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atsaubrey

300 lbs and begging

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im begging to skydive but weigh 300lbs. can anyoine help me out?? i live in the san diego area but will fly anywhere (in the usa) to go. anyone crazy enough or can get their hands on military gear? i will go aff or tandem or static line as a last resort.
"GOT LEAD?"

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There are 300 lb skydivers out there, few and far between. How tall are you? How physically fit would you consider yourself? Do you think you could handle jumping off a 1 story roof? The most important thing to think about is this. Your going to be coming in fast for a first timer on landing. You need to be able to run it out if you have to. You also should learn and perfect your PLF before you go up.

Most DZ's won't let you jump and you're going to have to be really flexible and be prepared for a lot of No's.

I'm 250 myself and have a really hard time as far as gear goes.

I don't know what your diet or physical activity consists of, but if you really want to jump you need to start eating healthy and start walking. If you only walk a mile a day, I can almost garuntee you will lose 15-20 lbs in the course of a month.

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I wouldn't think that AFF would be a problem at most DZ's with Otters. You just may have to start jumping a tandem canopy if they don't have over 300' sport mains(Manta). At my dz they have jumped a few close to 300# lately 280-295. It's up to the tandem master as to whether he'll take you or not. It has a lot to do with physical stature. I think a better solution though is to use this desire as motivation to get healthier and lose the weight. I have a customer who's lost 20# in the last month by changing his diet because he also wants to jump. He's down to 260 now. Good luck and hope this is helpful.












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>im begging to skydive but weigh 300lbs. can anyoine help me out??

You can certainly learn, but it's likely to be expensive. We had a rig we could use with very large people, but 300 lbs is pushing even that (it has a 340 sq ft main, which you'd be loading at 1:1) This might mean that you'd need to buy your own student gear, and since there's not much used in that size, we're talking new gear - in the $5000-6000 range. You'd probably need a tandem main, and they're more expensive than a normal main.

In addition, you have to accept that unless you're a linebacker, that extra weight significantly increases your odds of being injured on landing - your legs have to absorb almost twice as much energy if you screw up than a normal jumper.

But it's definitely doable. We've taught some 260lb guys in San Diego in the past.

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Atsaubrey,

Two years ago i was in the same predicament you are right now. I'm 5'8" and used to weigh 250 For my 30th birthday (im 31 now) my SO bought me a gift certificate for a Tandem. I worked my ass off for a year to lose the weight i needed to. I went from 250 to 180 which is where im at now. Skydiving is definetly a motivating factor. First, get on the Atkins diet! Second, Start walking working out (you dont need a gym) pushups and situps work wonders, Walk at least 1 mile a day for your first week and increase it by a half mile per week. You will start noticing a change. The first step is gto get up off the couch or the PC and start doing something. If i can lose the wight that I did, anyone can do it.

Good luck and Blue Skies
KAI

There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan

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i appreciate the advice...ive lost 70 lbs already but 60 + more is a lot. besides i look about 250lbs now and at 250 i look like most people do at 180-200. so losing the weight is always an option but damn it took me a year to get the 70 lbs off. i will do almost anything to start jumping even if it means just one jump.

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i will do almost anything to start jumping even if it means just one jump.



First, a HUGE congratulations for losing the 70 lbs last year. It must feel great! Although it might seem like forever, another year and 60 more lbs will not only lengthen your life but let you do more than just one and only jump! Go for it!

I started static line with a Goliath-378 canopy (military gear), so this option also exists...however AFF (with AFF instructors who can fall at the same rate as you are able to reach) is a better method.

Keep up the quest. You won't be sorry for it. :)
ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

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Skydiving changes lives. I have a woman friend that quite honestly had a life she wasn't sure she wanted to live. She started skydiving and loves her new life. I have found something in the sport as well that has become very much a part of my life. Congratulations! and welcome to the family. (it's a disfunctional famly... but we all love it.. hehee )

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" -Groucho Marx- "Tom flies like a rock" -Tom Carson-

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I think Billvon suggested talking to the DZ in San Diego -- that's where they had the rig that would handle 260-lbers. You're in Southern California -- your best bet is to try the local DZs first. San Diego runs a lot of students. Perris and Elsinore also come to mind.

Wendy W.
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)

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You're probably going to have to find an instructor to sponsor you. Under any circumstances, you are a high-risk student. One way that a dropzone decreases risk is to know the student.

How to find an instructor to sponsor you? Start PM'ing anyone who sounded the least bit hopeful, or who knew-someone-who-knew-someone, to ask for details.

If you're in good shape, albeit heavy, that will increase your chances significantly. If you're 5'8" and 300 lbs, it'll be much harder.

Wendy W.
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)

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There was a person that posted here about a year ago that was in the same predicament. He did find a DZ and instructor to help him out and did go on to post about his experiences. I did a quick search but could not find the threads.



Found it: Click here There are some names and contacts in this thread of where to go.

Good luck!
“Now click your heels together 3 times so you can return to Kansas to live in poverty with your teetotaling, dirt farming aunt and uncle!” paraphrased Prof. Farnsworth

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Hi mate, congrats on losing the weight and achieving a significant goal, keep the hard work up and you will reap the benefits

i'm in a similar situation i weigh 235lbs and was on the boarderline for my DZ here in Northern Ireland, i jumped for the first time in ten years last tuesday. i wont look back now.

This seems to be a great community with beer swilling maniacs at the helm.

welcome to the club, good luck in your quest.

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Hey man, I don't know your situation and what-not, so this may not be do-able.

But why don't you just lose weight? If you weigh 300 pounds, there is a better chance than not that you aren't in the best physical condition, so lose weight. You'll live longer, and you'll get to skydive (which may result in you not living very long) :ph34r:.

-Kramer

The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!

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Aubrey:

You know what your limitations are, and if I know you as well as i think I do:
1) You have the self confidence any skdiver has, or will ever have"

I'm 265# out the door myself and I'm flying a 179 sq' foot', Icarus 149 Sq. Canopy. Yeah it's fast but you learn to live with it. The one problem I have is all of the bad first impressions and idocy i see at the DZ.

Chris Miller at the dropzone in SkyDive Rosharon, Texas. With his expertise, i"ve jumped and am not by any chance intimated by the main canopy, period. Aubrey, you've recieved a lot of PM's from me, whether you perused them or not is up to you. But please by all means, feel free to contact me at 512.585.5197. While I think you may, or may not converse with me, That's up to you. In any event, fly safe and God bless you & yours. Tell me where you are, and I'll be glad to make an appoint with you and give you the benifut of everyone's fears to the side. (My dime, my nickle) If I can educate you, then you in turn teach others what you know, then we will have both made skydiving history. You take care champ, God Bless! Together we can, and will save the Sky Diving sport & the negative things that have been going along the lst 10 years of my skydiving career. The more we learn, the more knowledge we can pass down th the lives of non jumpers, and jumpers who have just got licensed and don't know where to go from that point in their carrers. YOU can make a difference, as can I, but I can't do it by myself, I'm sure you understand. Aubrey, Take care, be safe & May God Bless You & Yours. By the way, buy a military rig to jump with until other oppottunities become available to you.
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Aubrey, Take care, be safe & May God Bless You & Yours.


-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

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