gerryfuss

None at my dropzone. Reasons? not sure, but your right, seems to be sport that for some reason african americans don't seem to participate in. Glad you could break the stereotype and enjoy skydiving like all of us out there. Just remember, watch out for that ground because it really doesn't care what color your skin is!

I don't really want to repeat any of the above posts so heres what I'll say. You have done 3 jumps now and are having fun. If money is a problem them AFF might not fit your budget with more money in a quicker period of time. If this is the case stick with S/L. If you are like me and after 4 S/L jumps was having fun but really wanting to experience FF then Try an AFF jump, but I'll warn you , you probably will fall in love and and say fuck S/L (don't mean any disrespect to S/L). Once I had that 1st freefall there was no turning back. The canopy ride can be fun but that's coming regardless of S/L or AFF so why not put some FF time into the equation and start really experiencing the whole skydiving picture. S/lLwas fine but I will never do one again.

I agree years in the sport would be a good category to have.

I've noticed some people discussing this issue. Some say yes others say no. I say lets put it to a vote. Whats wrong with age being an optional option in your profile? I say Yes as you can see.

that search only lets you pick one option at a time, will the search that lets you pick multiple options be returning?

I'm 23 by the way. I'm sure polls like this have been done before but it's still interesting to see the results. Thanks to everyone who has voted or will be voting.

Just curious to see the average age group of skydivers out there.

I used to get nervous while driving to the DZ but was always quite calm by the time my load was on a call. I think fear and nervousness is all caused from your perspective or point of view. I seem to put myself at a calm state before jumping like it is a totaly natural thing to do. In some ways it almost feels surreal. I will say that when I first started packing my own main that I was a little nervous. I even pulled a bit higher than normal for those first few packs. Now I prefer to pack my own main and my feel slight nervousness if I did not. Strange how that situation would flip.

I can see the german text has way more detail, but unfortunatley I am not fluent in German. Anyone who finds an english translation should post it please.

In the summer I was getting quite sick of the rental cost along with 1/2 the time it being unavailable due to the amount of students at my DZ. I had the opportunity to buy used gear at a decent price but didn't have the cash. So I went to the bank and applied for a line of credit. I used part of that money to buy the gear. I'm currently in University and don't have a job so I take more money from the line of credit just to make the monthly payments on the line of credit. Financially this is pretty dumb but I was able to do a lot more jumping and my gear was better than the student gear I had been jumping. Bottom Line: Money isn't everything & I LOVE my Gear!

I'm sure you will love it. Once you have done IAD I might suggest getting your dad a tandem gift certificate. Any type of skydiving is fun but freefall will give you a real view of what other skydivers out there crave and love. I started with static line and really enjoyed my jumps but once I started freefalling skydiving went into a whole nother category. Tandem is a good way to get that "whole" experience. If your dad is only wants to do 1 jump than tandem might be a better way to go. Just pointing out that there are some options. Have Fun!

The solution is clear. Just Do another jump or two to make sure that you really enjoy the sport.

Kramer , why don't you come on up to Canada and atake the PFF course (basically the same as AFF) (8 jumps) would be close to $1500 CAN. Just wait till our dollar drops a bit more and then it should only cost you a couple hundred bucks

I saw a kid who was 15 or 16 do a tandem (looked like he was 13). Some of the skydivers teased him a bit on the load (all in fun) , but the kid held his own and didn't wet himself or cry for his mother. I can't picture that kid doing a solo yet but I'm sure one day he just may. I did my first skydive last year at 22. You're never too old to get into this sport , but you could be too young. The point is that if your someone who wants to try skydiving just do it whenever you feel ready.

hmmm? AFF or Static Line? I would have to say Static line is fine if you had never heard of AFF. Since you have already done a FreeFall now doing static line will definatly be a huge step backwards. I started with static Line and My first jump was great but I had no FF experience. Once I did my first FF it blew the static line jumps right out of the water. So my answer is AFF all the way. I personally think it's safer as well.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=711051#711051

Nothing is impossible but your situation does make it more difficult. Your weight is exceeding most canopy restrictions but not all. This means you will have to jump larger canopies which will be less responsive than what the other people around you are jumping. for example if you look here https://www.square1.com/Catalog/ you will see that the specs on some of the larger canopies would fit your needs. Finding a used container to fit properly may be a problem. I'm not a tandem master so as far as weight restrictions for tandems you would have to inquire about at your local DZ. Skydivers in general are not big people. I'm 6'0 , 225 lbs and I'm considered a big skydiver. If this is something that you really want to do than it is possible but if a DZ does not have gear to accomodate you that means buying your own and like I stated before finding used for yourself may be difficult. Buying new could put a nice hole in your pocket. Good Luck!

I'm sure all of us at Burnaby miss the otter but before you know it it's going to be spring again and Mike & Tara will be saying "The Otter is coming back Today!". I'm sad to see it go but I think it makes us appreciate it all the more and reminds us how much better life is with that beautiful twin turbine machine.

I had 46 when I recieved my A liscense (under CSPA). I was aiming for 25 originally (which is the min under CSPA) but stuck more fun jumps in before obtaining the 5 coach jumps needed for my A. I wrote the test at 37 jumps but ended up with 75% on it (needed 80% to pass). I wrote the test again around a month later and had 46 at that point. Glad to have it but it's not like not having my A made any of my jumps any less fun.

The truth is that as a whole the odds are what they are. 1 in 20000 was the odds quoted of dying. Lets just assume that these are the correct odds for this discussion. There are too many variables to generalize this to each individual . Everyone actually has their own odds. One individual may be doing his first jump at a DZ with the worst safety record in the country, with gear that should have long been retired,poor instruction, an old aad that was not even turned on .... etc. The chance of this individual biting the dust is quite a bit higher than lets say an individual who is very saftey concious both in freefall and under canopy ,has a cypres 2 , gear in excellent condition just checked out by a an expert rigger ......etc. You take all these people with different probabilities and figure out the average probability of death as a whole for the group and you will end up at 1 in 20000 There are things you can do to increase your odds but nothing you can do to make your odds zero, (and you can't time travel) so anything can happen to anyone at anytime.