ChrisD

I want to remind everyone that when travelling IMO get Air ambulance insurance, before yo get here! For gripes sake all it takes is a twisted ankle or worse, don't wait to be that unlucky one!! Don't let your vacation or great experience be ruined by the machine down here off the DZ.

What you need to know is that there is no place for addicts in aviation. This "medicalization" of addiction and dismissing the fact that those who use are criminals endangering others, again needs to be mentioned. Your breaking the law. No one in skydiving today sanctions or promotes drug use. Don't fall into the trap of appearing politically correct and inadvertently sanctioning an activity that causes harm to others in the name of education or whatever insane ideas are running thru your heads. You do drugs, you endanger my and my friends safety as well as risking the livelihood of many hard working business owners and employees,...you are not welcome and stay the F away from any DZ, you will find your self in jail. How's that for a lesson on drugs.

My point, again,... is that once again we have someone promoting an activity and neglecting to mention the safety aspects and increased risk this causes. Seems to be a theme recently. Again not raining on anyone's parade nor do I wish to be a buzz kill but too many get the impression they can engage in an activity much akin to follow the leader. AND again this leads more than a few hapless dunderheads down the road of causality and personal injury. Very similar to swoopoing and "professional" canopy competitions. In case no one has noticed these activities have quadrupled the fatality rate. In fact the USPA has a dearth of statistics caused by many NOT reporting this rapid increase in death by alleged "sanctioned" events. Of course what a boon to those that operate large Dzs'. Which is why the current statistics have been "massaged" as they have AND why surfing and insanely small canopies are promoted in the manner they currently are. You really thought turf surfin comes about and is promoted by the membership? Death and risk taking as well as ignoring the consequences of tweaking the rules doesn't come with out cost. Clothing optional is not with out vastly increased risk,...this needs to be considered.

Good work. I will caution about too many colors and too many "things" going on. You may in fact negate the safety value of your intention by creating too busy and environment. Some of us who have used a number of HUD and wrist type things find them useless in the real world and especially when your stressed to the max. From real world experience, just having a bright light in yo face at pull time is enough, and is all yo need. Under canopy, totally different, and rock on!!!

I'm all for simplicity in free fall. I am not for pinball machines and countless beeping and colors in your face in free fall. Under canopy, knock yourselves out, in fact send me one. In free fall one bright light in your face at pull time and an even more annoying blinding light as yo bust your altitudes at high speed. Other wise by the psych process of habituation yo risk killing someone. Seriously.

Great points IMO one thing deserving of greater weight that didn't get as much words, which is at the crux of this insidious injury maker and killer is the fact of the "Herd Mentality." Too many play follow the leader in sketchy conditions. In fact just about every incident since I have witnessed since 1973 has been by jumpers following the locals and other jumping in conditions under the guise of experience. Just because yo have an senior license,.. well the physics and mother nature don't give a crap. Experience actually makes this incidents attributable statistics greater. That's right folks all those dipshite D license holders boasting their "experience" in High winds and sketchy conditions makes them safer, actually are the ones getting whacked. As well as more than a few egotesticial followers that think themselves better. Combine this mentality with the profit motives of the DZ, ignorance, and the follow the leader mentality of the stupid, and anyone is clear to see that the smart ones are the ones that stay home. Cause this is an issue in a culture of risk taking promoted by the USPA is just another issue that is going to be with us for a long time. So ya continue to promote trying to understand turbulence THAT YO CAN NOT SEE,... when instead of trying to educate about the insidious nature of this killer,...everyone should be promoting caution and NOT jumping in the first place.

If the USPA had any sense of responsibility to it's members instead of practicing liability in their ill informed attempts to protect a minority interest the USPA would , like every other organization on the planet would have mandated training requirements for First Aid years ago. Considering the recent increasing trending spike in serious injuries and increases in fatalities to not do so is insanely irresponsible and blatantly throwing every fun jumper under the bus. The USPA hard at work. More than a few jumpers' have died on the field waiting for help that comes too late.

"and now the corporate world, sometimes equally sinister" You might want to include the USPA in that sentence as well. Considering the recent trend to include windy tunnels as a substitute for the real thing, your comments about "virtual" training may have more relevance than you are aware of. Of course your promoting learning and being prepared for a class well in advance of that same class. Something that seems to be a rarity these days. Considering the cost of your courses, (some would say a bargain,) but the point remains being prepared is or seems to be an exception these days. Too many in this jumping activity these days just show up and expect to be force fed. Which begs the question does anyone really learn anything these days? As compared with having a fun day or two ? Your point is well taken. I would add that if you don't show up prepared to learn and have failed to do your homework , I have no issue, as well as many others, have no issue whatsoever taking your cash. What concerns me is the attitude this creates. What also concerns me about learning in "virtual" environments is the fact that a wind tunnel is not a moving aircraft at altitude for the first time jumper. Virtual learning has it's place for motivated students, with the understanding that "virtual" learning isn't appropriate in all situations. IMO

While I believe your intent was good, you ignored the fact that newbies don't have a clue. This is a more serious issue than most attribute or fully understand. You have also placed the responsibility of safety and skydiving squarely on the shoulders of the drop zone. There is no such thing as a "Good DZ." Good luck finding one. You can however train young jumpers to do everything they can to recognize bad and shoddy places. You can train jumpers to recognize bad equipment and bad practices. Good luck with the herd mentality of getting them to change their behavior though. Seems the world of jumping is full of monkey see, Monkey do. Sadly a sign of the times, which has led to many fatalities in the past. Something about "personal responsibility being in short supply these days." Many of you all need to understand what that actually means, because your "reputable DZ," is going to throw you under the bus faster than you will ever know.

Nice talk,... Sounds like the briefing one gets when one first shows up at any DZ for the all inclusive pep talk and waiver bull shite. Trouble is it all becomes real when your standing their looking at your dead friend. THEN RISK BECOMES REAL. Risk in skydiving is REAL. Something that all too often is glossed over and quickly rushed through. Just like yo have done. Risk needs to be taken seriously, which would require a major paradigm shift as compared with the attention and publicity our beloved USPA devotes at current. Don't wanna influence the numbers or dissuade the dummies do we?????

In case anyone thinks this is dated: 2 recent fatalities: One ripcord issue in GA in 2016 which resulted in a fatality that got no press. One incident in New England in 2014 which resulted in a fatality. AND NOT ONE FUCKING WORD FROM THE USPA SAFETY SECTION OR ANY PUBLICITY ABOUT THESE NEEDLESS DEATHS. NOT ONE FUCKING WORD.

PDs' program is still alive and well. Seriously the best program, service and availability going. AND if you haven't flown your reserve, this program could save you some major headaches. I encourage everyone, no matter how inconvenient it may be, to do something for yourself!!! Some of the excuses I have heard are just nuts,...

Let's be real man. Bogies are for D license holders, seriously. No place for hand holding. You don't have the right to endanger others safety by promoting otherwise. Put others interests first for once. Seriously.

"Be nice to the loader"????? How about everyone being required to learn to spot? More off field injuries (FACT) have been caused by the inability to spot than any other single cause going. Promoting trust in others is akin to promoting ignorance and is in fact contributing to the general decline in safety which has become so prevalent lately. Spotting training should be MANDATORY. ANYTHING LESS IS IRRESPONSIBLE!

If you wanted to stress repetition over "more realistic simulation," you might actually be able to increase survivability in these situations. Unfortunately what your doing is trading what we actually know, which is trading Neural Plasticity, aka Muscle Memory for a cognitive process, aka thinking. Thinking in skydiving is not a good thing, during these infrequent events, thankfully, we should be "doing" as compared with thinking. Research and practical experience have shown again and again that those that train more often, survive more often. If your efforts get more people to train more often, then IMO,..that's a good thing. But switching a yearly hanging harness practice for a yearly hang in a more realistic harness is just going to cost more for the more expensive equipment. A word about cognitive processes compared with behaviors that are learned to the point where our brains actually change its hardwiring so to speak, as compared with behaviors that we only read about or practice infrequently. The key is to have the information present when we need it. Learning theory has consistently shown that practiced behaviors like walking, and running, riding a bicycle, etc,...actually change brain real-estate, these behaviors and their associated neural stimulation, millions of inputs for a very short period of time, actually hardwire our responses, like riding a bike there is great truth that returning to riding a bike after a great absence of time, and lo and behold it's actually like riding a bike! That's because those changes to enable the behavior have actually changed the wiring in our brains. Skydiving emergency procedures,...with those same procedures neural wise amounting to no changes in our brains, no practice, no muscle memory,...when we are now faced with an emergency,...we are unable to access the information when it's needed most! We can "recall the information" but we can't use it when it's actually needed. This is the great trap in skydiving safety and thinking. The only thing that really , demonstrably works is repetitious training, boring, repetitious training, did I mention: repetitious training,....it will never be the same as neural plasticity or muscle memory but it will be current, more current than the current state of affairs. Perhaps if we had a more interesting simulation system that would increase this kind of training and , perhaps then it would be more current? But otherwise for the vast majority of experienced skydivers,...the further in time we are from our initial training, the larger the risk for this type of thing we are all trying to prevent. The skydiving incident statistics practically make this a non-debatable issue. Worth repeating, as time increases, as you all get more experienced, your risk to perform poorly increases. We are never as safe as when we are skydiving students. This is because our emergency procedures are current and practiced again and again. For the vast majority of skydivers this is the only time in their lives that they will ever be this current with this kind of learned response. Air skills, flying ability, landing skills, all improve, unfortunately emergency procedures are not created nor retained the same way. Thanks to all who endeavor to raise the safety bar!!! Chris Robert may be reached at: [email protected] Thanks everyone!!!