when did start skydiving

[kscott904 0]

how old were you when you first started skydiving?

im only 20 and i make my first tandem June 1st
a little after that i want to start AFF but dont have the cash flow right yet, whats a man to do?

[bfilarsky 0]

Did my first tandem for 18th birthday. Took two years to do AFF, but finally did it a month or two ago at 20. 11 jumps to date

[labrys 0]

I was 32 when I took my first tandem. 40 when I took my second jump (AFF)

Owned by Remi #?

[kscott904 0]

right on, i jsut wish it wasnt so damn expensive at first

[JohnMitchell 14]

Made my first jump in High School, 17 years old. Parents were none too thrilled, so my second was in college, when I turned 18. Never quit after that.

[kscott904 0]

yea but being a college student where did ya get hte money from

[jimmytavino 16]

19...
i was a college kid. it was 1972

it was my first time ever IN an airplane...

i had 250 take-offs, before i ever Landed , in a plane...AFF and tandem BOTH were years and years away from invention....
i did 5 static line jumps, and freefell on my jump # 6.

total cost for lift tickets,,, gear, instruction, for jumps # 1 to # 6 ?????
96 dollars.... TOTAL !!!! hahahaha
50 bucks for # 1 (included the training)
10 dollars each for static line 2 through 5
and 6 dollars, for my first Hop and Pop...( for which I packed the rig , myself.)
all jumps on "gutter gear", T 10's and 28 foot cheapos.. 24 foot chest mount reserve..
Para Boots... Bell motorcycle helmet..Hi-Tek AAD on reserve. We also used sentinal AADs , but i was off the auto opener by about jump # 10.....




jmy
a 3914
d 12122

[kscott904 0]

damn... now i have to sell a kidney or a testicle to afford this

i guess after you get squared away with AFF and your own rig in aint so bad

[vskydiver 0]

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yea but being a college student where did ya get hte money from

Answering for JohnMitchell since he's standing right here.... Way back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, skydiving wasn't as expensive as it is now. There wasn't anything called "Tandem" or "AFF". It was all static line. And we liked it! First jump course was $30 and his first rig was $125. Started working as a jumpmaster when he had 47 jumps and has been working in the sport ever since. Skydiving is a break even sport now. Work to jump.


I (vskydiver) on the other hand, took my first jump course (static line) when I was 16. Met the afore mentioned JohnMitchell who was my instructor and he paid for everything after that. 25 years and 4 kids later we are still jumping.

[kscott904 0]

haha so we are all poor bastards when we first enter this sport eh?

[Halfpastniner 0]

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Made my first jump in High School, 17 years old. Parents were none too thrilled, so my second was in college, when I turned 18. Never quit after that.

When i started packing at my DZ, my mom strictly forbid me from ever jumping. She even threatened to cut the college funding.

Needless to say, I called her bluff
Of course it helped having a dad who jumped with my DZO back in the day. At least he understands

BASE 1384

[grannyinthesky 0]

No, not necessarily poor when you first start, but you get that way fast as I am learning. I just started skydiving in October with a tandem and then started AFF in November. I finished AFF Sunday. I am a bit older. I'm 57 and getting younger every jump I make, at least mentally.

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[kscott904 0]

right on! and IMHO i think that you should do what you love (well will love, for me in a few weeks) in life and nothing should matter. maybe ill start going by that motto

[SPAWNmaster 0]

I am also a college student and just got into the sport a few months ago. Did a tandem and felt gipped...didn't actually enjoy the experience too much it was too short! So I sold all my DJ gear (I was spinning some pretty sick clubs but that's all in the past!) went down to florida, went through AFF and fell in love with the sport.

My sold dj gear paid for AFF through a-license but I had to take a loan out to pay for my skydiving gear...and now im broke

[jacketsdb23 45]

I was 16 dude. Best thing I've ever done. Took a few years off after that and got started again when I was 24 (could afford the time and money)

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

[kscott904 0]

haha thats cool I'll have to give it a while for the AFF

last call on that kidney

[crazydiver 0]

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how old were you when you first started skydiving?

im only 20 and i make my first tandem June 1st
a little after that i want to start AFF but dont have the cash flow right yet, whats a man to do?

I was 17 and had been a packer at the dropzone for a while before that. I used packing and my part time job to pay for AFF and my first rig. Now I'm 23 and have all my ratings. The funny thing is that when I first started college, I had been jumping for a year, and my goal was to get my tandem rating by the time I graduated from college...I got my tandem rating during my second year in college :)

It's been a great ride and I feel very fortunate to have been able to start so early as well as finish college through it all. Best advise I can give you is to maintain balance in your life.

It would have been very challenging for me to begin jumping during college due to financial obligations, but if worst came to worst I would take out loans for school and use any money I made working to pay for skydiving. It's very doable and all about priorities.

Cheers,
Travis

[Sttucker13 0]

I paid for my first jump course out of pocket. After that I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to afford it so I started working at the dropzone as the video editor. Now I spend every weekend at the DZ, am a full-time member of the staff, and have paid for 20 jumps (all of which cost me at least $70, IAD dives are expensive) - closing in on that elusive A license. Working at the DZ to pay for your jumps has got to be the best way to do it - packing, flying, whatever - at least you're immersing yourself in the sport. You learn a lot even on the days you can't afford to jump, plus you spend so much time with the people at the DZ that before you ever even get your A you'll feel like one of the crew. So if you're hurting for the money to jump, I'd recommend you spend your spare time at the DZ packing. :)

[Ayden77 0]

I'm eighteen and making my AFF at the end of May. Luckily my dad is really desperate to spend time with me before college so he's paying for my first jump which is cool. I'll be working like crazy this summer to pay for the rest of my jumps. My goal is to be close to my license by September long stretch but I like having some kind of goal. Also, I want to learn to rig so I can maybe mae a few extra bucks on the side.

[pontiacgtp00 0]

I'm 18 and made my first jump about 4 months ago. I only earn minimum wage, but I work really hard 6 days a week so I can spend it all on 1 day of skydiving. Plus I sell whatever I can find laying around my house or garage on ebay.

[flyawaygirl78 0]

I made my first tandem jump on my 26th birthday (Nov 11th, 2004) and fell madly in love!! Came back the next weekend and made a second tandem, followed by my third tandem two weeks later (just to be sure that I wanted to begin AFF) and then started AFF a week after that! Wish I'd found it sooner, but happy to have found it later rather than not @ all!!
I hear ya on the cash flow thing!! It was pretty slow going for me until I finally bought my first rig about a yr ago!! Hang in there and do what you can when you are able, as it is sooo worth it (selling everything on eBay works to; )!!

"Sex.... It's just like cuddling - only damper."
Flying Hellfish#695
Muff Brother#3885
Rodriguez Brother#1526-Tronca Rodriguez

[DARK 0]

im 21 made my first static line in november have done 6 since then but im going to maine in exactly two weeks for the summer to work as a packer so should get a lot of jumps in this summer and well packing is obviously how im going to afford it

[tkhayes 126]

I was 20 in 1981, did an IAD at Gananoque, Ontario

[fastphil 0]

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right on, i jsut wish it wasnt so damn expensive at first

I was 21. In my first summer of jumping I could go to the DZ after work and make three jumps, then go up the highway to the "Branding Iron" for a BBQ samwich and a beer, all for about twenty bucks...

[fasted3 0]

how old were you when you first started skydiving?