Staafi

I have been to Canada, which I understand is not the US - but close to it. There I saw 2 dropzones. One was a bit more hobby-like and one professional. On both dropzones you could find people doing packjobs. People there thought it was A: convenient and B: safe, due to the amount of packjobs done by the packing-staff. I took the opportunity to learn some facts about packing, material & hints from these professionals. I am not sure about Switzerland, but there are quite a few people in Germany who think the same way. Furthermore the idea to give the "money-needing-ready-to-do-some-extra-work-during-having-fun" people on the dropzone the opportunity to afford more jumps. So having professional packers is, from my point of view, a nice to have. Looking into sports in general: Those who do something as a full time job tend to push the limits and develop a lot of things further - wether its motorcycle gear, outdoor wear, skydiving stuff or even just packing things.... I see it as a demand and supply question. We have the freedom of choice, which is a great value! Cheers, Chris @Virgin Burner: doing a Pin Check or any other "dubble checks" is not only a nice to have. Even though you check / act carefully - there are still a lot of other jumpers around you who may be not as eager on their movements...(specially unagile geezers in small planes ) EDIT: Forgot to mention the cultural difference between at least Germany and the US. The US are way more service oriented - we tend to do things way more ourselves, not being ready to pay for services. Maybe also a reason.