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chopchop

I'd rather...

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So.. you are an experienced skydiver.. and you still love the sport.. BUT. you are out of extra cash.. the only way to make more $$ to skydive is through skydiving. Which do you do and where do you draw the line.. It's a little blurry for me but I think i would give up the sport before I became a professional meat hauler.. I am not in that position but just curious as to what others may do. Who knows.. for me.. being in that position may change my thoughts.. :S
chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

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I've done video, (300+) AFF (1400) and Tandem. (700)

I don't pack. I hate packing. I can, but 2000+ pack jobs are enough for me. I pack my own gear only when I'm doing something new (Like wingsuit dives) to nail down how I like things, and then my packer, Justice, (That's his real name) takes it from there.

I don't do video anymore. Equipment costs, jumpsuits and editing just piss me off.

I don't do Tandem anymore. Borrowed gear and over 1 chop per 100 jumps - and a reserve mal - kind of made it seem not so worth while. I'm also having to step off AFF to do Tandem, and I prefer my own gear. I may do it again in a few years.

I LOVE AFF. I work well with my students, they learn, I don't charge for repeats and most of my DZ friends and fellow fun jumpers are former students of mine.

Without working on the DZ, I cannot afford to skydive. The 350 dives a year I do pay for a few fun dives, but also pays maintenance for my girls, puts gas in the tank of my car and food in my belly.

t
It's the year of the Pig.

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If I were qualified, i would do any of it. After all, it would mean that many more jumps.
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To put your life in danger from time to time ... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities.

--Nevil Shute, Slide Rule

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I am not in a position to do any of that yet but as soon as I can... I'll do anything except pack!!

Plan to learn to throw SL students out next February which has got to be pretty dull... but its all jumps!

Frank.:P
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Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

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I have total respect for anyone who teaches, packs, rigs and/or does video for years on end, whether they do it full time for a living or part time for jump money. I couldn't do it. Having packed, rigged, hauled meat, taught s/l FJC's, tossed s/l students out of the airplane, swept the floor and cleaned the bathroom for jumps when I couldn't afford to pay for them in the past...if doing any of those things was the difference between getting in the air and not I'd stay on the ground. AFF or video might be fun, at first anyway, but because of my experiences in the past I wouldn't do them for jumps either.

For me gear sales was the perfect compromise. I'm immersed in the skydiving world, I'm on the drop zone, I get paid to talk with skydivers about parachutes, I'm not forced to jump in conditions I'm not comfortable with (ie too cold, too hot, when I'm too tired/hungover), I don't have to deal with dz politics as much, and every jump I make is what I want to do when I want to do it and is done solely for my enjoyment.

I wouldn't encourage anyone to work at the dz. I've seen too many people burn out on it. The sad thing is most of the ones I've known didn't quit working and keep jumping - they hung up their gear and found something else to do. Had they not started working for jumps they'd still be skydiving - not as often, maybe not have as many jumps as they did when they quit, but they'd still be coming out to the dz and getting on an airplane.

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I wouldn't want to turn a hobby into a career. I've known too many AFF Is who are burned out and say that it just isn't fun anymore.

What I did when I wanted more jump money: I got a better weekday job. I jumped through a million hoops to do it. Took the civil service exam, went to upwards of 30 interviews. Once I got the job, I moved to a different town, even though I loved the town I lived in, the new one's an hour closer to work. I still have a commute that is roughly two hours each way if I drive, so I take the train and don't have the convenience of a vehicle at work. I got a roommate to share expenses with when I'd prefer to live alone... BUT, what makes it all worth it is that its a nice job, I like it, and it pays me much more than my other job did. I make 10K more than the guy two cubicles over who does the same stuff I do, because I worked my tail off for three years to get a four year degree. In another year, that degree will have paid for itself and then some.

I also pick up some other income on the side. I make jewelry. I sew renaissance faire costumes. I do web design for small businesses and nonprofits. When I really need cash, I teach karate lessons, but that, again, mixes a hobby with work, which isn't something I like to do.


I asked one of my AFF instructors if he ever did fun jumps. He said "I used to. Not anymore, really. I jump five or six days a week, five to seven jumps a day. I don't want to jump on my days off too."

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I hung up all my ratings this winter. I'm done on tandems and any other real work. I'll do video for teams or things at the DZ but I'm done trying to make money having fun.

I'd rather sit on the ground then have to jump for anything other then myself anymore. If I can't look over at the person and say screw you, I don't feel like doing it right now, I am not doing it. :ph34r:
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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I'm lucky with my ratings. I'm a rigger, but don't work for a DZ...i do it on my own time when i feel like it. I have a small customer base, and i like it that way. When i'm hurting for cash, i'll stay on the ground for a day and pack mains. I am a coach, but i don't get paid for it...i do it for the fun of working with students. I realize that may change at some point, but for now i love it.

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meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

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Packing is not making a living skydiving. Yes, you can make more money packing than you can in the air, but guess what, you are on your knees in the shed and I am in the air. Packing is harder on your body than meat hauling, too. I get great satisfaction taking new people into the air by whatever means: tandem, AFF, SL, whatever. If you are not interested in the "giving back" aspect of the sport, then I would say that you just need to get another "regular" job during the week so that you can better defray the cost of your fun jumping. I do not suffer that affliction; I love to teach.

Another perfect example of such a person is Paul Rafferty. 16,000 jumps, five 8-way gold world medals, and the biggest jump whore I know. He loves being in the air and would just as soon haul meat or do AFF as spin 8-way or freefly. He loves to teach.

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I definitely draw the line at Tandem.

I'm a smaller gal, and though I know in my head that I could probably do it, I would never trust myself 100%, especially with a 6'0" 200 lb student. And I think to do tandems safely and well, you have to be confident in your abilities.

I probably won't do video, but AFF and coaching definitely.
Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

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I'm with the monkey. Anything except packing. Packers work hard and get zero respect.

Ed to add - I love teaching FJC, I love coaching students, and I love rigging (not a rigger yet, but working it).
Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

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I've been doing the camera thing for a couple years, and I'm just more and more excited by it. I love it.

I have the coach rating and get to jump with newbies and teach them the skills they need to progress.

I teach the first jump course and take great pride when I turn them over to the AFF instructors for their first jump and they have all the answers.

I'll have my tandem rating sometime this month, it's an opportunity that's open to me, but I'll always choose camera over tandem. But jumping Tandem is better than waiting an hour for a fun slot.

I'll get my AFF next fall. By then I'll have well over 1000 jumps and I personally thing 1000 is the minimum a jumper should have to do the main side where anything can happen. I wouldn't push that on anybody else, but that's my standard.

Having a "job" at the DZ really ups your jump numbers. When the customers are gone, you jump with your buds.

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but I'll always choose camera over tandem. But jumping Tandem is better than waiting an hour for a fun slot.



Please. If you don't plan to stay very, very current on tandems (i.e.more than one or two a weekend), you don't have a burning desire to be an amusement park ride operator and most especially if you see tandems as mostly a way to get in the air when loads are full - DO NOT get your tandem rating. Stick with camera work and coaching and AFF.

A tandem is NOT just another skydive. You owe it to yourself and your passengers and your friends and family to stay very current if you're going to do tandems - you must stay very current to do them safely.

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"Whoring" is an unfriendly, undeserved term for all those who work for money to make a living or to jump



Sorry.. I was a little buzzed when I made this thread.. It's not meant to offend, it's just a term some of the jumpers in Byron have thrown around about doing working jumps. I actually take this thread quite seriously and have been thinking about it alot. B|
chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

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If you dont love to teach.
If your going to be PICKY whom you take.
If you are not into getting to the DZ when it opens and staying till sunset every weekend.
If you dont like someone else packing your rig.
And MOST of all....
If you are not going to do tandems about every weekend and stay current at them as a weekend warrior......
Do not get a tandem rating....

Find another way to make extra money, and while your working, think of us having fun at the DZ.:ph34r:

Be safe.
www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

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well as soon as the season picks up I willbe doing tandems.. pack here and there (dont want to take away from the regular packers) video as needed, AFF hopefully by the end of the season, and I jsut started a freefly suit company...
so yeah,..anything to keep me in the air..
depends on how much you care what you are doing in the air. I would rather freefly and hop and pop/swoop than take a tandem, but when getting paid to do it..kinda makes sense..
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this space for rent.

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I would rather freefly and hop and pop/swoop than take a tandem, but when getting paid to do it..kinda makes sense..



You won't doing tandems then. I was the same way. I'd rather be doing anything else other then tandems, so now I will do what I want to do and it remains fun for me. When its your job the fun is easy to loose.

Flying a terrified 200 pound guy in that is not helping at all and sacrificing your bosy to make sure he does'nt get hurt and sue you sure does make you question why you want to do it. Some people thrive on the teaching part, but if you are just doing it for money don't expect to be happy doing it.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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