Complacency and cockiness

[skreamer 1]

Before you look at the attachment please read this :
This past weekend I made 11 jumps - 10 from '12 000 and 1 hop n pop. The hop n pop shouldn't have been a big deal because it was my 24th low lob of the year. The exit altitude was '2 100, but I have exited that low before, so that should be no big deal either. However complacency and cockiness made me make two mistakes :
1) Instead of exiting the aircraft from a poised student type exit, I crouched down and simply hopped out.
2) Instead of getting out and immediately presenting to the relative wind, I geeked the camera and gave V sign with BOTH hands (last guy out was filming exits).
I dumped immediately but by then I had already started rolling on my back.
Now please take a look at the attachment and tell me just how cool my two mistakes made me...
I will continue to do hop n pops, but the thought of going head down with my bridle wrapped around my leg, trying to clear that mess before I have to go for silver/my cypres fires kinda scares me.
I'd like to think that I have learnt from my mistake, because I know that this is not a forgiving sport and I might not get away with something this stupid again.
Regards
Will
"Look before you jump, don't die until you're dead"

[Sebazz1 2]

Sebazz........

[prost 0]

So when did you first realize that you weren't in a good situation?

[skreamer 1]

There was no time to realize anything - the only thing going through my mind was Pull Pull Pull. I'd made my mistakes before I left the plane in choosing how to exit and what to do when I exited (geeking camera). When I was under canopy I realized how stupid I had been and when I got to the ground I spent some time on my own thinking about my attitude etc.
I know what I did was stupid, I don't need anybody reading this to tell me that. Maybe that was just my wake-up call to realize that choices we make BEFORE we exit the plane can kill us.
Will
"Look before you jump, don't die until you're dead"

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Ooooops
Dude, you won't be doing that again in a hurry......
Your only mistake was to rush it, even on low HopnPops you have plenty time to goof for a wee while, present get stable dump etc....I've gotten out low (Scotland--no choice ) heaps of times and still had a goofy exit etc.
I get a little concerned when I'm on low ones with my Cypres switched on though.....
Cya
D
GR# 37
Remember how lucky you are to see and touch the sky; the blind may only dream.

[ForeverDive 0]

Bravo, my man. I glad you came to your senses about your cockyness. It's just to bad you had to risk your life to do it.

[TEB6363 0]

As you see the pilot chute pass your foot...... You think "This is probably going to hurt......maybe real bad".......Wack.
I don't think you were gonna die from that position. I have seen worse on video and in the air. However, it is a good reminder to try and STAY AHEAD OF THE POWER CURVE.
Blue Skies
:::OK, Canopy is Open, No Traffic Around, .. Why are these "Extra" Lines Draping Down??, Damn!

[rgoper 0]

Will:
excellent post dude, glad your still here to share it with us! "check your handles!"
Richard
"Gravity Is My Friend"

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Wow, that would scare the hell out of me. I've had the chance for a 2k lob before in bad weather - I had my rig on, but thought "no way" and left it. I know where I'm comfortable.
Let's go play chicken with a planet !!

[gus 1]

Dude!
I'd love to see that video some time, that's some crazy shit right there.
Glad you came through it in one piece, out of interest what was the opening like and when were you open by?
Gus
"Sex? Once every six seconds. Skydiving? Five times, every six seconds."

[E150 0]

Blimey! Glad it ended ok.

[skreamer 1]

I was sub-terminal so the opening was not hard at all. Bit of line twist but nothing major. I was under canopy at about '1 300.
Low lobs are fun and I'll definitely keep doing them (unless England's weather undergoes a miraculous improvement), but I've definitely learnt from this experience.
Will
"Look before you jump, don't die until you're dead"

[Jasmin 0]

Note in one of the 8-way rooms at my DZ:
"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you...."
(And more importantly:)
"Learn from other peoples mistakes, you won't live long enough to make them all yourself."
Ouch matey!! Good on you for learning, bravo for having the guts to post it so that it might serve as a warning for those who haven't yet learnt.
Oh, ps, Awesome photo!!!

[rainman 0]

Hey, I'm glad you're OK!
And thanks for the warning to all of us!
Blue skies,
Ramon

• Quote

[Kirils 1]

You do a lo alt. hop & pop with a Cypres on? Why?
Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability...

[E150 0]

You could still smack your head on exit!

[rhino 0]

I can't do low hop-n-pops anymore.. Under a Crossfire I could burn 800 feet on a long opening. I don't get out unless I have 3k+ anymore..
My absolute hard deck even on a skydive is to be in 3500 feet for the time being..
Under my old Triathlon I could get out at 2k and be open in a couple hundred feet.. Those days are gone Blue Skies .....

[Remster 24]

rhino: if any canopy on a hop and pop takes 800 foot to open, then there's a problem with it.
Remster
Muff 914

[rhino 0]

Rem,
Crossfires can open slow.. Especially sub-temrinal openings.. Then combine that with a high performance canopy with line twists and you have NO time to kick out. When they dive they come out of the air like a rock. So 2k is not at all safe with what I jump.
Do you get what I am saying?? 800 feet is the longest opening I have had so far on a crossfire. And it was sub-terminal.
Blue Skies .....

[skreamer 1]

I suppose it would open slower because you are sub-terminal, but then again on a true hop n pop for a canopy to take 800 feet to open would probably take about 15 seconds. I'm guesstimating about 10 seconds for first '1 000 of freefall but then you have to factor in the decelarating effect of the deploying canopy. I'm sure one of the brainiacs (quade, billvon etc.) will be able to figure it out for us a little more precisely.
Of course it really depends on whether or not it is a true hop n pop or not.
Will
"Look before you jump, don't die until you're dead"

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"You do a lo alt. hop & pop with a Cypres on? Why?"
I don't, sorry to confuse you. I've been on the cessna (going up for a cloudbase check) with my Cypres on and stayed in the plane.
Own rules....cypres on...don't get out below 2500
Cypres off.....well lets just see what we get...
BTW I jump a slow opening spectre
Cya
D
GR# 37
Remember how lucky you are to see and touch the sky; the blind may only dream.

[rhino 0]

If I have a cypress it is going to be on every jump.. No exceptions.. If I get out low enough in an emergency to worry I am going for the reserve anyways. Other than that? 3k minimum or I don't get out. I might even go to 2500 on a hop-n-pop but that is pushing it..
Blue Skies .....

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Hey Sarge whassuup?....
Like I said these are personal "rules", and everyones view on this is different....As long as we have good reasons for our 'rules' and stick to them, they are nearly all valid.
Lowest I've gotten out thru choice and hit the hackey is 1400.....I'm comfortable at anything above 2000, and have the "always faithful" guardian angel woken up above 2500.
I know guys that have hundreds if not thousands of Hop n Pops from 2200---static line despatch altitude for rounds in the UK.....In my less than sensible past I've launched 4 ways from under 2500......
Cya
D
GR# 37
Remember how lucky you are to see and touch the sky; the blind may only dream.

[steve1 5]

Macnacfeegle,
In my less than sensible past (last Christmas) we launched a three-way from under 2,500 ft. It was a cloudy day at Elsinore and we were bored. I won't do that again. It made sense at the time, but probably not smart. Steve

[rhino 0]

Yeagh, but I bet it was fun as hell ..lol
Blue Skies .....