pull altitude for more advanced jumpers.

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

Ummm... have you read the BSRs?

G. Minimum opening altitudes [E]


Minimum container opening altitudes above the ground for skydivers are:


1. Tandem jumps--4,500 feet AGL


2. All students and A-license holders--3,000 feet AGL


3. B-license holders--2,500 feet AGL


4. C- and D-license holders--2,000 feet AGL

I'm always have something coming off my back by 2000'... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[NealFitz 0]

in the BPA min altitude to be under a fully inflated canopy is 2000ft and takes me 500 or so feet to open so between 2700-3000 i pull

Dudeist Skydiver #170
You do not need a parachute to skydive, you only need one to skydive again

[daremrc 0]

I just got my C license, but unless the size or plan for the jump dictates differently I like to begin my wave-off and pull sequence at 4k.

Gives me more time to play under canopy, gives me more time to deal with a mal, etc... And I jump a Pilot so I'm usually spending about 800 feet opening anyways.

My Neptune says I've been in the saddle as low as 1800' on a hop & pop, but I'm not particularly comfortable with that so I stopped doing hop & pops from below 3k on this canopy...

Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

[dragon2 2]

I jump camera, for wingsuiting, FS4 and tandems. I tend to pull at about 3.5k.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[mdrejhon 8]

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a different thread got me thinking about what more advanced jumpers pull at. We'll still include A and B license holders though. I know the pull will vary depending on many factors but on a normal routine everyday jump where do you pull?

The poll doesn't apply to me.

I'm a CSPA B license holder (and fully meet C requirements, just need to do paperwork and get some judge video).

My lowest pull was about 2000 feet during a bigway event as outer tracking away and making sure all my air was clear. Typically I pull at 2500 feet if I'm an outer, but a few pulled slightly lower than usual on that jump.

Note: This pull altitude wasn't completed in Canada... so the CSPA pull altitudes may not quite apply.

I never pull below 3000 when I jump solo, though. I don't like pulling at harddeck, no time to deal with mal except execute EP's immediately.

What happens to foreigner jumpers that pull slightly lower than usual for airspace safety reasons, outside of their home country -- this is an interesting question I'd like to familiarize myself with the answers of. I realize it is a gray area but for that one particular jump, airspace safety for other people overrode the need for 500 extra feet of altitude for myself. Most of the time, the general consensus is that it's okay on a one-time event when it is of this very good reason of avoiding people above you, but to learn from it and have everyone track better so that they don't get in each other's way.

[grannyinthesky 0]

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I enjoy flying under canopy and would like to do a hop'n pop @ 13500 on a sunset load.

I did a cross country sunset load at the Lost Prairie boogie and it was great. Go for it when you get the chance.

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[BillyVance 34]

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is that because you are deaf and can't hear the gasps of people watching you pull that low?

Actually, I was going so low that people on the ground could HEAR my Time-Out flat-lining!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[millertime24 8]

2.8k-3kish.

Muff #5048

[airtwardo 7]

I usually go for the free-fall brake at just a RCH over 2000'...in the saddle at 1800 or above.

Since that's my 'normal' routine my clock is set for 'don't fuck around fixin' stuff'...it also insures not a lotta folks are down there with me which is safer in my book these days!

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

[crashtested 0]

50 % of the time just above 1500 ft.... but it depends if i have my aad on or not.

having a cypress fire would just be plain stupid

[Jumpah 0]

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When I first got my D-license at 200 jumps I thought it was really cool to pull at 2k. Then my canopy choices kept going higher and higher performance and I found myself with a canopy that would go from zero to wild screaming malfunction very quickly. Those canopies loose a lot of altitude during something that would be trivial on a Spectre 190. So my deployment altitudes went back up to the 3-3.5k range as preferred.

After my second time being in the saddle under 2000 ft, my S&TA and friend pulled me aside and explained to me why it was a bad idea now that I was flying a HP canopy. He said the exact same thing as you wrote here, and I hadn't quite realized it until then.

My deployment range is now 3,000 - 3,500

[livendive 8]

As soon as I was allowed to pull at 2k, I did. I stuck in the 1700-2300 range for several hundred (fun) jumps. Eventually, I put a CYPRES in my rig, but wouldn't turn it on for anything other than AFF. In the last couple years, I've gotten better at turning my AAD on, and I've been making a conscious effort to up my pull altitude (odd, when eyeballs are "calibrated" for 2k). I've been mostly successful and now generally pull between 2.5 and 3k.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[gearless_chris 1]

I like to pull as high as safely possible. Tandem videos are great I can be in the saddle at 4,000. Outside RW video depends on the group I'm jumping with but normally open between 3500 to 4000. I lose at lot of altitude with my new canopy so even pulling first and riding brakes I still land before half of the group.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

[kelpdiver 2]

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I jump in South Africa and the rule is simple you HAVE to be under a fully inflated canopy by 2200ft,

The 2200ft is something that is monitored by ground staff (at my home DZ) all the time, a quick check on the Pro-Track can be the difference between the next load or sitting your ass down for the rest of the day,

So the key is not to buy a protrack? Or use a model that lets you delete the last entry - I recall the neptune had that. My Solo keeps no data.

I question how reliably they can tell in the distance, or why they would be a stickler for a case where there was a short hesitation or a slow opening bag. I presume they use their judgement more than just as simple zero tolerance enforcement.

[QSilver2005 0]

Yup, they use their judgment, it’s not a zero tolerance thing however going low all the time will land your ass on the sideline next to the spectators.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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I know the pull will vary depending on many factors but on a normal routine everyday jump where do you pull?

I prefer to have my breaks release over 600m, thats my last on my opening sequence. Bit higher is not a problem if there is no reason to open lower. I don't pull by checking an altimeter, I use my eyes, sometimes waiting for my audible, but I pull earlier if I feel so.

[madhatter 0]

I've had canopies where pulling @ 3K still had me flat lining my TimeOUt (yeah, that long ago ).

Normal 4-way & low (9k) exit altitudes mean usually tracking at +-3000', pulling at +-2500 these days. My Hurricane has me flying very close to 2K & hasn't done the dirty spiral with me yet..

A VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
D.S # 125

[DescensionX 0]

I usually deploy around 3500 ft.

I have this thing that just happens automatically in my mind. When I see "less than 5,000 ft" my mind switches over from "relaxing and enjoying the dive" mode, over to "saving my life" mode. So I deploy as soon as safely possible after that. Which is usually around 3,500.

I can see the need to track further on big ways, but I don't do those yet (obviously).

Given that, I see no reason to open below 3,000, since there is really nothing to gain except risk. It's not like I'd be messing around enjoying the scenery for that extra 5 seconds at the bottom end at 2,000 feet.

[tbrown 26]

On loads of 8 or less people, I'll pull at about 3 grand. My pull alarm on my Pro-Dytter is usually set at 3 grand and often goes off at about line stretch. If I'm in a larger group, we're usually assigned a pull altitude, which may be 2500 ft. Then I'll stay in my track until the pull alarm goes off, come out of my track, wave off & pull. Occasionally this will trigger my hard deck alarm at 2 grand while my canopy's shaking itself out, but usually I'll be fully open by 2 grand. Then again if I'm in the base of a large formation, I may be assigned to throw it out between 3000 and 3500 ft.

I generally like pulling at 3 grand, but at least once a day I'll track for a lower opening just to stay comfy with doing it.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[Darren104 0]

so 400 jumps over 5 years makes you pretty inexperienced AND pretty uncurrent
Under a good canopy at a height with minimal time to deal with any potential problem (slow opening followed by linetwists and a spinning canopy springs to mind).
You sound like exactly the type of person who turns up in fatality reports.
Your call though,If we didn't have mals 800ft would be a great opening height. I guess if you have no responsibility to family etc the extra 2-3 seconds rush is worth the risk

[pwln 0]

I wouldn't consider myself uncurrent in the past, I would right now as I have not gotten as many jumps as I would have liked to this year.

I just got my canopy back from a reline and I expect to pull a little higher when I am checking to see if the canopy flies any different. I'm sure I'll work myself back down to my normal 2000 ft deployment altitude.

I'm no sky god by any means but 400 jumps over 4 years with a decent winter and working 40-80 hours a week is not terrible. I don't live at the DZ or work there, it's 60+ miles 1 way and I have a wife and kid. I even got a motorcycle this year.


Edited to reword:
Maybe you should take a few minutes and fill out a little bit of your profile, you have been registered here for 4 1/2 years and have only made 3 posts.

[Darren104 0]

wow, quick response
I don't think the REASON for being uncurrent makes any difference to the argument.You will still be less sharp than if you were doing 500+ jumps per year and need to adjust the way you doing thing accordingly.
Work backwards form the ground and work out where the seconds get used up. Consider the time used up during a mal when everything doesn't go perfectly ( fumble for the handle, less than instant reserve deployment, line twists on the reserve-the horror!).
Point is that so many fatalities are low experience, low currency, had a mal, spent more time than they had sorting it out and impacted as the reserve was deploying.
I don't even consider an AAD in the equation
As I said ,your choice in the end.

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

I probably average about 2800. If breakoff is higher than usual I'll take a few hundred extra feet of cushion and pull a little above 3000. I won't go below 2500 unless there's a specific reason for it (traffic, ect). Under my Sabre2 120, I've had a few dives where dumping at 2400 or so meant that by the time it's inflated and I'm done stopping the inevitable whipping around and slider/brakes/ect housekeeping I'm down around 1200-1400. That's below my personal comfort threashold. Depends on the canopy too... under my old Sabre1 135, 2500 or below was no big deal since it opened more quickly and consistantly.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[skybill 22]

Hi Skit,
'Well I don't know where you pull at but on pg 2 read Zig Zag's post, it has the BSR's on pull alts. Also down a few from there read Jimmy's (airtwardo) post. I concur with him. Don't start bending the BSR's!! Nobody said you "MUST" pull at those alts! You can pull at any alt "ABOVE" those that you want!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[airtwardo 7]

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Hi Skit,
'Well I don't know where you pull at but on pg 2 read Zig Zag's post, it has the BSR's on pull alts. Also down a few from there read Jimmy's (airtwardo) post. I concur with him. Don't start bending the BSR's!! Nobody said you "MUST" pull at those alts! You can pull at any alt "ABOVE" those that you want!!

Actually Bill...I think I kinda learned that strategy from YOU back in the Elsinore dayz, so I in fact, concur with YOU!


Race ya to the peas!

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