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shortyj

How many did you do?

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None, just made my first AFF this weekend having never been tandem. I'm glad I did too. I knew it was going to be something I liked, and I enjoyed the extra freedom/independence. To tell you the truth, I really enjoyed being under canopy on my own.
Less talking, more flying.

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I did just one. I loved every minute of it. I didn't feel that I had much sensory overload so I turned down the idea of another "training" tandem.

My tandem instructor did an excellent job, I did a good deal of canopy control, and I helped land as well.

He was also big, burly, and bearded; so I was glad to get him off my back. :D
"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

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No tandems, just 5 s/l and a first freefall. :)
I have 2 friends that have not done tandem, AFF, or static line. Their first jump was a 10 second freefall, no instructor holding the harness. How do ya like that?

Air Force Academy trained that way for years. Don't know if they are still doing it that way.

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I did 2 tandems before AFF. The first was the "oh I'm only going to jump once in my life" jump that got me hooked. The second was at a new dz where they highly recommended a tandem because of the postage stamp sized landing area.

In retrospect, I'm glad I did that second tandem. It helped to acclimate me to freefall and gave me just a little more confidence that I could actually do this crazy thing. Since I'm not the athletic, extreme sports, adrenaline junkie type, I needed all the help I could get. I passed AFF 1 after tandem #2. Small miracles!

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Well I guess I like my blanket for now:D
I think just the opposite will happen the more tandems you do, you will get more comfortable but also bored and be ready to go on your own
but it's different for everyone.



My roommate did 5 tandems before her first AFF jump (she is A lic now) and it taught her some very bad habits that she had to work to break once she started doing AFF. Namely not having her legs out at all, ever, and also landing with her feet up.

I think one or two translate well, beyond that you need to learn more about what you're doing.

I did one tandem, wasn't sure if this skydiving thing was all it was cracked up to be, but decided to do AFF anyways. The tandem was kinda borring. That was just under 4 years and 1200+ jumps ago. Been at the DZ almost every jumping weekend since.
~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

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I did two but my second one was to hold me over until spring when I could start my S/L class.

I did my first tandem on 9/17/05. I did it to "cross it off my list", but I never approached it as an amusement park ride. I knew it was a serious extreme thing. About two seconds after I landed I knew it was something that I wanted to learn to do and keep doing.

Wisconsin winters can be harsh and didn't want to start in the fall and then struggle through the winter just to stay current and not get anywhere skill wise. But I had to do another jump! So I did a second tandem on 10/22/05.

Did my s/l class on 4/22/06, 1st free fall on 5/5/06 and have done 153 jumps since then. I was trying to get 200 done in my first year but the last three weeks of subzero temperatures didn't help.

However many you do or don't do...have fun!!!! It only gets better with each jump!

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It took 4 tandems before I felt like I could handle freefall and properly flying the canopy back to the dz. I probably would have been fine after 3, but I like to gamble with my money, not my ass. While the tandems were fun, AFF, and later flailing with friends kicks even more ass!
Blue skies.
"Remember the First Commandment: Don't Fuck Up!"
-Crusty Old Pete

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7 tandems total :P

I started an S/L course in Russia, made 5 S/L jumps, but then I moved to the US.
Did a tandem there in fall 2003. Then decided to go through AFP (3 Tandems + 7 AFF) program in summer 2004. Did 3 tandems and 1 AFF, but had to stop due to money issues. Next summer I had to start over, so 3 more tandems :$:)

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the bad habits your friend picked up was from poor training from the TM



I'm not disputing what you said, but I'm curious as to why. As a TM I do teach the students to lift their legs up on landing. Their legs tend to remain up when doing a tandem as well.

Do "teaching" tandems do differently? If so, how?

steveOrino

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0 tandems as a student. I did an AFF jump. I wanted to skydive just to experience it the first time (although after the first one I knew I loved it). In retrospect I would have rather done a tandem for my first jump. My first AFF skydive was a very overwhelming experience. Never mind all that "don't want to strap myself to some dude" shit. For MOST people a tandem allows them to experience skydiving in a low pressure environment to see whether it is something they want to do on their own.

That said, I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with starting AFF, IF you are a person who is getting into the sport knowing you want to become a licensed skydiver.

I'm sure my JM's would have appreciated me doing a tandem first. I had NO ARCH, legs EVERYWHERE, and I reached across the front of my body with my left hand to pull. We all know how THAT improves student body position.

Someone mentioned earlier that tandems can become a crutch for some students who are afraid. That may be true, but on the flip side there are some people out there who should NEVER skdive on their own. Tandem allows us to weed those people out before at best some AFF I gets the shit scared out of them, or at worst that person gets hurt.

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on the 4th and 5th tandems we worked on alot of leg stuff in freefall and under canopy - you can practice landings under canopy at 3000 feet and land good with the student - although landings under some of the new tandem canopies makes it hard - maybe the dz's should keep a couple of the old 400 - 425 sqft chutes around for training students

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I didn't do a tandem and my father was a tandem instructor. Tandem's are great for some people. Not me. It really depends on your personality and how well you can remain in control at 120mph.

I'm sort of a hypocrite. I think Tandems are a great tool for first time jumpers especially if you really tell the instructors that you want to be involved.

For some reason I just can't do one.
Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen
God is Good
Beer is Great
Swoopers are crazy.

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How many tandems did you do before going thru aff? If you did quite a few were you more comfortable with your first aff jump?



It sounds like you'd like to do AFF, but are avoiding going alone. I think the more tandems someone makes, the less likely they will be to get away from them. In my opinion, a tandem jump is just an amusement park ride. No one should consider themself a skydiver if all they do is hang on someone's harness.

Kevin



While I agree they CAN be just a ride, they can also be an invaluable training tool.

We lost something when Static line went the way of the DoDo in this country. Canopy control. That is the biggest benifit any of my students get out of training tandems with me.
----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

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