn't there. I was going through an
auto-pilot set of motions.

I had gotten complacent about exhaustion and dehydration.


I think the real answer to your question lies in the
direction of meditation and sports psychology and
all the ways people have figured out about how to
pay attention.


One thing I do is have a kind of rigid or strict sequence
of steps that I (almost) always do the same way for
each phase of the jump.

When I pack I don't really like to talk to people or
stop part way through and come back to it.

When I do my gear check I do it the same way
each time and put my stuff on the same way each
time.

And so on for other parts of the jump.

It's not that I can't step outside of these patterns,
or change them if a better version comes to mind.

It's more like making intentional use of habits.


But even with all this I go along until I either notice
I've gotten lax, or I see something happen to someone,
or I scare myself, and I wake up out of my dream
for a while.

Good question.

Skr