Does the fear ever go away?

[Gators1240 9]

I just finished aff yesterday and I find that a get a little nervous/anxious once we are at about 11000 but fine as soon as I am out the door. The single best advice I got while going through my aff is have a plan of exactly what you are going to do on the jump before you get on the plane. Then on the ride up, close your eyes and visualize everything about the upcoming jump. The wind getting ready to exit, the exit, free fall, everything. That helped me tremendously

[JohnMitchell 14]

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I am sure I'll be shitting my pants again when I jump without the static line hooked up (tomorrow, if things go right).

Don't forget to pull your thing.

[doughboyshred 0]

I didn't forget!
Wow, that was scary, but I fracking nailed it.
One of the best days of my life. I embraced the fear this time instead of trying to overcome it. Worked good for me. It seems there are multiple ways of dealing with the fear, and they all can work.

[AJ_Stuyvenberg 0]

I was scared for my first static line jump, and then again for my first jump with my new rig (went from a nav 220 to a sabre 150 at about 30 jumps) but not much fear after that.

Skydivers aren't generally the scared type, but a little fear is good.

[jerolim 7]

Hey Sabre 150 @30 jumps? This canopy is to big for you, try Velo 75 instead.

[doughboyshred 0]

Today was my 12th jump and the first time that I actually wasn't scared shitless. I felt great on the plane ride up. I actually enjoyed it. Spotting didn't freak me out, and climbing out was no big deal at all. Pretty stoked to be at this point.

[gunit 0]

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A word of advice, to a jumper friend.

The fear should not be there....its a waste of energy that can be put to a greater use.

Stop and think about it, my friend.

You've jumped before....youve proved you are capable....likely the same rig, the same plane, the same sky, everything the same....so what is to fear?

You've proved you could do it, and everything worked fine.....just as it will this time, the next time, the next time and forever...the next time.

Now, if you should do something dumb, like pack your rig without care and caution, you THEN may expect....MAYBE something will be different....but not really something to fear.

However, chutes are made to open...and likely always will open as long as you are careful....so why are you fearing something that should have no fear...but only everlasting enjoyment.

Don't fret over the things that somehow " MIGHT" happen....sit back, enjoy the ride to the top floor, and then think too, of how much you are going to enjoy the fall to the earth, and a good landing.

Nothing to fear...don't waste the energy....look forward to the thrill, to the flying, to seeing your friends in the blue.

Look forward to fun, to enjoyment...to the best sport in the world.

DO NOT waste time fearing or wqorrying over something that you have already proved you are good at, and can accomplish.

Look forward to the great sport you are in , the sport many wish they could get into, but lack what you have...the guts....the nerve to actually do it.

You have already proved yourself worthy of the title " SKYDIVER"

Now stop this unrequired fear of nothing and enjoy yourself.

There is nothing to fear....Ive been there and I know.

Have a great jump, and leave a good mark in the sky

Bill Cole D-41.

What a great way of putting things. I think your words could apply to a lot of things we worry about in life.

[vegasskydiver 0]

I'm going for my 5th jump tomorrow morning, and agree...I fear the door opening. Once I've exited the aircraft, I am in total bliss!

[doughboyshred 0]

That initial rush of air is a little disconcerting. I think what scared me about it the most was the thought that I was going to get sucked out of the plane. LOL. Opening the door is a little nerve racking now, but having the door open is more of a relief. At least there's nothing in the way if you need to bail out.

[JohnMitchell 14]

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I'm going for my 5th jump tomorrow morning, and agree...I fear the door opening. Once I've exited the aircraft, I am in total bliss!

Cool, are you doing AFF?

Peak fear for most students is right as the door opens or climbing out. Once the decision to leave the plane is made and the moment passes, most are more relaxed. It's a classic approach/avoidance conflict. Jump long enough and it gets to be very comfortable in the sky. I kid you not.

[vegasskydiver 0]

Right now I am still doing Tandems, adding new skills to each jump. As soon as I can take some time off I would like to go to Perris and do the AFF in about a week. Right now I am able to jump only on either Sat or Sun and the drop zone I go to, doesn't have much time on the weekends to cater to students.

[Gators1240 9]

You really cant go wrong with Perris or Elsinore even on weekends as a student. They were doing AFF jumps during chicks rock which was a pretty big boogie a few weeks ago.

[JohnMitchell 14]

Were you at the Party? I sure as hell was.

[Gators1240 9]

no I wasnt at the party, unfortunately I ate the teryaki chicken saturday afternoon and got food poisoning so I ended up leaving

[ijinak 0]

I was scared sh*tless until jump 85 (after that I was just scared) I still get a bit scared and I've over 900 jumps now. I don't think it ever goes away completely

[deltron80 0]

I am still pretty terrified on every jump, but I tend to be a nervous person.

[Erroll 49]

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Jump long enough and it gets to be very comfortable in the sky.

Yip. The butterflies in the stomach are still there, they are just flying in formation now.

[Ron 7]

Yes, in fact a jump can be boring.

Don't believe me? I assume you drive a car right? Back before you got your license, I bet you pestered the hell out of your parents to drive to the store to get milk. Now I bet when you find you are out of milk you hate the idea of having to drive to the store to get more.

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Does the pre jump fear go away or should i just prep for it better

The best way to manage the fear is to know your dive flow like it was automatic.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[mghanco 0]

The fear subsided for me when I started doing solo jumps. Then it returned when I changed DZ's due to weather/season and had to finish my A license at the new DZ. It subsided again once I joined the big boys club of the fun jumpers after getting my A license. It went away at that time because I had some cool guys to jump with and could always look back at the tandems/students and think about how I felt when I was in their seats. The fear seriously returned though the other day when the first load had to fly back in due to weather. Then the line twists started happening, due to what I am assuming is body position upon deployment. I made 3 jumps that day and 2 had some bad line twists and i mentally checked out and stopped jumping to take some time to think about what was going on. I had planned on making 5+ jumps that day but just couldnt get my self mentally up to jumping again. I head back to Eloy friday for the carnivale and hopefully a good amount of safe jumps (no more line twists, fingers crossed).
I am taking a friend with me to do his first tandem, he is telling me that he thinks about it every night before bed and its getting to him. I told him he doesn't have really anything to worry about as long as it is something he actually wants to do. My reasoning is that its out of his hands anyways and in the hands of a super experienced jumper who is going to take care of everthing. He's a bit of a brainiac as a PhD econ student at ASU and I don't think all the number crunching helps his situation. I advised him to watch a tandem video on youtube and to observe how much fun the tandem student is having and how little responsibility they have on the jump. I don't really know what to tell him though because i never did a tandem and I think we just handle fear differently. Any Thoughts?

[TSISK 0]

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The fear subsided for me when I started doing solo jumps. Then it returned when I changed DZ's due to weather/season and had to finish my A license at the new DZ. It subsided again once I joined the big boys club of the fun jumpers after getting my A license. It went away at that time because I had some cool guys to jump with and could always look back at the tandems/students and think about how I felt when I was in their seats. The fear seriously returned though the other day when the first load had to fly back in due to weather. Then the line twists started happening, due to what I am assuming is body position upon deployment. I made 3 jumps that day and 2 had some bad line twists and i mentally checked out and stopped jumping to take some time to think about what was going on. I had planned on making 5+ jumps that day but just couldnt get my self mentally up to jumping again. I head back to Eloy friday for the carnivale and hopefully a good amount of safe jumps (no more line twists, fingers crossed).
I am taking a friend with me to do his first tandem, he is telling me that he thinks about it every night before bed and its getting to him. I told him he doesn't have really anything to worry about as long as it is something he actually wants to do. My reasoning is that its out of his hands anyways and in the hands of a super experienced jumper who is going to take care of everthing. He's a bit of a brainiac as a PhD econ student at ASU and I don't think all the number crunching helps his situation. I advised him to watch a tandem video on youtube and to observe how much fun the tandem student is having and how little responsibility they have on the jump. I don't really know what to tell him though because i never did a tandem and I think we just handle fear differently. Any Thoughts?

I Can relate to this, I also Jump at eloy and ive had 2 reserve rides in 37 jumps My last Jump was a bad line twist I had to cutaway. So Im trying to get back as soon as Possible to get that out of my head. Look me up when your at the DZ Maybe we can Do a jump or 2. My name Is Tim

[primetime 18]

Here's what I used to tell my students:

You are terrified on your first twenty jumps, and when that feeling is gone, you'll spend the rest of your skydiving career trying to get it back.

Hence big-ways, BASE, and high-performance canopies, et al.

[skydivr 0]

No. Fear helps keep you alive (by giving you a health dose of respect for what are doing so you know get complacent) and it's also what keeps you coming back for more. Conquering your fear in skydiving helps you conquer your other fears in life.

Keith Abner
D-17590

"Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

[primetime 18]

I agree, Keith. Someone with "no fear" whatsoever is someone I don't want to jump with.

I guess it was just my attempt at humor while letting the 20-jump-wonders know that their debilitating and overwhelming fear will abate as they progress in the sport.

[tmarine253 0]

I know this thread has been beat to death, however I think you adapt to fear and it changes. I still am nervous on each jump but not scared like I was on AFF. Im not sure I want the fear to completely subside because at that point, and even though I only have 18 jumps with no cutaways, I think at that point I would be bored with skydiving and wouldn't be motivated to do it anymore. Part of skydiving is the nervousness or fear you get, its the adrenaline rush that keeps somebody to keep paying $21 plus a jump to do what they really enjoy.

[dgskydive 0]

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Yes, it does go away. Not completely, as others have said, but for most jumpers it becomes manageable.

Yup. I would go hundreds of jumps with just a little bit of sweaty palms. Then all of a sudden I would get really nervous on jump run. I used to just take deep breathes and calm myself. Once out the door it was all good. Never got close to keeping me from jumping. Just weird that sometimes fear would poke its head in and mess with me a little bit. I always thought of it as a good thing. Kept me aware and paying attention. OH... and made it feel so much better when everything worked out just fine.

If I had no fear, I dont think i would have jumped as long as I did. I think that is dangerous.

Dom