Grounding Yourself For Wind

[ladyskydiver 0]

My wind cut off is the same as students. Not only would I go backwards under canopy if I jumped in anything higher, the risk isn't worth it to me. The sky will always be there, and I've been in the air wishing I was on the ground. I have no desire to repeat that experience and will go by the mantra...

It's better to wish you were up in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[NWFlyer 2]

I pay attention to what the students are doing and what other, more experienced jumpers are doing. And if it just doesn't "feel right" I won't jump.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[skydiver1717 0]

I sit down if:
Winds steady at 18-20 MPH.
Or if 10-15 MPH gust range.
Or if too turbulent, especially in hilly areas or where you get updrafts and rotors due to trees, buildings.
If the tree tops are rocking, I generally stay on the ground and stay safe for another day.

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? It is the same the angels breathe. — Mark Twain,

[firstime 0]

***I don't check with a meter, just go by my gut

DITTO!!

[quade 4]

Setting and following some personal limits is a GREAT thing to do.

There are a number of things that are legal that aren't exactly safe and a number of things that are safe, but not exactly legal.

At your very low experience level, the best guide is the USPA recommendations. If you're just off student status, the recommendations for students are still probably not a bad idea.

As you continue to skydive, you will inevitably have those limits pushed, hopefully not by design, but certainly by happenstance. If you -slowly- increase your personal limits you'll probably be safer than if you increase them just because everybody else is doing something.

You might now know what jumping in gusts to 21 are like, but hopefuly you won't intentioanlly jump in 21 knot winds soon. Remember that when you decided to jump the winds were only gusting to 14 and by the time you landed they were 150% higher. This happens (where I'm from it happens frequently).

My personal limits depend on a couple of factors. My absolute limits are something I'll only push up to for professional responsibility reasons. My "fun jump" limits are a bit lower. I have plenty of jumps and don't need to push anything just for fun.

Not a bad rule of thumb here; if you see experienced jumpers pulling off the load for weather related issues . . . there's probably a reason.

One last truism; It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[377 22]

Assume a malfunction, a reserve ride and a bad spot... THEN ask yourself: is it too windy?

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

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Assume a malfunction, a reserve ride and a bad spot... THEN ask yourself: is it too windy

I never thought if it that way. Since I tend to jump at an assortment of places, the "bad spot" issue should definitely factor in for me. Fortunately, I had excellent spotting instruction at Orange - thank goodness.

I noticed that most of the reserves are smaller than the mains I'm jumping. It seems like a 218 reserve is a very popular size for a 230 main. I'm sure they handle differently.

This is great advice too! Thanks!

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[Tonto 1]

I sit out at 15kts.

I jump every weekend and I have quite a few jumps so I don't need to squeeze in every dive I can.

Where I jump is hot and high, and the margins for error are low on a highly loaded canopy. I like to swoop and I don't like the variables that higher/turbulent winds cause.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[dragon2 2]

Quote

Quote

If I don't like the conditions I stay on the ground.

Same here.

Ditto.

Once I was in Empuria, a for me new DZ, and they posted a wind hold for people with less than 200 jumps. A very experienced skydiver from my own DZ asked "Why aren't you jumping? You have 202 jumps, don't you?!?!"

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[DBCOOPER 5]

Quote from August Incident Reports August 2005
"USPA receives many incident reports about skydivers making errors while jumping in strong and gusty winds,which take some of the control out of the jumper's hands and place it in Mother Nature's."

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[NWFlyer 2]

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I jump every weekend and I have quite a few jumps so I don't need to squeeze in every dive I can.

Even though I'm a low-timer, I've never felt the need to get in massive numbers of jumps. Some days I feel like jumping a lot, some days I don't. I never feel like I *have* to be in the air just because I don't know when my next opportunity will be. I hope I can always keep this attitude. I have never been afraid to ground myself when things just don't "feel right." And I jump somewhere where the weather's not always perfect and we don't know when the next opportunity to jump will be.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

Tell me about that x-ray!

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[DBCOOPER 5]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1778826;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[bill6870 3]

look at others around the D.Z, if the jump numbers on the ground exceed the jump numbers on the load you might want to ask yourself why.

Blue Skies

[Dumpster 0]

Jumping in high/ gusty winds takes all the fun out of flying the canopy for me. I'll jump in steady winds up to 18, depending on turbulence. That gusty crap I don't like. So I don't jump in it.

Cheers!

Easy Does It

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

Wow. That's a serious injury and just last month. Bummer.

When I was a student (Jump #7), I flared too early - at about 25 feet. I did a PLF - broke one ankle and sprained the other. I was extremely lucky. I didn't require hardware.

Hope you are healing quickly!

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[AFFI 0]

If my MAX winds are XX and landing in the maximum wind gives me a ground speed of XX then what happens to my ground speed if I am landing DOWNWIND in my MAX winds? What happens to my mental ability if I am landing in my MAX winds not only downwind but off the DZ in an unfamiliar area under my reserve after having just dealt with a nasty spinning malfunction I was barely able to get rid of in time, there is poop in my pants, trees, power lines and barking dogs close by and it is all leaving me barely able to cope! Then at 10 feet Mother Nature decides to throw an even stronger gust at me or drop the winds to 0 or suddenly change their direction or I hit a pocket of dirty air from the nearby obstacles? So in determining what my personal maximum winds will be it may also be wise if I take into account and consider landing in less than routine conditions under a “bad case” scenario. There was a time in my skydiving career where my wind limit was a green light until one day I landed off in a situation similar to the one I just illustrated. That experience I was able to walk, no limp away from for the most part uninjured but it did give me some things to reflect on that I hadn’t considered prior to that particular skydive. Now I keep in mind that gravity will still be working later, or tomorrow or next weekend and recovering from broken things will take much longer.

I once read a quote in Parachutist that stuck with me:
“On high wind days, the experienced skydivers sit by the beer line and watch the inexperienced skydivers get experience”.

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…