When I first started skydiving back in April, I was lucky that the weather was warm enough that I didn’t require too many layers, even at altitude.
Though after my first few AFF jumps, we had a spring cold spell here in NE Ohio and I was donning gloves and a hoodie. I was nervous the first time jumping with gloves. I was so used to reaching back and grabbing the hackey with my bare hands that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to feel it, or worse yet, find it with gloves on.
Luckily, my winter gloves have grippers on the palms and fingers, so I felt confident that deploying my pilot ‘chute would not be an issue.
Sure enough, the gloves worked perfectly. In fact, I came down from that skydive with a preference for gloves. Not only do they keep my fingers nice and toasty at altitude (as we’re all aware that I’m a little bit of a freeze baby), but they protect my hands in freefall too. After all, haven’t we all had those moments of,” hey, my hand is bleeding…how did that happen.”
No, just me? Well, okay then.
(Suited up in my RW gear, gloves and all)
Until the heat of summer set in, I was in the habit of donning gloves before every jump. It was something I became quite accustom to. It’s also something I’ve had to do this fall in order to ensure I can feel my hands post-freefall to work my toggles properly.
Not many of my skydiving buddies wear gloves on a regular basis, but I’ve heard from some who swear by it. I suppose it’s all what you get used to over time.
For me, gloves are where it’s at – though we’ll see if that holds true during heat waves next summer.
What’s your preference? Gloves or no gloves in freefall?
Blue skies!
Ashley
Started AFF in September and the weather was still nice (Northern CA). 2 weekends ago it finally started to get chilly and I had to consider gloves as my hands looked and felt raw upon the first landing of the day. Borrowed some snazzy bright green gardening gloves for the rest of the day – my hands stayed warm and were protected during a crash landing. Finally bought some baseball gloves and they worked wonders this past weekend! Yes, I was nervous about feeling the hackey and being able to grip it…I must have done handle touches a hundred times on the way to altitude! Not sure if I will continue to wear them into spring/summer.
Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest.
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Gloves definitely!
As someone who is used to jumping where the landing area is mainly dirt I will always jump with gloves (unless I forget them at home, that is
).
Also, while in freefall, you can hurt yourself by accidentally bumping into someone and it’s always good to wear them for the same reason you wear a helmet (I hope you do
).
cw – I’ve come to realize that gloves are a blessing for those of us who have a hard time in chilly weather. Now, I don’t come down from jumps with my fingers throbbing from the 120+ mph winds. Brr…
peter – thanks!
pedro – good to hear from another glove wearer! And yes, for the most part, I’m a religious helmet wearer…there are the occasional times it gets left in the hangar, though.
Interesting topic…it certainly became a huge issue of discussion here in Canada, when a skydiver recently “went in”—having not pulled his reserve until it was too late! There are many skydivers who swear by gloves and it’s become a standard piece of their skydiving gear. Serious competitors also wear them (usually white) as it obviously helps the judges view the required points on the dive…BUT wearing the right kind of gloves is critical in a safe skydive! There has been some “speculation” (we haven’t seen any final report released yet?) that this skydiver was jumping in the cold—as is quite common here in Canada, and he apparently had on a pair of “bulky” winter gloves that probably contributed to him not being able to find or pull his pilot chute to release his main canopy. Some say…he fumbled around for too long trying to release the main and unfortunately pulled his reserve far too late!
Moral of the story…if wearing gloves is your thing—wear the right kind and invest in a good pair of skydiving gloves. Bulky winter gloves may keep your hands warm but it’s important to maintain a certain amount of mobility in this sport, and the wrong type of equipment or apparel can be fatal!!
skywardiva – agreed. the right kind of gloves is extremely important. Rick and I recently spent an hour or so wandering around a local sporting goods store so he could find the perfect pair – with enough grip to grab his hackey and still thin enough that he could feel everything needed.
Thanks for this information. Keep us posted on how the investigation turns out so we can all learn from this incident.
Blue skies!
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