Skydiving

Have been skydiving for over 40 years, but have not jumped since my pm installation last November. The harness rides directly over my pm "bulge".& I am afraid that damage or displacement of my pm could occur as I recieve my opening shock at terminal velocity. There is extreme deceleration as I am slammed into the seat of my harness. My doctor says I'm good to go medically & psychologically, but physical abuse to my pm by my harness is up tp me to find a way around. Has anyone out there found a viable solution to this situation?

5 Comments

OMGosh!

by $6Mman - 2007-04-14 04:04:28

Do it, but count me out! I've seen you guys and gals out there and I've heard the rush of excitement and the scream of absolute thrills! I don't want to go up in a helicopter!!
I don't know what kind of forces you're up against, but I was wondering - would hang gliding give you a better idea and help you make a connection to what you may have to wear, what kind of halters etc? Then maybe you could figure out the forces you'd be up against and improvise from there?
As for me, I'll just watch thank you! Be well!
~~Adam

Awesome!

by valerie - 2007-04-14 06:04:38

Hey there,
I'm Valerie. Well, I don't have any experience with skydiving or anything, but I just wanted to say good for you for pursuing such an awesome activity!
I've always wanted to do that!

Please excuse my lack of knowledge on this subject, but perhaps some sort of belt strap cover may help; like one of those seat belt "soft touch" thingys? Maybe you can somehow slip that around the area of where the harness would be touching your pacer site.

Anyway, I'm sorry if that totally is not an option. Disregard if that would cause some sort of malfunction! lol. Please keep us updated if you find a solution and how you're doing with all of that.
take care and happy diving! (and pacing of course)
~valerie :)

Don't take this the wrong way...

by tman - 2007-04-14 07:04:43

... but why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good plane? ;)

Skydiving

by SMITTY - 2007-04-14 12:04:28

Hello,

First I'll comment on tman's question.The only reasons I could ever come up with for person jumping from perfectly good airplanes was the same reason the chicken crossed the road, that or they just like stare in the face of the Grim Reaper.

Now that I’ve had my little joke at dmangil's expense, I hope he is not offended. I live one-half mile from a skydiver club/field. As a result I see dozens of skydivers over my house every weekend, the weather permits. Some stay in free fall long enough and get so close to the ground that I swear I can make out their facial features. They get so close to the ground before pulling the cord that I am getting nervous about their safety. So I have seen that abrupt slow down you are talking about.

I don’t know how many feet it takes a skydiver to decelerate but I do know that a car traveling at 125 mph (terminal velocity of a skydiver) will take about 450 ft. to stop and I expect you do it faster. That says you could put quite a strain on a pacemaker site. My pacemaker is imbedded so deep that it is almost impossible to see, but I would not want the strain you are talking about put on it.

For protection of the PM site from the harness I would suggest foam rubber and bubble wrap pads. As for what the deceleration will do to the PM in the pocket, that may be a different story. If the PM is tied in the pocket extremely well, possibly no problem would occur. But I’m sure your cheeks, eyelids and the muscles on your arms sag under the deceleration. So I have to wonder if your PM may also try to go south.

Your question is interesting. That is what I like about this site; we never know what we will read next. I hope that when you get an answer you will let us know. I would think that whatever works for you would certainly be of benefit to those that have a problem from their seatbelt.

Good luck

Smitty

Skydiving

by dmangil - 2007-04-17 10:04:58

Thanks for your comments! (tman: the reason we jump out of a perfectly good airplane is because they open the door @ 13,000 feet...lol). I was surprised I had no feedback from a fellow skydiver. I am thinking about wearing my water ski (padded) vest or my ice hockey shoulder pads under my parachute harness but still worry about the (sliding) upward thrust at "opening
time"..Smitty had an interesting comment...body parts that keep wanting to go down as the body comes to an abrupt stop. The pacemaker too?. There have been instances of rookie jumpers opening in undesirable,un-
stable body positions,(increasing the force on the body)
and as the body "jerks" to a stop the heart wants to keep going, tearing /rupturing the aorta. Not a good thing. Sure would like to know what has been successful...Rather not be a guiney pig!!!!!! Gil

You know you're wired when...

You have an excuse for gaining an extra ounce or two.

Member Quotes

The experience of having a couple of lengths of wire fed into your heart muscle and an electronic 'box' tucked under the skin is not an insignificant event, but you will survive.