Am I being selfish

[wmw999 2,114]

Now that's perfect!

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[GoGoGadget 0]

Placcypaddy

Yep so right, all I can do is be aware of the dangers and try to minimise the risk

Ps,,, just come back from Ifly it’s a lot harder than I thought

Skydiving was something I always wanted to do, but never had the money for. Empty nester now so my disposable income went up. I kept talking about it so a year ago, my wife bought me tunnel time for Christmas.

I sucked so bad it was not funny. bounced all over the place dragging that poor tunnel coach with me. I was sore and tired after 2 two minute flights. So I gave up figuring I was too old to learn it.

Then my son asked if I would do a tandem with him and his g'f's dad as part of a proposal. Sure son, no prob. I went up with no expectations. Just a passenger along for the ride.

As soon as we came out into freefall at 13,500ft I was suddenly a giddy little school girl squealing. Had perma-grin the rest of the day. If I could have gotten one of the other two to commit with me, I would have signed up for AFF that day. As it was, I signed up a week later.

6 months later I am over 60 jumps and just got my B license. My only regret was not finding a way to get it done when I was younger.

[Placcypaddy 0]

So would you say the tunnel is harder than free-fall gogo? It’s hard to tell on a tandem as your just along for ride, I was just starting to get hang of it and time was up so have booked another 10 mins in tunnel next week

Ps,,, how was it when you got license ? being the newbie, could imagine it’s a bit daunting

Thx

John

[Joellercoaster 6]

Pit76

I wanted to do AFF, but my oldest girl was then only 5 years

's funny. I want to do AFF as well but my daughter is only 13 months old... it's a big time commitment eh

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[shadeland 5]

Placcypaddy

Hi I have done a couple of tandems so far but can’t get it out of my head & am seriously considering doing aff course this spring/summer so here’s the question, am I being selfish to take up a high risk sport like skydiving with a young Family ?

People assume the bad outcome of skydiving is death. While it’s a possibility, good training and good gear make that thankfully rare.

What is more likely is a hurt leg, broken leg, sprained wrist, etc. make sure you have a plan for that in case it happens. Would you miss work, lose wages, etc. It’s not inevitable, but is more common than rare.

[shorehambeach 9]

Hi Placcypaddy .

I have a young family too. I perceived this as a high risk sport until i had my AFF training then I understood it better.

My wife has done a tandem and they have all flown in the tunnel - my daughter did her first tandem @ 14.

Its made me a better person, husband and father.

Although this is perceived as a high risk sport your training and self discipline can reduce the risk - the heart stopping moments i've had are driving to/from the DZ rather than the jumping itself.

Blue Skies.

[Placcypaddy 0]

Really good to hear shorehambeach I think my missus & kids r ok with me having a go it’s just a bit of guilt incase something goes wrong plus I have let a bit of nerves & self doubt creep in ( probably shouldn’t have watched the bad videos on YouTube) I have a few weeks in may & june where I am totally free so think I am going for it then

[shorehambeach 9]

Paddy,

Your feelings are perfectly normal. A lot of your questions and worries will be answered during your AFF course by the instructors and the knowledge you pick up as you start your journey.

This video is a good outline for what to expect on AFF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyViaTCx_C8

I found out on AFF that my biggest challenge (apart from breathing smiling enjoying relaxing staying stable pulling staying altitude aware ..... Smile) was nerves.

Jennifer (a skydiver and illustrator) wrote this blog during her AFF - it helps explain the battle in the brain that goes on when you jump out of a plane.

http://tailotherat.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/skydiving-duck-iii-parachutting-school.html


There's many pages but its worth a good look !

Where are you based ?

[chuckakers 369]

Placcypaddy

Hi I have done a couple of tandems so far but can’t get it out of my head & am seriously considering doing aff course this spring/summer so here’s the question, am I being selfish to take up a high risk sport like skydiving with a young Family ?

I say no, you are not being selfish, and I also think it's wrong to avoid risks because you have a family. My wife (also a jumper) and I raised two kids who spent nearly every weekend of their young years on the drop zone and it was good for them. They matured quicker than their peers, learned things and met people they would never have had the chance to otherwise, and learned that taking calculated risks is something that should be embraced to conquer life.

They are both now in their 30's and are very accomplished. I believe being raised in the sport played a big part in that.

Skydivers don't take risks, they manage them.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[Placcypaddy 0]

shorehambeach

Paddy,

Your feelings are perfectly normal. A lot of your questions and worries will be answered during your AFF course by the instructors and the knowledge you pick up as you start your journey.

This video is a good outline for what to expect on AFF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyViaTCx_C8

I found out on AFF that my biggest challenge (apart from breathing smiling enjoying relaxing staying stable pulling staying altitude aware ..... Smile) was nerves.

Jennifer (a skydiver and illustrator) wrote this blog during her AFF - it helps explain the battle in the brain that goes on when you jump out of a plane.

http://tailotherat.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/skydiving-duck-iii-parachutting-school.html


There's many pages but its worth a good look !

Where are you based ?

Brilliant reading pal, I am in Aintree, liverpool

I have a million questions so will have to wait until I go the dz and ruin some poor instructors day

[Placcypaddy 0]

chuckakers

***Hi I have done a couple of tandems so far but can’t get it out of my head & am seriously considering doing aff course this spring/summer so here’s the question, am I being selfish to take up a high risk sport like skydiving with a young Family ?

I say no, you are not being selfish, and I also think it's wrong to avoid risks because you have a family. My wife (also a jumper) and I raised two kids who spent nearly every weekend of their young years on the drop zone and it was good for them. They matured quicker than their peers, learned things and met people they would never have had the chance to otherwise, and learned that taking calculated risks is something that should be embraced to conquer life.

They are both now in their 30's and are very accomplished. I believe being raised in the sport played a big part in that.

Skydivers don't take risks, they manage them.

Think I will bring my youngest with us when we go the dz next I think he would love just watching

[cbassmnm 4]

I would go for it, if its something that you cannot stop thinking about. The reward is very worth it.
It can be very addicting, especially if you like to progress and work toward goals. It will affect your family life. When you start wanting to go every weekend, buy your own rig, tunnel time, etc, you start thinking on how you can make it all happen. Your wife might wonder ok, you've done it enough why do you keep wanting to go back... as mine did.
You may only do 100 jumps and then feel like you've had enough. It just depends on the person.
Like everyone said, there are a lot of risks involved, but do your best to do everything right and they are lessened by a lot.
Good luck in your journey.

[shorehambeach 9]

Where are you based ?

"Brilliant reading pal, I am in Aintree, liverpool

I have a million questions so will have to wait until I go the dz and ruin some poor instructors day "

Ha ha placcy thought you were ! Me too - now down south.

[billvon 2,379]

>So would you say the tunnel is harder than free-fall gogo?

The tunnel is a lot easier than skydiving. There's little risk of dying if you forget to do something in the tunnel. And during an equipment failure, everything just stops (usually.)

That being said, there are some skills you learn in the tunnel that you don't need for skydiving. For example, being able to fly in the exact center of the tunnel isn't all that important. If you are driving or backsliding a little during an AFF jump it's not that big a deal. Likewise if you can't adjust your fallrate very well and stay off the net it's not that big a deal; AFF JM's will compensate for that and you can learn fall rate later.

The tunnel is a useful tool to learn basic body stability, but that's about 10% of being a safe skydiver.

[Placcypaddy 0]

Found the tunnel really hard at first I think rigamortis set in and my muscles are screaming today, got to try and relax a little more I think

[GoGoGadget 0]

Placcypaddy

Found the tunnel really hard at first I think rigamortis set in and my muscles are screaming today, got to try and relax a little more I think

My problem in the tunnel that first time was relaxing. I was trying so hard to hold the "correct" position that's I was stiff as a board and just making things worse. I went back in the middle of my AFF to work on some stuff when I had to repeat a level and everything went fine. My only problem was the tunnel coach wanting me to do things differently than the way my AFF coach instructed me.

[HPC 7]

From a safety standpoint - no, you're not being selfish. Skydiving is generally safe so long as you exercise common sense and basic safety practices.

Just make sure you keep your priorities straight. From a time standpoint, don't pass on watching your kid play a sport, act in a school play, etc. in order to go skydiving.

Ditto with financial resources. For example, don't have your kids wearing worn out sneakers (or maybe worse, buy the cheapest shoes/clothes available) in order to have equipment and lift ticket money.

Also keep in mind that unless you make a buttload of money, you won't have the funds to both support your family as you should and skydive your rear off. If funds are limited, you may as well figure that you'll be a fun jumper instead of someone with the goal of becoming an expert in any discipline. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try your best on the dives that you make, it just means that you won't be able to make the jump numbers necessary to become really good at a particular discipline.

Discuss it with the Mrs., if she understands that you need to have your own hobby/sport I'm sure the two of you can work out a family/skydiving balance that keeps everyone happy.

Hope this helps.

What's right isn't always popular and what's popular isn't always right.

[Placcypaddy 0]

HPC

From a safety standpoint - no, you're not being selfish. Skydiving is generally safe so long as you exercise common sense and basic safety practices.

Just make sure you keep your priorities straight. From a time standpoint, don't pass on watching your kid play a sport, act in a school play, etc. in order to go skydiving.

Ditto with financial resources. For example, don't have your kids wearing worn out sneakers (or maybe worse, buy the cheapest shoes/clothes available) in order to have equipment and lift ticket money.

Also keep in mind that unless you make a buttload of money, you won't have the funds to both support your family as you should and skydive your rear off. If funds are limited, you may as well figure that you'll be a fun jumper instead of someone with the goal of becoming an expert in any discipline. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try your best on the dives that you make, it just means that you won't be able to make the jump numbers necessary to become really good at a particular discipline.

Discuss it with the Mrs., if she understands that you need to have your own hobby/sport I'm sure the two of you can work out a family/skydiving balance that keeps everyone happy.

Hope this helps.

All helps HPC,we have discussed it and she’s fine with it As for getting to the top of any discipline that doesn’t bother me (way to old for that now) I just love the fact that there is so much to learn & enjoy in skydiving. Need to get over the fear now

[GoGoGadget 0]

Placcypaddy

Need to get over the fear now

I am not an AFFI, but I have been a motorcycle instructor for years. When I have a student express fear, I ask them if they are nervous or afraid. Nervous I can work with. Fear, I cannot.

[Placcypaddy 0]

GoGoGadget

*** Need to get over the fear now

I am not an AFFI, but I have been a motorcycle instructor for years. When I have a student express fear, I ask them if they are nervous or afraid. Nervous I can work with. Fear, I cannot.

Hard to say, loved every minute of the tandems had a grin for 2 weeks after them but from now it will be on me

So probably little of everything nerves/fear & self confidence

[mbohu 77]

Quote

I am not an AFFI, but I have been a motorcycle instructor for years. When I have a student express fear, I ask them if they are nervous or afraid. Nervous I can work with. Fear, I cannot.

Really? I'm not an instructor in this sport either, but I think if I was, I'd say if anything I would be weary of working with someone who has no fear (or professes not to have it). I don't think it is a good or natural thing to not feel fear, if engaging in an activity that requires 100% focus and can easily result in one's death. From all I'm hearing and reading, that is actually one of the problems when becoming experienced, that one assumes--because everything has gone well for so many times--that there is no significant danger...and that will make you less vigilant and more careless.

Respect your fear--and don't let it stop you! (unless you make a conscious decision not to take the risk. In that case, respect your decision!)

EDIT: by "can easily result in one's death" I do not mean that this is at all a likely outcome if you are conscious and reasonable, just that it is certainly an activity where you do have to be ON as much as possible and where in some way you are saving your own life on every jump.

[Placcypaddy 0]

Must be brave men/woman who weren’t scared to some degree on there first jumps

Or stupid

[Pit76 5]

I was scared shitless the first few jumps
Very nervous in the plane, and when the door opened I would grab the bench to feel safe
But then the first ones started jumping out and when it was my time I just focussed, took a deep breath and jumped. And loved every second of it.
I have now 20 jumps, and I still have a bit of a fear and nerves the first jump for the day, but for me that's part of the fun, conquer myself.
I think if I wouldn't have that feeling anymore the fun is gone. I also have a youtube movie with all my AFF jumps :)

My whole story is written here somewhere

[GoGoGadget 0]

Placcypaddy

Must be brave men/woman who weren’t scared to some degree on there first jumps

Or stupid

Bravery is not a lack of fear, but doing what must be done despite their fear.


One of my AFFI's looked at me once on the way up and said I was way too relaxed. I replied that nobody was trying to kill me at the moment, so I was relaxed. That does not mean that I don't have a VERY healthy respect for the dangers involved. I am by no means blase about any of it. I can easily make a list of the things I have seen at DZ's in my limited jumps that cause me discomfort. Whether my mistakes or others. I examine them and determine what I can do to mitigate the risks. None of that is based on fear.

[Placcypaddy 0]

Pit76

I was scared shitless the first few jumps
Very nervous in the plane, and when the door opened I would grab the bench to feel safe
But then the first ones started jumping out and when it was my time I just focussed, took a deep breath and jumped. And loved every second of it.
I have now 20 jumps, and I still have a bit of a fear and nerves the first jump for the day, but for me that's part of the fun, conquer myself.
I think if I wouldn't have that feeling anymore the fun is gone. I also have a youtube movie with all my AFF jumps :)

My whole story is written here somewhere

It’s good to hear as I think what skydiving has to offer could be amazing once you get over the nerves/fear, if you have any links to your aff post them on here pal would love to see them