Instructors should be diligent about logging jumps, but all skydivers should take it seriously since you never know where your skydiving career might lead. Teaching may be nowhere on your radar now, but in a few years, your priorities may change. After many years of jumping, you may look back on your journey in the sport with real surprise about where you ended up. And if you don’t appropriately log jumps along the way, they’ll remain an invisible part of your skydiving history.
For instructors, especially those pursuing an examiner rating, consistent logging is crucial. Meeting the USPA Examiner rating requirements means providing documentation of having made at least 500 jumps with students and having taught 50 first-jump courses. Many struggle to pull together records of these items, often trying to piece together a log from manifest data. One examiner’s rating was delayed for six months simply because it took her that long to reconstruct her logbook to meet the student-jump requirement! It’s an unfortunate reality of any bureaucracy that a paper trail is essential, and if you cannot provide accurate records, your progress could be delayed significantly.
USPA accepts digital logbooks, provided they meet the stipulations in Skydiver’s Information Manual Section 3-1.C and are locked to prevent further alterations after the appropriate person signs an entry. This ensures that digital logbooks have as much integrity as paper logbooks. Whether you use a paper or digital logbook, the key is to stay vigilant about logging every jump. In fact, you should record any training related to skydiving—first-jump courses taught, canopy courses taken, water training completed and any type of coaching received.
With a digital logbook, it’s crucial to maintain a backup. A digital backup is a solid option, but you shouldn’t rely solely on the cloud storage provided by the app, since a company-wide data breach could mean you lose everything. To prevent this, regularly download a copy of your logbook, either through an export function or by running a report, and store it securely on another cloud platform, a local computer, a thumb drive or even by printing it out.
Backing up your logbook annually is a practical way to minimize potential data loss. You can still maintain a paper logbook as a backup if you prefer. There’s something unique about the tactile experience of a paper logbook, and it can serve as a personal record of your skydiving history that might be more meaningful to future generations.
For informational purposes, USPA maintains a list of logbook apps that comply with SIM Section 3-1.C. Developers interested in having their digital logbook app reviewed and approved by USPA can submit their apps to safety@uspa.org for consideration.
Ron Bell D-26863
USPA Director of Safety and Training