New to Skydiving

[cardwell2002 0]

I have been working for a skydiving reservation service for quite some time now. I have been reading tons of information regarding skydiving. Primarily researching different accidents that have happened recently to various people. One incident that seemed intense was a gentlemen our of Prattville who experienced a hard opening. If someone could explain what that means? Does this happen frequently? Sounds almost like being in a high speed car crash in the air where your internal organs undergo intense stress? If this post isnt appropriate for this forum you can delete. Just wondering what could cause such a harsh opening. Does it depend on the size of the chute? I live in Atlanta.

[chipiematt 0]

openings usually depend on how the canopy has been packed, if you know what your doin you can make nice soft openings or hard openings, a hard opening is when the canopy opens fully very quickly and can give your nuts a bit of a squeeze, ive never had a real bad one though.

did you say tequila???

[cardwell2002 0]

my nuts don't want to be squeezed my friend. If I'm 6'5 175 what kinda chute system would you recommend?

[chipiematt 0]

its nothing to do with the chute system, just learn to pack properly from someone very experienced, the more you pack the better you'll get and like what i think icarus say about the 'safire 2' .....openings are as soft as falling into pillows

did you say tequila???

[steveorino 7]

How about the one the Instructor at your DZ recommends, rather than some anonymous skydiver with a Intermediate rating. Think the Instructor might have a better idea?

steveOrino

[Jazzthieve 0]

Those are things that you don't need to worry about right now. If you go to your local drop zone everything will be explained to you there. Students always start out with rental gear and by the time you're ready to get your own gear you'll know yourself what chute/rig to buy.

[Andy_Copland 0]

Any canopy can slam you. Any.

Just some are more prone to.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[BillyVance 34]

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Any canopy can slam you. Any.

Just some are more prone to.

Yeah, like Sabres and Sabre2s.

A canopy opens as well as you pack it, 99% of the time. They're all different, and one kind requires a specific method that may not work on another kind. I have had my Triathlons only slam me 3 or 4 times in the past 1000 jumps.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[porpoishead 5]

just book your jump through skyride, and you won't have to worry about jumping then.

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[steveorino 7]

I reread my post and it sounds like I'm a wise guy. Sorry about that. It is just some newbies over think and research too much online before they jump. Some research may be good, but without a context to put that information in -- it can lead to more problems than solutions ... such as a guy with 100 jumps and less than a year in the sport telling you what to do (or buy) For the record Matt didn't give "advice" on this thread and he did give some good info, but there are many out there that will steer you wrong -- most likely unintentionally. Or like the guy who said the "tongue in cheek" response about skyride.




Read this thread

steveOrino

[porpoishead 5]

skydiving reservation service, just out of curiosity what service would that be

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[Andy9o8 0]

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skydiving reservation service, just out of curiosity what service would that be

...out of Atlanta...?

[popsjumper 2]

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skydiving reservation service, just out of curiosity what service would that be

...out of Atlanta...?

Could it be????

Nah...but then....maybe?

Do you suppose....???




Actually, Smyrna.

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

[BillyVance 34]

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skydiving reservation service, just out of curiosity what service would that be

...out of Atlanta...?

What do you think?

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[porpoishead 5]

some peoples kids, whatcha gonna do

give em an E+ for effort

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[popsjumper 2]

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some peoples kids, whatcha gonna do

give em an E+ for effort

Hold 'em responsible for their own actions?
Nah...passe these days...too many scumbag ambulance chasers unable to get work on their own merits.

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

[kimemerson 7]

No one has mentioned body position during deployment. It's just one of the other factors affecting openings. An incorrect body position at pull time, or a premature opening when you are not even considering pull time body position, can affect the opening. Also, with head down flying,(Freefly ® Olav Zipser), you are falling at much greater speeds and if you don't slow yourself down sufficiently, your opening will be affected.
As for your question about canopy size, size is realative to the jumper's exit weight (jumper's own weight +gear). What is a "small" canopy for a big person is a big one for a small person.
But generally, it isn't the parachute choice. It's what you do with it.

[yarak 0]

to stay on topic and actually answer your question.

I will say this. A brutal hard opening is pretty rare. When they do happen they hurt. But death from just a hard opening is very rare. There is usually other factors. Do you have any medical conditions? If not i wouldnt worry too much about it.

Hard openings can create a malfunction or complicate a situation, but the opening alone generally wont kill you. I have seen broken lines, damaged gear, and broken sternums from freakishly hard openings but death from it is a long shot.



If hard openings happened often or killed any number of people, then probably none of us would risk skydiving.

P.S.
In response to the last 5 or so post:
I dont see where this persons place of employment has any relevance to his question.

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll burn your fucking packing tent down.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Hard openings can create a malfunction or complicate a situation, but the opening alone generally wont kill you. I have seen broken lines, damaged gear, and broken sternums from freakishly hard openings but death from it is a long shot.

I recall at least one ruptured aorta being reported. That's not a long shot from death, it is death. Why sugarcoat it?

The worst I've had is a sore neck or a bloody lip (riser strike) and earlier on bad student gear, a lot of raspberries on my thighs and biceps.

[billvon 2,426]

>I recall at least one ruptured aorta being reported.

Only incident I heard like that was someone with connective tissue disease, who was already susceptible to such injuries. Generally even explosive openings - even ones hard enough to damage the harness - will not kill you. (Naturally if they're hard enough to really destroy the harness, it won't be a ruptured aorta that kills you - but I haven't heard of that happening ever with modern gear.)

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

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Yeah, like Sabres and Sabre2s.

A canopy opens as well as you pack it, 99% of the time. They're all different, and one kind requires a specific method that may not work on another kind. I have had my Triathlons only slam me 3 or 4 times in the past 1000 jumps.

...and triathalons... your results may vary.

In 10 years of packing and about 10,000 packjobs, I found 3 canopies the most troublesome to pack to open softly: Sharpchuter, Sabre1, Triathalon, in that order. The Sabre's and Tri's I got under control, the Sharpchuter's I never did no matter how hard I tried.

I owned a Sabre1 for 500 jumps and it slammed me maybe 5 times... twice I dumped in a track, my mistake. It frequently opened "briskly" (meaning hard but not painful). I currently have 400 jumps on a Sabre2, and have had zero slammers, and only a handful that I would call "brisk". Then again, I know someone who got severe whiplash from a Sabre2 opening, and another who broke a riser.

I know one or two people who swear their Spectre's slam them every jump. Everyone else who owns them says it's like falling into pillows.

I also know someone who has had lots of hard openings, resulting in line and/or fabric damage to all of the following canopies: Stiletto, Monarch, Crossfire1 (twice), Sabre2, Diablo (4 times).

Canopies open hard. Shit happens. Learn to pack well, don't dump in a track, and don't worry about it.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[chipiematt 0]

no worries, cheers, only goin on what ive learnt and understand im far too inexperienced to hand out 'advice'!!

did you say tequila???

[steveorino 7]

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no worries, cheers, only goin on what ive learnt and understand im far too inexperienced to hand out 'advice'!!

Don't get me wrong, you know more than he does, and your info was good as well, but I've seen students with less than 10 jumps telling whuffos what to do ...

steveOrino

[johndh1 0]

Where did 'he' go?

Roll Tide Roll

[BillyVance 34]

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Where did 'he' go?

Beats me... only two posts and he disappears... weird.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban