Rate Yourself

[Hooknswoop 19]

How good of a skydiver are you compared to other skydivers with a similar experience level?

Derek

[BillyVance 34]

When I had 500 jumps, I was probably way above average, being very current and successfully completing a 100 way and some challenging big way sequential.

Now at nearly 1300 jumps, probably just average because I don't jump as much as I used to. You can count on me to fuck up an 8 way more than anybody else.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[mnealtx 0]

I manage not to kill myself or anyone else and I have fun... that's good enough for now.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

Depends on what DZ I'm at. back in my old DZ's in Ohio? Above average. Here in AZ... more like average, especially since I'm less current due to financial constraints. Hope to change that in the next couple years, but of course it gets harder and harder to be above average as your experience increases.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[shropshire 0]

I've formed a habit of arriving at the ground in good enough shape to be able to repeat the process, in the same day.... Good enough for me.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[napalmboy 0]

It kind of depends on what you mean by "experience". I'd say I'm above average for my jump numbers, because a couple of different people with several thousand more jumps than I've got have told me so. The reason behind that is what time I've had in the tunnel, though, so compared to someone with my jumps + tunnel time, I'd say average to a little below average.

I'd say I'm below average compared to where I want to be, though.

Well, the door was open...

[rushmc 18]

I stay away from some jumps because I know I would at least screw something up. In a worst case senario?...well ..... I owe my friends more than that

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[ebusto 0]

I was just thinking about this the other day. Probably below average in skill, but above average in the amount of fun I have. I'll be doing this stuff for a long time to come.

[yamtx73 0]

Due to certain circumstances I'm not jumping nearly as much as I'd like to so I'm way behind on the learning curve...

The only naturals in this sport shit thru feathers...

[squarecanopy 0]

Hello Derek you Wild Man!
I am quite confident that I understand things about the jump planes, aerodynamics in general, and the technical aspects of my equipment much better than most 100 jump skydivers, mainly due to my interest in and experience in general aviation. My safety awareness is a priority to me, maybe above average for a newbie. My flying skills have weakened due to my layoff from shoulder surgery and lack of tunnel time in the last year, so if you need someone to funnel your four way I'm your man.

Just burning a hole in the sky.....

[Thanatos340 1]

Well Below Average.

I dont jump enough to stay current. Also I have never focused on anything at the DZ other than being safe and having fun. I view Skydiving as a recreation. Something I do to have a good time. It is not about how far I can push myself or can I be the very best there is. First and for most I want to be safe. I careful as hell who I jump with and who else will even be on the same load. I do a lot of Hop & Pops and rarely more then 3 or 4 ways when I do go to the top.

I take a lot of grief from others because I don’t jump as much as I could and people take it personal when I will not jump with them but I am aware of my currency and skill level. I will not put myself or others in jeopardy if I can help it.

I go to the DZ to blow off steam. Maybe make a jump or two and socialize with friends. For many people, That means I am not a REAL Skydiver. I am OK with that. I am not there to impress anyone but myself.

[MarkM 0]

Below average. I've never been ace at landings. I've done too many solos on wingsuits so my flocking skills are lower than what people would expect and I never learned to back fly. I pack like crap. Because I haven't done RW or FF in years I totally blow at both. And since my WL hasn't ever gone much above 1.2, I can't swoop.

But I manage to only kick someone in the face every 200 jumps or so, so the other kids still let me play with them

[VTmotoMike08 0]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that I am above average because I have a few hours in the tunnel and have learned from a couple very good tunnel coaches. I am average or slightly below compared to someone with my jumps and equal tunnel time.

[wildfan75 1]

At my first "away from home" dz trip, they asked me how many jumps I had. I was with Mary Bauer, Bob Stumm, and Todd Jacobson at the time (approx. 30,000 jumps between the three of them). My reply was "I only have 30 some jumps". The person I was talking to said, "Only 30. That's a good atitude to have. Don't ever drop the "only" from your jump numbers"

This weekend I was at Skydive Iowa and someone asked how many jumps I had. I replied with "Only 410ish". They were quick to point out my "only". I told them the above story.

If you take away tunnel time, I would consider myself above average. I only had 17 freefalls before I was doing multi-point four ways. Last year my 4 way team took 4th in the nation for class A and I was the most current and the 2nd most jump numbers. I can do my job in a formation 182 load (8 or 12 way).

But Otter exits and big ways (anything more than a 5 way) are a completely new thought processes for me. And doing a jump in January in something other than three layers of clothing is going to be foreign.

Not everyone is willing to and can swing 411 jumps in 2 years (considering purchasing almost all new gear over that time period). And then again, there are some that would consider that a drop in the bucket. I thank the good Man above everyday that I started where I did. I would love to consider myself "above average" because I have taken advantage of every situation presented, but below average because there are people with ten times the natural ability and "the hand drawn to them".

I vote average. Average is not bad, not excellent, but good....really good

[The_Don 0]

Quote

Well Below Average.

I dont jump enough to stay current. Also I have never focused on anything at the DZ other than being safe and having fun. I view Skydiving as a recreation. Something I do to have a good time. It is not about how far I can push myself or can I be the very best there is. First and for most I want to be safe. I careful as hell who I jump with and who else will even be on the same load. I do a lot of Hop & Pops and rarely more then 3 or 4 ways when I do go to the top.

I take a lot of grief from others because I don’t jump as much as I could and people take it personal when I will not jump with them but I am aware of my currency and skill level. I will not put myself or others in jeopardy if I can help it.

I go to the DZ to blow off steam. Maybe make a jump or two and socialize with friends. For many people, That means I am not a REAL Skydiver. I am OK with that. I am not there to impress anyone but myself.

You jumped with me!

Oh.. don't follow Don down wind..

I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!

[JohnMitchell 14]

Well, here I am, with 30+ years and closing in on 5000 jumps, and I'm not a great freeflyer nor on an RW team. I've never been on a world record and when I go to boogies I usually just say I have a couple of thousand jumps or so. I'm a weekend recreational jumper that can go pretty much anywhere on the RW loads we do, and usually get outswooped by that damn Vskydiver, even when she leaves last. I've never been in a windtunnel, but I sometimes fly the mantis instead of the boxman. I went low the other day too, damn it.

On the other hand, I can track away like a madman, I have really good altitude awareness, I'm a pretty good instructor, and I'm really good at staying alive and helping others do the same. I even got a Ches Judy award once. Maybe all that matters is not just how you fly.

I still clicked "below average."

[JohnMitchell 14]

Quote

Well Below Average.

\ people take it personal when I will not jump with them but I am aware of my currency and skill level. I will not put myself or others in jeopardy if I can help it.

Well hell, I'm an AFF-I, so come jump with us.

[PhreeZone 15]

I clicked below average too. I can only fly RW to a certian level, I only have 2 or 3 formations memorized, I still have issues flying HD where I get zoomy, my wingsuit times are not that impressive and I miss the shot some times when flying video. Looking at peers or people with less experience then me they are all better then me in some way so that drives me to get better.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Baksteen 84]

I really don't care how I compare
I'm just having fun skydiving.


ETA:

Quote

I go to the DZ to blow off steam. Maybe make a jump or two and socialize with friends. For many people, That means I am not a REAL Skydiver. I am OK with that. I am not there to impress anyone but myself.

'Many people' would seem to have it backwards

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[JohanW 0]

Why, that's last Monday!

And I had a major good day, too.
Coming up on 1400 jumps, I'd expect me to be good at a couple of things. God knows I've had enough training to offset my lack of real talent. Still, taking an interest in gear, theory, some, not all, disciplines, campfires and working with students and investing more time than strictly needed to attain those jumps might make for an about average skydiver.

I may not be fast, but I'm not bad. I tend to think of myself as never good enough, but that's not the same as belowe average. I'm reasonably safe, and I have fun.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[vskydiver 0]

Quote

Well Below Average.

I dont jump enough to stay current. Also I have never focused on anything at the DZ other than being safe and having fun. I view Skydiving as a recreation. Something I do to have a good time. It is not about how far I can push myself or can I be the very best there is. First and for most I want to be safe. I careful as hell who I jump with and who else will even be on the same load. I do a lot of Hop & Pops and rarely more then 3 or 4 ways when I do go to the top.

I take a lot of grief from others because I don’t jump as much as I could and people take it personal when I will not jump with them but I am aware of my currency and skill level. I will not put myself or others in jeopardy if I can help it.

I go to the DZ to blow off steam. Maybe make a jump or two and socialize with friends. For many people, That means I am not a REAL Skydiver. I am OK with that. I am not there to impress anyone but myself.

If you were at my DZ, you would be my first pick of someone to jump with! Even if it were just a two way. And you really need to be jumping with someone otherwise you are not going to learn much or get better at it. I love taking low number jumpers up because it's a low pressure dive for me and I can definitely show them a good time. I love it when I go up with people and after they land they tell me it was the best dive they've ever had. That to me is a great skydive. That makes my day!

I wasn't ever and still am not a "great skydiver". I try to be a safe skydiver and have fun with it. But I have my usefulness in helping others have fun too. And yes, I can out swoop the great and powerful JohnMitchell!

[VectorBoy 0]

Pretty dismal, I can't fly on my belly without wings as training wheels.

[yeyo 1]

Im my case, compared to others with same amount of jumps, it would depend on what kind of jump. If its RW making many points Im waaaaay below, and I dont care Freeflying Im a bit below. If its tracking Im above average, and probably better than some people with 1000's. Wingsuit I just have 70 jumps, so Im not gona rate me. And Im above average when flying my canopy safely for me and everyone.

HISPA #93
DS #419.5

[AndyMan 7]

I had to go for average, just because it's impossible to quantify.

I'm a terrible instructor, because I've practically no experience. But, I'm a great mentor.

I"m a very good photographer and video guy, but a terrible freeflier.

I'm a competent canopy pilot, but because I also have CRW skills I think that puts me above most.

So, it probably all balances out to average.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[aresye 0]

I would say above average. A lot of my friends who are close to getting their A license still have some canopy control issues, especially regarding flare timings. I got a few compliments last weekend at the DZ because I ended up flaring too high, but recovered very quickly, and made a very nice stand up landing. It was my third jump on my second downsize, and every jump ended with a great stand up.

Regarding freefall though, I'm not quite sure. Looking at videos of some people who are around the same experience, I would say I'm average - above average. I think people around my level still try to go through a mechanical process in turning, tracking, etc. I seem to have a more natural feel, and can perform fairly well in the air.

Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.