JohnMitchell

Very important point there. I've had disrupted routines cause small problems. Repeated checks are the protection against this, but it's better to avoid problems in the first place.

Nice job going the extra mile and finding the truth. Not many people would bother. I have even more respect for you. With all that said and done, and the flamethrowers put away, I think we can all agree that: (1)- That harness certainly had the chest strap too low in the picture. (2)- It was not jumped that way. For people who want to flame that "we're all rushing to judgement", do you all remember the tandem fatality caused by a poorly adjusted harness? It's not a harmless thing. I'm glad people watch my back, and I try to keep a watch on them.

I have to admit I feel that way sometimes too. Frustrating. Once again, like Wendy and a few others stated, the insurance and having a voice in Washington, D.C. are the reasons I pay. IDK if they could do better there, but they seem to be doing well enough. I remember having to get my reserve repacked every 60 days. Now it's 3 times that interval, thanks to the USPA.

I pay my dues to the USPA to keep the FAA off our backs as much as possible. People debate their effectiveness, but I know they've prevented a lot of rule making by the FAA that would have severely hampered jumping.

Twitchy handling, super thin lines? No thanks. I'll leave that to the kids.

The lack of slack in the MLW below the chest strap and the apparent snugness of the leg straps and belly band make me believe, IMHO, that the harness is snug, at least on the front side. The only way to move the chest strap up to where most of us believe it should go would be to use the sliding adjustments on the chest strap. Why someone would have a passenger walk around like that, IDK. Quite possibly it was readjusted before the jump. Anyway, the malpractice thing? I didn't really get the flame out on anyone. I just chimed in when ShotterMG was throwing out some sublime bait. But I will say "yes, that doesn't look right to me." Peace out, y'all.

Okay, you're trolling. Have a nice day.

I don't see a lot of slack below the chest strap on the harness in question. Is that your real opinion or are you just throwing out troll bait . . . again?

Not really, as you may well know. First time I did CRW and grabbed a canopy, I was shocked how easily the canopy moved under my hand, how a whisper of air held us aloft.

That was exactly my line of thinking when I started doing this. BTW, I fight the urge to overtighten the harness. It's too EZ to really crank it down too tightly when they're sitting in the plane. I remind myself how slack my own harness is when I'm sitting.

I don't know how much the tightness of the harness has to do with the student getting nauseous or not. I do know that I like to have them take the toggles and steer with me down to about 1000'. Since they are doing the steering, I think they feel more in control and less sick. I also ask, from time to time, how they are feeling, etc. If they say "not so good" I take it slow and easy. Even below 1000', I'll tell them before each turn so I don't surprise them. One puker out of ~1700 tandems.

Great article, great advice in an easy to use format.

Ain't it a shame?

Very good point. I weigh in at 180-ish. I've taken up to 275 but shy away from that any more. At DZs that charge a fat fee I try to leave the extra $$$ to the young tough kids. At DZs that don't I think the TMs need to band together and refuse to risk their health taking overweight, out of shape passengers just to line the pockets of the operators. IMHO.

Arch when you pull, arch when you chop. Keep your head down and video your shoes. Don't let the GP snagmaster 5000 anywhere near your bridal. EFS.

Well, that's a helluva an attitude! Good thing I just busted thru 1650 tandems. I think I have about 5 chops on tandems, mostly broken lines, one with tension knots, and one streamer. The streamer I partly packed with assistance. I think my assistant inverted my slider. Damn, but that was a cool one.

Sounds kind of like the course I like to take.

Esp. love the 2nd one.

When I go front float, my job is to climb out first and break the wind for everyone else.

Smart move. I actually upsized on my last canopy.

Loved his airshows. Even got to fly in Ole Yeller once (with the new owner, not Bob). RIP

This is why we can't have nice things.

Nice to have that first reserve ride out of the way, isn't it? Do you remember your altitude after the reserve opened. I've ridden a spinner or two and knew it was time to go by watching the ground, but sometimes people lose track of time and altitude in those situations. Do be careful and always concentrate on "how much altitude do I have left?"

Bring 'em to Prairie.