Accurate Jump Numbers!!!

[WooHoo 0]

I have spoken to a couple of jumpers in the last year who when I casually enquire as to how many jumps they had made, replied that they had lost count, and no longer logged them. Or if they did log them they were rather random about it.

Obviously being new to the sport and secretly wishing I was an accounts clerk in some government office, keep very accurate details of each jump.

I was wondering if that is how we all start, until Homer Simpson like laziness overtakes us to the point that we make guesstimates and then scribble a bunch from memory ( assuming we don't have an audible with a log)

Any thoughts?

["I did a speed reading course recently, I read War and Peace in 20 minutes. I think it's about Russia" ]

[brabzzz 0]

I used to log'em, use the FS-stampy-man, draw stuff, stick in photos and write long detailed descriptions.

That slowly tailed off to just "FF 2 way w/XXXXX" with several tens of jumps still unsigned. I don't put more in unless something really memorable happended (shoes fell off etc) to help jog the memory!

I can't see myself not loggin jumps (give it a decade...) but my next logbook will have one line per jump, not 4 to a double page! The novelty has kinda worn off.

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[fugozzie 0]

Logs are important when going for licenses or ratings.

[OnYourBack 0]

"until Homer Simpson like laziness overtakes us"

Just because someone doesn't share the same passion as you for keeping track of details does not mean they are lazy. There is nothing wrong with keeping "very accurate details of each jump." However there is nothing wrong or lazy about not doing so.

[skybytch 273]

I enjoy looking back at my old logbooks and remembering the jumps. It's also important to me to know exactly how many jumps I've done so I make a point of keeping my logbook up to date.

I still log every jump I make, usually before I jump again but sometimes I'll wait til the end of the day or even a day or two later. Having a ProTrack makes it easy to get a bit lazy.

[jheadley 0]

Carol Clay has over 15000 jumps and still logs every one, even doing little drawings.

Not only do I log all my jumps, I have a big ass spreadsheet on my computer with all sorts of data on it, every exit altitude, deployment altitude, what canopy, what plane, what dz, etc. People tell me I should be a statician.

[kingbunky 3]

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I used to log'em, use the FS-stampy-man, draw stuff, stick in photos and write long detailed descriptions.

i've heard of those stamps (from old timers mostly), anyone know where you can get one in canada? mail order would be cool too.

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[flyboy6554 3]

After over 20 years in the sport I got tired of logging them, too. So I quit! I was a small dz owner at the time and primarily jumped at my own place and at a few boogies at major dz's throughout the country.

Then, a year or two after shutting down my own dz, I was out of state and tried to jump at a new place, where I was not known. Signed the waiver, showed them my license, and they asked for my log book. Told them I didn't log any more. They asked me where I usually jumped and I told them I had no "regular" dz anymore. They weren't going to let me jump, despite the fact that I had a D license, over 1600 jumps and an AFF/I rating!

We went round and round on the issue and they finally agreed to let me jump....but by then I was PISSED and walked out in a big huff.

Turns out these days LOTS of dz's want to see a log book....yes, I know we could all falsify them and they really don't mean a hill of beans to anyone but ourselves, but in recent years I have had to show that worthless logbook to LOTS of dz owners, and in my book, it just makes things a LOT easier when I'm roaming the contry.

SO....now I log them (not too many details or jump descriptions) AND get them signed by someone with a current license!!
Just my two cents.
blue ones.

[Lindsey 0]

I log every single jump.... If I didnt', I'd probably go around boasting about having made THOUSANDS of jumps by now.

Gotta keep my impulses in check somehow!

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[Chrissay 0]

I have to say that this is one of my biggest pet peeves. Because it seems that once people stop logging, they start making hundreds more skydives a season!!
I still log, I don’t write the long stories like I use to, but I definitely notate each jump.

[BIGUN 1,297]

May want to include the names of folks on the jumps - there's been times someone has lost or a logbook's been stolen and they spend a great deal of time trying to re-create their logs books.

So it looks like;
4-way
8 points
Jim X.
Suzy Z.
Mark A.
John. Q.

If there was something extraordinary about the dive, I'll add that too as a memory jog.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[skybytch 273]

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Because it seems that once people stop logging, they start making hundreds more skydives a season!!

Absolutely. I'd probably have 5000 jumps by now if I'd have quit logging 10 years ago.

[AggieDave 6]

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Because it seems that once people stop logging, they start making hundreds more skydives a season!!

Not always. I quit keeping a paper log, but I let my electronic devices log for me. If anything I've "lost" quite a few jumps along the way from hop-n-pops not getting logged or not having my neptune or protrack on me for a jump.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Big_Red 0]

This may seem like a stupid question but...
Do you have to have each and every jump signed in order for it to count?

I understand having an Instructor sign off on coach jumps and what not but the reason why I ask is cause I don't understand how I can...say...do 10 jumps by myself and have someone (I.E. Instructor) sign it saying that I did what I am saying I have done when they weren't really there.

Derec Davies
Big_Red

[darkwing 5]

In 33 years of jumping I have logged every one, and an super glad I did. I wish I had written more. I think that everyone who stops logging, or haphazardly logs, will eventually regret it. It is one of those things that NOBODY regrets doing too much and most people regret not doing enough.

Going through my logbooks a couple of years ago is what prompted me to put together my skydiving history web page.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[hexadecimal 0]

I never really got into the logging thing. Usually I just go through my neptune at the end of the day and write everything in as simple as possible.

If there is something special about a jump, I log that. I also log my fuckups

[scorpyg 0]

Just from personal experience, when I've taken the time to keep a detailed log, whether it's work, weight lifting or skydiving, I find I improve much more quickly. But it's also a drag, so I can totally see why many experienced jumpers don't keep detailed logs.

I guess it depends on where you're going with it - I know some guys who have detailed flyfishing logs, but I just like to fish.

Coming Soon: An exciting tag line

[brabzzz 0]

Quote

i've heard of those stamps (from old timers mostly), anyone know where you can get one in canada? mail order would be cool too.

http://www.my-skyworld.de/catalog/index.php?cPath=68_94

I'm sure i remember seeing them elsewhere too but they all seem to have disappeared! I used to have a self inking one with a lid. Unless you do a bulk order, i imagine postage at that side will dwarf the order...

Mike

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[kingbunky 3]

hmmm, how big is the figure on the stamp? i'm thinking if i could draw the design (shouldn't be too difficult) i could get my own stamp made. hell, maybe get some extras and sell 'em!

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[brabzzz 0]

Pretty small. Maybe 8mm long? If you we're having the stamps made, i suppose you could have them whatever size you wanted - if you only do 1 point 4 ways, they could be huge!

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[Ron 10]

Quote

I was wondering if that is how we all start, until Homer Simpson like laziness overtakes us to the point that we make guesstimates and then scribble a bunch from memory ( assuming we don't have an audible with a log)

Any thoughts?

I used to write books about each jump (good from a learning standpoint).

Then after a while it was Date, location, Jump size/points. who was on it.

Then it was Date, Location Jump size and points.

Then it was Date, Location

Then It was severall jumps on one entry per day.

Then by weekend "Team Jumps 1600-1615"

Then nothing.

Now I have a Neptune and it works fine.

After a while saying "I have "X" jumps" stopped being a big deal.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[HeatherB 0]

You're just old and jaded. Or maybe you're a tree-hugger...just trying to save some trees!

(I don't have a cool and groovy Neptune or Pro Track, so I log a jump number and a round-about date.)

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Then It was severall jumps on one entry per day.

Then by weekend "Team Jumps 1600-1615"

Then nothing.

I use the student logbooks and lots of ditto marks, up to ten jumps per line. Don't know, I just still like to count them. (4628 after this weekend.)

• Quote

[2fat2fly 0]

I am an anomoly in that I have never been a big log keeper. I started later in life. It's something that I do for me. An "A" let's me do what I want to do. I scribble something down if it was unusual or someone that I've never jumped with-I get one or two logged and signed every month so that I can prove currency and other than that-it doesn't happen. I need to have something for Dublin so last Saturday I made an entry that says 2 jumps and equipment/altitude. That being said, i recommend that you do better at it than I do.

I am not the man. But the man knows my name...and he's worried

[Eagle7 0]

This is from the SIM

2. Jumps for license and rating qualifications must be signed by another licensed skydiver, a pilot, or a USPA National or FAI Judge who witnessed the jump.

3. Jumps to meet skill requirements must be signed by a USPA Instructor, Instructor Examiner, Safety & Training Advisor, or a member of the USPA Board of Directors.