Years in Skydiving

[DeNReN 0]

after reading the "experianced" thread...... time in sport came to mind...and I formed a Q...

1st...what are others opinions on my time in the sport?..I have down for 5 years for my lowely 73 jumps..here's the breakdown..

1999-12 jumps
2000-0 jumps
2001-8 jumps
2002-5 jumps
2003-8 jumps
2004-6 jumps
2005-24 jumps
2006-10 and counting

I plan on changing my years in sport next month(July) to show 6...as I do not count partial years nor 2000 when I did not jump.

Is my time in the sport correct for what is typed above?

2nd....is there a minimun number of jumps required to count as a year in the sport?

3rd....who else here gets "irked" when they see someone who did one jump back in 86 and start up again in 06 put down 20 years for time in the sport?

Thank You all for your time and reading my crap....as a mechanic who has actually been in the trade for close to 20 years..knowing every day that I work that I know shit about cars......and taking that over to skydiving where I know a hell of alot less...well.


Edited to correct one spelling mistake

[ChrisL 2]

I differentiate between time in sport and meaningful time in sport
I've been jumping since 1989. Thats 16 years.

Some people might think that makes me experienced, but I have a 10 year hole in the middle and most of the first few years looked like yours. Hardly any jumps back then. I was too damn poor to jump much.

Those years just dont count as far as I'm concerned.

The last few are the only meaningful years as far as actually jumping regularly and learning something, so thats what I list.

__

My mighty steed

[TMPattersonJr 0]

Well for me... I have lived with the sport for 23 years but only started jumping last November, So that's why I only have 100+ jumps in 23 years.... I may change it later but for now it works for me.

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[DeNReN 0]

Thanks Chris
TM.....I happen to know a quite young fellow who has been at my home DZ sence before I started....he's now 10 or so....how many years experiance should he put down on his profile once his very cool manifest Mom lets him on a comp?

10?...we do have some very cool pic's of him wearing rigs and staging a jump shots.....

[KindredSpirit 0]

I think those numbers are just fine.

"Kicking gravity's ass since 2003!"

[wmw999 2,166]

I started jumping 31 years ago; made 1000, then irregular about 4 years, then 2 in the next 13 years, but I kept taking Parachutist and reading and posting on rec.skydiving. Then I started again.

So in person, I say 18 of the last 31 years, but it just says 31 next to me. Mainly because since I did most of my jumps starting 31 years ago, and wasn't jumping 18 years ago when an "18 years in sport" would indicate, it just seems better.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[DeNReN 0]

Bah..I gota throw out your comments because you are a friend and you wana use my gear in your DS progression

TY Wendy

[jacketsdb23 45]

I think time around the sport counts for a lot. When you are 10 years old and can teach the first jump course, eventually when you start jumping you retain much of that knowledge. I think it puts you head over heels above someone who gets into AFF the weekend after their first tandem and has only known about the sport for two weeks.

I have ten years listed in my profile and have only been jumping regularly since February ($$ issue for me as well). I've been around the sport since I was born but really only count the years of 8-18 as experience. I have a gap of 6-8 years that I'm trying to fill in now. The sport has evolved and so must I.

As a side note, I've seen some packers who don't have a lot of jumps but could talk circles around some jumpers when it comes to canopy knowledge. Very interesting thread.

marcel

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

[DeNReN 0]

Thanks Marcel
Time in sport means something for sure....as to what extent...its yet to be seen....I would think that as usual it depends on the person and not the numbers...but people on this great site do have a knack for fudging their numbers....

I try and be honest with my numbers and have only one responce sofar to one of my Q's(questions)...which I had to discount as he is a good friend...the lazy pussy whipped father that he is

[mattmais 0]

Made my first jump under a round in 1983. is that 23 yrs in the sport?? maybe, maybe not ,,,,i took 10 years off, "completely"...and made very few from 90-95. 827 total now.

Jump proficiency to me is measured in how many jumps a person has made in the shortest period of time. a person that makes 1000/yr is far more "tuned" than someone thats made 1000/last 20 yrs.

The more years a person jumps per number of jumps...means the less proficient.

the following my be an indicator of what u want to know.
Years in sport
Years since first Jump
Years since last jump
(then there is somethinkg called freefall time)
and the Klutz factor


Im with Wendy (isnt she a Texan too??)

[BIGUN 1,095]

WHile I started in 1981 and jumped for nine years, I had a nine year break coming back in 1999. I only count years in the sport, not on the sidelines.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[DeNReN 0]

Quote

Made my first jump under a round in 1983. is that 23 yrs in the sport?? maybe, maybe not ,,,,i took 10 years off, "completely"...and made very few from 90-95. 827 total now.

Are you saying that you made a jump every year for 16 years?

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Jump proficiency to me is measured in how many jumps a person has made in the shortest period of time. a person that makes 1000/yr is far more "tuned" than someone thats made 1000/last 20 yrs.

"tuned" to what?..the disipline they have been working towards....1000 jumps per year is a hell of alot...I'd put my life in the hands of someone with 20 years in and 1000 jumps way before I put my life in the hands of someone with 1000 jumps in their 1st year in the sport.

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The more years a person jumps per number of jumps...means the less proficient.

Hard to argue against that...see above

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(then there is somethinkg called freefall time)

dont tell the CRW folks

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and the Klutz factor

thats gota be me

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Im with Wendy (isnt she a Texan too??)

Dont we all wana be with Wendy???????

[DeNReN 0]

TY good sir
I dont think many people (including myself) would doubt your years in the sport....some of us actually read and pay attention to what is said in the forums

[peckerhead 0]

I started jumping when I was 18. I had almost 1000 jumps when I was 25.

No big deal by todays standards but back then that was a lot.

It took nearly 15 years to make my next 1000 jumps because life gets in the way.... Marriage, kids, work, etc.

But, I am jumping a lot more now so that is good.

[darkwing 4]

My history is an open book (see link below), but I still count from the very beginning, the real value of the number is what have you seen, so if I didn't count the years I jumped little or not at all, people would think I missed the 1970's, 500 jumps on rounds, conventional gear, etc.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[popsjumper 2]

I don't count anything prior to my long layoff, jumps nor years in sport....skydiving was a lot different back then compared to today's equipment, safety features and disciplines.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Tonto 1]

For me jumps are like going to gym.

if you went 5 times in a year - do you think that's training?

I don't.

I do count the years I only did 20 dives, because I'm averaging over 200 a year for 21 years. That's about 4 dives a weekend, every weekend, for 21 years.

Your "I've been doing Martial Arts 20 years" is very common from people who did it for a month a looong time ago and started again last week. All stuff like that just makes it look like you're not very good.

In the end we are all students, and are all working as hard as we can to be better at what we do. Numbers are less important than that.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Paige 0]

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"tuned" to what?..the disipline they have been working towards....1000 jumps per year is a hell of alot...I'd put my life in the hands of someone with 20 years in and 1000 jumps way before I put my life in the hands of someone with 1000 jumps in their 1st year in the sport.

If an average jumper makes 100 jumps a year (I'm not sure of the exact number but 100 works for math purposes and I'm pretty sure the average is around 100ish), that should put them at 2000 for 20 years.

You would be jumping w. someone who many not be current and most certainly w. 50 jumps in a year, they aren't at the top of their game.

It's all about perspective and person risk limitations though.

Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate
www.TunnelPinkMafia.com

[steveorino 7]

first jump: May 1977
Jumped for 3 years until 1980.

Started again in 2001 after raising kids.

I don't count the first three years. Like another poster said. If I said I have 29 years in the sport, some would think, Why so few jumps, or others would wonder, why do you suck?

steveOrino

[TMPattersonJr 0]

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TM.....I happen to know a quite young fellow who has been at my home DZ sence before I started....he's now 10 or so....how many years experiance should he put down on his profile once his very cool manifest Mom lets him on a comp?

If he feels like it...I believe that you should be able to put anything you want into the column. It may mean something different to someone else, but last time I checked it said "Years In Sport" not "How many years have you been jumping out of airplanes(not including years you took off from actively jumping)"

It's like telling a professional football player that has played only one year of his professional career but sat on the bench the other five years that he wasn't a member of the team for those years he played bench warmer...He's practiced, sweat, run the drills, but just wasn't quite as good as his counterparts. He was still a part of the team though...

These are just my thoughts, sorry if you disagree

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[Dolph 0]

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It's like telling a professional football player that has played only one year of his professional career but sat on the bench the other five years that he wasn't a member of the team for those years he played bench warmer...He's practiced, sweat, run the drills, but just wasn't quite as good as his counterparts. He was still a part of the team though...

Except that someone who took a break from the sport for 10 years didn't practise, sweat, run the drills for those 10 years.

Put in what you want and I'll take out what I need.

[TMPattersonJr 0]

Deal

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[DeNReN 0]

A big TY to all who have responded
Years in Sport...my view...did 10 jumps in 1980 and didnt have a thing to do with the sport untill taking it up again in 2005 and did another 300 jumps sence...2 years not 25 years.

Did 10 jumps in 1980 and have worked as a rigger/manifest/packer etc(somehow involved in the sport and keeping up on things) and did 10 jumps in 2006...then its cool to put down 25 years in sport...not 2 years.

Its all subjective and opinionated to what really matters...and in reality numbers dont..but attitude...now there is something that really matters....IMHO...I am pushing the limits with having down for 5 years in sport as I have quite low jump numbers and havent really started to pay attention to the sport untill 2003 when I found this highly addictive web site to feed my quest for knowlage....

100000 jumps and 99 years in sport....well if you dont want to tell people your actualy experiance level...then do what most do....leave it BLANK...however if you like to give advise and have good advise to give...then why not let the people reading the advice know your actual experiance in the sport??????...most of the people reading this fourm are not idiots(subjective)....throw us a bone!!!

well I must digress as I have already consumed several beer and have a big (for me) day of jumping ahead of me tomorrow and this is turning into a rant and is not really productive to my origional intentions of the thread...

Ty to all again.....and I hope to read some more views on what counts as a year in sport in others opinions