Presents your canopy has brought you after landing

[Elisha 1]

OK, after my first jump as a (provisionally, have filled out a stamped card now) Licensed skydiver, I was packing up. Right as I was about to shove the folded up canopy into the bag, I felt some huge lump in my canopy. I undo the last fold ('S' fold already done - propack), reach into the canopy and pullout....a 10" long 2" wide piece of wood. WTF?!?

My canopy MAY have dragged a foot on the ground, but that's it. That could've sucked if it stayed in the d-bag.

What presents have you found in your canopy while packing?

[davedlg 0]

A guy I know at the dropzone was looking everywhere for his wrist mount altimiter. Finally he gave up, borrowed an altimeter and went on a jump. When he opened, the altimeter came out of the d-bag with the canopy and he almost caught it during the snivel, but it fell to the ground.

[Dagny 0]

I've picked up ants before, but never a big hunk of wood. How the heck did ya' manage that one?

Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic.
-Salvador Dali

[skysprite 0]

At Mile Hi's 5280 boogie I was packing and there were little ones running around. I heard a Mom come up and ask a little one where her shoe was, but didn't pay much attention, and neither did her Dad. A little while later Dad is trying to s fold his canopy when he finds a lump. His canopy was white so you see this little outline of a shoe. "Shoe!" Pointed the little girl. It was pretty funny. Dad tried to get the shoe out without messing up his pack job but ended up having to redo it anyway.

NM is known as the Land of Enchantment, so we always talk about "enchantment" getting in our canopies. Ick! I've gotten way to much of that!

~skysprite

[tigra 0]

I know a guy who did that but he somehow figured it out before he jumped. He unpacked and sure enough, there was his altimeter!

[SpeedyGonzales 0]

I've brought back some corn in my canopy once. I also know a guy that packed his altimeter in his canopy, he watched it fall to earth as his canopy opened.

[bert_man 0]

I heard this second hand, so it may not be true, but I trust the source. Somebody at my DZ once reportedly had a manufacturer (who's name I won't mention) pack his reserve while it was there for maintenance. 120 days later he had it repacked, and the rigger reportedly found a packing weight in the tray with the reserve!

...as if rigs aren't already heavy enough...

-Ghetto
"The reason death cannot frighten me, is because life has cured me of fear."
Web Design
Cleveland Skydiving

[highfly 0]

Jumping in Hib throws up some funny canopy contents.

Ever tried to pack with a Cauliflower in your canopy?

It dont go in the bag.

www.myspace.com/durtymac

[gulaz 1]

Beer cans...

[jumper03 0]

Funny you should ask this....

I pack Tandems and student rigs and have seen so much crap brought in....
The highlights -
an orange construction cone
a live mouse
numerous sticks, twigs and sticker bushes
dirt
dog shit
and my personal favorite - nice big chunk of granite.
The reason this stumps me is that there is no granite around....wtf????

Scars remind us that the past is real

[Elisha 1]

Quote

A guy I know at the dropzone was looking everywhere for his wrist mount altimiter. Finally he gave up, borrowed an altimeter and went on a jump. When he opened, the altimeter came out of the d-bag with the canopy and he almost caught it during the snivel, but it fell to the ground.

That would've been awesome if he caught it. I'd be worried about whatever it is tearing a whole in the canopy or bonking me on the head!

[NWFlyer 2]

Little tiny slugs. I landed in a bed of them and had them all over my jumpsuit and was picking them out of my canopy as I packed. I'm pretty sure I packed a few of those slimy little suckers in there, too. Ewwww.

"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

[Elisha 1]

Eeewwww. That's gross.

[popsjumper 2]

Not after landing but....
Newbie in packing class...did a great job with the pack and wanted to call his wife to tell her he conquered it...you guessed it...no cell phone....we called his number and the rig started ringing......hilarious!

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[akurtom 0]

a stalk of corn

Blue Skies

[wingnut 0]

i had a tumbleweed in my canopy once.... it was freaking huge too... probly about the size of a basketball.. found it when i layed my canopy down to pack....

______________________________________
"i have no reader's digest version"

[gemini 0]

Huge dirt clods from the Perris circle! Packer was not happy when he was closing the bag and felt the big one I missed...he got a good tip that day.

Blue skies,

Jim

[skycat 0]

If you ever jump at lost prairie you will have a conopy full of grass hoppers. Part of your packing process there is grab the canopy by the tail and shake out the grasshoppers, then pack like normal.

Fly it like you stole it!

[MikeJD 0]

Quote

What presents have you found in your canopy while packing?

We regularly have sheep grazing on our landing area, so - nothing nice.

[weegegirl 2]

I paid a packer at a boogie once... went up on a load... and dumped out only to find a shiney silver object knotted up around one of my toggles. Apparently the packer had so kindly left me his packing tool. Thankfully, after a minute of futzing with it I managed to get it untied.

[mfrese 0]

Back when I was a relative newbie with about 200 jumps, I was jumping my Sabre 190 and ended up landing off in a field east of Skydive Montery Bay that had just been fertilized with fish emulsion (which, remarkably, smells almost exactly like fresh cowshit to my nose). Landed right in the middle of a freshly furrowed row, but then accidentally dragged my canopy as I was walking out. Didn't notice anything until I went to pack...the most fun part was squeezing the air out of that thing once it was on the ground, I had to hold my breath until I had it in the bag. It started to fade by the end of the second weekend, but by then I'd sped up my packing so it didn't bother me that quite so much.

Doctor I ain't gonna die,
Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

[rasmack 0]

Quote

... I had to hold my breath until I had it in the bag. It started to fade by the end of the second weekend, but by then I'd sped up my packing so it didn't bother me that quite so much.

So that is what it takes to learn to pack faster

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[moonglo 0]

Saw a guy at my DZ pack someone else's alti in his main and lost it on opening

Taught a packing class once where the guy couldn't find his (flex-z) goggles at the end of the day. I opened the student rig to repack it and- you guessed it!-stuck halfway thru a crossport in the canopy were his slightly mangled goggles!

[Darius11 12]

In Eloy-I went to get the air out of my canopy felt something really hard on my chest.
Reach in to find a cow (or something like a cows) section of dried out spine.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[homer 0]

I tend to find a lot of graven in my canopy on those weekly Wednesday night Hit-n-chug jumps. I find more when I miss the peas and have to drag my canopy to get to my beer.

CSA #699 Muff #3804