GAjumper84

Did 4 jumps today using the Valsalva teqhnique you all recommended. Worked like a charm! Thanks for the help!

Thanks for all the good advice! I figured this problem was not unique to just me, and now I know how to deal with it. I'm jumping on New years day and will try out the technique that most of you recommended.

So I started out in an IAD program, but now am jumping at full altitude. Ever since my first full altitude jump, my ears seem to get stopped up after freefall. It impairs my hearing for the remainder of the day (or two), and eventually goes away. It is not painful, just annoying as it feels like I am underwater. My ears do pop on the way to altitude, which I would imagine is normal with rapid ascent. An instructor suggested it could be due to sinuses being stopped up, but I have taken OTC medication and jumped with everything completely clear and had the same issue. Has this happened to anyone on here before? If so, what causes it and how did you fix it? My next step is to go to the doctor to see what they say, but since everyone here on DZ has experience skydiving I thought maybe someone else had run into this issue. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Lol! I did IAD, my first jump was at 3200ft. I thought that was so high!

I thought maybe it would help to get the perspective of someone that is in your shoes. I just did my 17th and 18th jump last weekend as well. The weekend before I had done a very successful coach tracking jump and a very unsuccessful first group dive (got together, just didn't complete all the objectives we had set). A) I got my instructor to do video of the jumps, which helped me greatly on identifying what fundamental problems I needed to work on. It also confirmed what skills I did have down correctly and was fun to watch! B) As everyone else I am sure will mention, the longer I go between jumps, the more I struggle. Even though it has put me tight on money, the longest I have been going between jumps is two weeks, usually every week. Also when I jump, I start out with a simple jump and go more complex the more jumps I do that day. I have found it helps with my focus, getting the overexcitement I tend to have out of my system on the first jump of the day, usually going solo, and knocking out A card canopy skills and my landing position. Also a good time to work on spotting, packing, other ground skills, etc. C) After seeing my fundamental "flaws" in the videos my instructor did, I took last weekend and just did two solo jumps working on the basic problems I had. For me, it was practicing forward and backward movement, tracking a short distance and going into a controlled arch to prepare for swoop and docks, and freefall turns. Also working on always being aware of where my legs are. 25 jumps is the minimum to get an A license, you don't have to make it in 25. Take it at your own pace to get a good solid base to your skydiving skills. Anyway, these are the things that I have tried that are working for me. After those two solo jumps last weekend, I have gained a lot of confidence to move forward. Hopefully this helps you out, and also knocking out some fun jumps helps keep it fun. I am sure you can burn out fairly easily if you keep pushing forward getting frustrated because you can't keep up with the pace you set.

If you don't like the traditional year round skydiving DZs, (everyone always says SoCal, AZ, and FL) try just north of there, where it is not hot, but not so cold you don't want to jump in the winter. All of the southern US has DZs open year round, and from what I have seen online many are very scenic. At my DZ in GA as well as another, you have pretty good views of mountains, very predictable weather patterns, good autumn leaf changes, etc. It all depends on what you like though. Me I want to jump at Sebastion and do their beach jumps and jump at DeLand while camping on the DZs this spring. Its all personal preference. The quality of the DZ should be a priority as well as the scenery, hopefully in that order. Now because you didn't fill out your profile, don't know if you are planning to start skydiving or an experienced jumper. But if you are a new skydiver, I would suggest going to one of the FL, AZ, or SoCal DZs. They have absolutely great student programs from what I hear, which can be hit or miss in other areas of the US.

So I didn't think I would make my A license when you mentioned Fitzgerald to me in October, but I caught the bug. I should have my A license by February at the latest, but I don't have a rig. I wanted to see if they did rentals at something like this, or if I should just put boogies out of my mind until I buy my own (probably this summer)? I would love to go either way, but jumping would make it that much more fun!

I live an hour and a half from my DZ. If I step outside at my house and its complete cover, I check the automatic report METAR data that reports near my DZ. If it looks sketchy, I just call and see what they say it looks like down there. Saved me a few trips that would've ended in no jumps. Although if you are already in AFF and are serious about getting an A license I would say if you go down there and they aren't jumping, it is the perfect time to work on things such as packing, calculating opening point, going over patterns, getting any questions you have answered, etc. On the days that no one is jumping, everyone is available with no distractions, so it is a good time to learn as much as you can without jumping. Good luck!

Someone else correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand hard openings come from either body position, packing, or the equipment itself may be prone to issues. As far as how often it happens, I am sure it varies from person to person. Someone jumping modern equipment, with great packing and freefall skills may almost never have a hard opening. Someone jumping an older style canopy and depending on a packer may have a hard opening one out of five times. Good luck on your next AFF jumps!

If you're DZ or another one close does IAD or SL you should try that out. You can typically do 2.5 jumps for the price of one AFF, so its easier to get more jumps in and you come out of the program over 1/2 way to your A license. Also you can transfer over to another program without having to start over. I did IAD and had a blast, just finished last weekend. If this is not an option I would say practice your Arch, deployment sequence, and read the SIM. Practice to improve muscle memory (never knew how critical that was until I started skydiving, it helps tremendously) and the SIM has tons of useful information. I would start in section 4. Also if you can, just go sit on the DZ and watch people's landing patterns to get a good idea of what it should look like for varying wind conditions. Hope all of that helps, worked for me. From one newbie to another, good luck!

Those are the two things I noticed right off when I got the helmet today. First that the liner is not attached 100% solid and second that the external routing channel seems to be useless for my goggles. I was pleasantly surprised the helmet came with a bag and that it has a chin strap velcro cover for some padding. Just in case anyone was wondering where to get these helmets at that price it was on chutingstar. $39

I agree. Only looking for advice on here as a follow-up as I knew I could find some people on here who had actually used them. You are right that you have to take everything with a grain of salt. So far though I've gotten some pretty solid advice on here though. Thanks to everyone for contributing!

True its definately not guaranteed to get an altimeter thrown into a deal for a used rig, but not outside the realm of possibility. As far as rental gear, my DZ includes jumpsuit, helmet, goggles, gloves, altimeter, and rig. The only extra is the $5 pack job. They make it very reasonable, $25 for all of that. I have seen as much as $50 for the same at other DZs. Thanks for the input though. I have been juggling around the idea to buy an altimeter soon just so I know that the equipment I jump with is the same all the time.

Cmon! I'm already in an XL, before long I will have to have one custom made if it gets any bigger! On a more serious note, I hope to never be "that guy". I always try to remind myself of a quote (which I will probably butcher). Something about a container that's full cannot hold anything more. Tells me to always keep your mind open to receiving more knowledge, if you think you know it all then you will learn nothing. Thanks for the laugh!

Funny you mentioned the alti II as that is what I am looking at getting down the road. A person gave me some advice though about buying an altimeter before I decide to buy a rig. They said it comes with the rental rig anyway, and the person selling a used rig might throw in something like an altimeter, so you might as well wait until you buy a rig. Made sense to me, so I'm holding off on that. Its just things like a helmet, goggles, and a jumpsuit that I don't really like wearing the rental stuff. When I do get an altimeter, it will be a basic analog model, although I would prefer a glowface model, as I have already ended up on a jump where once I got under canopy it was difficult to read my altimeter. Let me know if any of that doesn't make sense

Thanks for the information. That is exactly what I wanted to make sure of, that I was putting something on with decent low speed impact protection (> 25mph). Got the Benny in the mail today and I really like the fit, as well as the fact it has closed ears (my rental protec at the dz has open holes for the ears, not a fan). It offers decent protection from what everyone is saying, is comfortable, and very economical. Glad I lucked out and picked a good one, what you said about the Gaths is scary!

I know I am a little late in asking for advice on this as I just bought the helmet, but I will ask anyway as I have the option to return it. Is there anything wrong with the cheapo Benny helmets for a new skydiver like me? I realize there are advantages to the more expensive ones, just want to make sure I am not putting my head in something that offers no protection or something. On sale for under $40 I couldn't say no and jumped on it, just wanted to check what everyone's opinion of this helmet is. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the advice! Didn't think about the fact that I could start B requirements if I finish all the A checklist. I have two great instructors who said they will coach jump with me anytime. Maybe you are right about not picking up bad habits. Like I said, my initial goal is to devlop a really solid base on the fundamentals, so I think it would be very helpful to concentrate on coaching based on what you said.

Hey everyone! First off, gotta say thanks to everyone on here that posted encouragement and suggestions during my IAD questions. Also have to publicly say thanks to my home DZ Skydive Monroe in GA! My instructors were great, and the DZO runs a very safe, student friendly environment. Now for my question: So now I can self supervise, what in your experiences is the best way to go forward in the sport? Should I knock out my A criteria as fast as I can? Or did you take some time in between to knock out some fun jumps? Also, I am thinking that I should just stick to getting the fundamentals down to get a good solid base to my freefall and canopy skills until 50 jumps, then reevaluate to see if i feel comfortable adding something new one at a time (ie backfly, sitfly, longer tracks). Is that a good plan? Thanks in advance, also if anyone wants to post any advice for a newbie I will definitely appreciate it.

Didn't realize that was newsworthy! That happened on my first skydive... I missed my 15 minutes of fame! I also didn't realize I apparently cheated death , well anymore than any skydive that is.

I think people wearing shirts like that would give skydivers a bad reputation. I have never been one for rude and vulger material on something like a shirt though.

Congratulations! It only gets better!

Thanks for the advice everyone! 5 second went perfect, then did the next two levels, a 10 and a 20 second. Next jump will be attempting some turns in freefall. Had a blast as usual, and starting to get to know some great people at the DZ.

Thanks! I definately feel confident, just slightly paranoid since three weeks ago I had to redo a level. You only get one shot, and I wanted to try to use every tool I have available to make sure I make the best of it. I'm just excited to be able to jump again! This is so much fun! Every time I do it I only find that I enjoy it more.

I definately listen to my instructors, but during my dummy throws I had an issue finding the handle. I posted on here, someone told me a great trick to make sure you get it. Worked perfectly, and my instructors never thought of telling me any more than just reach back there and grab it. I realize you can get conflicting advice, and I will always go with what my instructors say on specific direction, but there is a place from learning from others as well. Thanks for the response though, as it stands as a reminder to always follow your instructors directions, and don't follow advice on the internet blindly.