rapanui

I'm just a noob, but... yeah. I'll preach to the choir. It's markedly more dangerous than most activities that people do. We have incident reports, an annual safety day, and constant revision of basic practices and gear to try and eliminate as much of the risk as possible because the risk is substantial. User 20kN posted above that "one skydive is roughly equivalent in risk to driving 1,840 miles". I've driven distances like that, and I am always keenly aware of how much risk it entails. I don't like to do it. I actually strongly prefer to fly long distances because the aggregate risk is much lower. So, if a single skydive is equivalent to that much driving, it really puts the inherent risk of the sport in perspective. The only justification for it is the sheer fun factor. And complacency and normalization of deviance are soooooo sneaky. There's a tension between wanting to be super duper safe and wanting to relax and focus on fun and progression. The best heuristic to make good decisions is that progression and fun are impossible if you are injured or dead. What I think is also fair to say is that the true level of risk and the average wuffo perception of that risk are very disconnected.

Interesting thread that got dredged up. I made it past hurdle 1, and I guess hurdle 2 since I bought my own gear. I'm severely addicted, and I underestimated how true that descriptor is. I've given a lot of thought to the financial thing and I've come to a completely fucked-up conclusion: if I ever run out of money to jump, I will get money in whatever way is necessary (without physically hurting anyone). Severe injury or death is the only thing that I can think that will put a stop to my jumping within the next 5 years. Past that, I worry about burning out too... but there are so many different disciplines that require focus, dedication and time commitment that I can easily see myself transitioning from one to another.

I agree. I was trying to clarify why I think my home DZ is a great place to jump.

I'm just a noob, and haven't been to a ton of DZs, but I just wanted to give a dissenting opinion, since Lexington is my go-to dropzone. First, there's been only one fatal incident involving a skydiver (a gentleman who was 61 years old and apparently incorrectly performed EPs) and that happened back in 2012. Second, the DZ has been under new management for a while now. I did my AFF there, and I'm a giant wuss- if I'd felt at any point that my odds were higher of being hurt there than elsewhere, I would have finished somewhere else. The dropzone is actually super noobie friendly- big landing area, few canopies out at any given time, virtually no obstacles, lots of bailout spots... pretty much as safe as it gets. Seriously, it's a great place run by very professional and safety-minded people. BTW, Lone Star is cool too... their King Air is seriously fucking sweet.

bjgraybeal you are a master troll, look how many people took the bait. What did you win on the bet, a case of beer? Are you an IT rich guy? You should talk to Alan Eustace if you are. He like to burn his money on this kind of stuff Also, I'm relatively new to jumping and need to start buying gear. If you have an extra $5000 lying around, I'll send you my paypal and you can gift me some moolah... I'd appreciate it.

I'm just starting, but I can already see how this goes. First, I just wanted to do a tandem so i could say I did. Then, I wanted to do one solo so I could say I did. Then, I wanted to finish AFF, so I could say I did. Now, I want my A license so I can jump wherever I feel like it. But... I've already looked up reqs for the B license. Goals I want to accomplish by this time next year- 1. B license. 2. Night jump. 3. Canopy course. 4. Jump in at least 10 different DZs. 5. Master tunnel backfly and belly/back transitions. It's a lot! The cumulative risk of all the jumps required to get there is non-trivial for a statistically minded individual like me. But it's fun and exhilarating like nothing else I've ever done in my life before, so we're doing it. The crazy part is that I'm deluded/egotistical enough to think I can make the risk virtually negligible through care, foresight, caution and study.

Yeah, it eases up. And I had a lot of fear issue to resolve around AFF3/4. 17 jumps in now, and I am willing to ride next to the damn door and even open it. Our experiences have continually taught us that being next to a ledge is dangerous, but that has no bearing on anything when you are wearing a rig. The trepidation vanishes as soon as you go, so... I just try and focus on what I'm doing during the freefall and canopy. I highly recommend having a day where you get in 3+ jumps, you'll see how repetition makes the fear vanish.

Finally figured things out in my head and got around to finishing AFF. Not 100% relaxed yet, but I can at least loosen up a bit in midair now. Stood my AFF 7 landing too, which was nice. Reading through this forum has really helped. Looking forward to participating more as I learn.

Hi! I'm a total newbie (6 jumps so far...) so I think I can help a bit. I hate roller coasters. Nothing you do in AFF is like them. The weird "falling feeling" is hardly registered... maybe for like a second or 2. Skydiving somehow doesn't trigger my height fear response either, which is always a problem when I force myself to ride a coaster. My first jump was a tandem out of a king air, no struts were involved- my TI just walked up to the door, and I got ready for the ride. It was fun, so I decided to do AFF. AFF surprise number 1- I'm jumping out of a Cessna which involves climbing out the door and hanging to the strut and then stretching one leg out until I check in, find my reference, get low and ARCH! The first time I attempted this, I froze on the wing and my instructor had to shake me twice in order for me to let go. It was difficult, but since climbing back in was impossible, I had to do it. Later I found out I took long enough that the pilot had to do another circle for the second group to jump out... pretty embarrassing. Reading through these forums, you find that is not super uncommon- some students get door fear and can't even climb out. For me, it's never a question of the door- it's a question about whether to show up at the DZ and board the plane. Because I know if get in, there's only one way I'm coming down. It's a mental commitment for me at that point. You will have a radio. Pay attention to the landing pattern, and ask questions about it before going up. Try and identify the DZ before jumping. Canopy flight is awesome. Landing is tricky, just don't forget to FLARE. Flaring too high or too low is bad, but still infinitely preferable to not flaring at all. Your instructors will give you much better guidance about than I possibly can. Listen to them and ask questions.

Hi Spacetrance, I'm also new to the sport (read: take everything in this post with a huge grain of salt), I'm currently in the middle of AFF. Under the assumption that you're not a troll lawyer digging for dirt- Here are a few things to consider: The student fatality rate is much lower than the 1:100,000 statistic you just quoted. That's the fatality rate for all skydives combined, including risky advanced activities such as wingsuit BASE. The canopies we are given as students are very docile and conservative. Even a moron like me can land one safely. The odds of there being a serious (non line-twist) malfunction with your main are very low, and the odds that something bad happens to the reserve are essentially non-existent. The reserve takes 3 hours to pack, and is usually overseen by multiple people at least one of whom is an expert rigger. Two, skydiving is a strongly self-policing community. The rigger that packs your rig is packing a lot of people's rig. Everyone values their life. Therefore, you can trust to a high degree that the rigger at the DZ is generally trusted. He will not be drinking or using drugs while working at the DZ- I imagine that the vast majority of DZOs would not tolerate that. The understanding that I've developed from my brief time in the sport is that it's generally safe enough that the main thing that kills people is COMPLACENCY and OVERCONFIDENCE. So, you are safety conscious- stay that way, no matter how comfortable you start to feel in the sky. Good luck with your first jump!

I dunno, I feel I kinda regressed a bit between jump 4 and jump 5. I had a two week period where I couldn't even convince myself to get back in the air (I mostly attribute this to unexpectedly having difficulty finding the hackey on jump 4, I do practice touches on the ground and plane now for every jump). I'm feeling way better about everything though, so I have high hopes jumps 6+ will all be better. Now, if only the weather would stop being crappy...

Texas Skydiving Center- it's a relatively small Cessna 182 DZ. I'm also looking into possibly doing some coach jumps at Lone Star in Luling once I get past AFF. My instructors have all given me the standard advice for relaxing, but I haven't really gotten there yet. Maybe with repetition my brain will start "letting go". My instructor has also recommended I practice at home and start building up muscle memory for arching. It's a bit frustrating that I've got things working well in the tunnel but not clicking in midair.

Did a tandem in Nov 2015 and decided to eventually try and get through AFF. Stuck on level 4 because I'm not very stable in free fall. No problem in the tunnel, but I get all stiff when jumping from an actual airplane. Any advice on how to relax/breathe and dealing with fear is welcome. I've yet to stand a landing either, but getting close!