Hard opening on first AFF jump

[TheMan 0]

Had a pretty hard opening on my first jump, my back and inner thighs are still really sore, definitely strained a few muscles.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the cause for this, I attached a few pictures around the time I'm pulling my chute for you guys to check out. As its my first jump I'm sure I made plenty of mistakes, if one of these caused the hard opening let me know as I never want to experience that again.

[SEREJumper 1]

Legs where pretty negative with some knee dropping, pretty common on your first jumps until you figure your legs out. Lots of factors contribute to wonky openings, especially the things we can see like type of main canopy, type/jumps on the lineset, slider all the way up, type of packing bands they were using, who the packer was? It will make a difference. One thing for certain is nothing is for certain in skydiving, the occasional hard opening is probably going to happen on any canopy, so be a where of that. When you buy your own gear, maintain it and it should take care of you.

On a side note, did you stretch at all prior to this jump? I notice a lot of people don't. It's more physical than you think, gets warmed up next time. Also think about strengthening your neck, and core with some exercises, it will help you in the long run.

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

[TheMan 0]

Yeah the angle my legs were at was probably my instructors main criticism when we did the debrief. I I'll definitely put more focus on them in the next jump.

If it helps I was using a 260 sqft canopy and I weigh 160lbs

I did no stretching at all, other then the hard opening and strong wind resistance on my legs I didn't feel it was very physical. Maybe because my balance was mainly coming from my instructors holding on to me? When would I notice the physical aspect of the sport.

[freeflygirlz 0]

Your very short legs causes you sliding backwards, which also increases the fall rate and will make the opening harder. you really have to work on your legs and Body Position and on your Body Tension all over. body Tension also helps to deal better with the opening shock, even on a normal opening.
also take care of your head Position, Keep it back all the time and don't turn it to the instructors side during opening.
as soon as you feel good again, go back to the DZ and go on! have fun, blue skies ffg

edit to add: actually Students usually feel the physical aspects of jumping after a couple of detailed briefing Units on the horizontal Trainer.... a good arch Position will get you in personal contact with some muscles you have never felt before...

[TheMan 0]

I'm about 5'11" so my legs can't be that short?

What do you mean by body tension exactly? I should tense up while opening or remain relaxed?

My head felt kind of forced down during the opening, kind of like how a fast looping roller coaster tries to push your head down.

Yeah I'm gonna wait a week before I go for my second AFF, gives me time to reflect and research what I can do better as well.

The horizontal trainer is the flat rotating board they make us arch on right? Yeah I definitely felt something while we reviewed the jump plan on that thing, it was very tiring to stay arched on it.

[JackC1 0]

Relax, straighten your knees a bit more, arch from the hips not the back, head up looking at the horizon, hips level then reach with your arms, don't twist your body, and pull. Watch the horizon all through deployment until the canopy has stopped doing funky things, then do your canopy/airspace checks.

If you look down at pull time it makes you de-arch, but also your head low position can mean your head gets whipped down towards your chest which makes an otherwise decent opening feel uncomfortable.

Everything else is either gear configuration, packing, or just plain old "shit happens" which it unfortunately sometimes does when you throw 250sqft of nylon and string into a force 4 hurricane.

[davelepka 4]

Did your instructors say it was a hard opening?

Skydiving, and parachute deployments in particular, are not 'normal' activities for humans. There are muscles and stresses involved that you don't usually encounter in your day to day life. I know that when I don't jump for a couple months over the winter, and then I come back in the spring. even a light day of 4 or 5 jumps will leave me a little sore the next day.

The FJC is a long day, with a lot of practicing and stress that you're not used to. Even if you had a 'good' opening, you still might feel it the next day. You might just be feeling the overall effects of the entire day.

Beyond that, any canopy can open hard at any time. You might have just come up unlucky in the opening dept on that jump, it does happen. From the looks of the pics you provided, you didn't do anything that would contribute to a hard opening. Yes, your legs should have been further out, but I doubt that would have led to a hard opening.

The lesson - get your ass through student training and learn how to pack, Then pack for yourself and take care to make the openings soft. Until then, just grin and bear it. It will get easier, your body will get used to jumping, and the jumps to come will involve just less than an hour of training per jump, so the overall physical effect will be lessened.

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

Did your instructors say it was a hard opening?

Exactly my thought when I read the thread title: it's his first jump, what's his point of reference?

If the insides of his thighs aren't lovely shades of purple, it isn't a hard opening.

[TheMan 0]

I told my instructor what happened and he said it might of been a hard opening. He just told me to see if it happens again on the next jump before we should worry about it.

I agree with him, but I was just looking for something a bit more conclusive.

I will add the pain from the opening was intense, it wasn't something mild I could shake off after a few minutes. I was pretty dazed even after the parachute settled.

My point of reference was other people doing their first jump that same day who said they did not have the same experience.

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Look at the horizon!
Look at the horizon!
Look at the horizon!
Look at the horizon!

Any questions?

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

[ChrisD 0]

Andy9o8

Quote

Did your instructors say it was a hard opening?

Exactly my thought when I read the thread title: it's his first jump, what's his point of reference?

If the insides of his thighs aren't lovely shades of purple, it isn't a hard opening.

+1

C

Skydiving isn't for everyone.


The pictures are nice, but a reminder to everyone that it's a bit of a RW group and RW groups fall slower as a rule...

SERE jumper is right on target as well, I have found some student canopies, esp large ones can be a bit of a wringer as compared with my snivel rolled nose jobs. But then again perspective and experience can help here.


How do I know this?????


Cause I used to travel a lot and didn't always have a rig to bring with me,...So I got the rental which was more often than not the "student" gear,...and unlike many of you I got to experience some big canopies one day and my rig the next day, some of em were in fact very snappy


hang in there and it ceretianly is to your benifite to get in better physical condition, can't hurt

But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

[mjosparky 3]

Your body position has very little to do with deployment or opening forces. Since it was your first jump you were probably on a fairly large canopy with a slow fill time. Like someone mentioned you may have heard people talking about “hard openings” but you have nothing to reference to.
Try a couple more and see what you think then.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[PiLFy 0]

Your legs look longer than mine. Definitely wasn't them. It was your anklet socks... Guys just shouldn't wear those things .

Did your instructors say it was a slammer? Big difference between that, & just getting a little spanked on an opening.

[TheMan 0]

No my instructor said I should just see if I experience the same thing on my next jump before we should be to concerned about it. The only reason I thought it was a hard opening is because none of the other first time jumpers experienced what I did that day.

Who knows what it really was, all I know is it sucked.

For the record ankle socks don't pull the hair on my legs down when I feel like going for a run, much more comfortable than those pesky long socks

[crotalus01 0]

It could just be the angle of the photos, but the body position between pics 6 and 7 'look' to me like he got a little bit of a smack on opening...

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[Croc 0]

Make sure your leg straps are tight--it can make a huge difference. I agree that you had a hard opening if you felt dazed. That is not normal.

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[Andy9o8 0]

Interesting the main side I hangs on to him thru line stretch. None of my business, though...

[dthames 0]

TheMan

Had a pretty hard opening on my first jump, my back and inner thighs are still really sore, definitely strained a few muscles.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the cause for this, I attached a few pictures around the time I'm pulling my chute for you guys to check out. As its my first jump I'm sure I made plenty of mistakes, if one of these caused the hard opening let me know as I never want to experience that again.

Like davelepka said, skydiving can make you sore even if all is well. If you are in poor physical condition, work to tone and stretch every day. I am in my mid-fifties and that has helped me.

I have had two “firm” openings and one of them made me sore. I have had several “rough” openings that jerked me around some. They were just rough, not quick like “bang”. It will get your attention like, “Now that hurt”. Try to learn something from it. Odds are it will happen again if you keep jumping.

Did your opening hurt when it happened or did you notice later that you were sore?

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[nadominhoca 0]

Like everyone said, do a couple of more jumps, so you will have a better way to compare it..

From a stable belly to earth position, a hard opening is pretty much caused by a bad packing job.. or an act of god!!

It will allways be there!! So, when you get your license.. learn how to pack, at least you won't blame anyone, except yourself..

By the way, this is Dubai DZ, right?! I miss my jumps there!!!

[pchapman 261]

mjosparky

Your body position has very little to do with deployment or opening forces.

Some clarification might be in order, and I think you'd agree on this MJO:

I should mention that while the above is correct in one sense, body position has a huge effect on the perceived opening force and the stress on your body. In that way, body position does have a lot to do with opening force...whether the force hits you in a way that is easy or tough on your body.

So the actual, physical canopy opening speed is likely much the same whether you are in a good body position, or if you are nosed 30 degrees head down and rolled 45 degrees to your side. But with the latter scenario you might feel like you were snapped upwards a lot faster, whipping you around much further to the vertical, and being yanked brutally sideways, snapping your head around in a direction that is hard to handle.

(I should add that technically having one shoulder and one set of risers low might change the canopy opening itself, making it less symmetrical, but in general that's a secondary issue.)


@ OP:
Your photos show a pretty decent body position for opening, even if not a perfect neutral freefall position. So I wouldn't immediately write off your concern as body position. There's a bit of having the head low or head turned at one point, but that's all minor and one can't blame the feel of the opening on that.

mjosparky

Since it was your first jump you were probably on a fairly large canopy with a slow fill time.

One hopes that to usually be true, but you never know. My DZ has Aerodyne Solo canopies, and when I'm with a PFF student I'm often cringing a little at how snappy some student's opening looked. I can picture in my mind full bottom skin inflation on a Solo, but I just can't picture those canopies in a snivel. That image just has never presented itself long enough in front of my retinas & brain...

@OP:
Student gear sometimes doesn't fit well and is a little older, in which case an OK opening may leave some bruises from buckles and extra adjustment hardware that isn't well padded or that shifted on your body a little much on opening. So gear fit has some effect too on the perceived roughness of the opening.

[TheMan 0]

@dthames, the pain was immediate, my neck was whipped down and I couldn't bring it up... you can sort of see it in the last photo

@nadominhoca, This is the Dubai Desert DZ! good eye! its a great DZ but its very busy!

@pchapman, Its comforting to know I didn't cause it, and I'm not really looking to point fingers at anyone I just wanted to see if I did anything wrong, at least I can correct that. I can handle a few bruises and sores, it will be worth it in the end :)

Everyone's been really helpful, I'm learning a lot from your responses, thanks!

[PiLFy 0]

"Who knows what it really was, all I know is it sucked."

They'd have seen you get slammed (no snivel). Sounds like you may have gotten a little spank, aided by possibly poor body position. There are different tricks to make openings far more pleasant. You have to get further into your progression, first. Talk to your instructors about it. Plus, your body will get used to this sport. For example, leg straps used to cause me a fair amount of discomfort. Just hanging in the harness for a couple of minutes, was painful. I simply got used to it, in time.

Best of Luck
P.S.: You won't be doing any jogging in the plane. Please pick up a bag of manly socks for this sport. Or, at least don't get photographed anymore while wearing girlie sox ...

[TheMan 0]

Well I'm doing my Cat B on Friday I guess I'll post back then and see if its the same or any different. I can tell there are somethings I'm gonna have to get use to, I don't mind things being a bit rough in the start though. Thanks for the encouraging advice.

PS: I'm not really interested in adopting a middle school mentality on foot wear, ankle socks are unisex and there's no problem with men wearing them, if you feel uncomfortable in them that's fine but don't project that insecurity on others

[nadominhoca 0]

Hey TheMan,

you just realized that one of the main reasons for the hard opening is the fact that the Dubai Desert DZ is very crowed!!! Specially now that the summer is over, and the temperatures are getting really nice to jump..

It's unbelievable the number of parachutes that the packers there have to pack on the weekends.. they look like machines.. so it's just a matter of time, for one of them make a simple mistake and cause a hard opening..

I know that you just started, and eventually you will do your packing course.. after that try to keep packing your parachute man!! Its gonna save you a lot of money, and you will know what you are doing!!

[PiLFy 0]

It's not insecurity. I'm guessing you're a younger guy? It's regional &/or generational.

If you must? You must... But, Please don't tell me you also wear your pants halfway down your Butt .