Skydiving and Alcohol

[raftman 12]

Years ago I used to frequent a bar that had a chart on the wall. You would find your weight/how many drinks/in amount of time to calculate how drunk you were.
I used to eyeball the chart and think I had better eat before I leave, I'm 170 lbs now and need to get up to 210!

[hcsvader 1]

I do a bac breath test every day at work and must blow zeros. Having a good meal makes a huge difference in your bac the next morning.

On that note I've seen some guys blow some pretty big numbers in the morning after a Night of drinking and a reasonable amount of sleep.

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[keithbar 1]

And then you have the " tree people " and their infamous " dui " loads. But that's just an urban myth right? No skydivers would really do something like that sure right

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[raftman 12]

WTH do you work that you have to blow everyday??

[obelixtim 150]

raftman

WTH do you work that you have to blow everyday??

I know of several commercial DZs where jump staff have to blow in the bag every morning. A lot of them do business with tour companies, so the procedure is in place to protect their interests in the event of an incident.

Any accident where alcohol or dope use was revealed would put them out of business.

Skydiving ain't like it used to be.

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[nigel99 568]

raftman

WTH do you work that you have to blow everyday??

Sexy male escorts.com

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[hcsvader 1]

raftman

WTH do you work that you have to blow everyday??

Boilermaker welder in the mining industry.

Trust me I'm way more likely to get killed at work than i am skydiving.

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[mathrick 2]

hcsvader

Boilermaker welder in the mining industry.

That's a terrifying job description. If I were you, I'd also have taken up skydiving for the safety it provides.

"Skydivers are highly emotional people. They get all excited about their magical black box full of mysterious life saving forces."

[gowlerk 2,249]

mathrick

***Boilermaker welder in the mining industry.

That's a terrifying job description. If I were you, I'd also have taken up skydiving for the safety it provides.


Is that a high pressure job?

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[normiss 848]

Most of the dz's I frequent serve alcohol all day long without issue.
We're supposed to be adults, we should be treated as such.
If I decide to make one jump and then drink, why shouldn't I be able to?

[gowlerk 2,249]

normiss

Most of the dz's I frequent serve alcohol all day long without issue.
We're supposed to be adults, we should be treated as such.
If I decide to make one jump and then drink, why shouldn't I be able to?

No problem at all if you're drinking at the DZ bar. No one objects to that. As long as you aren't hanging out on the packing line, or where the general public is with a beer in your hand. Bad image there.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[keithbar 1]

Agreed.

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[normiss 848]

Challenging when it's a mixed area though.
Again, we're adults here. Act it and it's all good for everyone.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

normiss

Challenging when it's a mixed area though.
Again, we're adults here. Act it and it's all good for everyone.

Very true in theory.

Unfortunately, some so-called "adults" don't know how to act like it.

And the "a few bad actors mess it up for everyone" applies here.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[normiss 848]

Why is a DZ environment so far removed from real life then?
I go to places that serve alcohol all the time, all hours of the day and night, without issue.
I just don't understand this approach.

[riggerrob 643]

Try reading Clotaire Rapaille's "Culture Code" to understand how public alcohol consumption patters vary from one culture to the next.
I have even seen law enforcement change during my lifetime. Back in my twenties, everyone drove themselves home after an evening of heavy drinking. I can still remember 3 conversations with cops (while driving my drunken self home) they all let me complete the journey.
No way a law enforcement officer would let me drive my drunken self home today!!!!!

On another note, another friend was forced to retire from skydiving because he smoked too many doobies and crashed so many BMX bikes that he permanently wrecked his shoulder.

Nothing worse that a loud, obnoxious, drunken, red-neck who DEMANDS to know why we won't let his alcohol-soaked self boats the plane.
The other issued is that alcohol-induced hypoxia rapidly increases with altitude.
Go look up that fancy word.

[normiss 848]

Having a drink and being a drunk are worlds apart in my life.
Me having a beer with a meal isn't a drunk ass trying to skydive.
I've even been in the bar/restaurant during jumping and eaten lunch, even sitting next to someone drinking. Everyone survived!

If I'm not actively jumping, I can manage my own behavior thank you.
Like right now, I'm headed out for lunch. No beer.


I'm stuck trying to find the "fancy" word though.

[gowlerk 2,249]

If you have a drink at lunch, and then try to jump where I jump we won't let you, unless you don't tell us. It's not because we will think you are drunk. It's because we have a zero tolerance policy. And one drink is exactly one more than zero.

It does not matter if you are impaired or not, that's beside the point. The reason we have that policy is because then we do not have to make any judgement calls. If you, or anyone else, have a problem with that, it's okay. But it won't my problem, it will be yours.

There will not be any argument or discussion about it. I have sent cash paying tandem customers away because I could smell alcohol on them. They were angry and said they would not return. I thanked them for that promise.

Zero. Tolerance.

You are an adult and can indeed make your own decisions. So are we.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[normiss 848]

Fully agreed, which is why I don't drink while jumping nor would I tolerate it. I've not claimed otherwise.

Thanks for letting me be an adult.

[gowlerk 2,249]

Sorry, I may have come on a little strong trying to be clear. Between this thread and the other on in SC where drugs are coming up, I'm losing track of who is saying just what.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[normiss 848]

Fair enough.


Thanks, all cool here too.

I think I understand the intent, I just think adults should be allowed to be adults.
Even as an instructor, if I'm done for the day, I'm on my time now and I like beer. You won't catch me mixing the two either.
Time and place and all that.

[mik 2]

normiss

Fair enough.


Thanks, all cool here too.

I think I understand the intent, I just think adults should be allowed to be adults.
Even as an instructor, if I'm done for the day, I'm on my time now and I like beer. You won't catch me mixing the two either.
Time and place and all that.

In Russia, it used to be that there would be a bottle of "champagne" taken onto loads to celebrate many things. 100 Jumps. 200 jumps. First mal etc. The bottle would be passed round the junpers on a Let 4 (think Twin Otter but a bit bigger). Probably the half bottle reamaining would go to the 2 pilots. On some days I would be on 5 or 6 loads where a bottle of "champagne" was passed to the pilots. (Multiple planes so multiple pilots). Over 100 loads a day in the summer. Although I did not notice any impact on the pilots, I was pleased not to land with the plane, especially towards the end of the day.

I guess the DZ just let those pilots be adults.

I am not sure it was in anyones best interest though. We all thought a few swigs of "champagne" would not really affect our judgement, but who really knows?

(A few years back it changed - strictly no alcohol on the planes, strictly no alcohol when jumping - and I have been breathalised by the doctor in the daily pre-jump check...so zero tolerance nowadays).

***********************************************
I'm NOT totally useless... I can be used as a bad example

[normiss 848]

I'm also aware of sunset loads where joints were passed around on the climb to altitude.
Puff puff pass indeed.

[Di0 2]

I think there is also a big part of a "cultural" problem. From what I've noticed in the Anglo-Saxon world in general, any amount of drinking and working is frowned upon, regardless of the job: even more so if the job/activity is safety critical like skydiving. I've had many instance of people telling me that having "a beer" during a business lunch was not exactly appropriate, even if it wasn't a big deal either.

On the contrary, in Italy, Spain, etc. ONE glass of wine or ONE beer over lunch is generally given for granted.
Heck, we used to serve wine at the cafeteria of the military base I used to go to.

That might or might not be because, from what I've learned after hanging with you guys (Brits, Americans, Australians), there is no such a thing as ONE beer. which is more like an euphemism for 4 or 5.

So in that respect, even though I think ONE beer over the course of a lunch would not affect the judgement and motor skills of anyone, I am also ok with waiting a few hours before having "one beers" (sic.).

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[normiss 848]

Agreed!

I once worked a large project overnight and had lunch as I was leaving with the entire IT staff and the director. My day was over. I ordered a beer. Man was that a bad idea.
Leaving Venice, Italy last year, we HAD to get to the wine shop at 9am when they opened for some local wine we loved. The line to get in to buy a single glass of wine was quite a surprise to us.