[mehmeta]

I agree that the sport is rife with complacency however:

>it's totally 'not cool' for experienced jumpers to ask for a gear check

is not completely accurate. The reason why inside the plane gear checks are not done often anymore except on students is mostly because of the changes in skydiving gear. Typically the only inside the plane things you can't check yourself and need to ask for someone else are the main and reserve parachute pins. These pins keep the container locked, and it's very important that they are not dislodged since they prevent premature parachute openings which can be disastrous. Older rigs had exposed pilot chute bridles, huge pin flaps, and larger canopies/dbags that all made it easier for the pin to wiggle. So it was standard procedure to check the pins 3 times: after packing, before putting on and inside the plane. However jumpers downsize canopies soon as they gain the necessary experience these days, and the modern skydiving container comes free-fly ready with no bridle exposed, pilot chute handle tucked tight, all of which make it harder for the pin to dislodge. This makes most experienced jumpers comfortable checking the pins only in the first 2 steps, packing and before putting the rig on. The risk associated with having someone else mess with the flaps and the pins inside the plane is deemed greater than the risk of pins dislodging between the time they put on the rig and opening the parachute.

Students however do not have the experience to evaluate a properly positioned pin, so having an inside the plane pin/gear check is required.