How safe is this hobby when a good chute can just collapse.
The chute can collapse when misused. No failure on the part of the chute. You have to keep the air moving through the chute in the proper direction. Because it's not rigid, it you stall it, it will collapse. If you are high enough you can recover, but if not and are still too high to survive the fall... well that's the way it goes.
A parachute/sky diving enthusiast once told me that he expected to die doing it someday. He claimed the odds were against him over the long haul. One day, your chute does not open, stay attached, remain deployed properly, etc., or you land in a bad place.