No42

I think with the proper mindset, preparation and training, skydiving could already be pretty damn safe. A large part of the sports appeal to me is to perform under stress, to plan a dive in a way that minimizes the risk and not least of all the thrill to overcome my instinct of not putting myself in danger. I think skr summarizes it pretty good: I don't like being afraid but I like what I've learned from it. I'd be happy if everyone would stay safe and avoid being hurt, but I do not think this will ever be possible. The initial assumption aside, I agree with the general opinion that for every push towards making sydiving safer, the limits of the sport will be pushed at least as far into the opposite direction. My AAD is infallible? Ok, so why pull at 3k? 1,5k will do, right? And the ground rush is so much better! There is a swoop limiter on my canopy? Let's tweek it to swoop longer and faster than my buddies! Look at the development in the motorbike market. You get all sorts of electronic assistance these days, and of course the motorheads use them not to make riding safer by staying at the same level, but to hold the risk as high as before while riding a lot faster. That's just the way it is. There will always be a lot of people ready to accept risks in order to stand out, get thrilled or whatever, and the skydiving scene is one big spot where you can find them. I'm not sure I can exclude myself from this group. Taking the risk away would change the sport completely. But a nice discussion, though ;)

A buddy's cam was hit by a wasp in freefall, at around 4000ft, a few years ago. Straight into the lens, didn't end well for the wasp, but the video was good for a laugh.