instructional dvd's

[bloody_trauma 2]

can anyone recommend a good beginner/medium level instructional skydiving DVD for me to order to learn from, i'd like to learn something while i sit here on me bum... anything you could tel me would be great

Fly it like you stole it

[NWFlyer 2]

The best advice I can give you is that you're not going to learn to skydive by watching a video.



Go to www.skydivingmovies.com and watch some stuff for fun. About the only video I can think of that *might* be helpful is called "Break-Away"; it's a video of malfunctions and how to recognize and deal with them. Even then, you should be learning about malfunctions and emergency procedures from qualified instructional staff, not from a video. It's a nice supplement, but it's not the way to learn.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Ron 7]

Quote

The best advice I can give you is that you're not going to learn to skydive by watching a video.

Not true. Visilization can improve your performance. So can video. Watching video is required by some teams.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

Quote

The best advice I can give you is that you're not going to learn to skydive by watching a video.

Not true. Visilization can improve your performance. So can video. Watching video is required by some teams.

Of course it's valuable, but would you really advise someone with one jump to go watch a "how to skydive" video then get in the air?

Seems to me that video becomes a valuable training tool when you know enough to be able to put it into context. Till then, it's fun to watch, but you're probably not going to put it into practice immediately after your FJC.

[Ron 7]

Quote

Of course it's valuable, but would you really advise someone with one jump to go watch a "how to skydive" video then get in the air?

More training is always better than less training. I can take a video and show a student how things look, and how body movements create action. Seeing is better than just telling.

Quote

Seems to me that video becomes a valuable training tool when you know enough to be able to put it into context. Till then, it's fun to watch, but you're probably not going to put it into practice immediately after your FJC.

I tend to disagree. I use video all the time with my students both in skydiving and in my real world job as an Instructor.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[ChangoLanzao 0]

Quote

can anyone recommend a good beginner/medium level instructional skydiving DVD for me to order to learn from, i'd like to learn something while i sit here on me bum... anything you could tel me would be great

With only one jump under your belt, the most critical information that you need to learn is in the SIM. Spend your money buying one of those and study it. Learn how to pack, ask questions, and have the rigger at your DZ explain how the gear is engineered and maintained and how/why it works.

[Guest 1010]

what ChangoLanzao said, but here is the SIM online since you are off in sandy climes I think:

http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2006SIM/SIM.htm

If you have enough slack time I suspect you could get it totally down and quiz your instructors when you get back stateside!

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[bloody_trauma 2]

I do understand that i can't learn to skydive from a video, but you see i am in iraq, and i am light years away from being able to go to a DZ. while i'm here i'd like to at least be informed about the sport so that wheni do go through AFF i can ask the right questions and keep others views and opinions in my mind and ask the instructors what they think about what joe schmoe said. believe me when i say that i'm just educating my self and doing some research before i start jumping, I'd like to be an informed jumper and take in all the knowledge i can, you must understand that when your in the military you learn to learn things fast and often and then do them correctly, I pick up new skills nearly everyday, I am disciplined enough to mitigate the risks of iraq everyday i think i can handle a skydiving video without biasing a hands on education

Fly it like you stole it

[NWFlyer 2]

None of what you're saying contradicts what I've said.

[NWFlyer 2]

Like others have said, then, the SIM would be a good place to start, since it contains information that is used in USPA training programs.

There may be folks who are aware of videos that might be useful, but I'm not aware of too many instructionally-oriented videos, and I can't think of any that are geared towards the absolute basics of how to skydive. A quick look at the paragear catalog shows a few (the Skydiving Survival Series package) that might be useful for a new jumper.

http://www.paragear.com/templates/parachutes.asp?group=461&level=1

[bloody_trauma 2]

I'm not trying to argue with you, I agreed with you. I've read the SIM now i'd like to have something to visualize it with, Its not like i plan on going out and trying to wingsuit or freesyle the second i get off student status, like said before I would like a training aide not a video to train me, thats ridiculous

Fly it like you stole it

[NWFlyer 2]

Um.... you'll notice that I pointed you in the direction of some videos. If you think I'm "arguing" with you then I guess you're trying to pick a fight.

[bloody_trauma 2]

see that what i'm talking about that appears to be just what i am looking for, thanks anybody else who knwo any please lemme know

Fly it like you stole it

[Ron 7]

Quote

None of what you're saying contradicts what I've said.

Sure it does. You said, "Seems to me that video becomes a valuable training tool when you know enough to be able to put it into context"

And I think it can be good to watch videos even if you have no jumps, or very few. If a guy with 1 jump sees people breaking off and tracking on video after video. Then he knows that you have to do that. Even if he does not know HOW, he knows its something he has to do.

The best way to stay ionvolved with the sport is to DO it. But if you can't do it....Say cause you are in Iraq. Then the next best thing is to watch videos.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[DSE 3]

Quote

The best advice I can give you is that you're not going to learn to skydive by watching a video.



Go to www.skydivingmovies.com and watch some stuff for fun. About the only video I can think of that *might* be helpful is called "Break-Away"; it's a video of malfunctions and how to recognize and deal with them. Even then, you should be learning about malfunctions and emergency procedures from qualified instructional staff, not from a video. It's a nice supplement, but it's not the way to learn.

Given that my company produces training videos for media attorneys, video professionals, students, extreme sports shooters, and dangerous capture shooters, I'd have to strongly disagree.
Training on video is in no way a substitute for professional training, but video training that contains information and techniques from professionals is a fabulous supplement to professional training. Otherwise, why do we buy books, attend ground lectures, watch movies, and converse with fellow jumpers when we're not in the air? At what point does a skydiver that has 5000 jumps have less valid information than a skydiver with 500 jumps and an instructors rating? If I could see say...Dan Poynter or Brian Germaine on video rather than flying all the way across the nation and staying in a hotel, I'd probably do just that. And then discuss what I've learned with an instructor that I'm comfortable with.
Perfect example;
I'm told every day that I'm a far advanced skydiver for my number of jumps. I'm sitflying, head down flying, and doing relative work with a few of the skydivers in our dropzone. Not because I'm intelligent or talented; it's because I read these forums every day, and glean all sorts of words of wisdom from people who know a lot more than I do. It's visual training in a sense. In one of the other forums, a technique was presented for bleeding off air. My DZO said it was a silly idea, and "he'd never tried it, and likely never will." One of the other instructors says "Lemme try it up high so I can cutaway if it doesn't work." He tried it first jump this a.m. And gave me encouragement to try it myself after he had. And it made a significant difference.
I also passionately read whatever I can get my hands on, and have watched so many DVDs that I can't list them all.
In other words, exposure to as much information as possible is a good thing. How you implement it may not be so, but if you are never expose to an answer, how would you ever know to ask a question?

Instructors are terrific, and I've very much enjoyed my coached jumps. But I appreciate the other avenues of information just as much, and hope I'm a sponge just soaking it all up.

Just my 2cents worth.

[AFFI 0]

PM me you’re mailing info and I will send you some video's to check out.

Video can be a fantastic learning tool - before I started skydiving full time I spent 13 years in the animation/DVD Authoring/Video/Production constructing educational multimedia and I have developed an interactive training DVD that we use on our students prior to the first solo and during the student progression at the DZ I work at. The particular production I am speaking is still a work in progress and is custom tailored to our program but we are developing one that is more generically engineered toward A License requirements, when it is ready consider yourself on the list for a free copy when we release it.

The difference in performance between students that are not taught with multimedia reinforcement and students who are trained via interactive training on DVD is staggering - there is not a better method of learning that I have been exposed to, and not just in the skydiving arena, but in any training environment conceivable. If you saturate yourself with visual and auditory stimulation while you are off defending freedom, then when you get back to the free world you will be a step ahead of the game for sure.

At any rate, PM me some mailing information and I will send you some stuff on DVD - might not be exactly what you are looking for but at least it will be entertaining.

If you are in Texas when you get back I will make your first student jump back for free, on the house to show my appreciation, I cannot thank active duty soldiers enough for ensuring that we have the privilege to live in a country where we can speak our minds and enjoy the freedoms we do, thank you so much for defending freedom...

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[GQ_jumper 4]

Not true. Visilization can improve your performance.

Quote

I second that, even though i pretty much didn't jump all winter, every time i headed down to eloy to get some tunnel in i had improved in the time while i was gone even though i hadn't jumped. A.D.D. is a blessing, i have nothing to do but think about skydiving all day

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Quote

[NWFlyer 2]

I'm going to stop posting on this thread because you guys are taking what I said WAY too far and ignoring the fact that I have said that VIDEO IS A VALUABLE TRAINING TOOL.

I was trying ... and clearly failing... to get across that no video on its own is going to teach someone to skydive. At no point did I say, or even mean to imply, that video is not incredibly useful in learning to skydive. It's a great tool.

I just don't think that this sport is ever going to be to the point where you can hand someone a video and say "Okay, ready to get in the air?"

But what do I know... I'm not an instructor.

[Guest 1010]

This thread was oddly entertaining ...

Blue Skies
Bright CRTs

You can have it good, fast, or cheap: pick two.

[Lastchance 0]

Quote

Like others have said, then, the SIM would be a good place to start, since it contains information that is used in USPA training programs.

There may be folks who are aware of videos that might be useful, but I'm not aware of too many instructionally-oriented videos, and I can't think of any that are geared towards the absolute basics of how to skydive. A quick look at the paragear catalog shows a few (the Skydiving Survival Series package) that might be useful for a new jumper.
The survival series does have some very good info
http://www.paragear.com/templates/parachutes.asp?group=461&level=1

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[DSE 3]

Quote

I just don't think that this sport is ever going to be to the point where you can hand someone a video and say "Okay, ready to get in the air?"

But what do I know... I'm not an instructor.

I disagree to a specific point. I've twice seen skydivers go from reading a book and watching a vid to their first AFF jump. Could a book or vid replace the instructor testing on the ground? Of course not, or I surely hope not.
You're right tho, we ganged up on you. Prolly isn't fair.
I think the *main* benefit of vids, books, these fora, is that folks can access the information and gain at least a modicum of confidence that they *can* try some of what they're seeing, but one thing about skydiving...the "mentoring" programs that it more or less requires for jumpers with less than say...500 jumps can get frustrating. Two DZ's in my area, and at one of them, you can barely ask how which way the pin sets without someone saying you owe them coaching money or a case of beer. The other one is one of "hey...cool, but you might wanna try this. If you want, I'll show you in the first 10 seconds of my next dive, just watch closely" sort of DZ. Buy beer and sandwiches every couple of weeks, and no one complains. Until I found the second DZ, for me it was all video, books, and dropzone.com.
Apologies if I was too rough in my initial response, You did agree that video is useful.

[bloody_trauma 2]

WOW... thanks for the offer, i'll definitely get you my info, and if by the time i get to spaceland i'm through AFF I'd love some tracking instruction. and thanks again for the support

Fly it like you stole it

[bloody_trauma 2]

got the dvd today... most certainly entertaining, you are a character for sure, i was laughing my ass off when you were talking to that oriental looking tandem student and when you put the vid of that kid punkin out that was funny too, can't wait to get the finished product, thanks man youre on point for the nation

Fly it like you stole it