pkasdorf

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Posts posted by pkasdorf

  1. "...Honestly all I have to say is that you can never touch and look at those three handles enough times- it may save your life. I am eternally grateful I was trained in the habit of touching my handles in the order of use multiple times pre-boarding and on plane, and to visually locate where and how they shift... "

    How true! Congrats...



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

  2. Quote

    Would you participate in sport skydiving if a rate of fatal malfunctions is ~10 percent?



    It is like asking if you would partcipate in russian roulette with four more chances than with a six shotgun. With all due respect, only people with suicidal tendencies would abide. And, honestly, I don-t think military parachuting fits the description.



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

  4. Quote

    All in all, while I've never intentionally boarded the plane without an alti, I have given mine (in the plane) to students/TMs who needed one, and I don't think twice about doing so. I should hope anyone with a couple hundred jumps and not jumping with students shouldn't have any problems doing the same!



    100% agreed



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

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    Always wear an altimeter Period...

    You don't need an altimeter to be safe, esp. on hop and pops.:)


    With all due respect to your vast experience, don't take me wrong but not wearing an altimeter just adds one uncertainty factor to your jump, regardless of the altitude of it. That uncertainty factor may or may not be important but it's there... and very modestly I think it shouldn't be there... in any jump.


    If you do a low hop & pop, you don't need an alti to tell you when you're at your hard deck; you're already there. If you need an alti to be able to fly a safe pattern to a safe landing under canopy, you seriously need a canopy course.


    I think my post was respectful enough not to deserve irony and sarcasm.

    To purposefully jump without an altimeter does not add an inch to safety and may turn out to be a mistake (nobody's perfect and even very experienced people can occasionally have a bad moment and misjudge altitude).



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

  7. Quote

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    Always wear an altimeter Period...

    You don't need an altimeter to be safe, esp. on hop and pops.:)


    With all due respect to your vast experience, don't take me wrong but not wearing an altimeter just adds one uncertainty factor to your jump, regardless of the altitude of it. That uncertainty factor may or may not be important but it's there... and very modestly I think it shouldn't be there... in any jump.



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

  9. I just noticed this in the official USPA's "How to start skydiving" page:

    "Skydiving is simple, safe and life-changing."

    It makes skydiving appear as a little too innocent as a sport compared to reality.

    Just a suggestion, wouldn't people known for their experience and commitment to safety like you, for example, have to address USPA for them to change that statement concerning safety and rephrase it?



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

  11. Quote

    Of course skydiving isn't 100% safe, i think we've beaten that horse to death in these last 7 pages.
    .......................................................................

    I think I can safely say there isn't a skydiver in the world that thinks they are going to die as they are walking up to the plane. But i am sure that most do a proper gear check and are able to make (in their eyes) the best decisions possible to come back to the hanger in one piece. So is skydiving 100% safe, no. There are ways to lower risk but that will always be apart of this sport. You just need to calculate risk vs. reward and see if this is something that you should be doing. Which is obviously going to be different from one person to the next so I don't really see how we can sway people from one side of the argument to the other.



    First of all let me say that I am surprised that a poll I posted in January 2004 and had had no activity since then resurfaced in June 2009 after more than 5 years! And the intensity with which it did confirms that this is a much present topic in the community. Nobody doubts that it is risky. And only fools could claim that it is 100% safe. After all this discussion the conclusion I think most would agree is that the risk prevention and management capabilities we do have in our sport make it "safer" or "less risky" (put the definition you like better) than other risky sports. And, as you say, it is a strictly personal evaluation.



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

  13. In Jagüel airport, Punta del Este, Uruguay a boogie will be held on February 23, 24 and 25th. There will be wingsuit instruction and formation jumps. The plane will be a Casa C-212. Whoever knows the place does know that it has one of the most beautiful sceneries! Just imagine yourself... Come and enjoy our sun and beaches!



    HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757