on opening

[jf951 1]

during your openings, do you look at your main as it opens or do you look ahead?

Jump more, Bitch less.

[dragon2 2]

Ahead. Always, unless if and when I feel something off about my main. Sticking your head between your risers as your canopy opens is a recipe for 1) neckpain on a hard opening 2) damaged camera gear if you jump it 3) a collision you could potentially have avoided by looking where you were going.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Andy9o8 2]

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Ahead. Always, unless if and when I feel something off about my main. Sticking your head between your risers as your canopy opens is a recipe for 1) neckpain on a hard opening 2) damaged camera gear if you jump it 3) a collision you could potentially have avoided by looking where you were going.

4) riser slap inna face.

[jonstark 8]

I choose a combination of the two. I look straight ahead with shoulders level for initial deployment, line stretch and start of inflation. After it has me standing up and is well into deceleration I'll watch it inflating for a second or two to see whether that part of the sequence is going well/straight. Then I get my hands on the toggles and head back on a swivel looking around for others in the area. Once clear I stow the slider, loosen the chest strap and settle in for the most dangerous part of the jump.

I do not jump a highly loaded canopy (1.2:1) and expect openings to take well less than 500'.

jon

[ufk22 33]

No reason to look up unless I can feel something is wrong. What's up there isn't going to fly into me.

This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

[quade 4]

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No reason to look up unless I can feel something is wrong. What's up there isn't going to fly into me.

While I agree you can usually feel if something is wrong with the opening, it's still a smart idea to take a look up at the canopy AFTER you're sure you're not going to run into anybody.

I've seen a couple of people land ripped canopies or ones with broken lines that had no idea there was anything wrong with until they flaired and it didn't behave exactly the way it normally would have. It was harder to tell it wasn't responding exactly right at altitude, but on landing flair it responded poorly and they weren't ready for it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Morne 0]

Well ahead first and then up at the canopy.
Still religously do control test.

[airtwardo 7]

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I choose a combination of the two. I look straight ahead with shoulders level for initial deployment, line stretch and start of inflation. After it has me standing up and is well into deceleration I'll watch it inflating for a second or two to see whether that part of the sequence is going well/straight. Then I get my hands on the toggles and head back on a swivel looking around for others in the area. Once clear I stow the slider, loosen the chest strap and settle in for the most dangerous part of the jump.

I do not jump a highly loaded canopy (1.2:1) and expect openings to take well less than 500'.

jon

Same here kinda...I look up during opening and grab the rears, do it enough and you can feel as well as see if things are going to plan. I can tell if one side is loading up faster or harder than the other and quick pop to that side tends to counter a possible turn during deployment.

~as the slider is coming down then start lookin' around, not much I can do until then anyway, and if someone is close I'm already on the risers to turn away.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JohnRich 4]

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during your openings, do you look at your main as it opens or do you look ahead?

I look over my shoulder to make sure the pilot chute and bag has launched cleanly, then I start looking around to see if I'm clear when the canopy opens, or if I'll have to make a quick turn to avoid someone.

[skycamefalling 0]

I was always looking up to watch my openings. I stopped trying to do that after my 23rd jump. I was lucky and got my first hard opening (not a slammer thank god) on that jump. Needless to say, my neck was a little stiff for a few days after. Now, I try not to look up for the first few seconds or so after I feel it snatch me up. Then I will look up, check everything out, do a control ability check and then be on my way.

Speedracer~I predict that Michael Jackson will rise from the dead.
And that a giant radioactive duck will emerge from the ocean and eat Baltimore.