Stupid things I have done

[airathanas 0]

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followed by the (wait for it) auspicious decision NOT to chop, but to rather land in the peas - where it would be soft....

I managed to pull off one of the the best PLF's ever seen, and "walked" away with a massively bruised thigh (we are talking deep purple in colour and the size of a side plate) - it could just as well have been a broken femur or spine. Darwin award stuff.....

And I thought the no flare landing I had as a student was stupid.

http://3ringnecklace.com/

[rustymurray 0]

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A little off topic but -
Started skydiving in July in UK, 60 jumps by December, completely hooked, got my own rig. Then UK winter arrived. High winds, closed DZs, black skies, constant rain, utterly miserable and depressing. I'm missing it and the tunnel is no substitute.

So I went and bought a Kawasaki ZX10R for £8000 and I can't afford it.

Good substitute!My bigget f##k up so far,and there have been many,was jump number 30 was in oz on holidays and visited a dropzone outside Sydney,rented gear that the container was way too small for me,didn't walk the landing area or ask to see arial photo,just hoped in the skyvan.when I deployed I could not find the dropzone until around 1000ft and then I realised it was on the other side of a very busy highway,probably could have made it back but bottled it and looked for somewhere else to land,ended up in a field full of angry looking cattle with a downwind landing,wasn't hurt luckily.Got a helpful lecture of a tandemmaster on the same load about what to look out for at a new dropzone

[Lastchance 0]

Angry looking cattle eh. Is that the same as Mad Cow?

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[kschilk 0]

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Angry looking cattle eh. Is that the same as Mad Cow?

Whuffo cows, obviously.

"T'was ever thus."

[kenneth21441 0]

I must say getting married that first time.

What a winner she was!!

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[ozzy13 0]

Ok I just read threw all the posts. Its nice to see that everyone makes mistakes and lives on this tread at least LOL I had around 210 jumps and was jumping a camera for about 40. Yea I know lol anyways wanted to get a video of a friends opening. Well he planed to pull in place around 4500 feet so I went to my back right before that. My didder goes off and he is sitting looking at me for a couple then starts to track. I was so cought up in getting his opening that I wondered why he was tracking and I forgot where I was. My didder goes off again on my hard deck witch was 2000 and I was still on my back looking at him. It took me a couple seconds to realize that the alarm was not turning off flipped over and pulled. I was under canopy at a little under 1000ft. The real fucked up part of this was I forgot to turn my AAD on. Realized that when i went to pack

Never give the gates up and always trust your rears!

[AFFI 0]

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so cought up in getting his opening that I wondered why he was tracking and I forgot where I was.

Been there...

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[ozzy13 0]

Yep this is the spot for stupid things right

Never give the gates up and always trust your rears!

[Lastchance 0]

That one had to get you thinking when it was all over.

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[smears 0]

One of the many stupid things I've done was on my first 5 sec delay, just coming off static line. I climbed out on the strut, let go and didn't arch. Cut 3 flips before getting stable. Once I got stable I remembered I was suppose to count to 5 before pulling. I counted to 3 before realizing how big the ground looked. I think I finally pulled around 1800 ft. My jumpmaster thought my AAD fired and started cussing me out for not pulling when I got on the ground. That's when I told him I did pull, just really low .
One of the funniest parts was the other student in the 182 was also doing her first 5 sec delay. She was freaking out knowing it had been way over 5 seconds and both the jumpmaster and pilot were looking worried with their heads stuck out the door. After about 15-20 seconds (once I pulled), the jumpmaster looks at her and says "Your turn!" She pulled about 1 second off the strut

[Gonejumpingl 0]

Amen!!!

Today is a better day!!!

[bdqpdx2000 0]

Jump #35: I picked up a Dolphin D4 container + Tempo 170 reserve at a boogie a few weeks ago. Second ride on the rig and I have a hard (impossible) pull. Yay for first reserve ride! A BOC mod both I and the rigger missed combined with the way the PC was packed caused a bottleneck when I tried to deploy my main. On the ground people were dragging me around by my half-out pilot chute -- it was in there real good. $100 and a new BOC later and everything was fine... but I really should have inspected it a little more carefully beforehand.

Jump #26: Fixated on my "planned" approach and landing on a light/no wind day. I broke the pattern and just missed a kid with 16 jumps coming in on his final, which was almost perpendicular to mine. Everyone landed safely but by the time I undid my helmet I got a pretty nice "talking to" by one of the instructors on that load. Last time I make that mistake...

Myspace

[Baksteen 84]

So what was wrong with the BOC mod? Did you find out at all?

Did you get your pilot halfway out, or not at all when you tried to deploy?

Also I am interested to know whether or not you cut away your "closed container malfunction". Not to critisice, merely for comparison to what I did when it happened to me.

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[bdqpdx2000 0]

I got the pilot halfway out when I tried to deploy. We took a real good look at it once I got on the ground. The previous owner put in two stitches, about 1/2" long, parallel to the long end of the BOC. They were placed about 1/4" away from the BOC opening and about 1/2" in from the long side. The rigger who examined it afterwards said it may have been done to keep the PC in better.

When the rigger packed my main, he folded up the PC in a way that didn't evenly distribute the fabric -- it was really fat on one end and really skinny on the other. If it weren't for those stitches, or if the PC were folded evenly, it wouldn't have happened. Both of those conditions together caused the bottleneck.

I didn't cut away since I didn't have a main over my head. There was actually a fair bit of debate about whether or not that was the best decision among the people who saw it happen. I was later told that the shock from opening the reserve at terminal could have caused the main container to open. With or without a cutaway, if the main did open I would still be towing it behind me since I couldn't get the PC out. I'm really not sure if not cutting away was the best choice or not, but either way I'm here in one piece to tell about it. (Note to self: hold on to the reserve handle next time...)

So what's your "closed container malfunction" story?

Myspace

[Baksteen 84]

I've already posted the short version of that story some time ago.

If you're really interested or haven't got anything better to do I can PM you the long version.

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[JohanW 0]

(Note to bdqpdx2k: You, my friend, are way more expensive than a reserve ripcord. Oh, and get a more userfriendly username )

You may want to discuss the scenario where the main opens after a main no/half-pull and subsequent reserve pull with a rigger or an instructor. You might or might not be towing it. It's slightly different from a pilotchute-in-tow, which is another but separate good subject for a discussion with a rigger or instructor.

I now expect half of Duh Innernet to fall over each other explaining possibilities and the relative merits of cutting away the main first or not. The second half will be an entirely different discussion, right up there with the periodic RSL debates of course. Let me just say Schrödinger's Cat is definitely alive.

Glad you made it OK. Great opportunity to learn from it.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[Lastchance 0]

I just got the chance to read your short version of your ditch landing. Excellent choice not to turn low. I watched a seasoned jumper to a 90 degree low turn to avoid an irrigation ditch and he ended up with a broken back and will never jump again.

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[meteor 0]

On approx jump #600, a night jump, I had my strobe on a cord that was tied to my hip ring. the cord was long enough to hang the strobe below my feet under canopy. during exit and free fall, the excess cord was wrapped around the strobe and the whole deal tucked neatly in the top of my jumpsuit. This arrangement worked well on numerous night jumps until this one. While in FF the cord unwrapped from the strobe and snaked out of my jumpsuit. So I had this nice long loop of cord from my hip ring to the top of my jumpsuit. After a cool three way belly, we broke, tracked and when I reached for the hackey I felt something odd as I grabbed it. When I pitched the pilot chute I looked over my shoulder to see the PC spin around the strobe cord a half dozen times. Nothing out!! I reached back and felt the container and it was closed so I pulled the reserve ripcord. Best opening EVER!! Then the scary part, I felt my main D-bag hit the back of my legs!!! After a couple of tries, I caught it between my legs and held it until landing. The canopy flight is another long post of fear and realization. This is only one of several examples of my "Stupid Things".

[Bolas 5]

Done something similar on night jump. My rig has an old leg mount pocket. I tied a glow stick to a cord and the other to my rig and put it in that pocket.

When we broke off I tracked away I reached for the hackey through the cord. Luckily I felt the cord and pulled my hand back and went around it for an uneventful deployment and landing. Was very grateful we broke off high.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[Joellercoaster 6]

Jump 249.

Fairly high winds.

Almost last out doing a 2-way with a new A-license friend, so we were pretty long by opening time. I compounded it by dicking around with my chest strap and visor, and wandered quite a way off the wind line.

Hanging out on rears all the way back, gotta get back, gotta get back...

Entered the pattern from the wrong side, cutting someone off on their base leg. The winds were high and turning into wind was going to be a bit too much turn too quick, so even a flat turn got me pushed out over the runway. I let it carry me over the runway at about 50 feet and flared along the grass verge, cursing and kicking myself.

Gathered my stuff and went to kneel over at the gateway from the student landing area on that side. Watched the plane land not too long after.

The worst part was expecting to get a bollocking from the CCI, only to find he'd been watching a group of students doing some terrible collective canopy handling and wanted to talk to them, having completely missed my far-worse infraction - so having to explain what I'd done and why I was talking to him at all.

This was last weekend, and I'm still embarrassed.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[ROK 0]

Night jump #3...

I sat through the briefing again even though I knew that I was "experienced".

We sat around waiting for the weather to clear, it was storming big time. It cleared nicely and we went up and did an awesome 4-way. Got under canopy and I was mesmerized by the towering clouds in the distance. It was sheer beauty. Life couldn't be any better!

Got back with no problems, set up to land, and it was really dark. No problem, I've done this before!

I forgot one small detail. TAKE OFF YOUR GOGGLES WHEN YOU GET UNDER CANOPY!

About 50' above the ground on final, my goggles fogged over 100%. By the time I thought "oh sht" I landed like a lawn dart without flaring, or flaring just a little from impact.

Walked up to the deck and the pilot walked up and said that the plane window fogged up so bad that the heater in the plane couldn't keep up with it. He had to stick his head out the window to land.

I felt a little "weird". Excused myself, jumped on my 800lb Harley, got about half way home and discovered that I no longer had the use of my left arm. I broke my shoulder.

6 weeks later...I got to jump again. Details matter...

[jwynne 0]

Well, speaking of night jumps. Here's one from years ago. Pre cypress and dyter days, guess why.

Night 2 way with another jumper I didn't know well. I had a chem light taped to my wrist altimeter, but it was flapping and I never could read it. Turned a few points glancing a few times at my altimeter, but I couldn't see shit. Stopped the dive & just tried to read my alitimeter unsuccessfully. Glanced down & pulled because I got ground rush at night. Just enough time to grab my brakes, flare & put my feet on the ground.

The other jumper floated up when I stopped the dive flow and pulled when she saw me pull. I later learned she generally counted on others for altitude awareness and stopped jumping shortly after.

Pretty scarey and the closest I've come to dead skydiving.

[airathanas 0]

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I forgot one small detail. TAKE OFF YOUR GOGGLES WHEN YOU GET UNDER CANOPY!

This is most stupid thing that I've done and I'm still ashamed of it.

Sunset load: for some reason it was decided that we should change the landing direction 180 degrees. I took note of it but apparently my brain didn't hold that vital piece of info. I was wearing sunglasses instead of my Z1. For some strange reason we were at 13.5 for almost 5 minutes- or longer. It took forever for the red light to come on. I wasn't thinking about landing direction. I was thinking, "I want to get out of this airplane before the sun goes down!" We finally jumped, I opened up and the sun had indeed went down. I couldn't see anything and I was afraid to take off the helmet to remove my sunglasses because I didn't want to drop it. When I was under canopy in the playground, I was thinking, "Where is everybody?" So I come in for my landing and I still can't see shit. Just as I'm coming in for a landing, someone comes in for their landing, rushing by me. I completely forgot that landing direction was changed for that load. Me and that other jumper were almost killed.

The funny part is, the DZO saw it happen, and he was yelling at the other guy! Everyone was ok and noone was mad at me. I'm still embarassed and realize that no matter how many jumps someone may have we are still vulnerable to making even simple mistakes.

http://3ringnecklace.com/

[Mikhail 0]

"Two Are Not Better Than One"

May 5, 2007 on a drop zone far-far away. First jump of the day, my 32nd total. I'm on my way to altitude for a hop-n-pop with 3 others who shall remain forever nameless. At about two grand, it dawns on me: I did not turn on the AAD. Hello! I'm contemplating riding the plane down, but decide to consult my fellow jumpers (what do I know, I'm a student with 20 jumps on solo status). Exhibiting the highest form of human intelligence, we conclude that it won't hurt to turn on the little magic black box. Let me just lean forward and ask my buddy here to go fishing down my spine. Got it? Sweet! Now let's pretend that never happened.

Well, nothing does happen. I get out at 5500ft and dump right out the door as was originally planned. I catch some freaky canopy bucking and folding action in bad air 50-100ft off the ground (didn't anybody teach me to stay on the ground in gusty conditions?), land, walk into the hangar, and drop the rig off for the packer.

It's time to gear up for my second jump. Going to log some freefall this time around. Bubbling over with anticipation. As for the AAD, them digital altimeters recalibrate to ground level automatically, don't they? Yeah, they do. The AAD *must* do the same!

Fast forward to me burning a hole in the sky. Practicing a few freefall maneuvers; life is peachy. Wave off and throw at 4000ft. While the main is deploying, I can't help but notice that something is different, as if I'm seeing more lines than normal. The main is now open and lo and behold, there it is: my reserve, still in the freebag, swinging at full line length immediately below me. Fuck. Next thing I know, I get yanked like a ragdoll, and find my main on the horizon in front of me, and my reserve evidently behind me. The downplane is now rotating. The main lines are nicely spun up all the way up the risers, uncomfortably close to my neck. I make a futile attempt to do something about said risers, meanwhile noticing a passing thought that this could actually end badly. Finally, I look down, grab the cutaway handle with both hands, punch, and promptly manage to drop it. I swing under my beautiful yellow reserve and proceed to land off into a neighbouring field while the jettisoned gear lands in the peas (nice spot, huh).

Moral of the story: know your equipment. Please. Want to jump with an AAD? RTFM. Turning the AAD on at altitude is blatantly moronic, but the lack of automatic recalibration is a finer point. Some still turn on their AADs before driving to the DZ.

[mircan 0]

I jumped demo.
We jumped from helicopter. Mi-8. We flew from 100 kilometers away, Helicopter did a low fly-by over LZ to allow us to zero our altimeters (approx). When heli reached 1000 meters we jumped. We landed in a planned area. When we landed everyone congratulated us on superb and accurate jump. They said that we were the best because we had the skill to miss the mine field.

What mine field we asked?

Well you know, the "mine field". Even the chopper missed it.
It appears that no one informed us of any minefield, and that we were happy that our heli pilots missed the little buggers when they landed.
That`s all. It comes with the territory when you live in Bosnia... I guess.

dudeist skydiver #42