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3000 tandems, 4 chuckers.

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Around 1500 tandems, 2 that lost it. One in the air, the other I was able to help keep them together until we landed.

I started to tell people that if they thought they were going to throw up, to stick their face (nose and mouth) inside the collar of their shirt. It would help them breath, you know, because we're up high...;)

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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3000+ tandems never had a puker, like to think I'm proactive, only as wild as they want it. if they get quiet I talk to them. also if they do feel ill I do slow turns when needed, and have them look at the horizon.



1800+ and 0 pukers.
always ask how the feel after doing a big turn. if they felt bad we don't do any more bug turns. It also helps to slide the leg straps down a few inches (i do that on every jump) so they sit rather than hang. also makes landing easier as they can get their feet up.

It also helps to let them steer on the big turns. being in control is always better!!

if your afraid of that let them steer until 1K then take over. there is NOTHING they can do to cause a problem before that. Let them have some fun. Direct them where to go and teach them why you want/need to go there.

havent tried having them looking at the horizon. I will give that a shot on next one. Thanks
LifeshouldNOTbeajourneytothegravewithawellpreservedbody,buttskidinsideways,cigarinone hand,martiniintheother,bodythoroughlyused upandscreaming:"WOO HOO!! What a ride!!!"

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Never thought I'd see the day...instructors bitchin' about a free hot meal! [Crazy]



They are not bitching over the free hot meal, but over the fact that it ruins their free T-shirt. B|

(one per 750 seems about right, IMO...)

"Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
A thousand words...

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1st: Haven't had any pukers yet, but two guests I was happy to have gotten down as gently as possible so they didn't have to eat backwards B| But I haven't done that many tandems yet so I'm thankful for any hints :P

@vanair: Sounds like you could have been my TIE 'cause he gave me the same tips. Except one thing - I only let them "help me steer" until about 500 m (~1600 ft)
I found that the "help me steer"-thing works with all passengers regardless how strong or fit they are. It's not that they have to pull down the toggles like mad, it's just that they know what's gonna happen, to feel "in control". There were a few who didn't like to; so in these cases I also refrained from any abrupt turns etc. BTW: No matter what you will tell them, half of the passengers will try to slide their hands into my toggles but then realise that there's a second pair of toggles "just underneath my toggles" / "the lower pair of them" /"them toggles down there" and then happily grab them B|
"Toggle-participation" and refraining from stomach-challenging manoeuvres (360s etc) really helps a lot as well as sliding their leg straps a little down so they can sort of "sit" - which also helps to prevent fainting (less pressure on major arteries in their thighs).

BTW: In case of feeling nauseous: We have "puke bags" handy in a small pocket on the back of the passengers' harnesses. I grabbed some of these bags on my last two flights and ... well, other passengers nearby were rather puzzled. "I'm collecting these bags" seemed to be more appropriate than explaining tandem stuff... :) Using these bags is better than having them puke into their overalls; that's what I was told at least ;)

The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

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Some years ago a TI at a DZ in Germany did (at about 150 m; 500 ft) a 180° turn, "rather quickly" as sources report with a passenger who already felt sort of queasy. Doing this manoeuvre right above a bistro patio resulted in a spectacular result as sources report. I dunno if it's true at all, but at least the "source" made all of us TI-to-be laugh... and think a little later.

Some TIs here at my DZ got puked at and IIRC the ratio is roughly the same; about 750:1. Maybe it's a global constant ;)

The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

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3500+ tandems and got barfed on more times than I can count. being down in Houston, most of the time it was in Aug/Sept due to the heat. usually began around 1500' when we hit the hot air from the ground. I used to carry a plastic bread bag with me with the hopes they would use that instead of the jumpsuit/harness. :|

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This video (attn: Soundtrack might be offensive, explicit language!), again: This video was mentioned on a German skydivers' forum as it should show someone vomiting in freefall. I got to admit that I didn't see any puke (mainly due to the poor video quality, not even in the slo-mo sequence at 1:26')

OK, spinning like this might indeed provoke someone feeling green about the gills, especially after a generous breakfast (and maybe a couple beers the night before).

Well, I also seriously doubt there's any "hard" video evidence for a freefall barf...
The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

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i have around 2000 tandems with 4-5 pukers. About 3 years ago we started using Sea-Bands. They are a small elastic band with a hard dot that is centered on the wrist. Supposedly they press on an accupressure point that helps prevent nausea. A lot of the cruise lines and fishing boats use them.They have dramaticaly reduced the number of pukers. I don't know if it's a mental or physical thing but they really seem to work!

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2500 tandems and maybe 10 pukers.

One girl told me just before door that she knew she would throw up. I said "Ok, let's go!" She had only taken in blue gatorade, so had "Smerf puke".

Years ago we had two sisters, they both threw up. First indication either of us had on those two was a warm wet feeling on our legs.

With hand cam I always ask them to try to get it past us to the left. I stick the camera about a foot above their head for really cool footage. At edit I run it slow mo both forward and reverse. Just as well have fun with it!

Martin
Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

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To date I've tried to not capture the 'chraf' in the hope that I could still sell the vid. 100% fail on on the sales so the next one will filmed. Thanks for the tip on camera placement. B|
I wasn't wearing a jumpsuit on the last one and copped it all over my right arm - got a free T shirt from the boss for my troubles though. :ph34r:

2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

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