Gear Checks

[weekendwonder 0]

By all means, continue to get your gear checked by another jumper before every jump. You never know when, no matter what ratings/experience you have, you'll miss something or misroute a strap. We're human and humans make mistakes. The trick is to do what you can to keep them from being fatal. Gear checks are one of the small things that you can do that can have a HUGE payoff.

Don't worry about what others do. There's been more than one occasion where I've seen someone else getting a gear check that reminds me that I should do the same, so you can be a great example for others to follow.

Bob P.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

[tosca 0]

When a gear check is done, I want to be sure that everything I want is checked. Sometimes different people do different kind of gear checks. Maybe they have thought about their routine very well, but it might not be compatible with my routine.

I ususally do five checks: after packing, before I put the gear on, before the airplane leave the ground and before exit.
If I jump with people who I haven´t talked to about how I want my gear checks, mostly I prefer to do it myself. It´s my gear, my life and my responsibility to make sure my gear is okey before I jump out.

Another thing is that I want the same routine every jump. Maybe I just have a bad memory, but if I start do things in another order than I usually do, I tend to forget if I really have checked everything, and have to do everything in the whole routine all over again...

Sometimes I do like a gear check done by someone else. If my gear somehow is messed up, i.e. the line to pilot chute has come loose, I ask someone else to fix it. (but I still do my regular checks)
Or if I have a team mate behind me who knows exactly what I want to be checked and what I don´t want checked.
Or if I just feel like have someone else to double check me.

I also think it´s good to try to evaluate the gear-checks: Are they reliable, neccisary, efficient, easy to remember and to do right? Should I check something more at some point? I update my routine now and then.

[Rhonda66 0]

I always jump with my husband and always have him check my gear prior to exit, but I'm biased because my JM on my Level 7 AFF jump 6 year ago dislodged his reserve pin in the plane on the way to altitude. That made for a very interesting Level 7 jump and was definitely not something I want to ever witness again. Check your gear - don't just assume it's fine - if it can happen to a JM, it can happen to you too!

Rhonda
PP ASEL