beeman

No shit! Although 4 miles out with "strong" winds is hardly a cross country. That said if a 20 jump wonder sank a reserve into a small back yard that is impressive. Chopping a main above 9k is not however. What kind of mal at that altitude on a student canopy needed to be chopped? I assume at the very least it cost him a freebag/pilot chute. A student with a spinning mal on a 4 mile sunset cross country with strong winds. Good on him for not riding the damn thing down, to me. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

Know what I'm doing next jump. just cannonball it straight out the door, hang on to your knees as tight as possible and see how long you can hang on! it really depends who does the flips, I'm a light ass and you won't see me lose any altitude relative to someone else in a quick backflip. if we have a 4 way with a backflip involved i have to slow down my flip so i can sink with everyone else. My first solo jump was this at the suggestion of a few people. It was pretty damn fun. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

Been in the sport about a year and a half and just moved out of college to Arizona. Looking forward to meeting folks out at Eloy this Saturday for Safety Day. Can't jump til later this month cause my gear is still back east, but should be fun just to come hang out. See you guys around. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

Scored a 42. Did not expect to be classified as high risk in anything, but looks like currency and number of jumps really nailed me. That being said, I've jumped quite a few makes and sizes of canopies, and the ones that I got a few jumps in a row on I could set down just about where I wanted to. Yay rental gear! I've also landed one with a stand up in a tight spot with tall grass when the winds really kicked up during the plane ride. *shrug* I'll continue to be careful I guess. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

Yeah definitely. I'll do that too, especially if I'm doing a dive that I know is going to be a challenge. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

Why until 9,000? I disagree. A 16 man and 18 man caravan are responsible for the majority of my jumps. The others being a C-182 and a King Air. All of them are tight and I've gotten multiple checks (3-ring system & RSL, handles, chest and leg straps, and helmet) without too much problem. And on all but the 182 I've seen a vidiot walk all the way to the back of the plane to interview tandems. YMMV I guess. Looks like most people take naps on the way up either way. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

good thinking. Never know when one might come up well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

and a lot of things come with relaxation. In 59 jumps I've seen an alarming number of them - thankfully (and regrettably) only one of those with direct, serious consequences. I've been guilty of some dangerous mistakes myself. But that's kinda why I asked. To see if people more experienced consider it a problem. I'm not going to change what I do, just curious. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

If this has been discussed before, sorry for the double post but a picture I saw recently (not the first time I've seen this happen) got to me. I'm obviously still fairly new to skydiving, but I can't imagine the desire to sleep on the plane ride up. It seems to be more prevalent with experience (to a point, past that some people seem to know better). I can think of several good reasons not to - vidiot walking through the plane knocks your (or anyone's) hacky loose, you waste opportunities to check your gear/monitor weather and traffic, lost awareness of spot until the last second, and aircraft emergency are among them. So I'm honestly asking the question: for how many, particularly more experienced skydivers, is this an acceptable addition of risk? How many consider it acceptable after "a few good gear checks"? Why? well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

I think I get what he's trying to say, and if I'm right then I agree with Nigel. There's a third option - do an insufficient gear check. What I mean is things like tugging on a chest strap and calling it good. I agree with Nigel and think it's entirely possible to misroute it and have it pass that test. Two seconds of looking carefully at the adapter and you KNOW it's good. That said, I actually do both, many times before I leave the plane. How many people that normally gear check have you seen throw a rig on for a now call and glance over everything without a pin check? How many of those people slept most of the way up? I've seen at least a few in 54 jumps. How many don't check handles before the door opens? The notion that your brain is capable of filling in some pretty big gaps is absolutely correct. Bringing it back to the original point, the mindset difference is carefully to do the entire gear check, multiple times because you know the assumption that you caught everything and nothing has changed can very easily be wrong. it's pretty much the same as saying your mindset is DO a gear check, but there is an attitude there, even if a simple one. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

To be fair, I don't go after a lot of "high risk activities". I love skydiving in spite of the fact that there's risk involved. However, having talked to a fair amount of people about it, I actually know very few who are afraid of it. The common sentiment for why they don't do it is that it isn't something that interests them. Plain and simple. Sure a few of them are afraid, but other than that it's generally cost or that they just aren't really interested by the idea of skydiving. As for what they say to me, mostly it's just "that's awesome" or generally supportive of me going after something I love. The "oh shit" responses are more like "just be really careful" at which point I explain to them that I am. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

May they and their families find peace. Blue skies well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

congrats dude. nice jump. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

Hey at least take me to dinner first well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.

I thought I was the only person that thought this... I get that it's a distraction, but as cautious as I am this is one thing that I actually enjoy. I would never do this on jumprun or bother an instructor or their student when they're working, but before jumprun and done lightly (i.e. not doing it to someone who's checking their gear or being insistent about it) it's cool just to relax and wish people a good jump. Then again I don't get on the plane not ready to jump, and I alternate between getting the altitude picture and checking my straps, routing, 3 rings, handles, RSL etc. continuously. I also don't take off my helmet (personal choice because I wear glasses with a full face and don't want to have to bail without being able to put my helmet and glasses on in time if I ever had to) so I guess I never really thought of this as worth considering as a dangerous distraction. If you start out safe before you get on the plane and don't do silly things like stop spotting or gear checking to do it I still think it's a cool gesture before a jump. I guess that first part isn't always true unfortunately. well...I was going skydiving anyway. let's go. Earn your pancakes.