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jf951

skydiving with ipods

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If you don't follow your own advice, why should anyone else?



I said I'm not going to suggest helmet/earphone combinations. I didn't.

There are ways to minimize risk while jumping with music. Instead of attacking the people that are trying to minimize that risk, why don't you further help in doing so.

There are people that are going to jump with music no matter how many people tell them not to. So what's wrong with providing guidelines?

Here's an other way to look at it. People tell kids not to have sex all the the time. They do it anyway and get pregnant. We tell them to use condoms, the rate of sex may increase slightly, but the amount of babies produced is significantly reduced.

We can have the same discussion about BASE jumping or swooping or SCUBA diving into caves and shipwrecks, or even listening to music in the car.

All are pretty bad ideas, and even the people involved in such activities agree, but we have ways to reduce the risk for the people that want to get involved.
Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

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And before anybody gets all grumpy and ready to attack, it's better to give sound advice than a "no" and no advice at all.



Indeed. But one of the problems in this forum is that new jumpers never research prior discussions. So we see new people asking the same questions over and over again. And the old salts in the forum who answer those questions get tired of making the same responses over and over again. So they instead resort to things like sarcastic humor to make their point, to keep the repetitive discussion interesting and fun. That's the nature of the beast here.

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Im with ya. I cant hear shit under canopy. I dont think IPODs are a bad idea. At our DZ, we give first jump students earphones and a radio on their first jump. Apparently it helps them land. If they can do it, so can more experienced jumpers. Listen to the music, it might help you land.

Furthermore, one could just say an IPOD can cause a distraction. If you understand that, just don't get distracted by it just like jumping a camera.
One could set some rules for themselves.
1. Don't get distracted
2. Don't crash into anyone
3. Stay safe

Just follow the rules and everyone will be OK.

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One could set some rules for themselves.
1. Don't get distracted
2. Don't crash into anyone
3. Stay safe

Just follow the rules and everyone will be OK.



That's rediculous. You may as well say
1) Stay safe.
2) Don't die.

That's all you need to skydive safely...

Nobody plans to get distracted, crash into anyone or to fly in an unsafe manner. If a device is likely to increase any of these factors, it's a bad idea.

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distracted by it just like jumping a camera.



A camera should not get in the way of communicating with someone when in a wrap and you need to know who is doing what, as an example. An IPOD playing loud music could be a serious issue to communication.

We are giving advice to low jump number people here. People who may not have experienced a mal. Who might find it more difficult to think clearly and focus on dealing with a mal when there favourite music is pounding their ears.

I don't think your advice is good.

***********************************************
I'm NOT totally useless... I can be used as a bad example

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"Nobody plans to get distracted." That is my point. I plan on distractions, malfunctions, collisions, ac emergencies, bad body position and many more. If you know the risk, you can prepare for it.

I saw a low time jumper go threw a cloud at pull time and blasted threw their planed pull altitude. "Why did you pull low?" "I guess I was distracted by the cloud." Now, when they see a cloud coming, they realize to pull on time cloud or not. Distraction mastered.

I agree with you that it is a bad idea. I think skydiving is a bad idea too. I still do it.

By your logic, "they" should get rid of cameras bc they can be a distraction. I shoot hand cam as a Tandem I. When I started I understood that it could be a distraction. I made it just another part of my gear and my routine. I am able to notice when i start getting distracted then remind myself to "stay safe".

The rules are that easy. If you break them, it will suck and you will no longer be safe.

I dont even own an IPOD. I dont think it is any different than adding anything else into like skydiving like a flag, FF tube, hoop, or even a RDS. They all can be distracting, but if you stay on your game, they can be done safely.

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One could set some rules for themselves.
1. Don't get distracted
2. Don't crash into anyone
3. Stay safe

Just follow the rules and everyone will be OK.



That's rediculous. You may as well say
1) Stay safe.
2) Don't die.

That's all you need to skydive safely...

Nobody plans to get distracted, crash into anyone or to fly in an unsafe manner. If a device is likely to increase any of these factors, it's a bad idea.



Then RDS, high wingloadings, weight belts, long chest straps, tertiary rigs, helmet cameras, toe and belly cameras, raft dives, demo jumps, swooping, swoop n' chugs, flag dives, full face helmets, novelty dives of any kind, rodeos, wingsuits, hoop dives, and radios on AFF students are all bad ideas too. Boogies are a bad idea, as a high percentage of injuries come from boogies.

Not an argument in favor of iPods, but rather a point that most of these arguments are equally ridiculous.

Don't have a canopy collision.
Don't hit someone else in freefall.
Do your best to be alert and keep your head on a swivel.
Be conscious of your surroundings at all times both above and below.
All redundant, all relevant whether you're a first time jumper or have 10k jumps.
One story I'll share here; a very famous camera flyer was wearing a Walkman with a dytter splitter (put the dytter into his headphones). His partner wore the same setup.
Both of them missed the dytter alert because of the music they'd chosen for the choreography of a jump, and both had Cypres fires. Both people had over 15K jumps at the time. They were distracted in freefall and counted on something other than their eyes to give them altitude awareness.

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I dont even own an IPOD. I dont think it is any different than adding anything else into like skydiving like a flag, FF tube, hoop, or even a RDS. They all can be distracting, but if you stay on your game, they can be done safely.



How about a rubber skull mask, the kind that can cover your whole face? What are your thoughts on that?

Keep your erection away from my rig.

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I understand you points. For me, I cant hear a loud voice on the ground with my helmet on. If we get in a wrap(most likely my fault ;)), unless I can see your mouth, I won't even know you are talking.

I expect a lot from people. That might be my poor judgment. I feel you should not be distracted while skydiving no matter how many jumps you have or what you are wearing. If you cant jam out and stay focused then it becomes a problem. Not the IPOD, but the lack of knowing what is going on around you.

Stay Safe

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Good point Dave!
Whilst doing a 360 approach on a velo 84 wearing a rubber mask, the mask turned 90 degrees on me at about 50 feet off the deck. I didnt let the distraction get me and landed standing up with my rears, BLIND.

How bout the night jump this summer. I lost BOTH contacts(first time ever) on exit from 10 grand. I cant count my fingers with out corrective lenses. Not exaggerating. Tracked until pull time with my altimeter 1 inch from my eyeball. Pulled. Barely made it to the LZ and landed my 84 blind (again).

That was my greatest test of focus in my life. I might even consider that prof of Christ.

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Do you think nascar or Indy car drivers are jamming out ? Wow,,just wow ![:/]



I know NASCAR drivers jam out when they are practicing. I'm not a fan but i remember some poll back in the day about what the different drivers listen to during practice.
"If this post needs to be moderated I would prefer it to be completly removed and not edited and butchered into a disney movie" - DorkZone Hero

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Do you think nascar or Indy car drivers are jamming out ? Wow,,just wow ![:/]



Scott Pruett (google him) has an iPod plugged into his com system during races, and when he skydived at Skydive Utah, he talked about his playlist and we compared music choices. Fast music keeps his heart rate more constant and allows him to keep an edge.
It's a soundtrack to an experience. Soundtracks can enhance or distract the brain and motorskills.

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I sing to myself...does that count? ;)



Me too :P

People sometimes ask me what that noise is when I'm playing back the footage... I've even had people hear from the ground when I'm coming in for landing :$


Me three! Theres a couple of us that belt out terrible pop music in the jump plane and then everyone else gets to jump with music too, because theres no way those songs will be out of their heads by the time they get to the door :P

Seriously tho, it was the only way I could find to relax in the plane until like the last ten jumps or so.... :)

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