Any swoopers ever quit swooping voluntarily?

[cocheese 0]

Have you ever considered it? Do you think you could do regular landings for the rest of your skydiving career?

Does anyone have the balls to quit swooping?

Who wants to be the first one to put it in writing that you will not die from a perfectly good parachute because of a swoop landing... because you are done swooping?

What would it take to make you decide to give up the swoop?

[davelepka 4]

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Does anyone have the balls to quit swooping?

Who wants to be the first one to put it in writing that you will not die from a perfectly good parachute because of a swoop landing... because you are done swooping?

I don't see what this has to do with 'balls'.

Will you be the first one to put in writing that you're never going to die skydiving because you're going to quit jumping? It's the same thing.

Just like jumping, there are different degrees of swooping. Full on, competiton-style swooping, with a WL of 2.4/2.5 and multi-rotational turns would be the 'top of the mountain' sort of swooping. It doesn't get any 'bigger' than that.

I have balls, and I used them when I got sick of jumping a Velo at 2.4 on every jump, and UPsized to a 2.0 WL. Do I still swoop the bigger canopy, sure, but the bigger canopy allows me more range, slower overall speeds, and in general is more forgiving than the smaller one.

Maybe I'll dial back from doing 450 degree turns back to 270s some day. Maybe I'll back off the crossbrace and return to a Stiletto one day, but if I did I would still swoop the Stiletto.

I see it as a progression/regression. I started off doing straight-in approaches on a big square, and heopfully I'll end up an old man doing the same. Just like I worked my way up the ladder of performance in terms of canopies and what I do with them as my skills progressed, I'll go right back down that ladder as my age and reflexes become more of a factor.

For the record, there are plenty of ex-competition swoopers who have dailed back both their canopies and what they do with them based on not competing anymore. Lower WL, and smaller turns are idea for 'fun' swooping and jumpers who are not 'competiton-current'.

When are you going to grow the balls to allow grown adults, with proper training and experience, to make their own choices as to how they want to conduct themselves? You enjoy that very freedom from the general public with regards to skydiving overall, how about extending that courtesy to fellow jumpers?

[Scrumpot 1]

Sounds eerily like a whuffo statement once heard, from a member of my family:

Does anyone have the balls to quit swooping skydiving?

Who wants to be the first one to put it in writing that you will not die from jumping froma perfectly good parachute airplane because of a swoop landing skydive... because you are done swooping skydiving?

What would it take to make you decide to give up the swoop skydiving?

Hmmmmmm.....
That said, I already know several swoopers, who have given up the swoop. I also know several skydivers...

Be at peace with YOUR CHOICES, whatever they may be.

Cheers,
-Grant

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[cocheese 0]

"When are you going to grow the balls to allow grown adults, with proper training and experience, to make their own choices as to how they want to conduct themselves?"

When did I say anything about making choices for others?

You just explained why you used your balls to UPsize. In other words: Sometimes it takes balls to do what is right for you despite what your big ball voice says.

People of all experience levels are dying from HP landings. It takes balls to quit something you love, to discipline yourself, to not take that risk, and settle for a safer landing so you can keep jumping.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do. Just asking if anyone has decided to quit swooping.

Kids sign contracts that they will not drink and drive etc. That's all this is. Fuck me.

[davelepka 4]

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It takes balls to quit something you love, to discipline yourself, to not take that risk,

Do you see how the above statement can be applied to skydiving in general? Why do you keep jumping? It's riskier than not jumping? Your answer is the same as why I keep swooping.

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Kids sign contracts that they will not drink and drive etc. That's all this is

Really? You mean to tell me that people, with proper experience and training, could safely drink and drive? They could drink and drive with such persicion that you could hold competitions with strict rules, and the competitors would be able to turn in consistant repeat performances comp after comp, with all the top scores within just a few points of each other?

Swoopers can turn in that sort of performance, you think a drunk driver could do the same?

Here's the facts - most people who swoop manage to do so without incident. There are 1000's of jumpers out there (maybe more) with 1000's of incident-free swoops each to their credit. The point is that it can be done safely, provided the jumper has the right training and experience.

Take the old-school batwing suits from the days of yore. Very few people managed to jump them and live, so they were rightfully outlawed by the powers that be. It was proving to be a problem with the suits, not the jumpers. Fast forward 30 years, and Birdman beagn producuing a 'safe' wingsuit for commercial sale, and modern wingsuituing took off. Once the equipment proved to be 'safe', it was embraced by the community. Some years later, some regualtion did follow (and there's some more pending) but the discipline itself remains intact.

Swooping is like that. The equipment is fine, as proved by the 1000,000's of swoops performed without incident. The problems are in the jumpers, and just because a few people get in over their head doesn't mean that everyone should give it up.

[cocheese 0]

Ok. Cool. Thanks for answering the questions to the best of your ability.

[davelepka 4]

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Thanks for answering the questions to the best of your ability

Your welcome, but I did also ask a question, and I'd like to hear your answer.

Why don't you quit jumping due to the all the deaths in the sport? People die skydiving, so why not give it up and ensure that you won't be killed on a skydive?

[jacketsdb23 45]

I intend to hang up the velo if my wife and I are blessed enough to have kids. Mostly because I won't be current enough to jump it on a regular basis. i'll probably stop the turns ( > 90º ) when I go back to my XF2.

That is until they are old enough to understand why we make the decisions and choices we do. Thats my plan...and its good enough for me. YMMV.

Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen
God is Good
Beer is Great
Swoopers are crazy.

[cocheese 0]

Well Dave, I'm not going to quit jumping because I don't want to quit jumping. I'm not going to quit swooping. I just asked a simple question. A question I knew would stir some shit with those that like to argue rather than answer the fucking questions

[davelepka 4]

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A question I knew would stir some shit with those that like to argue rather than answer the fucking questions

Let's face it, you're question was 'who's going to be first', so if all you wanted was an answer, this would be a two-post thread and it would be over. Your question, then the first guy to give it up, end of story.

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I'm not going to quit jumping because I don't want to quit jumping.

Ditto for swooping. You had to know that was going to come up when you asked such a question.

[cocheese 0]

This is about the thread title. Usually I just do the title and a smiley face to avoid all this shit. So let's just do the thread title for the question.


Has anyone out there in DZ.com Land ever quit swooping? Let's hear how you did it? Thanks for your replies.

[davelepka 4]

Any swoopers ever quit swooping voluntarily?

[cocheese 0]

No I haven't, but I have considered limiting my ground speed on landing lately.

[davelepka 4]

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No I haven't, but I have considered limiting my ground speed on landing lately.

That's interesting. By way of a smaller turn, a bigger canopy, or something else? Maybe only swooping on days with higher winds (that's a joke, it would work, but I'm kidding).

[cocheese 0]

Smaller turns. Less of a need for speed. My balls are shrinking.

[billvon 2,421]

I did. I wasn't much of a swooper (did 270's on a Crossfire 109) and I just did it when I had a chance - I'd do it at the end of AFF jumps when I had the area to myself which wasn't all that often. After about a year I realized I wasn't getting much better and that to get better I would have to dedicate more time to swooping, which meant doing less AFF or 4 way. I also realized that I wasn't all that safe since I was at best partly current at any given time.

This was also around the time that collisions started to be a big deal and I started to be more and more careful about when I did 270's. I finally got to the point where I just wasn't current, and so I switched to 90's only. The reward just wasn't worth the risk.

[BETO74 0]

I do know a few that quit swooping mostly because they got married and had kids, they are still active skydivers, flying "big" canopies now. Some other due to injury while landings. I think is more frecuent than we might think

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