We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Skydiving?

As a skydiving instructor/coach, I really think everyone should jump at least once. If anything difficult ever comes up in your life that scares or frightens you, you can think to yourself.....Ive got this....I jumped out of an airplane! What could be harder than purposefully deciding to jump out of an airplane? That being said, I have drastically reduced my jump time over the past couple of years due to losing several good friends to jump accidents. Skydiving only bites once and when it does, it bites hard. Hence the reason Ive been playing golf more. Instead of jumping/teaching every weekend, now Im hitting the links.
 
MartyK said:
As a skydiving instructor/coach, I really think everyone should jump at least once. If anything difficult ever comes up in your life that scares or frightens you, you can think to yourself.....Ive got this....I jumped out of an airplane! What could be harder than purposefully deciding to jump out of an airplane? That being said, I have drastically reduced my jump time over the past couple of years due to losing several good friends to jump accidents. Skydiving only bites once and when it does, it bites hard. Hence the reason Ive been playing golf more. Instead of jumping/teaching every weekend, now Im hitting the links.
Click to expand...
I obviously would defer to a person with your expertise. I am sorry to hear that you have lost some friends. If it is ok, may I ask whether they had accidents while jumping tandem with a novice or while jumping solo? My investigation led me to the conclusion that with multiple chutes and even a mechanism that causes the chute to open on its own, that the risk was relatively low.
 
Last edited:
More power to you if you do it.

This is absolutely not for me. In the strongest terms possible.
 
OldandStiff said:
Based on the early returns of this thread, golfers are not adventurous and are afraid of fun. Ipso facto they are bad in bed and at life and I'm ashamed to be among them.
Click to expand...

I went through the class when I was in my late teens. But, the wind got up too much, and they wouldn't let newbs jump. So, we stayed on the ground and watched some more experienced divers go out. One thing we were taught if we caught a "streamer", which is a parachute that does not open, was to shake the "risers", the straps coming off of your harness that connect you to the parachute, to try to get it to open. One guy who jumped caught a streamer, was plummeting to his death, and was shaking the living he%% out of those risers!

He got close enough to the ground that I was screaming "Pull the reserve! Pull the reserve!" Because once you get below a certain altitude, the reserve chute does you no good! But, his chute popped open. It was one of those rectangular ones that is very "flyable". He flew it to a perfect 2 point, standing, landing in the field right behind the airstrip. He unbuckled his harness, shrugged if off, and left it lay! As he walked past us he asked, "Does anyone want to buy a used chute"!

Needless to say, there were no takers!
 
Last edited:
I’ve made 4 static line jumps when I was young and fearless. One I had to actually climb out on a wing and let go, that was terrifying. Another was a bigger plane and a guy froze at the door and the jumpmaster gave him a nice shove and off he went.

My last and final jump I was floating down and admiring everything when my radio goes off “prepare for a tree landing!” Looked down and oh f*** crossed my legs and squeezed hard as I ripped thru the trees tearing the chute. 😬

I say go for it.
 
I say DO IT!

There is safety built into what you're talking about. 2 chutes and an experienced instructor.

Jumping civilian is much different than jumping military... the special ops guys/gals may have more steerable chutes but the everyday grunt... static line. My squadron used to support the 82nd Airborne out of Pope AFB NC and Paratrooper jump school at Fort Rucker I think it was... I've seen hundreds of soldiers go out the troop doors via static line and almost all of them landed safely and walked away. Some limped... they landed wrong and twisted an ankle or knee or something like that because their landing zones weren't always as nice as what you'll be using.

Have fun, jump!
 
I have always wanted to do this. If I had the time, I would do enough jumps to do it alone. The first few jumps are tandem with the instructor. I'm not sure how many it takes but I want to find out.
Mrs. Nut doesn't want me to do it though. She said "I will be there but I won't watch you come back down to earth. I'm not going to watch you go Splat!" :eek:
 
Did a static line twice in my twenties after a bet with a buddy. Thought it was going to be my new sport. Loved the adrenaline rush.

About a week before my third jump an instructor at the place I was jumping died after a tandem jump. Very sad as he had thousands of jumps and saved the first time jumper by rolling underneath and landing first (neither parachute opened).

After that I cancelled the third and feel very fortunate to have tried it and walked away.

I’m all for people trying but there are some risks from my experience.
For a jump or two, it's probably no more dangerous than driving your car but thought I'd share.

I’ll stick with golf.
 
Last edited:
If my son came and said, Dad let's go skydiving I would do it in a heartbeat. Actually, if he said he wanted to do anything together I would, because he hardly talks to me now that he is almost 22 and living his own life.
 
I've done a tandem once from about 18,000 feet. No hesitation at the door - it was amazing. I want to go ahead and get A licensed so I can jump solo anywhere.

It's pretty surprising to me how quickly you're jumping without being attached to another person (two tandem jumps and then you're solo - you will jump with instructors but the chute/landing/etc are all on you)

It was an awesome experience and I'd love to do it again.
 
 
UPDATE:
We booked the skydiving for last Sunday but 3 days before we got a email from the company (Skydive Iowa) that their pilot/plane had some issue and they had to cancel all jumps for that day. The rest of the season is full, so we won't be able to go til spring/summer of next year. So, I was prepared to do it but now I got a stay of execution. We'll see what my son says in the spring.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top