michaelted57

I LOVE to see this article. As someone who has been around for 36 years in the sport, I have seen so many silly and stupid decisions by people just as Bill describes.
I hate to point out that I started in this sports 36 years ago, and Bill was already a gear manufacturer, had already invented the hand-deployed pc and 3-ring release, and was making rigs that would accommodate square reserves. He says he's only been in the sport 35 years... Sorry Bill. Most of us know it's been longer than that!

Very good article! I have been skydiving for 36 years and working in high-noise environments for most of that time as well, and I now wear hearing protection on all my jumps. but I didn't start wearing hearing protection until it was too late... Now it is difficult to understand what people are saying and I have a constant ringing squeal in my head that is loud enough to drown out the sound of the motor running in my car. One thing that the author didn't mention is that freefall (even with a full-face helmet) is well over 100 decibels. In order to protect what hearing I have left I wear earplugs with a string between them so I can pull them out after my canopy opens. These cost about $0.25 a set when you buy them in bulk. Trust me, it is well worth it. I tell all my students to wear hearing protection as soon as they are off the radio, and to keep wearing it for their skydiving career.