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Tevas...think about it

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A pilot once told me that the only clothing that was required by the FAA for flying was closed-toe shoes, and that you can go completely naked except for shoes. True?

I figure if the pilots are forced to wear them, then it's a good idea to wear them when jumping out of the plane.
Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

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It's required by my company to wear closed-toe shoes. I doubt I'll get any injuries here in my cube.

I'm more concerned about hurting my back and knees in skydiving than my toes. I'll be more likely to strap on some knee pads than I will be to give up my sandals during the summer.
There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

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>I have torn up my fair share of sneakers, and they are not that
> tough and don't provide that much protection.

?? My gloves aren't that tough, but have saved my hands from a lot of wear and tear (cuts and abrasions.) I think that a torn up sneaker is preferable to a torn up foot.

>I am having trouble visualizing a scenario where sneakers would
>protect where tevas would not have done so.

At Quincy 2000, I landed in no-wind conditions under a small canopy (Jedei 120 or something like that) and caught the front of my teva on a big weed. It bent down and under and the front of my foot quickly followed. I couldn't walk on it for a week, but there was fortunately nothing broken. That was the last time I wore tevas on a jump.

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It's required by my company to wear closed-toe shoes. I doubt I'll get any injuries here in my cube.

I'm more concerned about hurting my back and knees in skydiving than my toes. I'll be more likely to strap on some knee pads than I will be to give up my sandals during the summer.



You'll need shin guards and thigh pads if you do any 10-Way Speed. Diverdriver knows!
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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Dave, what I'm not getting is if it's enough force to break toes, how would a 1/8 inch peice of cloth stop that?



Hmm. I used to play soccer a lot. I tried to kicker a soccer ball barefoot once.

It was amazing what 1/8 inch of fabric did to prevent bruising and pain.

Also, closed toed shoes will have the effect of limiting the upward movement of the toes (admittedly by transferring the movement to the ankle). This limits the chance of sprained, broken or dislocated toes.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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No one is perfect and sometimes good decisions still fail you. Skydiving is dynamic in many ways.

I've seen Teva's and other sandal's come apart on landing. One of our most experienced instructors busted a toe or 2 on landing and his Tevas stayed in one piece. Expose the toes and then go swoop through the grass and unseen stickers, you'll quickly see a good reason to at least wear tennis shoes.

I quit jumping in Teva's because landing out in weeds, or sliding on landing during parts of the year, and then pulling stickers out of your itchy and swelling feet sucks.

People aren't perfect and never will be. Statements like this... <<
Let me rephrase: I am having trouble visualizing said scenario when good decisions were made
>>... sound good on paper, have a good amount of validity in real life, but shit happens and there ain't nothing you can do about it when it does.

My judgement is generaly good. I've recently had a lapse in judgement and nearly caused a whole bunch of grief.

I just sprained my ankle and broke my fibula this past saturday. The surface I landed on appeared nice and smooth, but appearences are sometimes decieving. I wasn't going that fast either and could have easily ran it out. My judgement wasn't really off.. shit just happens sometimes.

Ah well, It's just something to think about.
My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

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I jump teva's or adidas gazelle.
I know they are a lousy protection against any kind of impact on the toes.
I would love to jump barefoot, but don't want to take the risk to land on anything "strange"
In any case no ankle/heel protection... Always something comfy for running/sliding.
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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I like my bowling or running shoes. My feet are far too sexy to be scraped up when I overshoot the main landing area and skid across the asphalt.
If I want to feel the air somewhere I lose the top.:P:P
Woohoo!

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

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(They get smelly after awhile too)



You can clean up your Tevas quite nicely by running them through a cycle in your dishwasher.



Or take them to the car wash and hang them where they have a place for your car mats, and give them a good spray down.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

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I think this suggestion would be a very good one for students, people with low jump numbers and experience, or people who have been out of the sport for a while and aren't quite sure of their abilities. I think Teva's are just fine for someone that knows what they're doing and are prepared to take the risk. Sure, shoes would provide some added protection...but not that much more than Teva sandals. Definitely no ankle protection. You'd need boots or high top shoes for that. I think you have to be able to judge your own capabilities and know your own limitations.

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Just remember, running shoes won't cover you like that. You need high tops like basketball sneakers, or something equally tall. Or you can get laughed at for wearing big black boots



I generally jump barefoot in the summer. Once i start PT in a month, i'll ask what kinda shoes i should get for jumping. I think my barefoot jumping days are over....



I'm sad for you. [:/] Jumping barefoot is sooo much fun!

When I did a handful of jumps years ago, it was always wearing big boots (3 static lines on L.I., and a few jumps upstate NY) because they required it of me.

When I moved to Florida, I discovered the "barefoot lifestyle" and I nearly never wear shoes. I wear flip-flops to work, and wherever I can't gain entry barefoot around town. Other than that, I love the feeling of having my feet free and unenclosed. Once you get to love that feeling, it's nearly impossible to keep shoes on.

I resumed skydiving in August 2003 and have done about 75 jumps since then, every single one of them barefoot. I land in the <500jump "student" area at Skydive SoBe and it is quite large and grassy, and there isn't much in the grass to hurt the feet -- although I grant the possibility that there could always be. It is, for the most part, a debris-free field, and the vegetation isn't very harsh either. Some have warned me about fire ants, but I don't worry about them too much -- I have had lots of bites when playing disc golf barefoot too, and I'm used to them.

I understand the risks of jumping barefoot, but I feel that my management of those risks (i.e. landing off, landing on tarmac, landing on debris) is adequate to keep me safe, and the risks to me do not justify denying myself the pleasure of jumping barefoot.

It comes down to individual assessment of each jump scenario. Just because I jump barefoot here, where I've assessed a low risk (and results have borne me out), that doesn't mean I would jump barefoot at a different DZ where the chances of an off landing are much higher and the surrounding terrain is hostile.

Info on going barefoot

This site has some good information that you might find interesting and surprising.

Peace,
-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

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A pilot once told me that the only clothing that was required by the FAA for flying was closed-toe shoes, and that you can go completely naked except for shoes. True?

I figure if the pilots are forced to wear them, then it's a good idea to wear them when jumping out of the plane.



I'd like to know who told you that lie.
The FAA has absolutely no attire requirement for people who fly or who fly in aircraft.

I fly barefoot all the time. I've even gone to rent the Cessna at the flight school and not even bothered to wear shoes in the building. (There's also no "law" or "health code" against that, either.)

I have to wonder why someone would insist on there being a rule when that rule does not exist, and therefore the person could never actually have come across it except in hearsay. I've been told the same "It's the law" or "It's a health department law/rule/regulation" many many times. The fact is, that is simply not true. The health department does not require footwear of any patron of any business, regardless of whether it's a food service. Think about it: why would they care if you are barefoot, if you could just as easily walk in with shoes that have dogshit smeared on the bottom. They sure haven't written a law that says it's illegal to fail to clean dogshit off your shoes...

Check out this site. It will expose some of the myths surrounding the supposed prohibition of going barefoot in public.

Info on going barefoot and the myths that say you can't

Someone at the flight school raised the question when it became apparent I was flying barefoot, and another (very knowledgeable) CFI posed the question, "Well, what does the FAR have to say about it?" and I responded with, "Nothing," because I had checked, and he said, "Exactly. There is no attire or footwear requirement."

Peace,
-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

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I've seen some short prickly bushes(the ones with the white hairlike thorn bristles) out in the newbie landing area at SOBE, I've been waiting for jeffry to slide through one of those on a landing :D

But seriously though, my mother always liked to run around barefoot and the bottom of her feet are like hard leather. Not much phases her. Myself I have trouble walking on the beach because the sand is too hot.

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I started wearing mine on skydives hoping the high-speed air will somehow purge them of that infernal stench. This particular pair has walked with me over at least half of Europe and could, judging by the smell, almost be classified as a living organism.

Having your feet exposed is a cool sensation, but I agree completely on the landing inssues- I wore them both on a worn-out Falcon and on my current canopy- the first caused some really sore ankles and knees- the difference between the Tevas and my usualy footwear was obvious, while swooping the landings was fine as long as I didn't drag any toes. I think I'll put them on again when it's warm enough and hope for the best. Or at least a really cool scar if I do screw up.:P




i laughed hard at the first paragraph....

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Well since my ankle injury, ive onoly worn running type shoes, w/ my lace up ankle brace some of the time. Ive jumped barfoot and w/ sandels etc. I love being barefoot, but I also love my swooping. it just good sense (to me) that I have some support, not only for the ankle, but for the impact of any running you may have to do. :)
Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

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