Ash Dive information needed.

[lisamariewillbe 1]

First and foremost Ill start by saying I am not going to be personally releasing the ashes due to my skill level. As a matter a fact , if I am not confident in my jumps prior I will only lurk the dive. However Im organizing it all and want to do it right

Simple ash bag... I dont have much time to make it, will be adding flour as the ashes are being split up but need to make a simple to open one.

What else goes into planning a skydiving funeral? Ive got the people coming, the beer , the food and the people to jump but what else happens? Ive avoided going to these as I find that I never wanted to have a hobby correlate with a funeral but some times things change but I want to send LeRoy out in style.

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[MikeJD 0]

Quote

Ive avoided going to these as I find that I never wanted to have a hobby correlate with a funeral

Good luck with that in this sport .

I've only been on one ash dive and I'd say you've already made one of the most important decisions - to let someone else do the release. I guess it's something that the people closest to the deceased would like to do, but it's not a trivial thing to achieve in freefall and if the jumper's skill levels aren't up to it then it will spoil the dive for everyone.

I'd also be quite tough about which and how many people are encouraged to take part in the dive itself - a memorial big-way is still a big-way, and there will be a temptation for low-timer friends of LeRoy's to want to be involved when they might not have the experience for it. Better that they contribute to everything that needs doing on the ground.

I think a short memorial video is a great idea - something upbeat to commemorate the good times. It can be played on the day and people can also take away a copy as a keepsake - or maybe you could send copies on with the ash dive footage added. One good thing about skydiving and BASE is that there's never any shortage of footage that someone could compile!

I've been to skydiver funerals where people were invited to wear something in a particular colour associated with the person, which I think is a nice touch. Lots of us have certain signature gear colours that we tend to stick to - not sure if that's true in this case.

Best of luck with the organising. I hope everything works out on the day.

[marcandalysse 0]

Contact Scotty Carbone, he's done many

"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

[keithbar 1]

not to be a smart ass .but.... don't smile in free fall . keeping your mouth closed is a good thing on this one.

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[PhreeZone 15]

I've been on a few of these and made the ash bag for one. Quickest and easiest way I found to do it was a long piece of fabric about 6 inches wide with 1 inch hook velcro sewn on the outer edges of the "bottom" and the 1 inch pile velcro on the "top". Basically you set it up so that you can fold a long rectangle into a length that is about the length of someones forearm (8-10 inches is usually good) with the velcro holding it shut. At the "open end" put two layers of 1 inch Velcro so that it will seal the bag up fairly well. On the "bottom" we sewed 3 pieces of cheap 1 inch webbing with an adjustable buckles. We then were able to use these to put the ash bag on someones forearm. The straps went one at the wrist, one mid way and one out towards the elbow. To finish the bag off we sewed a loop of webbing to the "top" flap so allow you to grab, pull and open the bag in a very quick peeling motion. It sounds a bit complex here but the supply list is fairly simple, a piece of Nylon about 8 inches by 24 inches (allow room to flat feld the seems to eliminate raveling of the edges, 1 inch webbing about 20-30 inches long (depends on the size of the jumpers arms), and about 24-36 inches of sew on velcro.

As for the skydive.. keep away from being directly above the bag. We found it easy while in the middle of a formation to have the person holding the bag on their arm to stick it into the middle of the formation and to have someone across reach and pull it so the ashes were released in the center and not in someones face but that takes a formation being stable and it takes RW skills enough to fly with minimal grips so it might not work.

Don't over-stuff the bag, you don't want it busting at its seems and the velcro unable to hold due to the pressure from the ashes and flour being in it.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[lisamariewillbe 1]

Thanks everyone. Im the low timer on this one. Ill be jumping with one of the tandem instructors all day prior so he can determine if I get to be on the dive , lurk, or should stay on the ground. Im also good at evaluating my skills or lack there of and will not chance messing it up. There are to many people on the ground waiting to see this. He is recieving his military honors there as well.

Dive will be a missing man. I want it to not be to big as Id rather it be a small and successful ash dive versus a cluster fuck and people getting hurt. Thanks all for the help.

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[JohnMitchell 14]

Been on too many ash dives. Even had a tandem passenger release his dad's ashes on a dive. I told him to make sure it was full arm extension. Went fine.

We use a long, skinny cordura bag with a secure handle on the bottom. Put the ashes in, then roll the top down and grip it shut. The jumper carrying the ashes then exits, left hand holding the handle, right hand gripping the rolled shut top. He's obviously the base as the formation builds around him. At the proper moment, simply let go of the top with the right hand and the wind does the rest.

[airborne47 0]

I was at a funeral of an old time skydiver who died of cancer.
And they did a 20? way and released his ashes. But the coolest part of all was afterwards.
One of the camera guys had his camera going as people told their stories of their memories of the man.
And a little old lady (in her 70s) told of the time they did a nude night jump back in the 70s.
WHILE HIGH ON MARIJUNA!! and how they had a bad spot and landed in town!!!
It was a very happy and positive time as people shared their memories of the man and celabrated his life.
And all captured on tape for his loved ones to be able to look at when they felt down.
So i would defenitly say keep the camara running and remember the good times.
AirBorne!

[Snowflake 0]

Quote

Thanks everyone. Im the low timer on this one. Ill be jumping with one of the tandem instructors all day prior so he can determine if I get to be on the dive , lurk, or should stay on the ground. Im also good at evaluating my skills or lack there of and will not chance messing it up. There are to many people on the ground waiting to see this. He is recieving his military honors there as well.

Dive will be a missing man. I want it to not be to big as Id rather it be a small and successful ash dive versus a cluster fuck and people getting hurt. Thanks all for the help.

Here's a thought if you use the type of bag Phree was talking about.

Leave in a 2 way connected exit with the person who has the bag. Then all you have to do is reach over and either pull the top or pull the handle of his arm and then pull the top. I have the pics from exit to deployment if you want to see what it looked like.

I had maybe 70 jumps and 8 months in the sport and it went of without a hitch. All you have to do is fly a 2 way exit.

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Here's a video of a 2-way ash dive that I shot. A deceased jumpers family showed up at the DZ and asked us to spread his ashes in freefall, per his request. He died of natural causes and had not jumped in the last 10 years as he was getting much older.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56tN_hOTEFs

We just used a ziploc baggie and it worked fine, although we put the baggie in a old helmet bag for the plane rid up. Of course, a cordura bag designed for this would be even better.

I just threw this movie together in iMovie, and I'm planning on redoing it with slow motion for the ash release soon. No audio on the youtube version because of copyrights and all but the one I made for my viewing pleasure has the song "Every Breath You Take" by The Police on it. Seemed nice.

[wildfan75 1]

Talk to a rigger. They should be able to sew, have materials and usually have a creative mind for these type of things. Todd's ash bag was similar to Phree's, was made by a rigger and the release went flawlessly.

As far as other things, one thing that I came up with was to put out a log book (the kind that are two per page) as the guest book and asked people to either write something to Todd, or to share a favorite Todd quote or Todd story, or whatever they wanted. It's been therapudic for me to take that out once in awhile and read it. Definitely gets me laughing!!

And however the event goes, don't sweat the small stuff.