logbooks

[mattz 0]

im not necessarily anti logbooks, i can see the importance of one when traveling to a new dz. but this was my home dropzone! it was a 5 year absence but the person i spoke to at the dz over the phone several times remembered me, i know severel well known jumpers at the dz that can vouch for me, all of whom now have thousands of skydives with instructor ratings. not to mention 15+ of my jumps on video, freeflying, hybrids, even some of my aff coaching jumps. but it always came back to the missing logbook and thats no good according to this person i spoke to. maybe its just my paranoia seeping in but it almost just seems like its a money issue, ive been uncurrent this long so i have to pay, literally, to get back in.
my first jump back was completely awesome though!

[Reaperwear 0]

When i started jumping in 1990 I quickly got my A license and then my B License but never applied for any awards or licenses past that. After 300+ jumps I went to a boogie (one of Mike Mullins Boogie til you pukes for those of you who remember them) made 12-16 jumps I do not remember how many and I lost track at the time, and I did not really care I loved skydiving and had no desire to teach or get awards, at that point i stopped logging my jumps. I found that all i needed to get into a boogie was my USPA license and one or two logged jumps. To get good slots on any jump I needed to really prove myself in the air first anyway no logbook can do that.

Due to life obligations I stopped skydiving for 7 years, i was fortunate when i wanted to get back in the sport the DZO was a guy I was on student status with back in the 90's he got me back in the air quickly and painlessly. but he also got me interested in helping the DZ getting my coach rating and now my tandem rating. I really enjoy my new roles around the DZ, but can not help to realize that if i had done a better job of logging my jumps and getting my licenses how much easier and quicker I would have had my TI, (hell i had all the requirements for my D in the 90's when you only needed 200 jumps)

That being said I am an honest person who only logs the jumps that happen with in the past day or so. When working on my D license last year I sure wish I had all those jumps i did not log, but I didn't so I had to make a few extra jumps not really that big a deal. But how many times have we known someone who brags about all the jumps they maid in the last year and you know there is no way they did it, they padded their log book in order to get a rating or even just for unearned bragging rights

I think log books are very valuable asset that you never know when or even if you will ever need. Your goals can change dramatically over time. Matt i feel your pain but welcome back I know how you feel coming back after a long layoff

Blue Skies

I refuse to tiptoe through life, only to arrive safely at death. www.reaperwear.com

[steve1 5]

I don't want to ever lose one of my log books. Back in the mid-70's I started to lose interest in jumping. For fifty or sixty jumps I quit logging. I wish I had never done that.

It's a lot of fun going back through old log books and bringing back the memories. I wish I had included more names of the people who were on each of those loads.

Getting current again after a long lay off is a pain. I took ten years off, and started jumping again during the mid-80's. Things were loose in my old club. I was able to talk my way onto a load. I got a few strange looks when they saw my old gear. I had antique PC, french jump boots, motorcycle helmet, and B-12 container. I made about eight jumps with my new found friends. Things were going great. I had no trouble at all falling stable and doing RW with them.

Then I had a malfunction and had to ride a 24 foot, wildly oscilating reserve into a rock pile, with tennis shoes. No fun! I sprained both ankles with my family looking on.

So, I took another 15 years off.....Nobody would let me jump without completely re-training. This would have been a huge expense. So, I said the hell with that.

Later an old friend that I jumped with in the early 70's said I could jump, as long as I took a quick refresher course. I spent about an hour going through emergency procedures and learning how to fly one of these new fangled square chutes.

I then went up and fell base for a five way. Everything went fine. I could still fall perfectly stable. That is something you never forget.....

I'm sure glad I didn't have to start all over. There is no way that I would have laid out that kind of money. I was never in any danger, and I think my pal made the right call by letting me jump at his drop zone.....