want to start jumping

[mrodgers8181 0]

but i cant get a hall pass from the wife. she said that she doesnt want me to die. does anyone have numbers of death rates due to jumping. i need some ammo to fight her off with so i can start getting my license. help me please

[IanHarrop 37]

Lots of information at this site

http://www.uspa.org

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[mrodgers8181 0]

keep ideas coming please

[aj4218 0]

Just don't do the one about 'I stand more chance of dying driving to and from the DZ' 'cos you'll end up not driving anywhere either!

[mrodgers8181 0]

how funny.
seriously. i am dying to learn but i am on lockdown in the subject until i can prove it is more safe

[pilotdave 0]

Take her to a dropzone, talk to some instructors, and let her see what it's all about. Might really either change her mind or lock in her opinion that jumpers are insane. Worth a shot though!

My mom never understood why anyone would jump until she came out to watch. She met a couple doing tandems for their 50th birthdays. They looked so NORMAL. She couldn't understand why in the world normal people would do something so stupid. But when she saw them afterward, she really started to understand. She'd never do it herself, but she can at least now see part of the attraction. She loves watching videos of my jumps now too.

Dave

[skybytch 259]

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until i can prove it is more safe

Sorry to have to break this to you but.... skydiving isn't safe.

You can and should reduce and manage the risk factors to a certain point. But if you're going to throw your body at the ground at a high rate of speed you cannot completely eliminate the risk of serious injury or death.

Perhaps if you educate first yourself and then her on the risk factors and how they can be managed she'll feel better about it. You might also try spending an hour or so at a dropzone with her, watching landings and talking to jumpers.

Just don't lie to her or to yourself. If you convince her that skydiving is safe and then find yourself seriously injured... she'll never forgive you.

[mrodgers8181 0]

when i said safe i didnt mean it in that context. i know it is very dangerous. but the number of jumps compared to the number of deaths is what i am looking for. i see people that have 500+ jumps no injuries. so i am looking for a little more info like that. i am in the military so to me going to iraq is dangerous but with the right training the safety factor is alot higher than say, a trip to the sand box(iraq)

[mr2mk1g 10]

We run at about 2.5 million skydives in the US per year. There are about 30 fatalities per year in the sport (in the US).

So that's roughly 83,333 skydives per fatality.

The current record for the most jumps ever done is stands somewhere in the high 20,000's I believe.

If you did say 100 skydives in the first year then the statistically generated odds of you dieing in your first year would be somewhere arround 1 in 833.

In reality of course, statistics show absolutely nothing whatsoever. Seriously, don't start another thread on the statistical risks involved in skydiving - they are UNQUANTIFIABLE.

This sport is as safe or as dangerous as you make it (to a degree). Statistics simply can't account for all the elements of this sport nor can they account for the random chaos factor that generally ends up taking someone's life.

If you're insistant on putting figures to your wife though... that's one tack you might be able to take. I'd say a better way though would be to go sign up for a first jump course and talk through the risks with her and maybe a couple of jumpers over some beers.

Take a 6 pack and sit about at sunset. I'm sure you'll find someone who's willing to talk you through the risks involved for a share.

(edit - the above figures are all very rough and straight off the top of my head... their accuracy should be considered with that in mind).

[ChrisL 2]

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The current record for the most jumps ever done is stands somewhere in the high 20,000's I believe.

Don Kellner - Above the Poconos Skydivers, Hazleton PA
over 35,000 jumps and still jumping today
Guiness record holder.

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If you did say 100 skydives in the first year then the statistically generated odds of you dieing in your first year would be somewhere arround 1 in 833.

I dont think it works that way. I think your odds dont change or grow appreciably worse with each sucessive skydive. They stay more or less the same.
First jump your odds are 1 in 83,333 chance of being killed and they are the same on jump number 100
Using your math, the guy with 833 jumps is pretty much certain to die soon

__

My mighty steed

[tombuch 0]

mr2mk1g had a good overall answer. As he notes, skydiving is dangerous as shown by general statistics. However, we do control many of the risk factors and can influence the specific level of risk we choose to expose ourselves to.

I'm the Safety and Training Advisor at one of the largest drop zones in the Northeastern United States called The Ranch, and covered statistics quickly in one of my on-line columns. It is called "Article 7, Skydiving Risk" and is available at http://www.ranchskydive.com/safety/index.htm. The feature is based on research I did for my McGraw-Hill book called JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy. JUMP! was written for folks like you who wonder about the sport of skydiving. It is designed to help you and your loved ones understand the risks, and to pick the best drop zone and training method for your needs. It is available at many booksellers including Amazon.com. The Amazon listing includes a feature called "look inside this book" that will give you a peek at part of the first chapter.

Listen up to the way others answer your question here, then do a bit more research on your own before making your decision.

Blue skies,

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[jakee 1,254]

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I dont think it works that way. I think your odds dont change or grow appreciably worse with each sucessive skydive. They stay more or less the same.
First jump your odds are 1 in 83,333 chance of being killed and they are the same on jump number 100
Using your math, the guy with 833 jumps is pretty much certain to die soon

You've read it wrong. He's not saying that on your 100th jump the odds are 1 in 833, he's saying that the cumulative risk of dying during the course of those 100 jumps would be around 1 in 833.

Put it another way, with those figures if you take 833 new skydivers and have each of them make 100 jumps, then its likely that one of them will die during the course of that experiment. Of course its possible that they could all die or they could all live, just less likely.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[freakflyer9999 1]

It doesn't make any difference what statistics say if you are the 1 in xxxxxxxx that dies. You'll still be dead.

Either sit on the couch and hold your wife's hand or get up and go jump. You have to decide how you want to live your life. I personally decided a number of years ago that I didn't want to die sitting on the couch.

[ChrisL 2]

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I personally decided a number of years ago that I didn't want to die sitting on the couch

I'd rather spend my whole life jumping my ass off, riding my Harley, playing my guitars, making love to my wife, hanging with my sons,
see my grandchildren and great grandchildren come along, and when I'm old and gray, then die on the couch

__

My mighty steed

[mrodgers8181 0]

jump or face castration

[dgskydive 0]

Snow boarding is more dangerous. Skiing is more dangerous.

Dom

[normiss 622]

NOW I know why I'm NOT MARRIED!!!!!
Grow a pair and jump man...this is YOUR life...not hers!

[tombuch 0]

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Snow boarding is more dangerous. Skiing is more dangerous.

At the risk of getting into a statistical battle, why do you think skiing and snowboarding are more dangerous? I am a certified snowboard instructor (AASI) and skydiving instructor (USPA), and have looked at those stats...skydiving has snowboarding and skiing beat easily as more dangerous in terms of total injuries and fatalities.
.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[kelpdiver 2]

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Snow boarding is more dangerous. Skiing is more dangerous.

don't feed a bad discussion on statistics with more bogus statistics. Though skiers advance the science of knee repair, they don't turn names of bones into verbs.

Compared to serving in Iraq, skydiving is pretty safe and jumpers have some control over many of the risks. But otherwise, it's pretty bad.

Mrodgers- the only stats that might be useful is that about 1 in 1000 active jumpers dies every year. But 1 in 6500 motorists does as well.

[brm04usna 0]

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Snow boarding is more dangerous. Skiing is more dangerous.

Check out the following websites:
Skydiving Risk, http://www.ranchskydive.com/safety/tb_article07.htm

Skiing/Snowboarding Risk, http://www.nsaa.org/nsaa/safety/facts_about_skiing_and_snowboarding.asp


Now explain to me how skiing or snowboarding are more dangerous than skydiving?
Don't forget to factor in that people often take or buy beer, liquor, and drugs with them on the slopes (yes, I have personally seen and smelled people smoking pot in the trees, although I assume they brought it with them rather than buying it on the slopes), while any reputable DZ will not allow you to consume such substances prior to, not to mention during your jump.

[jtval 0]

ok after reading all the statistics I guess I'll add my two cents.

when people say more skiiers and snowboarders get hurt /killed each each it's probably a simply case of availability.

the snow and the slopes are more apt to draw a bigger crowd than skydiving is so there may be a higher amount of injuries but probably not so Per capita.

the general #'s that are posted here are somewhere in the ballpark, but to compare it to any other sport is pretty silly. Is football safer than baseball? ( not just the pro leagues; I mean every one who has ever played a game) that's pretty much what youre trying to generalize when the quesiton of snowboarding VRS skydiving is asked. Pretty hard to answer.


anyway the ONLY way you can convinice your wife is to go to the Dropzone and educate her as well as yourself.

the education may even work in her favor. You may find that what you see is not what you're looking for.
but whatever you do , since you are seem to love your wife and seek her approval ( there's nothing wrong with respecting her concerns) than maybe you should try to educate her. Find the Dropzone and go sit out there for a few weekends and see if you still feel its safe enough to jump. If you do, ask her again what she thinks.

you can count how many landings you see.
how many students
how many tandems
how many certified
then make your own chart for that VERY SHORT snapshot in time.

talk to some first time tandems and see how they feel. I can pretty much GUARANTEE that 99% of tandem student would LOVE to tell you how much fun it is.

then talk to some instructors after the work day is done. many of them will answer any question you ask.
think about it as buying a house.(or risking your life)
you wouldnt buy the first house you look at, right? you would ask ALOT of quesitons and do some research.

why should this be different.

now if you were single then you wouldnt have to worry about her fears. but if after all of this she still says no it's because she is afriad to loose you, not b/c she wants to spoil your fun.

so be prepared for both outcomes. either way , take her to dinner and show her that her concern isn't unnoticed


(sorry I'm in a gushy mood)


EDITED FOR TYPOS BUT THERE WERE ALOT SO I STOPPED LOL

My photos

My Videos

[Eule 0]

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anyway the ONLY way you can convinice your wife is to go to the Dropzone and educate her as well as yourself.

I vote for this too... or at least visiting the dropzone(s) in your area by yourself, first, and checking
them out. I didn't tell the other half that I was thinking of jumping, and I visited a couple of the local
dropzones on the weekend. (I drove back and forth past the first one for 10 or 15 minutes before
I got the nerve to park and go in...) One of the questions I posed to the staff at each place was
"how do I break it to the other half that I'm thinking of doing this?" At one place, the answer was
"just sneak off and do it" and at the other, I had a good conversation about it with them - they'd
dealt with this before. Also, checking it out on your own lets you find a place where you feel
comfortable, which will help if you bring your wife out to observe some jumps. (I came clean about
my intentions before I made my first jump, and the other half was OK with it.)

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then talk to some instructors after the work day is done. many of them will answer any question you ask.

I found this to be true as well - the dropzone staff were happy to answer questions. Both places
I visited are open on weekends only, and maybe Friday evening. Probably the best time to find
somebody free to talk for a while is first thing in the morning (8 or 9), or towards sunset. On
Sunday things seem to slow down a little sooner, so you might be able to go out earlier in the day
and find someone with some free time.

At least in my limited experience, one thing that won't happen is that the staff won't BS you.
If your wife asks one of them directly "can you die doing this", they'll probably say "yes". They will
probably then go on to explain the specific risks and the precautions that are taken for each one,
but they won't pretend that it's not dangerous.

Good luck!

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[darrenspooner 0]

Well, I understand your dilemma my friend. Let's not forget, our wives and our children are why we're here. But, don't waste a breath. Take your wife along to a DZ for the day and let her see the tiptoe landings, the videos, the swooping. Get her to watch it over and over, and she'll come to terms with it. Best of all, get someone to show her a canopy. Show her how it wants to open, how it flies, how the risk is actually pretty small. Just get her around the sport, sh'll relax a little. Best of all, buy her a tandem.

[UntamedDOG 0]

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but i cant get a hall pass from the wife.

Dude, why are you using the “wife factor” to justify your hesitation to skydive?
Admit it. You are just afraid to do it. It has nothing at all to do with your wife. If you really want to skydive, there is no law that says you have to tell your spouse that you are doing it. Men cheat on their wives all the time and never tell. Obviously, if these men can keep a secret that big, then skydiving should be relatively easy to accomplish.

Nutt out…..Grow a sack….then learn to jump!....punk.

[lowie 0]

I think when you take up a sport like skydiving you have to accept that there is a reasonable chance that you could be seriously injured or killed - even if you have done everything right. Shit happens and when it does divers are very lucky if escape unharmed. Well IMHO anyway.