sabregrl

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Posts posted by sabregrl

  1. Everyone, please calm down. The purpose my original post was to heighten awareness and make everyone more aware and safe at dropzones - all dropzones. I wasn't pointing fingers. I started the post by asking people to become aware of what their dz procedures were. Our hobby, the hobby we love, could be the thing that kills us. Let's focus on the the purpose of this forum - SAFETY! The point is, something potentially serious could have happened because there was someone who landed out (me) and no one knew where I was. My point was - let's not let it happen again. Let's learn from this. Put forth some definite procedures in place from this point forward. Was this done? That's all that matters. Again, I am taking responsibility for getting on a jump that I was not sure about. I'm not blaming anyone for that. I just want to be safe and feel safe and I want everyone to be aware (more aware) and stop pointing fingers. I used to be staff at this dz, I know Andy is the S&TA, I jump there every weekend (unless I'm out of town or have other commitments), I wanted to remain a-political in all this but I felt unsafe (and a little scared) realizing what could have happened. Instead of being defensive, let's try to work together to make things better. That is the point. Again, I point out that I am lucky. I live in Southern California and get to jump 12 months a year. I now have 4 dzs within driving distance that I can jump at with some of the best skydivers in the world. But nothing is perfect and we can always make things better. Isn't that really the point? There are a lot of great staff at Skydive San Diego that I feel extremely safe jumping with. They are "heads up" skydivers and I've known many of them for years. I've learned a lot from them. But all of us can continue to grow and learn - don't you think?

  3. My comments had more to do with who a jumper should rely on. I take complete responsibility for not speaking up and not listening to "my gut". I'm experienced and I should know better. My bad. But what about the newbie who has 100 jumps and expects the staff to know what they are doing? I was lucky in that I knew the area very well and could find a "fairly" safe landing area. There are many people who are new jumpers who wouldn't know that. There are many new jumpers who would rely on staff. That's where my point was - you should be able to rely on the staff as "experts" at the dz.

    And to "SkyMiles" (aka Dr. Phil), your e-mail noting that you've landed out many times and Chuck has picked you up again I must point out the fact that it was not staff that picked you up. As we all take responsibility for our friends and fellow skydivers, the ultimate running of a safe dz relies on the staff and specific procedures they should have in place. Staff should be out with a truck, radio and first aid kit picking up the ones who land out. You just don't know what you could potentially run into. I'm hoping that this post will make people think more about questioning procedures at their dz, talking to the S&TA (hopefully you have one - I bet few people at Skydive San Diego know who their S&TA is - especially true since we haven't had a safety day for 4 years except when Curt Swanson, the former FF L/O took it upon himself to talk to the experienced jumpers a couple of years ago).

  4. I used to be "staff" (packing on the weekends) at this dz. We used to have many, many experienced staff members but the DZ changed and many of those great individuals are now working at other DZs (or in the case of Bill Von, moderating this forum!). Their experience and knowledge was extremely valuable to me as I started skydiving. On a good note, we have another DZ that just opened in San Diego and I was able to jump there yesterday and had a great time. It's owned by a former AFF instructor that was part of that "old staff". The new DZ, Skydive SoCal, has a lot of professional and experienced staff members and it reminded me of old times. I'm very fortunate to have the choice of four DZs to go to because of living in Southern California. I really shouldn't complain!

  5. I did mention a slight concern when we were discussing the plan and that's when he said, "The headwinds are strong, we've been tracking all day so we'll get back". So, what do you do? He's been hired by the DZ to load organize these jumps, he is "staff", I am just an experienced jumper. Who takes the lead? There was another time at this dz where I felt we were too far out (this dz has almost no outs because of a lake and mountains) and I asked the pilot to turn us around. One AFF instructor who was taking out a Level 1 behind my group yelled at me, yes yelled in front of the student, that the spot was fine. I was always taught that if you feel the spot is bad ask the pilot to take it around or don't jump. Again, I had been jumping at this dz longer than all but 2 of the staff members but, they are staff and I was am an experienced jumper. Who's supposed to know more?

  6. What are your DZ procedures when a person lands out? This evening, I was on a sunset tracking dive. Two things occurred. #1 - I didn't listen to my gut (more on that later) and # 2 - I landed out. I landed almost a mile away from my DZ and walked almost all the way back before two experienced jumpers found me walking on the road. My DZ knew that a couple of people landed out but by the time I returned (approximately 30 minutes after I landed), manifest was closed. Therefore, no one knew exactly how many people landed out nor was there any verification that everyone got back safely. Where was the staff when I returned? Drinking beer. I approached some of the staff and one person said it wasn't "his deal" and pointed to manifest (again, they were closed and no one was there). I was fortunate that I didn't break a leg (or worse) because I know, I'd still be out there right now as I write this. Your DZ procedures should be as follows:
    1. If you are organizing a jump, make sure all people return (I had to seek out the person who organized this jump after I returned). If you are unsure, inform manifest and make sure everyone checks in upon return.
    2. If people land out, staff should start combing the area (with radio) and bring a first aid kit. If something serious did happen, they could radio manifest for an ambulance.
    Back to # 1. I did a 6-way tracking dive which was led by someone fairly new to the dz (he's only been jumping there for about 2 months - I've been there over 3 years). He indicated that the headwinds were strong so he knew "we'd get back". I knew the headwinds would lesson at that time of the day so I didn't quite trust what he said. Secondly, we jumped out 4th and tracked southwest (the jump run was east to west). The person leading the dive said that we were going to go fast. I knew from previously fast tracking dives that we would cover some ground so again, I thought, hmmm, this plan is questionable. Even on the plane I thought about pulling off, but didn't. Again, luckily eveything turned out OK but I thing we all need to learn from this. # 1 - Find out what you DZ procedures are for people landing out and # 2 - Be careful who you jump with - you may know more than they do so trust your instincts. Be there to jump another day.

  8. I'm taking the canopy control class at Perris this weekend. It came very highly recommended from a number of people - even those with over 1000 jumps have learned from it. Although I land my Sabre 135 standing up each time, I don't feel that I'm getting the performance out of it that I could and don't want to wait another 200 jumps to learn it's "personality" (sweet spot). I'm looking forward to the class.

  10. I just walked Freckles and came back with black feet and a scratchy throat. The smell of smoke is in the air and the dark clouds are moving to the west, following the dry, gusty Santa Anas. I had ash all over my hair. I am packed and ready to go if need be. It looks like the only place to head to is west to the beach.

  11. Krispy Kreme is really getting a lot of attention in the past couple of years. I lived in Winston-Salem, NCfor 20 years and drove by the headquarters of Krispy Kreme everyday as I drove to work at (this is where KK donuts hail from, as they say in the south). When people wanted to be liked by the fellow co-workers, they really splurged and bought Dunkin' Donuts to work. But then again, KK donuts, warm, just off the fryer with that glaze, hmmm, good for hangovers ;)

  12. I've had my Sabre 170 in my rig that was built for a 150 for almost 3 years. The main problem I've had is with the closing flap flipping up (not good because you could have a premature deployment). I've had this fixed by my rigger soon after it was noticed. I recently demo-ed a 150 and realized that if I ever go smaller than a 150, I'd have to get a new container because the 170 has stretched out the container a lot. But remember, I've been stuffing the 170 in it for almost 3 years. If you plan to downsize earlier than me, your rig will probably not stretch as much and you'd have more use out of it.

  14. I was able to demo a Sabre 2 150 for the past 3 weekends. I like the openings and loved the landings. For those of you who have had experience with both Sabre 2's and Stilleto's, can you tell me the differences you've observed in their performance? Just an FYI - I am not a hook turn-swooper-type person if that helps in your reply.

  15. Molly said...but I am probably going to need you and Barbs help....well your rigs anyway....just for a few jumps...(maybe before we go-barbs maybe, and yours in alaska...)
    if we can work that out...
    Barb replies:
    Molly - you know you can count on Keith and I to be there in whatever way you need us to be. Maybe you can jump with Edge and Susie? I'm so happy for you! And you didn't even mention this last week when we were talking about Alaska!!! Way to go!