Douggarr

Good piece. At every Safety Day I make the following announcement: "If you haven't had a cutaway in the last 12 months, it's a good idea to do the hanging harness." I've had four malfunctions, two streamers under rounds (capewells and a belly reserve) and two in the modern era, a bag lock and a spinner, (where I couldn't beat the RSL), and I still follow my own advice.

Agree with JimJumper. Forget about your handles. In the old days, holding a main ripcord handle could fuse or tangle with the reserve suspension lines (mostly with belly warts). And yes, they did cause fatalities. This, of course, is no longer an issue. But when you cut away, you're not thinking about the 65 bucks for the reserve repack, so why think about how much it's going to cost to replace a cutaway handle or a reserve ripcord handle.

Two things have to happen: First, what skycat says about engaging the tandems. Only rarely at a couple of DZs in the NY metro area, where I jump regularly, do I ever see instructors and experienced skydivers talk to the waiting tandem throngs. I try to do this, mostly to show them that skydiving has a brotherly (and sisterly) vibe you can't find in most sports. You hope they think a little about this when they come down from the adrenaline high. Second, DZs need to reward fun jumpers (not just comp teams) with frequent jumper rewards. Loyalty should be encouraged. Not just on cheapo $21 Wednesdays and Fridays when things slow a bit during season. But...how's this... Make 10 jumps in two weeks and we give you a freebie? We have to get out of this mentality of discounting at the beginning stages (tandem). It's like the freakin' phone companies paying you to switch, and not giving you anything for being a long-time customer.

This is a piece that should be read by every S&TA at DZs with high-capacity loads and multiple aircraft turning.