Flight-1 Hard Deck Video

[ianmdrennan 2]

Considering your hard deck

Enjoy

Performance Designs Factory Team

[rwieder 0]

Good post!

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[strife 0]

thanks some great safety videos in the last week.

[yoink 321]

ianmdrennan

Considering your hard deck

Enjoy

Please don't take this the wrong way, Ian - I think it's great the the Factory Team are looking to put videos like this out, but I think that this one could be presented in a less ambiguous / rambling fashion. I have what I hope is some constructive feedback.

It's obvious Shannon is trying not to give numbers, and I understand why, but I think it would be useful to define WHO these videos are aimed at the next time you're putting together a presentation.

This one talks about using your pattern entry point as a possible hard deck - very applicable for HP pilots but I think that the majority of jumpers out there still only have the vaguest idea what that it is for them.
For someone seriously swooping, that's a defined number for a given maneuver - if you asked a weekend warrior they might answer 'between 1500 feet and 300 ft I guess...' it varies wildly depending on how they fly on that jump and as such shouldn't be a decision marker.

So who's this video aimed at? What do people who don't have a predefined maneuver altitude do? - you see what I mean?

Additionally, for me, I come away from that video without a really clear 'memory' of it. Unfortunately it's very forgettable. It's a talking head in a bland echo-y space... I'm sure you guys have presentation material where you distill what you've been talking about down to a couple of summary bullet points for each section - do the same for these videos - Introduction - concepts - talking - Summary points.

I'd love to see more safety stuff prepared by the PD team, but I think you could do yourselves better than this one.

[pchapman 262]

Most of the video was a bit confusing, as to what he was getting at. We often think of hard decks as something important if we're dicking around with spinning line twists. Yet he goes on about setting up for a circuit, which isn't exactly on your mind when having a mal.

Finally I realized what he's talking about: At about 3 minutes in, he says,

"Once I've entered my pattern, I will no longer cut away."

What he's talking about is cutting away from canopy collisions.

Aha!

While one may have a specific altitude as one's hard deck in those situations, he's suggesting that to keep it simple especially during the stress of an emergency, for many of us it may make sense to do it his way: If you are in the pattern and have a collision, you can go for more nylon, but don't chop.

If you're above the pattern, well he doesn't really discuss that. Now you have to start thinking about time and altitude again. But at least, if you move fast, this is territory where you can chop (assuming you have a way of getting the reserve out, like an RSL or a left hand on the reserve handle).

It's a tough job to come up with really clear, succinct video instruction...

[ianmdrennan 2]

I get it, and that's good feedback. Its a bit tough because we dont want to have a 20 minute instructional video (right now).

The reality is that we're (I) actually in the process of writing a set of articles discussing this stuff, starting at the top that are meant to cover this topic in depth.

Given the recent rash of incidents what we wanted to do was to start getting people really thinking about when they would/would not cutaway altitude wise.

Will report the feedback back to the group and we'll see what we can do to tighten it up.

Thanks
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[popsjumper 2]

Can you put in a solid, clear definition up front of what 'hard deck' means?

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

[parachutist 1]

ianmdrennan

what we wanted to do was to start getting people really thinking about when they would/would not cutaway altitude wise.

That's FJC material. Everybody knows it, has been taught it, but when things go to crap fast they block it out?

Chris

[DSE 3]

popsjumper

Can you put in a solid, clear definition up front of what 'hard deck' means?

Ian, this is an important point, IMO. Not defining the specifics of the topic up front makes it hard to follow at times. It would actually make the video shorter, not longer. Everyone *should* know this, but obviously not everyone knows that a hard deck, decision altitude, last alarm, etc are the same thing, and perhaps they haven't really thought about it much since they started.

Shannon saying that the team has committed to each other and themselves that they'll always observe that deck is a powerful statement, coming from the Flight 1 team. I've come across several people that have lowered their hard deck as they've become more experienced.
Thank you to the team for doing this.

[davelepka 4]

Here's part two of the series -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1a7W_k2RSw

[davelepka 4]

Quote

Not defining the specifics of the topic up front makes it hard to follow at times. It would actually make the video shorter, not longer. Everyone *should* know this,

I took it as aimed more toward the 'experienced' jumper, with regards to how to use and view the hard deck, as opposed to the student jumper who might need the overall concept defined. More of an 'upper level' class, as opposed to primary training.

In either case, it's such a fundamental concept in this sport that the clock is ALWAYS ticking, and you cannot, cannot, cannot allow yourself to get so distracted with anything that you lose sight of that.