NicolaM

A good review of Lodi haha. I guess I will have to visit the drop zone and base it of my own opinion. Although reading reviews pre warns you :) Might wait until I've jumped at another DZ and feel confident though.

Yea, I couldn't imagine not jumping without an AAD unless you're a swooper in which case it could accidentally fire. Thanks for the head ups, reassuring to know.

I'll probably go with the 3 month option. That's crap. Plus driving on the other side of the road haha. See if I'm doing it every other weekend the car would be just sitting there throughout the week. Need to look into potentially the costs of insurance being more because I'm 21 and perhaps a liability. Yea I thought that. Also, some AAD's aren't mandatory in some DZ's. I need to ensure any rig I use has one.

Fair point! Might actually be cheaper to pay someone else. Ah sweet, thank you! :D I'll post in that group and see. It would be more likely I'll get a rig to fit a 5ft 2, 8 stone 8 girl from that forum haha.

That's fair. Haha, I guess I'm just preparing for the worst. The fact I'm away for 3 months means I just want to settle into a DZ pretty well. I heard that also. Maybe once I've travelled out of the remote area that I'm at someone will be close by. However, I don't know any Facebook groups for getting lifts with jumpers :( Really? See the issue with that is that I'm on a Sabre 2 210 atm and 54kg so the cost of buying a rig when I will prob downsize quick enough doesn't seem feasible. However, spending jump money for rig hire isn't ideal either :( :( Thanks, I'll take a look. I haven't decided if it's worth having a car. I'm working in the same place for 3 months. I'm working a minimum of 40 hours a week and I don't know my shift schedule days-- they make not be set-- could be different every week so therefore the car would be sitting around unless I'm going to the drop zone. Also can't guarantee I will have 2/3 days off consecutively.. hopefully I will :( Ok noted, be extremely vigilant. Is there anything else I should keep in mind? I'm hoping to progress when I'm over there so might need some coached jumps also. Once I've finished working there I have 14 days where I'm looking to visit LA, San Fran and Las Vegas. Sorry this is such a long message haha.

Hi guys, just putting a post out to get some information on jumping in the US. I'm a little apprehensive coming from a small drop zone where everyone cares for each other to becoming unknown, not having that care at a machine like drop zone which bang out jumps. Outside of Northern Ireland I have only ever jumped in Portugal. Currently, I have 38 jumps, 4.5hrs of tunnel-- FS/FF. I'll be working in California from 14th June- 1st September. My question is, what would be required from me to prepare myself for jumping in the US? Dropzones close to me are Skydive Bay Area (2hr 19m), Skydive California (2hrs 7m) or Skydive Lodi (2hrs 9m).. scared of Lodi though because the reviews seem a little sketch; not a place to go for safety. However, obviously I haven't been here so they are reviews I have read. If you have visited this DZ please let me know. How good is public transport in the US? I would have to be getting multiple buses to arrive to these drop zones. I have additional Insurance that covers me for the US (Skycover), equipment; jumpsuits, alti, audible, helmet etc. I don't have a rig so it's going to cost me a bomb having to hire. I assume I will have to get a temporary USPA membership, would you know roughly the cost of this? Also, although it seems more common in America for rigs to be stolen from cars I'm also concerned my gear could be stolen.. although it's not the same value of a rig haha. Is this common? Please let me know if there's anything I have missed. It's March 9th. I don't leave until 14th June so I'm hoping to get my B Licence before leaving. 12 jumps away.

My degree finishes in 2017. However, if I want to do a Masters that will take me to 2018. Then getting qualified and also practicing. It could be around 24/25 before I am finically secure considering I will have to pay for all these exams and to fund living costs etc. That's why I was wondering if it's even possible to be a tunnel rat/instructor part time. I'm glad to hear your story though. Shows me what life could be like for me if I do drop out.

Ok so I guess finishing my degree, doing a masters and practicing for a couple of years is the way to go. Just read the article. The only problem with the job openings being in the USA is that I've been told America doesn't employ people outside the UK to do a job an American Citizen could do. Basically, they put their own people first. Seeing as I have zero ratings I guess UK is a good start.

Good point. It will definitely be a long road then since I will need to get qualified and practice. Hopefully then I can sit the bar exams for USA Law. I would love to be a tunnel instructor though.. I know Law is a better fall back and therefore it would be better to do the degree but I have seriously lost all interest in it which is sad. Are there such things as part time tunnel instructors? Maybe I could practice in the UK and fly part time

Hahaha! Good shout. I've yet to get my packing cert. Our DZ only allows flat packing on the student kits :(

Hi all! I'm just writing up this post to get information on how to become a tunnel instructor. At present I'm a 20 year old 2nd year Law student so I'm guessing waiting until I have graduated and completed my masters is a good idea. However, seeing as Law is currently overpopulated and I probably won't get a job in the legal sector should I just drop out and move to England and get trained as a tunnel instructor? Or, stick with Law and build my finances working for a few years (until I'm 24/25) to prepare myself for the shitty pay that tunnel instructors get. Additionally, is there any way that I could progress with skydiving at a better pace? I've been in the sport now since June 2014 and I still have not got my A Licence. This is definitely down to Weather (I live in NI), a small DZ which only operates on the weekend from a small plane, work commitments and Uni. I was thinking of going to USA or AUS over summer on a working Visa.. I was planning to work/skydive all the time. Is there any advice you can give me or your own experiences? Thanks, Nicola