Re: [Dargri] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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I jump with one guy who has a prosthetic arm, and one guy who only has one arm. The guy with the prosthetic was jumping before he lost the arm, but the one arm guy started jumping with only one arm. I'm pretty sure he did AFF.
FYI - you may have to travel to find a DZ that can accomadate you. Even then you may have additional costs in either buying your own rig and having it built to suit your needs, or having one the DZ's student rig modified to suit your needs.
Once the training is out of the way, you should have no problem getting a license, and then you are free to jump at any DZ in the country. I'm not sure if they're still around, but there was a group called 'Pieces of Eight' that used to jump at Elsinore, and it was comprised entirely of amputee jumpers.
Re: [davelepka] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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I recently jumped with a guy at an event in Perris that goes by Doc. Doc had his leg amputated when he was young. He learned to skydive with one leg (not sure what discipline) and jumps without a prosthetic which makes it pretty easy to pick him out on video or in the dive. Not only is he a skydiver, but Doc has a bunch of BASE jumps too.
Maybe not the same as one arm, but it definitely has its challenges.
If you want his contact information PM me and I will try to track it down. I'm sure he would be happy to talk to you.
There will be an issue with equipment if you have a right hook as opposed to a left hook. Right hook will require the rig to be set up for a left side pull and SOS system.
Call Jim Wallace at (800) 795 - 3483 FMI. If you are not in SoCal have your instructors call him before jumping with you. He recently got Chuck Anderson (the one mentioned in the POE article with a right hook) recurrent.
Al Krueger, with a left hook, used the 'thumb post' to pull his reserve with a back up of the right hand. There is an issue of the arm getting tweaked such that the post gets turned outwards and would not be able to pull the reserve. Al is a World and National Champion. If you have a left hook, I can send you Al's contact info and you can talk directly to someone that knows all the ins and outs.
Re: [Dargri] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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Do you still have your elbow? As you know, it makes a world of difference in everyday life, and can make a huge difference in how you fly the parachute after you've deployed.
Definitely get with another arm amputee before jumping and discuss the ins and outs. There are some things that able bodied folks take for granted that us amputees can't. Your emergency procedures need to include the not only parachute malfunctions, but prosthetic malfunctions. An able bodied instructor can't help you with that.
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more. I'm a right BE, but I was an experienced jumper before I lost my arm.
Re: [Dargri] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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A major concern should also be how securely your arm is attached. If someone were to give it a good yank, is it possible the prosthetic could come off or rotate out of position? I ask this because i'm the DF that lost his leg last summer. I'm a BK.
Re: [scotts] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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Yeah, I lost my arm last fall. That blew.
I was able to deal with it only because I had a fair amount of practice flying with one hand, but there were other issues I hadn't thought of (like getting to both toggles in the first place.)
No matter how secure your prosthetic is, you have to assume that at some point you'll either lose it, or lose control of it, and plan accordingly.
Re: [Granimal] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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I recently jumped with a guy at an event in Perris that goes by Doc. Doc had his leg amputated when he was young. He learned to skydive with one leg (not sure what discipline) and jumps without a prosthetic which makes it pretty easy to pick him out on video or in the dive. Not only is he a skydiver, but Doc has a bunch of BASE jumps too.
Maybe not the same as one arm, but it definitely has its challenges.
If you want his contact information PM me and I will try to track it down. I'm sure he would be happy to talk to you.
If we're talking about the same Doc (who currently lives in Colorado), he lost his leg later in life in a skydiving plane collision. He was skydiving before he lost his leg.
Re: [crazydiver] AFF with a prosthetic arm?
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I recently jumped with a guy at an event in Perris that goes by Doc. Doc had his leg amputated when he was young. He learned to skydive with one leg (not sure what discipline) and jumps without a prosthetic which makes it pretty easy to pick him out on video or in the dive. Not only is he a skydiver, but Doc has a bunch of BASE jumps too.
Maybe not the same as one arm, but it definitely has its challenges.
If you want his contact information PM me and I will try to track it down. I'm sure he would be happy to talk to you.
If we're talking about the same Doc (who currently lives in Colorado), he lost his leg later in life in a skydiving plane collision. He was skydiving before he lost his leg.
If you are talking about Steve (Doc) Kinnett, I believe the loss of his leg was due to cancer many years ago. I met him in September in Colorado. Very cool to watch him on video skydiving. And yes he was skydiving prior to losing it.
