So I've got this friend...

[SimonBones 1]

I've got this great friend... we started AFF together, we got our A-licenses together... but then I moved away. I always seemed more interested in jumping and I continued jumping... but he, got some gear, let it go out of date, and kind of quit jumping. If I ever call and present the idea of coming back and doing some jumps together, he sounds like he needs to get his reserve in date so he can do it etc... and really wants too. The local small DZs in his area don't really appeal enough to him to keep jumping regularly (or maybe it's just the people there). But in 3 years he's got about 60-70 jumps because I wasn't there to continue jumping with him. He's a great guy (who learns fast) who really should continue to jump but doesn't have the "friend" connection to really do it. It's sad for me to call him up and tell him I'm coming up and have him tell me he'll try and get his rig pencil packed for my visit so he can jump with me (since I guess continuing skydiving on his own doesn't seem interesting enough on his own to keep his reserve in date). We went to boot camp together, some military schooling together, and I wish he'd continue jumping like I did. He lives in the upstate new york area, any ideas I can present to him so we do not lose a great guy from our skydiving community? Please help all you more experianced skydiving folk!

108 way head down world record!!!
http://www.simonbones.com
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[NWFlyer 2]

If he won't go unless he's encouraged by a friend, I have to wonder how "into" the sport he is.

This is not a sport to half-ass. I think you can certainly balance skydiving with a lot of other things in your life, but if you don't have a fundamental interest in the sport and in jumping enough to stay current, then maybe staying grounded is the right choice. (It also concerns me that he thinks that pencil-packing so he can jump an out-of-date reserve when he's also uncurrent is a good idea ... eek.) Trying to "convince" someone to jump could mean they're doing it for the wrong reasons.

I know you're eager to get your buddy back in it, but he's got to want to do it himself. I get the feeling if he really wanted to, he would. He'd find a place to jump that he fit in, and he'd get out there and make friends and jump.

Just my opinion based on what you've told us.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[cocheese 0]

Tell him there is a chick with big boobs at the dz that was asking about him and wanted his number.
Tell him to shit or get off the pot for his own life's sake.
Tell him you're going jumping at a new dz and see if he wants to go.
Tell him you don't care if he jumps or not. You really don't. It's his sexy body, he'll jump when he wants to jump. What Evah !

[SimonBones 1]

But here's the wierd thing, HE GOT ME JUMPING! I did a tandem with a video, when he saw it, he said: I will not rest until WE are doing that! when he saw my video. (THAT's what got ME started on AFF!) It was ALL his idea! Now I'm hooked and HE is only interested (apparently) if I'M there. I really want to keep jumping with him, some of the funnest jumps of my life! But it seems as though he only got started becuse he thought it could be something we could continue together. In the military though, we had to split from MY move, and now it seems as though he's not interested, even by the local DZ's!

108 way head down world record!!!
http://www.simonbones.com
Hit me up on Facebook

[L.O. 0]

I had a good friend I started with, he slowed down then stopped and I didn't. I tried hard to get him to come out. It didn't work. that was 15 years ago. It's kinda like that t-shirt that says "my girl friend said that if I go to the DZ one more time she's gone..., I sure am going to miss her. You'll make knew friends at the DZ. It's sad but you can't stop living your life just to make your friend happy. Good luck.

HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

[SimonBones 1]

Well I don't want to give up on him so easily, If ANYBODY OUT THERE is from the Ranch, NY (My home away from home) or from MVS/DSC please call him and invite him to stuff/events. Keep him in it! Help me since I am 2 states away. He's a great guy. Thanks!

108 way head down world record!!!
http://www.simonbones.com
Hit me up on Facebook

[BIGUN 1,053]

There's two kinds of motivation - internal & external. The latter hardly ever works for the long term. Let it go.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

How long is his rig out of date that he's willing to jump it pencil-packed?


-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[SimonBones 1]

It's always within a few months but it's also always from the same guy (that saved each of our lives once).

108 way head down world record!!!
http://www.simonbones.com
Hit me up on Facebook

[freeflir29 0]

Tell him the Rainbow boogie is coming up and you two simply MUST go.

[grue 1]

One of my friends is in sort of a similar boat, I suspect. He was always eager to come to the DZ, until he had a jump go somewhat.. not well. His first clear and pull off the SL, he pulled on his back, PC went between his legs, and flipped him through the risers. It threw off his mental state enough so that he downwinded into the corn...

Insofar as I know, he hasn't been back to the DZ since. I think he's still interested, but just needs to find the right motivation.

cavete terrae.

[Orange1 0]

Quote

If he won't go unless he's encouraged by a friend, I have to wonder how "into" the sport he is.
I know you're eager to get your buddy back in it, but he's got to want to do it himself. I get the feeling if he really wanted to, he would. He'd find a place to jump that he fit in, and he'd get out there and make friends and jump

I agree with this. My story: I did the FJC with 5 friends, only 2 of whom did another few jumps, then they stopped. I was hooked. One day, think i had about 6 jumps, I got asked by another student, there with a few of her friends, "isn't it lonely coming by yourself?" I was like, wtf, I'm here to skydive not socialise! (seems her and her friends all stopped jumping too). Anyway, I perservered, and along the way picked up a bunch of "DZ friends" (people I hung out with at the DZ but otherwise didn't see) - so it's usually not a problem to find someone to jump with even if i haven't arranged anything beforehand. (And interestingly enough, some of these "DZ friends" turned out to be far better friends than some other people I had considered "real friends" after I had my my accident.)

Bottom line, if you wanna jump, you'll jump, even if you don't have any "friends" to go with you...

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[cocheese 0]

Quote

Tell him the Rainbow boogie is coming up and you two simply MUST go.

What a FABULOUS reply !
Simply smashing !
good one clay.

[tigra 0]

Most of the people I met who started jumping about the same time I did aren't actively jumping anymore. People drift away from the sport for a lot of different reasons, and only they can decide if and when to make it a part of their lives again. If he needs an incentive like a friend coming into to town to drag the rig out of the closet, he's probably not that into it. When I started jumping, I started by myself. The first tandem hooked me, and I went out to the DZ every weekend by myself as I progressed through AFP and graduation. I'm not exactly a social butterfly, but I made lots of friends there and finding people to jump with and hang out with hasn't been an issue for the most part.