Dumbest thing you did skydiving

Back in '96 i was a 40 jump wonder still on rental gear. Pulled too low 1 day and the FXC fired the reserve PC into the still inflating main without extracting the reserve. I was able to pull the PC down and tuck it between my legs till landing. Man, did i catch hell for that. First from my instructor, Mark Androsky, who witnessed the whole thing from the ground. Then in the hangar from the DZ rigger, ol' Lee Fairbank! Learned a VERY valuable lesson that day!

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I lost altitude awareness and almost went in under spinning line twists is probably the biggy.

Yup did tht one too with my heatwave in the dark.. Lesson gladly learned! I will never take that chance again

When I just got off student status I was trained with a ripchord on the right side. My new transitional gear was BOC. I did a really intense jump with my sister which ended up in one of those "oh shit! I have to pull" moments of altitude awareness and pulled the handle that was where my ripchord was formally (the cutaway).

When I pulled that cutaway I even went to throw it like a BOC PC. I quickly realized my mistake and went for silver (probably at the same time that my reserve was deploying because of the RSL).

I learned that when your learning new things (equiptment or maneuvers) to take it easy. Your mind will respond differently under high pressure situations. My ego got spanked that day!

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When I pulled that cutaway I even went to throw it like a BOC PC. I quickly realized my mistake and went for silver (probably at the same time that my reserve was deploying because of the RSL).

Nope....because if you cut away without deploying your main, an RSL will do nothing for you (because the risers aren't going bye-bye with your main canopy...everything is still on your back)

but I had the same sensation during my reserve ride...I had a hard pull, couldn't get the PC out of the pouch..so I looked red, grabbed red, looked silver, pulled red, pulled silver...
on the ground I commented to one of my JM's, "I think the RSL kicked my reserve out before I even had a chance to really pull the D-ring!"
he chuckled and said, "Um, no...your main and everything is still on your back with your risers still in the covers - your RSL did nothing, honey - that was you.."


In order for your RSL to work...you need to have your risers leaving which pull the RSL cable and deploys your reserve. you said you didn't even release your PC...your RSL wouldn't have done anything for you in this circumstance....

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We all followed like lemmings. As I was getting out I was thinking "how stupid is this? We know we have traffic and I'm still getting out!" But everyone else was doing it . . .

Buahahaha....
Bill is the type that if someone says to him, "If someone told you to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you??"
the answer he would give is, "Yeah...but not without my rig.."

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Nope....because if you cut away without deploying your main, an RSL will do nothing for you (because the risers aren't going bye-bye with your main canopy...everything is still on your back)

It's all so clear now I did it!!!

Dumbest thing I did:

A hop n pop on a red light.

I was totally nervous about it, so my mind wasn't quite where it should've been.

My instructor gave a huge, sharp finger point motion out the door. I thought she was telling me to go. I went.

Turns out she was telling me to look.

d'oh.

Glad it was a big canopy. I put it right in the middle of the student circle, but was way north of the DZ when I left the plane. The wind was with me, so I didn't have to land out.

When I walked back to the school, people were chuckling and asking me "So, you survived that hop n pop, huh?"

Two stick out in my head.

#1 I didn't track well enough (or at all.) It resulted in a canopy collision. I learned my lesson. I learned how to track. (Getting video of my track proved that I really wasn't doing a, b and c like I thought I was!)

#2 I didn't pick an "out" landing, and I was too focused on making it back to the main landing area. It was too windy, and I didn't stay upwind long enough. So, my friend and I landed in ridiculously tight areas surrounded by way too many hazards. (Highway, power lines, factory, trees, fence.) We both landed in two separate 10-ft clearings (not due to skill....I chalk that up to luck.) I learned to always pick my outs before I need them.

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packed my altimeter inside my main. that was one expensive jump.

HAHA, have done the same bro! Pretty crappy feeling when you see something falling out of your canopy and you realize what it was!

***#1 I didn't track well enough (or at all.) It resulted in a canopy collision. I learned my lesson. I learned how to track. (Getting video of my track proved that I really wasn't doing a, b and c like I thought I was!)

Whoao ....under canopy or you fell unto somebodys canopy? pretty wild

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About 4 jumps without cocking a pilot-chute.

A.K.A. Collapsible Dave here!

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Did you pull silver or give her a tug?

If you have deployed your pilot chute, then whatever you end up with (PC in tow) must be treated as a partial malfunction and you need to cutaway before pulling your reserve. The only time you go straight for your reserve is in the event of a total malfunction. These days, the only way you can have a total is to either: not be able to find your deployment device (hackey or pud), or not be able to pull it (jammed by means of "monkeyfist" or bent pin with a pull-out). I have neglegted to cock my PC on a couple of occasions (once recently.....in a wingsuit), but on both occasions the main ended up deploying because of my "elbowing" the container to free the D-bag.

hmm dumbest thing..

going on a tracking dive as rabbit with.. 30 something jumps. we all lost alt. awareness, and they pulled at 1,500 and me at 1,250 or maybe a lil' lower. dumbest thing i've done yet. heh.

Going to Quincy at 70 jumps and doing 10-20 ways....

Rabbit?

(never done a tracking dive)

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Whoao ....under canopy or you fell unto somebodys canopy? pretty wild

Oops! Sorry! I should've been clearer! I didn't track because I freaked out about the clouds (there was one right below us, but I managed to miss it.) Another guy didn't track either, and we were back to back, so we didn't see each other. We opened at about the same time, and we both had off-heading openings. We were both under canopy. It was ugly, but not that ugly.

I don't know how I survived my first 100 jumps.

The dummest thing I ever did was panic.

I kind of sucked under canopy in the beginning but somehow did well enough to graduate AFF. My first jump off student status and I was playing around under canopy and realized I was just a little too far from the landing area. Started back and at around 300ft saw a barbed wire fence and started to really panic that I wouldn't make it over. Instead of getting on rear risers I made a very sharp right turn into the Xmas tree farm by the DZ.

I was now flying downwind and trying to fly straight to avoid the tree line and surrounding swamp area. Somehow started turning left at about 15 feet and flew right into the trees and bounced off of one. I got myself out of the harness and the chute was up in the trees with the harness hanging. I was standing in the swamp are covered in mud.

Several trucks got stuck in the mud and and an instructor got drenched. The equipment was eventually retrieved and I took a canopy class.

If I hadn't panicked I would have realized that I could have made it over the fence and safely landed on the edge of the DZ.

Did I mention this all happened on Safety Day?

Heres a good one! 3 of use on a cessna 206, just got our A lisences, one of our instructors was flying it, my best friend tries to climb out to the wheel, gets stuck and decieds to come back in to the plane! Well, me being a nice guy, try to pull him back in, buy his harness right next to the D ring!
Needless to say, the pilot was waiting with the S&TA at the door to the hanger when we landed!
Believe it or not, all 3 of us are still alive today! Darwin missed us that day

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Rabbit?

(never done a tracking dive)

The rabbit in a traking dive is the guy on his back leading the group.

At about 160 jumps, some friends and I were at an unfamiliar dropzone taking our BIC.

We showed up early Saturday to get a hop & pop in before class, and my friend asked to borrow my Triathlon-175 rig because he hadn't brought his and the only rigs the DZO had to loan out had substantially smaller canopies in them (120 and 108 ellipticals). I said OK. Given the cloud cover, this describes my jump...

First jump at a new DZ.
First jump on an elliptical.
First jump on anything smaller than 175 sq.ft. (the 120, which I was loading at ~2:1)
First jump on a pullout.
New emergency handle locations (they were above the chest strap).
A fairly low exit due to clouds...2100'.

...all of this while supposedly there to demonstrate that I had the judgement skills necessary to be a good instructor.

I didn't get hurt...actually I had fun, but in retrospect that was a pretty stupid jump.

Blues,
Dave

why's he on his back?

so he can see his friends .....

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why's he on his back?

The leader can see the group and adjust the pace of the dive. Plus that's where all the cameras are, and freefliers need their face time.

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My instructor gave a huge, sharp finger point motion out the door. I thought she was telling me to go. I went.

On a dark twilight jump, I almost did the same thing. The pilot was pointing out the door-window on the 182, and I had no idea what was going on. The other, more experienced jumpers in the back of the plane seemed interested in what was going on outside, too. I couldn't figure it out, so I shouted to the pilot over the engine "DO YOU WANT ME TO GET OUT?". He shouted back that we were trying to get a fix on some traffic. Glad I checked - we were over one of the "less ideal" places to exit.

So that's my tale about the stupidest thing I almost did - doing a hop-and-pop over the local 600' forested hill at night, 3/4 mile from the landing area.

Stupidest thing I did was not hook up my chest strap. Smartest thing I did about that time was get a gear check before boarding. Now I always check my chest strap _and_ always get a gear check!

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Pull.

Got out at 1500 feet when I had about 50 jumps. Cloud cover prevented us from getting higher, and because the instructors were going, I went too.

I havent admitted it until now, but here it goes. The ones who were at the PST Beach boogie in Panama City in 2003 will remember.

On my brand new Stiletto 120, I wanted to show off to the whuffo spectators, so I whipped a 180 front riser turn too low, and when I realized I was too low, I tried to stab out of it , but couldnt and hit the water painfully hard while the canopy was still in the dive and flipped through my lines. People started running towards me, but I got up before they got to me, and to their amazement I was unhurt (except for a bruised ego). They had thought I had either broken something or should have died. I was so embarrased about the incident, then I packed up and drove back home 2 days early. I learned my lesson and from then on, I have been alot more careful about what I do under canopy.

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We were doing 60-ways at Perris and were ready to climb out when the pilot said "Hold! We have traffic!" So we closed the door and took our helmets off. The cameraman looked out the door, said "Shit!" jammed his helmet back on and dove out the door. We all followed like lemmings. As I was getting out I was thinking "how stupid is this? We know we have traffic and I'm still getting out!" But everyone else was doing it . . .

So you guys went like good little lemmings...
What prompted the cameraman to dive out in the first place?