Instead of "years in sport", have "year started"

[skyshark6 0]

HH,
it'll make things easier in the long run if I can just put the year I started skydiving in my profile instead of having to update how many years i have in the sport year after year.
I'm sure that you can programmatically figure out how many years someone has been in the sport and display that in the mini-profile. That way, everybody can know how long someone has been in the sport and won't have to constantly update their profile (other than jump numbers, of course)
just my $0.02

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Q: "Do you think it gets boring just flying around or is there more to it?"
A: "I've never seen a bird get bored with flight and decide to start walking instead."

[lewmonst 0]

yeah but you should update your jump numbers periodically, so how hard is it to change the number of years in the sport? Also, I know people who started jumping in the 80's, and haven't jumped in 15 years... If they posted something like 1984 as the year they started jumping, that would imply 20 years in the sport (and 20 years of knowledge) which isn't accurate.
I started in 97, but I only claim 5 real years in the sport.

peace
lew

http://www.exitshot.com

[wmw999 2,120]

It doesn't matter in some ways; no matter what, there are going to be disconnects. It's just a vague guideline, which each person is going to interpret their own way.

I took a long time off; but I already had 1100 jumps, so my D license is low, but so is my number of jumps as compared with that. But with 3+ years back in, I'm not at all the same as someone who hasn't jumped in 10 years, or who made 3 jumps in 1988 and then started for real 2 years ago.

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)

[skybytch 259]

Quote

I started in 97, but I only claim 5 real years in the sport.

I did my first jump in 1990 and have made at least one jump every year since... but if I add up the times I wasn't jumping due to finances and injury and burnout I figure I was out of the sport for a year and a half out of fourteen years.

I'm sticking with 14 years in the sport because even during the times I was grounded I remained involved in the sport through my job and my friends.

One thing is certain - having jump numbers showing up on every post I make is making me really horny to finally hit 1000...

[lewmonst 0]

Quote

Quote

I started in 97, but I only claim 5 real years in the sport.

I'm sticking with 14 years in the sport because even during the times I was grounded I remained involved in the sport through my job and my friends.

and that I agree counts as years in the sport.

I don't count my first two years because I hardly did any jumps and didn't spend much time in or around skydiving at all.

just my interpretation of "years in the sport"... to each their own.

get your 1000th already! (shhh... I got mine a couple weeks ago....)

peace
lew

http://www.exitshot.com

[slotperfect 7]

My first year of jumping, 1984, was all military static line jumps.

In 1985, I had a short and incomplete attempt at static line progression (11 jumps).

In 1988, I became Military Free Fall qualified.

In 1989, I became a USPA member and began "civilian" skydiving.

So, I ask myself: "Self, do I say 20 years? 19 years? 16 years? 15 years?"

I figure in the grand scheme of things I have been jumping out of airplanes regularly since 1984. I call it 20 years . . . makes for easy conversations.

Jump numbers I count only from the start of my HALO days.

Arrive Safely

John

[stateofnature 0]

I'd count your static line jumps. You probably did more training had more interesting landings than your jumps today. You earned um. And as far as the USPA is concerned, the SL's count, so log um!

I did one SL jump to help another SLJM get his rating years and years ago, and I log it. And that was just a normal SL jump, not a military SL jump which is much more intensive and a better story.

[Antithesis 0]

although you have more than 100 times my jump #s, I have to ask the question, Is Military jumping actually "in the sport"?

How about someone who did military static line jumps in 1984, was discharged, but then never took up the sport until 1994?

I guess that it's a really small point if any. The jump#'s are really what I look at. The years in the sport only give me more of a round perspective of someones experience. 15 yrs to 20 yrs seems like the same thing to me.

I travel the land, Work in the ocean, Play in the sky