SkyMadness

The 5 Basic Rules of Conservative Blather: 1) What the public doesn't know, I'm not going to tell them 2) Don't bother me with the facts, my mind is made up! 3) If you can't attack the data, attack the people! 4) Do your research by proclamation, investigation is too much trouble. 5) Whatever Rush, Savage, Fox News, or a defunct conservative rag (Union) says I will accept as gospel and regurgitate as "Undeniable Truths." Sad...but true

Links are in this thread... Clicky

Why would student gear be more susceptible to malfunctions? I was under the impression that student gear was more forgiving and LESS prone to mals?

True, however he is a skydiver. I got the impression he is not aware of the site and thought that even if it doesn't help him with his co-workers, it would be good for him to know about. Sorry if the link is inappropriate. It's just that I found the site important for my education, and wanted to pass it along to a fellow newb.

I'm not sure if this site will help you prove any point to your coworkers. But it is nonetheless an important site IMO. http://www.skydivingfatalities.info/

1. Parachuting: The Skydiver's Handbook 2. JUMP! : Skydiving Made Fun & Easy 3. Mental Training for Skydiving and Life Most bookstores, at least in my area, don't stock these. However, you can buy them through Amazon.com or order them through a bookstore. I had Barnes and Noble order them. Only took 4 or 5 days to come in. All three are good, but I HIGHLY recommend Parachuting: The Skydiver's Handbook. It should almost be required reading IMHO.

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/movies.php Some good videos here. Just from memory I think joost AFF Level 7 and AFF education have backloops, as do a few of the others.

Thank you all for the replies and support!

Or maybe I need to be told it’s not for me…? Hmmm, when I finished this I realized that it was rather long (so I felt I needed to add more ). I apologize for the long winded post…I guess I had to get it all out there. After years of dreaming about skydiving and anticipating what it would be like, but always forcing myself to forget it because “its just too dangerous and I don’t want to die!”; I finally made the move and enrolled in an AFF course and made my first jump. I figured I would love it or maybe I would hate it, but either way I would have jumped and I would know. The problem is, I jumped but I still don’t know and fear is starting to get the upper hand. I say I still don’t know because I honestly don’t remember much about my jump. I remember my fear as the plane climbed to altitude and I remember my relief when I saw that I had a good canopy over my head. But my entire freefall is a blank. I know I was there because I have video to prove it, but I watch it in virtual disbelief thinking “did I really do that?!” I can confidently describe my experience as simply COMPLETE SENSORY FREAKIN’ OVERLOAD! Now here is the problem. I still want to jump, but I’m not sure I can or even should. It’s been three weeks since my jump and I try to go to the DZ each weekend, but I don’t. I watch my video hoping to give myself encouragement, but all I seem to do is freak myself out. I see myself let go of the plane and begin the freefall and my heart starts beating faster, my palm start to sweat, and I think “how can I do that again, I don’t know how I did it the first time!” Is this fear normal or am I simply not cut out for the sport? I have done massive amounts of research on the internet. I’ve read all the statistics, read personal stories both good and bad, and read as much as I could about the fundamentals and equipment. I have spent several hours a day for nearly a month on Dropzone.com reading, and reading, and reading. I also spent a lot of time learning about and watching video of malfunctions, maybe too much time. My primary concern is that we all occasionally have bad days where nothing seems to go right. We all make stupid mistakes from time to time. But in skydiving a bad day or a stupid mistake could mean… I’m not sure what I am asking for here. I don’t know what kind of help I expect to get. I guess I needed to write down what I feeling and hope that someone has felt the same way or knows the answer to a question I can’t think to ask. In any case, I am sorry if this post is unanswerable or out of line. P.S. If it matters at all, I did do pretty well in passing level 1. I did my three PRCP’s unassisted, kept good altitude awareness, solo pulled at correct altitude, and a stand-up landing on target. My instructor said it was an excellent skydive. Why can’t I remember most of it?