Andy9o8

Some people balk at the idea of being strapped on to a tandem instructor on their first jump. While it might (emphasis on might) take you a couple extra jumps to learn self-stability in freefall with ATP than with AFF, the tandem progression does have 2 particular benefits: 1. It helps you get your head past the sensory overload of your first jump, which is overwhelming to some, with little or no pressure to perform. Even with static line or IAD, where time from exit to canopy inflation is only about 4 seconds, once the student is gone, he's responsible for his own EP's and his own canopy landing. Obviously not the case if you're a tandem student. 2. What better way to get great canopy coaching on your first couple jumps than to have your own personal canopy coach strapped onto your back?

Headline on CNN.com this morning: "After 2 weeks, Bush hits ground" I gotta get me that wingsuit.

There is something to be said for staying with the same instructors who can monitor your progress until you complete AFF. However, many people can't do that, for reasons such as yours, and they all manage to get through AFF just fine if they decide to switch to a different DZ There are several very good DZs within an easy drive of where you live that would be good at which to continue your training. Use DZ.com's dropzone locator. (Click on the "Dropzones" button on the menu bar) Give them a call, and even visit some of them to get a feel for what each one has to offer.

Ha! Wait til you're married. You'll get a life-long education in "overreactive PMS"

Nope , you're not the only one to start at 18. When I was a kid, some jumpers did a demo into our town's 4th of July celebration. Then I read a book about a WW2 paratrooper's jump school training. Then I started reading books about skydiving. A few years later, while away in my first year at college, I made my first S/L jump about a week after my 18th birthday. One of the best days of my life.

OK, 74% pure And for at least 1/2 of you "under 50%" - I call bullshit!

You know, you're not supposed to talk about that...

Many novices think that; I know I did when I first got off student status. The way it was explained to me was: jumping alone is just floating, while jumping with others is actually flying. Once I started jumping with others, I realized that was right.

That's because we call them "go-practice-on-your-own" jumps.

Well, it's the middle of the workday, & I've got to make a living, so having nothing better to do I did a Google search. Got 3 hits saying the same thing, 2 of which are identical to each other. However, none of these hits reference any source material, so it really doesn't confirm whether it's truth or myth. OK, back to work.

Plenty of people keep jumping while they have young kids, and they're still caring parents. On the other hand, plenty of people take time off from jumping to lessen the risk to themselves while their kids are young, and many of them, like me, are dads; and there's nothing dishonorable about doing that, either. I did it (took time off while my kids were younger), and the sky was still there when my family was older and I was ready to come back. Currency/uncurrency issues usually aren't the main decision variable for most people (plenty of people who live up north stop jumping for the winter months every year). But if you do take a good chunk of time off, when you come back, have patience and make sure you ease your way back into it to compensate for the uncurrency.

Um, if you want to keep your girlfriend, don't break your important bone.

Hey, is that an old Paradactyl under the walkway?

Doesn't Relative Workshop test their Skyhooks sort of this way? (With the exception of the backwards harness.) Of course, that's in the interest of science. All work, no play...

And terminal velocity for a piece of gum is...? Oh, that depends on the flavor. And the, um, salivation factor. I'll get back to you on that.

Fine, if a wad of gum ever hits my windshield at terminal velocity, I'll know who to blame.

There are some people who can't jump and chew gum at the same time. It confuses them.

Get some videos of your landings and post them on here. Then we can really flame your ass.

The training in Spain comes mainly from the plane. Just thought I'd mention that.

OK, how about this: Right now, you're a "student skydiver". Is there a magic threshold, one single jump, at which time the word "student" is removed? No. Quade just said: A person that can understand the nuances of the risks is a skydiver. . That's an excellent answer to your question. I think an equally valid question is "when is someone not a whuffo?" IMO, being a whuffo is a state of mind. There's a certain ..... call it "understanding" of the "Why" (and not the "how") of skydiving that separates someone who no longer is a whuffo from somone who is. Remember, "whuffo" means "Whuffo you do that?" A whuffo has no idea what the answer is to that question, and often feels compelled to ask. A non-whuffo understands the answer, even if he can't quite put it into adequate words, and especially if he's gotten sick of hearing the damned question from whuffos.

Yes,you make entirely valid points. I'm not really advocating one handle over the other. I'm just saying I feel slightly more secure with the greater grab-ability of a rigid/open reserve handle. But maybe that's just because it's what I've always been used to. As I said, I've got an open mind on this subject, especially since I've seen, first-hand, so much evolution in gear (and gear philosophies) over the past 30 years

You have a D-ring for a cutaway handle? I've never seen one before. Who made it? Derek Oh, shit! My bad, I mis-read your post. For some reason my brain registered "reserve handle". I only had 3 hours of sleep last night zzzzzzzz. Yes, I have a pillow cutaway handle. No, I don't recall its ever getting tucked-under.

I really resent that. I am not fat.

I did S/L progression, so my first “real” pull - my first freefall on Jump #6 – felt almost exactly as my previous 3 DRCP jumps, because I basically pulled the instant I left the step, so I had a canopy over my head as fast as if it had been a S/L. Now my first EVER jump, I remember the JM’s “Go!!”, I remember leaving the step....then I remember looking up and seeing a big, round T-10 over my head. I have absolutely no memory, no visual picture whatsoever, of the 3 or 4 seconds between exit and canopy. Total sensory overload. And then...all was calm. Remember how incredibly QUIET it was the first time in your life you were under a canopy? The silence of that first canopy ride was the most magical sound I had ever heard, and it would remain so until years later when I heard my oldest child’s heartbeat in utero for the very first time. And that’s quite a comparison.

Do you have a pillow for a cutaway handle? Have you ever been concerned that your cutaway handle would be tucked under the main lift web if you ever needed it? Nope, I've always had a D-ring. But I've heard & read about the occasional tuck-in, so that's why I think what I thunk. But I have an open mind to others' opinions on the subject.