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cocheese

How many lives have been saved by AADs ?

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I know (used to know) a lot of people who would still be here if they had an AAD. Don't know anyone personally who has been killed by an inadvertant AAD firing, but I know it's happened at least once. I'll still place my bet with an AAD.

It's all about the odds, ya gotta play the odds.

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A third question - how many have died because they trusted their AAD to save their lives? I can think of two so far.



"The race may not always be to the swift nor the victory to the strong, but that's
how the smart money bets." Ecclesiastes 9, 11.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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I know of 3 free fliers that had AAD fires because of loss of altitude awareness. Did it save their lives? I can't make that statement. I fly An AAD, but i do not depend on it to save my life....no way. I've forgotten to arm it a couple of times on the first jump of the day and jumped anyway. I've also forgot my altimeter a time or two and jumped anyway. BUT, this is NOT i say again NOT my reccomendation to others.
-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

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A third question - how many have died because they trusted their AAD to save their lives? I can think of two so far. <<<<<<<<<<<<<

Yep, and I think I know who the two are. It simply boils down to know your gear.
_________________________________________

Someone dies, someone says how stupid, someone says it was avoidable, someone says how to avoid it, someone calls them an idiot, someone proposes rule chan

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Thats like asking how many lives have been saved by seat belts vs. those who have died from wearing them. Ok, not exactly the most accurate analogy, but still...
I am still in the "pull VERY high" phase, so I havnt even come close to needing to use one, but I still dont think I would jump without one. Its that one extra measure that might just save you...

A man will do anything for the right woman,
and when that woman destroys him,
that man will become a hunk of meat with the common sense of a rodeo clown! ~ Christopher Titus

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Thats like asking how many lives have been saved by seat belts vs. those who have died from wearing them. Ok, not exactly the most accurate analogy, but still...
I am still in the "pull VERY high" phase, so I havnt even come close to needing to use one, but I still dont think I would jump without one. Its that one extra measure that might just save you...



That's what I always said too, and I like having one, but now that I'll be jumping my old rig (which doesnt have a cypress anymore) while I send my new one back to the shop, well, it's all good ;)

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

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I'm with you on that one, better to have it and not need it than to need it and say 'oh shit'...


If you need it and don`t have it,you won`t be able to say shit.



If you need it and don't have it you'll have about 4 seconds to say 'oh shit'...
The only naturals in this sport shit thru feathers...

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Re: [billvon] How many lives have been saved by AADs ? [In reply to]
A third question - how many have died because they trusted their AAD to save their lives? I can think of two so far. <<<<<<<<<<<<<

Yep, and I think I know who the two are.


...And unfortunately I also know of at least 2 more. :(

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It simply boils down to know your gear.


Valid point. But actually, I think based on what Bill is saying, and the point he is making (intimating at least), is that it is more than just that. Knowing your gear, then relying on your training (and learning and experience) are more fully, the appropriate COMBINATION.

Something to think about.

"Knowing" that you have a Cypres, then RELYING on it, can also be (and unfortunately has been B|) a proven mistake. Just knowing how to set it (etc. as I know it is you are in part referring to) is only 1/2 the battle.

BSBD,
-Grant
coitus non circum - Moab Stone

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>It simply boils down to know your gear.

. . . and know yourself. In one case, the AAD gave the guy the confidence to keep jumping even when he was not sure he could save his own life. A better decision for that guy would have been to not jump.

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If you need it and don't have it you'll have about 4 seconds to say 'oh shit'...


You mean instead of pulling the reserve?
Save the swearing until afterwards.:)


Well, hopefully the reserve was pulled... but brain lock does happen...
The only naturals in this sport shit thru feathers...

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A third question - how many have died because they trusted their AAD to save their lives? I can think of two so far.

That's definitely a poor decision. The best defenses are multi-layered, including any defenses against bouncing. Having a main canopy, then a reserve canopy, an RSL, an AAD, pulling at proper altitudes, knowing and using the correct EP's are all defenses against getting killed skydiving. Remove too many of those defensive layers, and your risk goes way up.

I'm kind of glad to have made thousands of jumps without AAD's or RSL's. It certainly taught a bit of self reliance. I just wish my friends that got killed during that time could have had a backup device or two. To rely on an AAD to pull your reserve is betting a lot on a little black box. That's stupid.

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two guys, known to the DZO but not to me, show up one weekend, rent gear and go up for a two way. Loose alti awareness, break off low, pull low, both have FXC fires and two outs. Both cut away their mains and land their reserves uneventful. I was not there but the DZO was still pissed the next weekend when I was looking for the rig I normally jump and it was still in the loft. I was almost sorry that I asked where it was by the time he got through rantin about what happened.


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This is one of the save stories......a case of the typo imitating life or rather; a freudian slip:

12.August 2002
Västeras, Sweden: Quotation from the activation report: „Not an aggressive pilotchute throw, baglock occurred, fail to proper emergency procedure, just cut away, short entanglement on right fool with main canopy, unable to locate reserve ripcord, CYPRES fires at approx. 200 meters plus, saves jumpers life.“
A right fool allright... lol:D
*Disclaimer*
The views expressed in the above post may or may not be the result of drunkeness or temporary insanity and should only rarely be construed as the views of the poster himself

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two guys, known to the DZO but not to me, show up one weekend, rent gear and go up for a two way. Loose alti awareness, break off low, pull low, both have FXC fires and two outs. Both cut away their mains and land their reserves uneventful. I was not there but the DZO was still pissed the next weekend when I was looking for the rig I normally jump and it was still in the loft. I was almost sorry that I asked where it was by the time he got through rantin about what happened.



Obviously two idiots ike that should be blackballed from every dropzone that can be warned. We used to say we'd "put their names on the teletype (archaic device once used for transmitting the news)" when real idiots were grounded.

NEVERTHELESS, it still beats the expense of having to plow over two craters on the property, as well as having to replace two rigs that would've been hopelessly torn to bits by shattered bones and had a blood & guts smell that would never come out.

"AAD's: They're not just for morons anymore" ?

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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Odds are that they will save you before they kill you.

John said it best about a multi leveled approach to not dying. I think it should be in this order.

1. Risk assesment. Don't do stupid things.
2. Proper procedures. Know them, practice them.
3. Proper equipment selection and maintenance. Jump canopies that open reliably and both canopies should be a a WL that is reasonable for your experience.
4. Back ups. AAD's RSL's.

#4 is a PASSIVE way to save your ass. The focus should be on the first three and never to allow an RSL or AAD to allow you to skimp on the top three.

Also most accidents could have been stopped long before they got to #4 if the top three were done.

I like AAD's..But I don't like how some skimp on the top three because they have that "ace in the hole".
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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"I've also forgot my altimeter a time or two and jumped anyway."

Damn that's hard core man



Not really. About the first 25 or 30 jumps I made on S/L progression were without altimeters. Just count by the "thousand" method. Pretty typical for students back then.

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"I've also forgot my altimeter a time or two and jumped anyway."


Damn that's hard core man



Not hard core. I didn't have an alti for 600+ jumps.
After a while you can read the ground by sight. Its a valuble skill I'd suggest you try and develop by looking at the ground on the ride up and quessing then checking by looking at your alti.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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"I've also forgot my altimeter a time or two and jumped anyway."


Damn that's hard core man



When I started jumping they would not let you have an altimeter until you had at least 25 jumps. The wisdom was not to fixate on the gadget and actually think!

But, we did get a stopwatch and we learned to count, look at the ground and the horizon. I was taught to not trust an altimeter.

A 10 second delay was a 10 second delay.

Altitude awareness seems to be a lost art.

Nowadays you just stare at the altimeter or wait for the "beep"

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