Reasonable number of jumps a day?

[wildernessmedic 0]

At the rate i'm going it will literally be 15 years before I get my C license.

I'm thinking about draining my savings and going to campout a couple days a week in a row and hammer out as many as possible per day. Right now it's hard to have a day that works for me line up with my smaller local tandem oriented DZ so I think it would be worth my time to drive 100-150 miles and stay there for multiple days.

What's a reasonable number of jumps to get in one day at an active larger sized DZ? I've never done as many as I can at an active DZ, will one day full of jumping be extremely fatiguing and hard to do multiple days? Is it a bad idea to cram and not take time between to decompress and let things settle in?

[NWFlyer 2]

8 to 12 is not uncommon for fun jumpers, and not all that hard to do at a reasonably busy DZ with good weather and long summer days.

That said, if your profile is accurate and you only have 14 jumps total, you may find more than 4 or 5 in a day to be a pretty ambitious pace at this point.

If you're currently jumping at Cloverdale, why not spend the day or the weekend at one of the busier turbine DZs in northern California? You can up your pace without having to commit to taking a huge chunk of time off.

"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

[yoink 321]

Honestly, it depends.

It depends on what type of jumping you're doing, whether you're packing for yourself or if someone else is doing it for you.
It depends on your general fitness and on your skydiving fitness and experience... we tend to use unusual muscle groups which tire easily unless you're used to it.

It depends on your psychological strength and the aims of your jumps as well... Are you just banging jumps out to get to a number, or are you trying to learn from them? If it's the latter will you be able to make good progress if you're tired? Do you need to debrief in between jumps?

Personally, I always saw my performance drop off after about 5 in a day. Not only that, but my enthusiasm for jumping started to wane too. The limit was always a personal one - I never wished (given no adverse weather) that the DZ was putting up more loads. I always enjoyed making a couple in the morning, one in the afternoon and then the sunset load. That'd set me up just right for a decent night in the bar and doing it all again the next day. Too much jumping and I'd just be knackered... it took the fun out of being at the DZ.

That said, I was always a fair-weather skydiver. Some of the teams who TRAIN make more jumps in a day than I'd do over a long weekend.


What's the rush? Start with your aims and go from there.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

4-6 seems like a pretty good pace to me. I actually kind of start to feel like I'm being greedy once I get past 3 heh heh.

Depends on what you're doing, too. I get more tired from wingsuit jumps and high pulls, and much less tired if I'm doing hop and pops all day.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[wildernessmedic 0]

NWFlyer

If you're currently jumping at Cloverdale, why not spend the day or the weekend at one of the busier turbine DZs in northern California? You can up your pace without having to commit to taking a huge chunk of time off.

That's what i'm talking about. Thinking about going over to SkyDance either 2 or 3 days during the week or weekend, whatever is more conducive to learning and progressing quicker. I'm free for most of the summer now, so I wouldn't have to take time off.

yoink

Honestly, it depends.

It depends on what type of jumping you're doing, whether you're packing for yourself or if someone else is doing it for you.
It depends on your general fitness and on your skydiving fitness and experience... we tend to use unusual muscle groups which tire easily unless you're used to it.

It depends on your psychological strength and the aims of your jumps as well... Are you just banging jumps out to get to a number, or are you trying to learn from them? If it's the latter will you be able to make good progress if you're tired? Do you need to debrief in between jumps?

Personally, I always saw my performance drop off after about 5 in a day. Not only that, but my enthusiasm for jumping started to wane too. The limit was always a personal one - I never wished (given no adverse weather) that the DZ was putting up more loads. I always enjoyed making a couple in the morning, one in the afternoon and then the sunset load. That'd set me up just right for a decent night in the bar and doing it all again the next day. Too much jumping and I'd just be knackered... it took the fun out of being at the DZ.

That said, I was always a fair-weather skydiver. Some of the teams who TRAIN make more jumps in a day than I'd do over a long weekend.


What's the rush? Start with your aims and go from there.

There's not a huge rush, I can't afford my end goal right now anyway. But I really don't like the idea of getting 1 or 2 jumps a month. Especially when to get that I may have to sit around all day for 1 or 2. When i'm ready to jump and it's nice i'd like to go all in and jump repeatedly. And since it's over 100 miles to go to a bigger one I might as well make the trip worth it and bang them out. And I don't mean just jump for a number (Although I do have a longterm goal of C license) but learn and progress.

If that means I can only jump 2 times a day to "get it" and let things sink in that's fine, that's just what I was hoping for input on.


Right now my short term goal is A license pretty quick and B license by the end of summer at the worst hopefully. The real goal is to progress and get better but I know that won't happen with 1-2 jumps a month.

So if I can do 4 a day 2 or 3 days in a row (one trip to other DZ) i'd be stoked. Sounds like that's not unreasonable.

[stayhigh 2]

Los Angeles to Lake Elsinore/Perris is 70 miles.

Tons of people do that all the time.

100 miles isn't that far.

I've seen people from Vegas coming to Perris to jump every weekend. Thats almost 300 miles.

and people from So-cal used to drive up to Lodi to take advantage of 10 dollar sunday. How far is that drive?

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[NWFlyer 2]

wildernessmedic

That's what i'm talking about. Thinking about going over to SkyDance either 2 or 3 days during the week or weekend, whatever is more conducive to learning and progressing quicker. I'm free for most of the summer now, so I wouldn't have to take time off.

Yep, should be pretty easy to get in 4 jumps a day as long as you've got the weather (this time of year it's more likely to be high and/or gusty winds than anything else). If you still need to work with a coach or instructor to finish up some of your A requirements, that may be a limiting factor, but as long as you give a call ahead to plan that shouldn't be an issue, either. Plenty of folks around there with ratings to help out. And you can camp on the DZ if you want - there's usually a few folks staying over, especially on the weekends.

"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

[riggerrob 558]

1 or 2 jumps a day is ridiculous! You need to find a new DZ that cares about progressing junior jumpers.
4 to 6 a day is normal for coached jumps. More than 4 or 5 and you don't have enough time to brief and de-brief between jumps.
Learning to pace yourself is also a huge issue. Eating right, general fitness, enough sleep, etc. all help increase the number of jumps you can do in a day.
Professional tandem instructors and competitive teams routinely do a dozen jumps a day, but that is with some one else packing, manifesting, etc. For a TI it is essentially the same jump done a dozen times the same day. IOW TIs don't waste much time on ground school briefings because it is the same dive flow every jump: dress student, dress themselves, walk to plane, same seat, same seat-belts, same hook-up, same handles check, etc.

[Di0 1]

Consider to limit or not party at night until late hours with lots of drinking, try to get a good night of sleep and, if you're in generally good shape, you'll be in tip top shape for back to back days of jumping.
It's no big deal. But if you party, drink, etc. most likely you'll waste good morning hours because of sleeping in or hangover, some people do it, I personally don't find it worth it because I also drive 80 miles to the DZ and I want to make the best out of my limited time there. There is a lot of peer pressure to drink at DZs generally, but also after the fourth of fifth time you tell people to piss off, they understand and get the message. ;) Don't be afraid to do it, most people only pretend to care if you drink or not anyway.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[wildernessmedic 0]

Lodi isn't much further. Funny thing is I used to live right next to it for 15 years but wouldn't do AFF there. Still have lots of friends and family there and can stay for free.

riggerrob

1 or 2 jumps a day is ridiculous! You need to find a new DZ that cares about progressing junior jumpers.
4 to 6 a day is normal for coached jumps. More than 4 or 5 and you don't have enough time to brief and de-brief between jumps.
Learning to pace yourself is also a huge issue. Eating right, general fitness, enough sleep, etc. all help increase the number of jumps you can do in a day.
Professional tandem instructors and competitive teams routinely do a dozen jumps a day, but that is with some one else packing, manifesting, etc. For a TI it is essentially the same jump done a dozen times the same day. IOW TIs don't waste much time on ground school briefings because it is the same dive flow every jump: dress student, dress themselves, walk to plane, same seat, same seat-belts, same hook-up, same handles check, etc.

Kind of how I felt. The jumps I can Get in there are just enough to keep me current, not progress. But absolutely no fault to then I get it. Small dz and had to stay in business by doing tandems. Fun jumpers are second.

I'm going to skydance Friday. Might check out lodi soon. Jump tickets are cheap but the gear rental seems I cost as much or more.

[skydivecat 3]

I drive 3.5 hours EVERY weekend April-Oct (jump season) to jump at my home DZ/DZ of choice which is a large turbine DZ. There are plenty of smaller Cessna dzs that I pass along the way, but they just don't have what I want in terms of coaching/training/events and opportunities.

As a student I'd say absolute maximum of 5 jumps in a day. You want to brief/debrief properly and not overload yourself physically or mentally. Once you get your license, its totally on you and the type of jumps you are doing as to how many is reasonable for a day. When fun jumping I usually do 6-8 as I don't want to be rushed and I like to enjoy the day. Organizing 8-10 depending on size and experience of group. Team training we usually do 10 as we try to do 5 rounds, each jump in duplicate.

Great thing about this sport is you get to decide the pace of your own progression. If the DZ that you are at doesn't offer what you want, find another DZ, even if it is farther. 1-2 jumps/month just isn't going to cut it in terms of moving forward, so if that is what you want to do, then find a place that allows you to do that.

[sooperheidi 0]

Here's what a typical summer weekend looks like for me (mind you, I'm a fair weather jumper):

Saturday: Get up at 5:30 AM to make the 2.5 hour, 150 mile drive to Elsinore/Perris/Taft (take your pick - they're all the same distance give or take 20 minutes). That usually puts me at the dz in time for the first couple loads of the day, if not first load.

I make 2-3 jumps in the morning until it starts getting turbulent/dust devilly (ideal student jump time is first thing in the morning).

I may do one more after it settles down (typically around 5:00), but I enjoy the atmosphere of the dz quite a bit as well, and don't like to feel like I have to pack-jump-pack-jump. I enjoy having a little down time between jumps, otherwise I get "in my head" too much.

I only drink a bit on Saturday night so I don't get a hangover on Sunday. :) I also camp at the dz so I can save precious jump money (also part of the reason I don't do more is that I can't afford it). I also bring most of my own food - and I pack for myself (after the math, it's saved me hundreds and hundreds of dollars). I also save money by not driving home Saturday night and back to the dz on Sunday.

For Sunday, I do the same as Saturday morning (2-3 jumps until it gets turbulent and crappy), then I drive home and do any random stuff at home that I needed. Being a teacher, this fits into my weekend schedule. I just have to make sure to get most of my errand, real-life stuff done on my weeknights.

Hope this helps.

[TriGirl 268]

Here's another option: consider taking a canopy course. You'll do 3-5 jumps, with skills to practice on each one, and (usually) video debrief. The jumps are hop & pops, so it isn't too tiring, but you're still learning something on each jump. Get your canopy skills signed off (you don't have to wait until you're ready to qualify for your B license to get the card signed). Great coaching, small class, and several jumps in a day. IIRC, many are also scheduled on days other than weekends, so the DZ is less busy.

Since you say you don't have to worry about work right now, this seems like a good fit for one of those jump days. Take a course on Friday, then stay the rest of the weekend to jump with other coaches/organizers. With only 3-5 jumps each day, you could easily finish off your A-license requirements over that weekend, while still getting some good learning points down AND meeting some new people.
Good luck!

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[wildernessmedic 0]

Thanks guys (and girls)!

Going to make the trip Friday and see how many I can comfortably do. Shooting for 4 and see how I feel after that. Then hopefully one or two Saturday morning.

[wildernessmedic 0]

So I went down Thursday and got one in. Woke up Friday and got 2 in (one coach). Woke up Saturday got in another early coach one before having to take off to a wedding. Got home late Saturday night exhausted. Couldn't stop thinking about jumping so I got up early today and drove down to my home dz and got one in before having to split for a new room mate.

Now i'm just mad nothing around here is open on a Monday....

[billvon 2,379]

>1 or 2 jumps a day is ridiculous! You need to find a new DZ that cares
>about progressing junior jumpers.

It happens. I started at a place where I was lucky to get 1 jump a weekend. (Small operation, single 182.) I had to go up to Gardiner to jump at the Ranch to get any real air time. $13 to 13,500 on weekdays! I'd go up on a Monday-Tuesday and make 8 jumps a day, then come back to the little place for the next weekend. It got odd at one point - I had gone through AFF at the Ranch and graduated, but still wasn't off student status at Skydive Long Island (and they didn't really recognize AFF.) On the other hand I got a chance to go through both programs as a student and learned a lot that way.

[dthames 0]

In my 50s, I would be tired doing 3, and then 4 when I was a student. By the time I had 100 jumps, 7 a day, with me packing, was okay but a long day.

Even still I do about 3 different types of jump days.

1. My "off" days are at a C-182 DZ, spending half a day and doing 2 or 3 fun jumps.

2. My normal day is drive 4 hours to a turbo DZ and try to knock out 6 WS jumps, and then drive 4 hours home. That is a hard but manageable day. 7 WS jumps and I pay for it on the way home.

3. Trips of 5 or more days at a turbo DZ. Still 6 or 7 WS jumps is a very full day. But about day 3, I have my second wind and there are huge benefits to jumping all day, several days in a row. Subtle things that you might not normally notice seem to suddenly be noticed.

The last time that I checked, more than 1/3 of my total jumps were done on these larger trips.

Ramp up slowing. Going from 2 a day to 7 a day will most likely wipe you out. Save some energy for the drive home. Be safe on the road after a tiring day at the DZ.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[GoHuskers 0]

I think the tempo makes a big difference as well.

A 20 minute turn with packing is very tiring. 40 minutes down is the right amount of time for me. 60 minutes or more down seems to break the rhythm and is the most tiring.

[Pobrause 6]

When I have to pack for myself I found stupid things start to happen at jump 11-12. Going back to back with a packer and 3 rigs I found myself able to manage 16+ jumps without problems. (haven't gotten the chance to do more)
Also depends on the type of jumps you are doing. Highpulls and canopy drills eat you up quite quickly.
Also if I don't find the time to eat and drink properly during the day I start to notice some lags in brainfunction after a hot day full of jumps =)
25 y/o male with competitive sports backround and a 5000 kcal diet

-------------------------------------------------------

To absent friends

[DougH 270]

Dunno, but I need a second Sunday after a a summer weekend day of 15 tandems out of a 182! It hurts sooooo goood.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[NNault 0]

I know the answer but I'm gonna be that guy. ....why the specific focus on a C license at 19 jumps?

Dude..what the hell is on your head?

[eatfastnoodle 2]

3-6 a weekend for me. More than that not only exhausts me but also makes me feel skydiving has become a job, no, more like an addition since I don't get paid to jump, as awesome as skydiving is, it's only part of my life. I don't want to be consumed by it.

[Elisha 1]

wildernessmedic

So I went down Thursday and got one in. Woke up Friday and got 2 in (one coach). Woke up Saturday got in another early coach one before having to take off to a wedding. Got home late Saturday night exhausted. Couldn't stop thinking about jumping so I got up early today and drove down to my home dz and got one in before having to split for a new room mate.

Now i'm just mad nothing around here is open on a Monday....

Do you actually live in Cloverdale or Lake County or Santa Rosa area? I'm in Rohnert Park and jump in Byron mostly (or Skydance).

How many jumps do you have now? Close to 30? You might want to think about investing in gear soon to avoid rental costs...and buy used. You'll "out grow" new quickly. I've never had a new main or reserve.

[dthames 0]

NNault

I know the answer but I'm gonna be that guy. ....why the specific focus on a C license at 19 jumps?

Because everyone needs goals. Before I ever visited a DZ I knew what I wanted out of skydiving. You got to have a plan.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”