GreenLight 6 #1 January 29, 2012 I've seen better days in skydiving. The latest edition of the sport doesn't thrill me like the old traditions did. Mike Owens said it best. "When it's no longer fun, I'm done... So with that I hearby hang up my rig and say so long to one of my favorite past times. It doesn't mean I won't be interested in what's going on with the sport. I believe you can take the skydiver out of skydiving but you can't take the skydiving out of the skydiver. It's been one hell of a ride. (Mike Owens said that too) Green Light "Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there." "Your statement answered your question." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #2 January 29, 2012 Quote I've seen better days in skydiving. The latest edition of the sport doesn't thrill me like the old traditions did. Mike Owens said it best. "When it's no longer fun, I'm done... So with that I hearby hang up my rig and say so long to one of my favorite past times. It doesn't mean I won't be interested in what's going on with the sport. I believe you can the skydiver out of skydiving but you can't take the skydiving out of the skydiver. It's been one hell of a ride. (Mike Owens said that too) I agree completlyIt's now evolved into a industry, & the new ones don't even have a clue their being fleeched by the industry. Thats progress, times change if we don't like it we do have some options. Jjoin the industry, by getting at least a coach rateing, STFU and jump, or vote with our feet. I voted with my feetI suspect there's a lots of people like us, We won't be missed and I know I won't miss the industry. It was a great ride while it lasted. Meet you on the other side,One Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lodestar 0 #3 January 29, 2012 Good take on it Krip, it seems like the same thing is happening to the motorcycle industry and scuba diving as well.... I agree with your opinion, those of us who are still around from those years are fortunate to have been where we were and when. It's just not the same. Now it's more of a financial issue with gear now costing in the thousands instead of hundreds..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 22 #4 January 30, 2012 Hi Scary Larry!!, Sorry to hear your lament!! Since I tore my right deltoid a couple of years ago it sadly put me on the back buner!!I kinda' feel also like my skydivin' daze are done too but I havn't sold my rig....yet!! There may still be a few good jumps in this old coot yet to be had!! Maybe the sport has changed,.....but I havn't!! Blueskyzblackdeathmofo's SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #5 January 30, 2012 Hi lodestar Times have been changing since the begining of timeThe young ones are as we were. If they keep their prioities straight they will be as we are. A guy one day older than me is whineing because his house is on fire and the news reporters are describng him and the wife as a middle aged couple, He wasn't concerned about his house it was insured he was concerned being on the news and described as middle age at 65.No matter how much we try,whine, we can't stop the sands of time, But we can learn from our experience, and move on to the next adventure.Before we wake up one day and find ourselves looking up at dirt.Don't worry be happy One Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #6 January 30, 2012 Attached: some graffiti I found on a neighborhood hike I did last week. A rare piece of wisdom found amidst the vulgarities, and it seems to apply here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fastphil 0 #7 January 30, 2012 I like that JohnRich, but I worry about the hood you live in. I personally burned through the sport at such a rate I felt I had gotten ahead of it, and not being one to wait I went windsurfing. But you’re right, we’re skydivers forever, get used to getting used to that… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vanair 0 #8 January 30, 2012 Inside every old person is a young person screaming "What the fuck happened" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,240 #9 January 30, 2012 Hi van, +1 about a thousand times to that. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #10 January 30, 2012 Quote Inside every old person is a young person screaming "What the fuck happened" There are a couple of ways of looking at the statement... ~from a Skydiving perspective. The first thing that came to MY mind being a grumpy old fart is... Some wise old-school jumper, ATE a younger less savvy and extremely irritating n00b! It could happen! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wdy_bnckr 0 #11 January 30, 2012 Gonna hit 75 this week and that seems appropriate to post. Although I hung it up awhile back('74) still think about it alot and look up every time I hear a Cessna going over.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #12 January 31, 2012 Hi wdy I've havd extended breaks over the yr's 1975 was the secondone. Those square parachutes put the fear in me, plus the cost of new gear. It was time for me to hang it up to. We've started and stopped a few time since then, but imo 68-74 were some of the good times a combination of the right DZ's and the right people with the right vibe's . Kind of like a teenager's first love in high school. Or so I've heard I went to a high school with 6000 guy's. Even now whenever I go outside I look at the sky, check the clouds, broken, or scattered how fast their moving and check the tree for the ground winds. Your ten years ahead of me, so it's nice to know that feeling will still be there unless I stop inhaling and exhaling or forget my name. DZ name. Nice meeting you. Will see you on the other side. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 598 #13 February 2, 2012 I am still debating whether to hang up my gear. My first jump was back in 1977 and I have seen a lot of changes. I went along with most of the changes. In 1992, I turned "pro" to work at a variety fo DZs in Canada and the USA. Approaching the turn of the century, it was clear that I was "burning out." In 2008, I was injured in a plane crash. Physio-therapy was slow and painful. I only returned to the skies through the generosity of a former World Meet silver-medalist named Pierre Forand. But younger "PUPS" (bullies) reminded of my wounds too often, ensuring that I would never fully recover from psychological injuries suffered during the plane crash. Last year I only made three skydives. Now I ask myself if I want to pay for fun jumps. I have not done a fun jump in longer than I can remember. What with paying off my ex-wife, etc.... I am not sure where the money will come from???? I "machoed" my way through one more year of tandems, but it was clear that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MissBuffDiver 0 #14 February 6, 2012 I agree Larry...It just ain't what it used to be. I'm glad I was there in the 70's when everything we tried and accomplished was awesome. Now it's just too FAST. Canopies hall ass and there are way too many skydivers in the air at once to be safe. We were only really worried about a malfuntion, then when we looked up and saw a good canopy, all we had to do then was land it. There are too many people dying bcuz of canopy collisions and swooping...No thanks, I guess I got out when it was still fun and fairly safe. I am planning to make a jump on my 33rd anniversary of my last jump...I might make 3 jumps that day with Air Trash so I can officially quit with 1000 jumps. I think Air Trash and Bully are more excited about it than I am. But then I have a bum leg that I will really have to protect on landing...I'm 65 now, so I'd like to make these 3 jumps for myself. I've had nothing but memories for the past 32 yrs. and with these 3 new jumps, I figure I'll make enough new memories to last me til me til I go to the Big DZ in the Sky... Sandy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreenLight 6 #15 February 6, 2012 Cool Sandy. Are you planning on making those jumps at the Old Farts meet?Green Light "Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there." "Your statement answered your question." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beets 0 #16 February 8, 2012 I got started in skydiving when I was 18, in 1969. I jumped until 1991 when I stopped to raise 2 kids (one who now has 350 jumps). I came back in 2006. The sport was different for sure. Free flying, canopy swooping, you name it. Still, you got in a plane and got out at the halfway point, free fell and opened your canopy to land. Some of my friends also laid off and returned after 20 years to find the sport different for them too. One or two quit because it wasn't the same as when they left. Was this a bad thing for me? Naaa because I knew it was not the same as when I quit....BUT....the thrill was the same, the people, although much younger were as rabid about the sport as we were back in our 20's and 30's. Cost? Much more expensive gear and jumps. In 1970, a jump from 7200' was $4.50. Now, 13,000' is $25. But c'mon...when I started skiing in '69, I paid $50 for my skiis. My pair now is $750. Lift tickets were $9.00 a day. Now, you'll pay $75 in many places. I'm skiing in Utah now, and a full price ticket at The Canyons is $96. It's not fair to complain about being hosed by greedy manufacturers. I owned a 35' T-10 for $100 and a 28' chest mount for $75. All surplus that hammered me when I landed. My jumping stopped at about 15 MPH or I'd back up to the next county. Then my Papillion was $350, my Strato Star $500, my Cloud $750, my Dragonfly even more and it keeps going up. I just got new gear this year that set me back almost $7K. The difference is a reliable main canopy that lands me softly, a free bagged reserve that may save my life with a horseshoe, and an AAD that works! My old Sentinal AAD misfired twice, one time at 500' under a fully open main canopy. If you're looking for a sport to be static, this is the wrong sport. I'm a decent belly flyer, and suck at sit flying. My canopy is 188 sq', and I have no desire to swoop anything. My 62 yr old knees don't need the grief. To fly however is magical! To watch the young ones learn is like deja vu. We were there. We were them. They are us. I'm one of the older guys on a small DZ, and I have a boatload of knowledge that the young ones don't have, and won't have until they're at it for a lot of years. Complaining about the changes in the sport miss the larger point that the sport is ever evolving, and I love it. In the meantime, I'll dump at 3K, set up to land at 200' and fly it straight in to land, repack and do it again. You can too.... Blue skies... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonstark 8 #17 February 9, 2012 Two thumbs way up Harv! Thanks, jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craigbey 0 #18 February 9, 2012 That is the best post I've read on this site in a long, long time. Thanks for sharing your positive attitude and perspectives. Blue Skies, cb Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SEREJumper 1 #19 February 9, 2012 Beets, Thanks for the great post. I think it is good to have the guys that started early on at the DZ for many reasons as you stated. I also like talking to the older jumpers that were there when it was so new and I believe that it is a great thing for our sport and DZ's. Keep on jumping, telling your stories to those that will listen, and wish you many more jumps to come! Hope to jump with you one day.We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #20 February 9, 2012 Complaining about the changes in the sport miss the larger point that the sport is ever evolving, and I love it. Quote Me too Beets! Only difference between then & now is ~'back then' ya had to jump red smoke to have a pink jumpsuit!! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MissBuffDiver 0 #21 February 9, 2012 No Larry, I plan on making them at Perris with Jim Wallace. I think Old Farts is the following weekend...Sandy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ffly4phun 0 #22 February 9, 2012 Well said Harvey. With almost 40 years in the sport I've seen alot of people come and go, but for me its still exciting and incredibly fun. I agree that when it stops being fun its time to go, but I haven't found anything in this life that comes close. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #23 February 9, 2012 Quote Inside every old person is a young person screaming "What the fuck happened" Amen to that one Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marisan 0 #24 February 10, 2012 It started to die 30 years ago when the money came in. :-{ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #25 February 10, 2012 The previous generations always had a challenge trying to figure out what was going on with the next generation. It's called progress Our parents had to deal with WW2, ,Korea, nuke arms race the cold war,intergration , rock and roll and the beetles. I don't remember them whineing.The baby boomers are here and we're increasing in numbers every day.We need the young ones to prosper and pay their SS tax's. I hope they enjoy themselves and make lots of $$$$ and enjoy themselvesJust like we did.What me worryR. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
