Greell

Nah luckily not personal experience, but I think if my chest strap wasn't on and I was going to cross my arms to brace when I opened....i'd hold on pretty damn tight. And if it was a hard opening, just knowing how much force that's going to absorb, I imagine it won't feel too good :) But what do I know, i've never been put in that situation, so it's an assumption....and you know what they say about assumptions.

I could not disagree more with this. People have died because of undone chest straps and chest straps that have torn out on opening. If a chest strap can tear out on opening then it is taking a fair amount of the opening forces. If you really believe this, why do you hook up your chest strap before you jump? JerryBaumchen Let me rephrase my meaning....It is load bearing "enough" for it's purpose. It wasn't designed to be as load bearing as, say, your leg straps. I simply meant that, if you are in freefall, and your chest strap is undone...You can still cross your arms elbow to elbow when you pull, to mimic a chest strap. Now if your opening is hard enough to rip your chest strap when it's just your arms crossed...you might be sore. but you'll still get the job done.

Actually I think this misses an important part of the lesson that could be learnt. Doing gear checks with the wrong mindset is as bad as not doing them at all. It's interesting how 'obvious' things slip past us - a brilliant example is this experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo Depends on your mindset? What was yours?...my mindset is....do a gear check. I don't think it's any more complicated than that. Selective attention isn't ENTIRELY applicable because you're gearing up, checking your gear, and getting on a load....if you want to throw more variables in the mix...you're talking to other people, and maybe a dirt dive. Maybe you're even in a rush to get to a now-call. You're not balancing on a high beam, while helicopters are swooping down with machine guns firing at you, and the building is on fire. There isn't much going on when you are gearing up...just do the damn gear check. Also, like I said (to cover my own ass)..." Ideally the plan is "Don't make this mistake"....but it can happen. " Not saying you don't have a point....i'm just saying, lets not over complicate it. Do your gear checks.

This is why we need to do gear checks. Not just on ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters too. Keep a vigilant eye, and if you see something...call it out. I see so many people not doing gear checks these days, to cut some time getting to a now-call. It's crazy! Do your gear checks people. If you're in free fall and you notice your chest strap undone or incorrectly routed....when you go to pull....pitch, grab your elbows (crossing your arms, hand to elbow) and look up (to not pitch downward causing bad stability) Remember that a chest strap is NOT designed to be a load bearing strap. You can easily survive such a mistake, if you make it, and you notice it in time. Ideally the plan is "Don't make this mistake"....but it can happen.

The student looked as if he half expected there to be some water 5 feet below him after he jumped based on that exit. I liked the "roll around" the instructor did to get him to his belly. To answer your question as to "Why" do a backflip before deployment.....complacency. What's the worst that could happen? He has plenty of altitude. a reserve, and a helmet, right?

From a business standpoint...think of it like this. One tandem jump costs say 200 bucks. They jump once, YAY fun times....and they may never return. One fun jumper jumps 4 times in a day at 25 bucks each. that's 100 bucks. ...that fun jumper comes back...day after day...week after week...year after year. That money adds up. However, they have to take more trips up in the plane to get that money, which burns more fuel...the catch is, fun jumpers are frequently on loads with tandem students. So, they are basically just icing on the cake. A consistent, yet low, return on investment, is better than a single, yer moderately high, return on investment, in the long run. Put both of them together and BAM you got a good DZ. Of course, from an advertising and marketing perspective....fun jumpers introduce new people to the sport. Friends and family hear about you jumping...see your pictures...and they want you to answer questions and tell them where they should jump...or to go with them the day they jump. It's free PR baby, the best kind of PR you can get! Cut out fun jumpers at your DZ...and yes, you can still operate your business...but for how long? How successful do you think you'll really be? Fun jumpers are the life of the party ;)

I never really knew Woody that well. I met him a few times, and he was an organizer for my SCR jump with 11 other people. He was always very friendly, easy to talk to and gave some really great and detailed advice which really helped me out. He was an outstanding guy, even with what little I knew of him. I only regret that I never got to know him better! Blue Skies brother.

A lot of interesting points here. My only real input on this whole ordeal is...I don't really care. Why do you? It amazes me that cases like this take president over other, larger, problems in the world. It's basically "Keeping up with the kardashians." ...People love drama. They love "sports" and picking a team to root for. But what irks me most about this whole case is. People come out of the woodwork when the law does its job, and suddenly, they're legal experts with law degrees, and they're keen on explaining exactly how right or wrong everyone else is. The law has one job. To tally up the facts (As they have them) and make a decision based on LEGALITY. Not on MORALITY. From the little I cared to learn about this case...it sounds like people condemn the guy for shooting a kid because it was "wrong" or "He provoked it by getting involved"....that's not illegal, suffice to say. It may have been poor judgement, his behavior may have been immoral. But as far as you people are concerned, it wasn't illegal. Now he is proven innocent, and people on the internet are sharing his address saying things like "Here's his address, you know what to do."...Seriously? You want the law to do its job, and when it does, and not to your liking, you think vigilante justice is the way to go? If you don't like the way this country operates...there's the big fucking door.

I think there's just been too much complacency in the sport lately. I see people gear up and not doing gear checks, hopping on the load, riding all the way out, and exiting without doing a gear check...while these accidents weren't really related to a packing malfunction necessarily, it's just a good example of how complacent people seem to be getting. it takes 5 seconds to do a gear and pin check. It takes a few seconds to think of your EPs and go over it a few times in your head before a jump. I'm shocked to hear about so many low cut-aways because people lost track of time and altitude. We all know there is a temporal loss effect that can happen when adrenaline starts pumping and panic starts kicking in...but I can't help believe that those that practice their EPs and stay altitude aware survive malfunctions more than those that cut corners and view skydiving as a safe activity. It is absolutely inherently dangerous and I think jumpers need to pull their heads out of their asses, and start taking it more seriously out there. People are dying that don't need to! Lets be safe out there people!

I stretch before I jump because I suffer from shouldewr injuries, and knee injuries...and being a little more limber helps a lot...both in the air...and if I land rough...always a good idea to stretch a bit, you're less likely to get little injuries (sprained knee, pulled muscles etc) when you're limber.

I've seen a few of those videos where people catch the freebag and get commended for making a "good catch"... Spaceland never taught us not to do it...but they did teach the importance of minimizing having things that could snag/catch/tangle in the lines. Therefor it seemed like common sense (to me) that adding another freebag or chopped canopy to the mix...would run the same / higher risks of entanglement. All I can say is i'd never try to catch it...looking cool and getting a high-five for saving someone a bit of trouble / loss of cash isn't worth life and limb to me :)

My advice is this: How bad does the ankle feel? Go stand on top of a counter or table, and jump off of it, landing in a PLF. How did that feel? That's at low speeds. If it hurt a bit, don't go jumping. If you didn't feel anything...well, i'm not going to say "go for it"...it's your ankle, not mine. From experience I jumped with a sprained ankle, and like a previous poster said...you'll focus so hard on not landing on the bad ankle, that you'll end up spraining your other ankle. Best to heal up before jumping and taking risks. There will always be another load call on another day... Cheers!

Sounds about right. Good thing he's ok in any event...albeit he did it to himself by acting a fool.

as a relatively new jumper I just wanted to give my two cents since several people talk about jumpers "relying" on their AADs... From all that I learned and all the research i've done, it's just another safety feature that may be useful in an emergency situation. I certainly wouldn't "rely" on anything to save my life, other than myself. But it's comforting to know that in a worst-case scenario if I become unconscious, my AAD (ideally) will fire, and save my life. and like they say....better to have it, and not need it, than need it and not have it, right?

+1 I was taught that while they're an excellent bit of comfort, and can be a good tool...don't substitute it for your visual alti, and your knowledge/experience.