Minimum Requirements with Go Pro versus big camera

[mccordia 73]

People who dont meet requirements and ask 'is it smart' 'is it safe' 'do you think I could/should etc' are often not looking for advice, but looking for justification. Someone who says> you should do this thing, regardless of what everyone else and/or common sense tells you to do..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[ozzy13 0]

there was a guy last year that bought a gopro at 40 jumps. Told nobody and mounted it and jumped. I saw the footage on facebook. The next weekend I asked him why he was jumping the camera. He went on and on about he is a professional photographer and don't worry. I asked if he talked to anyone about this and he said no. No debriefs, nothing. I asked if he had a hook knife and the answer was also no.I looked at him like and he said don't worry it has plastic screws and it would just break off if there was a problem. I laughed. Couldn't help it. I told him it would be best to wait till you have everything you need before jumping. He didn't. Had a scare the next weekend pulling low not paying attention and took it off.

With that said I started around 150 jumps. I should of waited. I got cough up in this is so cool I need to show my friends.

I felt like people were holding me back. You couldn't tell me shit. The more time I get in this sport the more I realize I don't know shit.

I have a problem with don't bother they wont listen thing. If they wont listen at least educate so they don't kill themselves or worse someone else.
Thats the other side of this. You might be able to handle a camera and wont be fixed on the shot. When things go to hell you might kill someone else. Thats a big problem for the DZ and instructors for letting you on the plane. You better believe all instructors on that plane will be in the law suit if they let someone jump a camera under 200 jumps. If something goes wrong. I'll be damned if im going to let someone take my house if you want to jump a camera .

So there is always more to a story. It took me less than year to hit 200 jumps. Whats the rush???

Never give the gates up and always trust your rears!

[skydance1954 0]

What Stratostar said is quite right. If you have concerns about the wisdom and the safety of this jumper with the gopro, then you should bring it up to the DZO and the S&TA. It is their responsibility to address the situation and limit the jumper's ability to hurt himself and others. They also have the authority to prevent him from getting on the plane. If they won't, then you could try two other options. 1. Change DZs so you don't reside in a place that condones/enables what you determine to be dangerous behavior, and 2. (I don't take credit for this one, but it's a great idea) Fill out an incident report with the guy's name & personal details, leave the dates blank, and give it to him. Since he's going down that road, you'll have some of the paperwork done ahead of time. You just need to eventually fill in the date.

Mike Ashley
D-18460
Canadian A-666

[marcantonio152 0]

+1 for option number 2

I'm now required to quit skydiving by the US Navy

[MotherGoose 0]

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What's the hurry? The sky and the skydivers in it will still be there a year and 200(more) jumps from now. You are adding risk to the equation when you jump a camera, and for what? You're still learning a lot about just flying your body so if the pictures or video are any good, it will be purely by accident.

Best point of the whole thread. I keep telling jumpers to relax and pay your dues. The sad part is, DZOs that dont enforce rules on their own dropzones undermine coaches like me when I tell sub-200 jumpers not to jump with ANY camera.

DSE - the inevitability of a fatality related to this very topic is stifling.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[withoutwings 0]

Reading threads like this makes me scared to walk around the DZ with my glasses on because someone will call them a distraction.

Call me crazy, but drawing a parallel between a 4-ounce camera built specifically for sports in which attention to safety is paramount, and throwing a 720 hook turn into the ground seems a bit ridiculous. I also see an alarming number of D-licensees out there telling everyone with a jump number lower than his that they don't know anything about skydiving. In fact, I'd be willing to bet the dude that pulled that hook turn would tell someone from his bed in the ICU that wearing a camera before 200 jumps (because, apparently, that magic number is when you become all-knowing, and put everyone's concerns about your abilities to rest) is a dumb move.

[dragon2 0]

Sigh. A cameras weight has very very little to do with it's danger in skydiving. Don't understand that? Then I'm guessing you're a 100 jump wonder yourself (tops) and are mad because you're being held back even though you have mad skillz Either that or you're a troll.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[DSE 3]

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Reading threads like this makes me scared to walk around the DZ with my glasses on because someone will call them a distraction.

I guess that would depend on what kind of glasses you wear.
When someone hooks themselves into the ground (or goes low trying to get "the shot"), they've likely learned something from their experience.
You can learn either from their experience or decide you'd prefer to hook yourself into the ground so as better understand why they've arrived at their opinion.
Learning from the mistakes of others is generally less painful.

[MotherGoose 0]

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Reading threads like this makes me scared to walk around the DZ with my glasses on because someone will call them a distraction.

Don't twist this thread topic into a finger-wagging. When you have little experience you think the whole world is against you. Why won't everyone just leave you alone and let you jump your camera, wingsuit and Velo ??? Sheesh, everyone's just one big fun-nazi aren't they ??

Skydiving deserves RESPECT. Every asshole and his brother bursts into this sport and expects everyone to trust their abilities and realize that they're not like the last guy who smashed in or collided with someone else in freefall.

200 is not a magic number. When quantifying skill or experience, organizations like the USPA, CSPA, BPA, etc., need to pick a number that is reasonable for the collective. You live in a society which means that you have to abide by the laws that govern the collective, not the individual. In this case, no one is policing fun, the rules are there in order to allow you to develop a healthy RESPECT for the sport. Just because you survived your first fall from an airplane, doesn't make you a skydiver. There are countless aspects of this sport that most people below 1000 jumps can't even wrap their mind around (most will even admit it). Not putting a camera on your head has very little to do with snag risks. It has more to do with respecting the sport and truly being a student of the sport. Learning how to fly your body AND fly your parachute PROPERLY before moving on to cameras and wingsuits and handkerchief-sized canopies.

So many noobs cry about how the higher jump guys are always wagging their finger and trying to prevent fun or "progression".

[edit by moderator]

Obviously if organizations around the world have come together and decided that certain minimums should be in place in order to promote safety, learning AND fun . . . well maybe those thousands of skydivers before you with hundreds of thousands of skydives are just all wrong then ?? [edit by moderator] Every new _________ that comes up the pipe pissing vinegar and shitting lightning bolts MUST obviously know better.

You wanted to make this into a finger-wagging . . . well there you go.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[PharmerPhil 0]

Brilliant! Glad I was able to read your post before the moderators take it down. Now you're gonna get a finger-wagging from them. But I'll bet it was worth it...

[withoutwings 0]

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cameras and wingsuits and handkerchief-sized canopies.

These three things require different amounts of respect and experience and have nothing to do with one another. I don't know if 890 jumps is enough experience to give advice on the subject, but it's cool.

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You wanted to make this into a finger-wagging . . . well there you go.

If you read my post and seriously thought "he wants to make this into finger-wagging" (whatever that is), you didn't understand what I wrote. If it became something to you, that's fine, but I didn't make it into anything but exactly what I wrote. The glasses line was an obvious (I thought) exaggeration.

[MotherGoose 0]

I humbly and whole-heartedly agree 100% with you. 890 skydives is absolutely NOTHING. It's less than nothing. I just started to understand how to manipulate the relative wind with my body. I just started to grasp stability and movement on a sub-conscious level. I started jumping camera at about 600 jumps and I am just tipping the iceberg on framing and maintaining the frame from exit to break-off. The more I jump, the more I realize I don't know FUCK ALL. The difference between me and some others, I can admit that (and I do on a regular basis). I am very much still learning. Also why I come on here and read these forums. LEARNING.

I've had to work hard my whole skydiving career but sure there are some natural skydivers out there. I know one or two, but don't expect anyone to believe you when you try to convince them that you've made that prestigious list. Enter the 200 jump blanket. The finger-wagging comment was in reference to your opinion that old fogies just stand around and wag their fingers at the new guys when there are actual international guidelines for these things and so few of us actually have the balls to stand up and enforce them.

Can you show your coaches, peers and DZO in 200 jumps that you've treated this sport seriously? (after all, you are one bad move from death on every jump) Have you set video flying as your goal and chosen discipline, and let everyone know it ? Have you approached the experienced video flyers at your dz and asked them 1001 questions ? (preferably at the bonfire) Have you watched and observed skydiving videos with the intent to learn from them, not just watching them? Have you spent hours upon hours on video streaming sites searching for skydiving videos gone bad just so you can pound these scenarios into your head in an effort to avoid them from happening to you but if they did happen, you may be better prepared to deal with them ? (BTW, this all applies to any discipline-WS/CP/FF)

This is not directed at withoutwings, just a random rant. I feel its a disrespect to the sport to have people burst into the sport trying to do everything they can before 100 jumps (horribly I might add), and then when they realize that it takes a lot of hard work and money to get good, they just fizzle away like a bad smell. Almost always, the ones that actually do stay with the sport, end up with 1000 jumps at some point and they start to pause and reflect. Before long you find them on here trying to prevent the next guy from being the same dumbass. There will always be the career cowboys, but luckily there aren't that many out there. Thankfully, almost everyone that survives this sport to 1000 jumps, ends up learning a thing or two about humility and catharsis. My only final question is, why the hell does it take so LONG !?

As for you withoutwings, I'm not telling you what to do but it takes a big man to fill out his profile before posting on here.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.