FlyLikeARaven

I would love to try this. I just pulled mine for a repack, had an instructor hanging onto my harness, pulling and spinning me, and it was an experience, but nothing like this. It wasn't as difficult as I'd expected, but I didn't clear the left-hand cable right away, and took an extra second to clear it before pulling the reserve. Probably didn't need to waste that extra second since the RSL would've had that out almost immediately, but it was still a good learning experience. I would still like to do it in a hanging harness, though. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

This helped me a lot. I was nervous up until Cat C, and when my main instructor released me, he came around to face me and he has the biggest grin I've ever seen I couldn't NOT smile back, and I immediately relaxed. The other thing that helps me (I am a tense person by nature and relaxing is hard for me), is remembering "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." When you're nervous you tend to do everything super fast, even though doing it right only takes a second or two longer--and during AFF they build in those extra seconds so you can get used to the pace of doing things slow and steady. Long, slow deep breaths on the plane and visualization both on the ground and in the plane will help. Close your eyes on the ground before the jump, and visualize it. You may think you look stupid, but everyone will know what you're doing because we've all done it too. Hell, I still do it on a challenging dive where I'm doing something new. Good luck and blue skies! I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Congrats! That's where I got my A too. Did you sign the board? It's a great DZ, although after finally overcoming my fear of exploring other DZs I'm finding I really like Tracy, too. Lodi is quite different from SkyDance in terms of culture--they won't hold your hand, from what I hear, and expect you to be able to handle yourself. I'm still pretty timid and need some hand-holding, so I won't be going to Lodi quite yet. I do hear they have a ton of rental gear if you don't have your own rig yet. Looking forward to meeting you there this summer! I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

No, oh god no, we are oversaturated here too. My particular area of law--pharma contracts--always needs help, but it's a very niche market. Law schools out here are a business, and will accept very nearly anyone who they think could potentially pass their state bar, and they pad their employment statistics by including those who are underemployed or not working in the legal profession. If you can get through legal studies debt free or with minimal debt, it can be a very rewarding profession. But if you don't have a passion for it and will have to incur a mountain of debt for it, it's not worth it. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Ha, I've only heard of that happening once. Next time I'm up there I'll see if I can find out! :) I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

That's a new one to me, might have been before my time. Next time I'm up there (rain this weekend, boo, but we need it), I'll ask around. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

My home DZ offered $5 off jump tickets and each load went to 15,000'. I took the day off. It was worth it. No wingsuiting, but got some good RW training! :) I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Yeah, that's what I meant when I mentioned that. I assume he'd want to be present for it, which is fine with me. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

That's cute. What do you call the guys that sleep around? I got called "Cinderella" for a day after losing my shoe once. I lace them up tight now. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

This noob would appreciate the hell out of such an opportunity. My repack is due in April; I'm going to clear it with my rigger and see if I can pull it before he repacks it. He's asked other jumpers to do this before, so I'm sure he'll be okay with it, but I just don't know if he'll want to be present when I do it. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how does this even happen? On purpose? I just started backflying (in the tunnel) with coaching, and I have zero idea how to even start sit-flying. Do you mean they just belly fly so sloppily that they accidentally end up in a sit? Never mind, you did say "accidentally." Sorry. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

For sure; I just meant that was one of those questions a skydiver will have to ask herself at some point (not me; I plan on landing in the student LZ for a good long time). Really, the only person who can answer these questions is the diver herself, with a little input from experienced instructors and coaches. I appreciate the robust discussion around this topic; I am lucky that people are always happy to offer their opinions about stuff like this, and I'm able to make an informed decision after talking to a bunch of people about it. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Since it was my comment that sparked this thread, I guess it's finally time for me to comment. I've read every comment in this thread and have given it some thought. As a noob, I'm a little torn--part of me agrees with the people who have said to keep it as simple as possible for students, and part of me agrees with those who say we shouldn't be putting people in the air if they can't handle all the tools they might need. I finally did buy a hook knife and hope never to have to use it, but after watching that video of the guy tethered to a plane by his booty, I'm glad I have it. Would I have been able to appreciate and use it, if need be, as a student? I'm not sure--but then again I spent most of my student status being terrified of a cutaway. I'm less terrified now, but I know I could handle it better mentally than when I was a student. What does this mean for the average student? Nothing, really. Perhaps the use of a hook knife could be incorporated into a FJC or during AFF. Perhaps it should at least be mentioned during AFF or subsequent student jumps; however, that would require installing hook knives onto rental and student gear and that would be a hard sell to most DZs. Again, I am making these statements as a beginner, so I hope you'll keep that in mind as you form your opinions on what I'm about to say. Where, really, should a new jumper be learning things like this? I was fortunate in that I befriended a fellow AFF jumper who just happened to be close friends with a rigger, but other students are not so lucky. Who will teach them? The DZ and its full-time instructors aren't going to show them how to buy a rig, what to look for, and help them figure out what disciplines they'll be good at. This is a rhetorical question, but: whose responsibility is it to give the comprehensive overview of post-student lessons? The DZ's? A full-time instructor? A rigger? A coach? Other jumpers? Is it the student's responsibility to go around asking questions?

Agreed with this. And see if there are other DZs in your area that you click with. I didn't pick the closest one to me, because I got a not-great vibe from it, and the extra half hour of driving is totally worth it. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Thanks everyone for the discussion. I'll follow this over to the S&T forums for more information. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

After getting my own gear and hearing more than one rigger/coach say "you don't have a hook knife?! You really should have one!" I'm really kind of pissed that no one ever mentioned it in AFF. I went through 30 skydives without one; never again. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I'm in Davis, and the locals here have nothing but good things to say about Perris. I've never flown there, but I have to say you're in good hands. Good luck, and have fun! :) I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

When your ankle heals, can you get a little help with your PLF? There are lots of ways you can do this--on a trampoline, a wrestling mat, in a tumbling class. Falling and tumbling safely can save you broken bones or worse in the future. I'm 29 jumps in and only have about 8 stand-up landings; the rest were PLFs, or less so, slides, and the worst I've gotten was a bruise. But I have a long history of martial arts, rolls, and safe falls, so a PLF came naturally to me. It doesn't take long to master, if you want to go to a MMA class or jiu-jitsu or tumbling class. This is, of course, AFTER your ankle has healed. It's great that your school will honor your pricing program, although I assume you will have to go through some recurrency. It seems like you have a good rapport with the school, so if it's not too far away, you can always hang out while you're healing, learn how to pack, swap stories with old-timers, and learn the kind of info you'll need for your license exam. Sharing a beer with your instructors is a good way to get them to jump with you again. ;-) Good luck and I wish you a speedy recovery, spring is a good time to start jumping again! :) I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Nthing Davis. Great conditions, good safe instructors and staff, lots of fun jumpers (that's why I chose it for my AFF). Come on out and say hi! I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Wait so WHY does he need to be at boogies? You can't just leave him at home? If he doesn't like stuff coming out of the sky, I can't imagine a skydiving boogie would be a very happy place for him. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I was going to be all smug about my guy being OK with skydiving because he has his own expensive and time-consuming hobby (collecting and racing vintage cars), but he just objected to me going to a Thanksgiving boogie (assuming I get my A this weekend) because I'll be skydiving or out of town for my birthday and other holidays. I really thought he'd be okay with it since we spend all our holidays together doing separate things anyway. We'll see, I guess. If you're married and have kids, I can't imagine how to balance them unless you're both skydivers. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Quick question to people who are just starting out...are you losing weight at all? I've lost five pounds without really trying. I mean, I wanted to lose a couple of pounds, but I haven't been trying THAT hard. I'm also running a marathon next month, but my weight tends to stay pretty stable even during marathon training since I'm training all year long. But since I've started skydiving, losing the last few stubborn pounds has been much easier. I suspect it's because the heat at the DZ and the constant surging of adrenaline makes me not feel hungry. Plus, there are almost no restaurants or places to buy food near my DZ, so I have to eat what I bring, which is usually healthy stuff. Plus, when I get home I'm too tired to eat more than a small meal. Add to that that I'm not sitting around on the weekends watching NFL and stuffing my face like I used to do. Is anyone else experiencing this? I do note that there are practically zero overweight people at my DZ, and in general skydivers tend to be pretty slim. Also...I live near an airport, and work near a different airport...I can't hear a plane in the air without thinking "is it gear call yet?" I can't see a bird in the sky without doing a double-take, thinking it's a canopy. This is normal, right? Is it really only Wednesday? I can't wait to get in the sky again. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

That's what I was thinking--but I wondered if there was something else I was missing. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I would disagree. An AAD fire in an aircraft has the potential to bring the aircraft down, possibly killing several people. Two outs on the other hand are nearly always survivable, and very unlikely to harm others. Forgive my ignorance, but I didn't know this. How would this happen? I'm not being sarcastic; I really do want to know. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Excellent points--much more important to avoid a two-out than an AAD fire in an aircraft. Thank you. Edit: although both are certainly important. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.