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Ruffles

Have I just entered a dangerous phase in jumping?

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I jumped for about 2 years (100 jump wonder), then gradually got out of it as my best friend (& RW partner) got married and then his wife got pregnant. He jumped less which led to me jumping less, etc.

I just did my re-currency AFF7 today after a 2 year absence and skydiving just became a totally new experience....

I used to get nervous-sweaty-nauseated before every single jump (even #99). I would check & re-check my gear feverishly the way an obsessive compulsive locks the door 10 times to make sure its locked... people would stare; it was bad, trust me.

I used to be horrified the entire ride up until I let go of the bar and began to fall... then ironically I felt fine and relaxed. (weird?)

Today I went through my briefing, gear checks(2), climb-out, float, and dive flow, and I was NOT the sweaty/nauseated OCD boy for the first time in my entire life!!! I felt good, positive, relaxed, and excited. While my performance was, at best, adequate for recurrency, this was the most enjoyable dive of my life because my feelings had morphed into anxious excitement instead of pure horror.

And there in lies my concern...i'm not that scared now (dont ask me why, I couldn't tell ya).
Seems many accidents begin with complacency. Is this the path people get on before they lose alt awareness, stop tracking safely, and start doing half-ass gear checks?

I wanna feel good about this new sweat&horror-free world I've re-discovered, but there's this concern nagging me that this may not be such a good thing. What do you experienced guys think about this, ever seen this sort of thing before?

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I started skydiving in 1997, did about 70 jumps and then quit, due to getting married (another story). About three years ago, I made a deal with an instructor for me to do a reoccur jump and I'm certify him in SCUBA. I left the plane and for the very first time, I was scared all the way to the ground. My heart was bumping so hard in my chest, I honestly though I wouldn’t be conscious when I hit the ground. A little over a year ago, I got remarried and started skydiving again (great wife ;) ) . This time, I wasn’t nervous at all. More relaxed than anything.

My advice would to think about the jump, I'm sure there was fear there, just controlled a little better. However, never stop re-checking your gear "the life you save, may be your own". I’ve seen a lot of ol’timers who never check their gear, and one day it will bite them.

Brad

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Nope.

Here's my take on the situation... Before you were doing it because someone else was doing it with you and you were going to the DZ because they were...

Now, you're doing it because you want to. Big difference. Welcome back.
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

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Nope.

Here's my take on the situation... Before you were doing it because someone else was doing it with you and you were going to the DZ because they were...

Now, you're doing it because you want to. Big difference. Welcome back.



Yup...now in his 'own' comfort zone. B|










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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I had the same experience coming back after a three year hiatus, and was surprised to be looking forward to jumping out the door while on the way up, rather than questioning why I was even doing this!

Come to think of it, I too had been previously jumping with my brother, who eventually gave up the sport, so the "doing it on your own" thing makes sense in my case too.

However, I still check my gear a lot and practice emergency procedures at least twice on the way up... my new found relaxation did not lower my IQ ;)

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I don't think you need to be scared shitless (literally) to be a "safe" skydiver, but you do need to keep the respect for it, IMHO.

I started pretty fearless on my first jump, had a tree landing that really made me see how serious business this is (if I'd landed in those power lines, I'd probably be dead), and had some "sweat&horror"-filled AFF jumps, until the fear eventually went away, and I started to really enjoy skydiving.

Of course you're dangerous, I'm dangerous too, but you seem aware of that fact, so you can do things about it, and that's good.

I don't think it's weird that you used to stop being afraid once you were in freefall. Because then you just had to concentrate on it and do the things you had planned to do. In the plane you just sit and do nothing and think of all the things that can go wrong.

Congrats on beating the fear! Now the fun begins!

But I'm just a 63 jump wonder.
Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

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But I'm just a 63 jump wonder.



...and your experience is completely relevant. Don't knock yourself. ;)

Welcome back Ruffles & congratulations on the better pairing! B|

Kim
Watch as I attempt, with no slight of hand, to apply logic and reason.

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. I would check & re-check my gear feverishly the way an obsessive compulsive locks the door 10 times to make sure its locked... people would stare; it was bad, trust me.



Me confused...
I check my gear obsessive compulsively on the way to height.
Tis that a bad thing?
:P
Welcome back!

Edited for spelling

It's never too late for a low turn!

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Thanks for the the feedback folks. I see all your points and the comment about "my comfort zone" is right on the money.

I still do several gear checks, sorry if I left you with the impression I wasn't concerned about them anymore. I just dont do 15 checks in 5 minutes anymore. It was really bad, you'll just have to trust me when I tell ya that it was an unhealthy degree of worry.

Somebody else pm'd me and said that the really dangerous phase was when I was so horrified before each jump; had a mal occurred I may very well have had a meltdown/brainlock.
Thanks for the sentiments gang, its good to be back!

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I know its an old thread but man I tell ya... This was/is so me!!! I was wondering the same thAng about me earlier this season, BUT I rode this new found FREEDOM for all it is worth and not foresaking safety but actually enhancing my learning curve of our sport.... GOD to be 16 again!

I have stated elsewhere in these forums (this year) that this has been my BEST year in jumping EVER since I started in 1997 quit in 1999 and started again in 2003-04...

I truely and firmly believe that most of my thinking is because of the IQ thingy mentioned by sswayne!

Can I ever relate to the ride up "what ifs"... I use to freaking envy and NOT understand how the exp jumpers could be relaxed almost into a sleep during the ride... Every 500' up back in 97-99 I would heavy sigh probably 20times +....

I sleep pretty damn comfy myself now!! Woo freaking HOO... ;) All the while going over my dive and EPs mentally.

Now I have found my routine and am SO comfortable with waking up on jumpday, racing to my wheels that is driving ME to the dz, saying " WAIT for me~I want on that load" (1st load usually) and just chkg my gear TWICE and boarding and landing again...

I may have become more complacent, but in a VERY good and SAFE way because I understand more about LIFE, and OUR sport since 1999!!!

I am so looking forward to the day when my ELLIE comes to the same conclusion, She will be way better jumper than I could ever dream of me being!!

WELCOME BACK to YOU and others like us.... Oh, and ME TOO!!!!

dannydan : DD

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I wanna feel good about this new sweat&horror-free world I've re-discovered, but there's this concern nagging me that this may not be such a good thing. What do you experienced guys think about this, ever seen this sort of thing before?



The fact that you recognize the difference tells me you are probably not on a path to complacency. At least not yet... keep monitoring and you'll stay that way.

You should feel good about being relaxed if you are also focused. Being terrified is just as bad as being nonchalant, in my opinion... if you've ever heard of "object fixation", it's an example. I watched a 6th jump student hit an I-beam (sunk into cement next to the hangar) because she was so terrified she couldn't think of anything else. Behind and to the left and right of her was hundreds of acres of obstacle-free landing area, and even the slightest course correction would have prevented a broken pelvis. (could have been worse, thank god for helmets)

There is a continuum between being terrified and being complacent. Everyone starts in a different place on that continuum, and you want to move toward the center, where you're confident and relaxed, but still focused and ready for anything. I think you have taken a step in the right directionB|.
"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

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...I wanna feel good about this new sweat&horror-free world I've re-discovered, but there's this concern nagging me that this may not be such a good thing. What do you experienced guys think about this, ever seen this sort of thing before?



I'd say your new-found relaxation would make you a safer skydiver in that now your brain has time and the power to think with a lessening of potential for "oh shit" freezing or lock-up.

You are already aware of the dangers of complacency...don't fall into that trap...simple as that.
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

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