- In this video,
I wanna share with you
10 steps to get back in the sky safely
after a break.
(upbeat music)
What's up skydivers?
It's Catherine Bernier from Skydive Vibes,
sharing the passion of skydiving
and helping you become better and safer skydivers.
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consider subscribing not to miss our weekly videos
all about skydiving.
So not long ago,
I did interview a skydiving instructor
to let us know about what is recommended
by the USDA and his own recommendations
for getting back in the sky
after a break.
Talking of course about recurrency jump,
you can watch this video with DJ Marvin
from The Rating Center
by clicking right here.
Well, after shooting that video,
I found a checklist that was shared online
about 10 steps before getting back into the sky.
And I found that it was pretty interesting.
So I had to share it with you.
So step number one.
You've not been jumping for a while,
you have your skydiving gear in your closet.
Well, take it out,
open your parachute,
air it out
and repack it.
I remember a story that I heard,
not sure if it's true or not,
but that makes some sense
where someone did jump with an equipment
that was packed for a long time.
And he didn't unpack it and repack it before jumping it.
Well, what happened is that,
that gear was in humidity
and it turns out that he was jumping
in a colder time of the year,
of the season,
maybe at the beginning or at the very end.
And so when he jumped the equipment,
the equipment was actually stuck
altogether
because of humidity and the temperature.
It was actually frozen in some parts.
So
that caused him not being able to deploy his main canopy.
The story doesn't tell if he was able to deploy his reserve.
But that can be dangerous to not air out
and open your gear when it has been sitting in the closet
for a long time.
So for that matter,
I think that's a very good idea to unfold
and unpack your main canopy,
air it out,
and then pack it back together.
And that's a bonus practice for you
before starting to jump.
The next step is to inspect your gear.
Check your pins,
check your closing loops,
check your straps.
Really do an in-depth check of your equipment,
your lines, your soft links,
your attachment points
to make sure that your gear is in good shape.
And if you are on a jumping break,
well it's the best time to do it
because on a daily basis
when you're jumping
and you're in a rush to get onto the next load,
well you don't have time to do these detailed check.
So why not do it
during your break?
The next step is to revise your emergency procedures.
Of course, a safe skydiver always refresh his mind
of the emergency procedures.
And of course should be always ready to react.
Here are some of the procedures
you should remind yourself with.
First, we can think about the aircraft procedures.
Until which altitude do you need
to stay attached to the plane?
If there's an emergency,
do you know which canopy to open
depending on the altitude of exit?
About your equipment,
do you know when to release your RSL?
Do you actually know you need to release it
in some cases?
You can also remind you yourself of the exit
and free fall procedures.
Do you know how to do a good spot?
By the way there's a video right there
about what is spotting,
how to do a good spot
and why we actually need to do it.
You also wanna be careful not to bump
into the plane during the exit.
Gotta keep that in mind.
Are you fully aware of your canopy skills
and tips and tricks for good landings?
I got your back.
Check this one out.
And about your emergency procedures,
did you rehearse them?
Did you really feel your handles
and your gear on yourself
before actually being on the drop zone?
Do that at home.
Put your gear on.
Check, do your handle practices,
your handle checks.
Lay down just like DJ said in a previous video.
Because the position of your gear
when you're lying down
versus standing up is different.
So lay down,
try to practice your main canopy deployments,
practice your pulls,
practice an emergency situation.
And about emergency situations,
do you know your opening problems,
your low-speed malfunctions,
your high-speed malfunctions?
How to react to those?
Do you have a decision altitude?
Which means do you have an altitude in your mind
that by then you need to take a decision
depending on what's happening above you?
And one last element talking about emergency procedures.
Did a study come up from a manufacturer
or an instructor saying that now in that specific case
you need to react that way?
It's always important to be up to date to the procedures.
I know you'll say that that was a long step,
but hey emergency procedures are so important.
You gotta know how to react
if something wrong happens.
That's part of being a skydiver.
You gotta be ready, aware,
and ready to react.
Now, next step.
Check the wind,
check your landing pattern.
Visualize your flare,
your flare timing.
I know it's a hard thing for newer skydivers.
I had a hard time myself with that.
What helped me was to actually check point of view videos.
Meaning that I would check videos of skydivers landing
but filming with their own camera.
So that way I was trying to figure out
when they were flaring.
And I was trying to look at the horizon
and around them to know what was the actual height
of them landing.
And it also helped me with the ground perspective
with the speed.
When we're landing we have a forward speed
that can change the perception
of the distance of the ground.
So
that helps me a lot too.
Next step.
Keep the first jump simple.
That's something that I have to my heart
because every start of a skydiving season,
I do a solo skydive.
So whatever my friends are there,
they've been jumping for a week.
They want to jump with me.
I'm like, no, the first jump I do it alone.
Why?
Because I wanna focus.
I want to rehearse
all my emergency procedures and stuff.
I wanna get back into my gear.
I did that at home,
but at the drop zone with the excitement that's different.
So I wanna be in my zone for that first jump.
And in the sky during the free fall,
I like to do some drills,
some of the series we've learned
in our A license, or B license,
and even C license.
Those are always great to get back your skills
in the sky.
Doing some slides,
turns,
flips, barrel rolls.
I like to actually do all of those
during my first jump of the season.
And also under canopy,
I keep it conservative.
I remind myself of my skills.
I do a good landing pattern
and focus on my flare,
not getting distracted by anything
happening on the landing area.
So this way when I land from that jump,
that was the first jump of my season
or after a break.
And I'm now back in the game.
I'm a safe skydiver again,
And now fun begins.
Step six.
You might want to pull higher
or actually do a high pool if you're allowed to.
Why?
Because taking the time to master back your canopy skills,
I would say that the canopy skills
are even more important than the free fall skills.
You gotta be safe in free fall.
But even though you are a little bit rusty
that doesn't equate to being rusty on a landing.
So I would say that canopy skills are important to master,
specifically landing pattern
and the
landing.
Do some flares
once you are above 2000 feet.
Practice your flares
and try to find back that sweet spot during your flaring
that will allow you to have smooth landings.
And I just told you the next step,
which was finding your canopy sweet spot
and flaring in the air,
doing some practice of flares.
Step eight.
Take time to debrief yourself
after that first job.
Did everything went as planned?
What should you need to focus on the next time,
improve a little bit?
And be aware really for the next time.
So take the time to reflect back on your first jump,
again, so that you are better aware in your next jumps.
There might be something that you wanted to improve.
So taking the time to debrief yourself,
think about what just happened
can help you maybe improve on the next jump,
even though you're not alone.
Step number nine.
That one is really important.
It's your first jump after a break.
Make sure to jump a canopy type and size
that you're used to.
You don't want to downsize
on the first jump after a break.
You have many, many things to think about
and refresh yourself about,
don't go in there and try to downsize
the first
exact jump of after a break.
That's actually logic.
But I know during breaks
we are shopping for a new gear.
We might have bought a new canopy.
If you're already sold your old canopy
maybe try to borrow one
or rent one from your drop zone
in order to at least do that first jump of the year
with a canopy that you're used to fly with.
Step 10.
The favorite one of every skydiver,
it's time to have a tasty drink around a campfire
at the end of the jumping day.
Make sure to enjoy the time with your friends,
your skydiver friends
that you're so happy to finally see again
and jump with.
All right, so I hope you've liked this quick video
on different steps you should look for
before getting back into the sky.
I hope you guys keep yourself safe.
You can watch other videos from Skydive Vibes
right here.
And make sure to subscribe
not to miss our weekly videos
all about skydiving,
and even skydiving compilations
as we started to do.
So on that,
keep jumping,
stay safe
and blue skies.
(whistles)
(upbeat music)