Zagor

Yes, I had thought about the full face helmet. The problem, though, is that during the AFF jumps you have a radio incorporated in the helmet. And the skydiving school where I will do the jumps doesn't have full helmets with radio inside. Only open helmets do. Since, of course, radio instruction is very important at the beginning and has to do with safety, I wouldn't be allowed to jump without a radio. Maybe an earplug instead of a full radio in the helmet would be an alternative, I have seen this before but the school doesn't have one at the moment, I think. Moreover I have read that many instructors don't allow students to ware a fullface helmet because the field of vision is a little reduced.

Hello all. During my first and only skydive in tandem I noticed that air pressure into my nose caused me problems in breating so that I had to put a hand on my nose to allow me to easly breath. The instructors told me it should not be a concern and the problem will probably go away with experience. I would like to start the AFF training and this is my question: do you believe I could use a mask like the ones used by motorbikers in winter or something like that that can reduce the airflow directly into my nose? The problem is that I don't want to have to worry about breathing during my first AFF jump. Maybe I would try to fix the problem later but during the first jumps I just want to concentrate on the exrecices. Do you think a mask could do the job? Zagor

Yes, that's true. But here in Italy it's not required for main parachutes to carry the signature of the person whoe packed them. So it's normal to have main parachutes packed by the students who rent them. When packing for the very first times, students are normally watched by instructors, but nobody will put his signature for that. And I have personally seen students make some mistakes and then heard instructors yell because they had found something was wrong. But sometimes they don't see it.

Hello AFFI, I thank you a lot for your kind answer, also because it makes hope I will be able to jump. And I can see my doubts and emotions were not so different from those of many others. I think I have a will strong enough to be able to overcome my fear when I feel that I have done and I have received everything I need, but in that situation I had chosen I wouldn't jump because I didn't feel safe. But also, I think that if my instructor had acted like yours, it wouldn't have succeded with me, because I would have shouted at him to leave me alone and that I didnt' mean to jump eheheh But everyone is different and maybe I need somebody reassuring and who is willing to listen to me and my requests. I will certainly update this thread when I try to jump next time.

Maybe take a packing class? It might give you some time hanging out at a DZ which could make you more comfortable in the environment and could help you with gear fear. If you understand how the gear works, you'll be a lot more confident in it and have 1 less thing to worry about during the jump. Infact this is exactly what I intend to do. Since I have decided to retry jumping after my holydays, in these days I have before I leave, I will practise packing the school rigs. So I may be jumping my own pack job since the first aff jump next time. Of course with the instructors' supervision.

Thank you all for your kind answers, above all to Tombuch. Zagor

technically speaking, I didn't fail the jump since I did not jump. But I did occupy my room in the airplane. And also the room for primary and secondary jumpmaster. Three rooms in total for that attempt to jump. So you have to count three tickets plus the jumpmaster "job" even if they did not jump out of the plane, but they were with me during the ride up and ride down. I did not ask for a refund but maybe they will be willing to help me. I will see the next time I go to the dropzone. Last time I was too down for the failure to talk about money.

maybe you're right... maybe I was not ready, but even if I was, hearing the instructor say "who the hell packed this rig?" sounds like "who is the idiot who packed this parachute?". I don't feel safe if the parachute on my back has been packed by somebody who "forgets" about handles and so on. This means he's careless, and you cannot be careless with somebody else's life. Why should I pay for a repack? An AFF student on his level 1 cannot repack because he hasen't been taught yet. And what I pay for is a jump where my rig is perfectly ok. And I expect my jumpmasters or professional packers to repack it. Would you jump with a rig that maybe was packed by a student with 8 jumps to his credit? Because in our dropzone, students also repack school rigs and hang it there, ready to use. This is true, and this is what I'm blaming myself for.

Italy. Of course I'm not going to tell you the dropzone name.

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Hello all, skydiving is an old dream for me, since I was a child. Two years and a half ago, I decided to make a tandem jump and it was great! I surely was nervous the day before and also in the plane, but after the exit I was incredibly good. This year I have decided to take the AFF course, even though I was nervous about it. The day of my first AFF jump, while driving to the dropzone, I was very tempted to bottle out and go back home. But then I saw the canopies gently come back to the ground and softly land, so I said to myself: "Damn it, If they can do that, I can do it too". And I went on to the dropzone to jump. But then something happened. There were many people that day and the instructors seemed a little busy. The dropzone director signed me in for the next load and I had 20 minutes to get ready. My primary jumpmaster took a rig for me and, while he was checking it, I heard him say: "Who the hell packed this rig??" shaking his head. A handle (the auxiliary main canopy handle for the secondary jumpmaster to use in case I was left with one instructor and the primary jumpmaster was lost) was missing. Somebody had forgotten to put it on. From that moment I started feeling very scared: if the one who had closed that rig had forgotten the handle... he could have made some other mistakes we didn't see. So I told my jumpaster: "aren't you going to check all the rest?" I didn't feel safe with that rig. But my instructor told me to think about the task I had to do during the jump, and not to worry about the rig. I tried to tell myself to forget about the rig and I boarded the plane. Once at the door, I felt terrified about jumping, which I knew is quite normal at the very first jump, but here came my worries about the rig. What if there was an error in folding the canopy or the lines, etc... Was I going to perform a cutway on my very first jump? Would I be able to perform it correctly? I didn't feel safe, and when my jumpmaster asked me if I was ready to jump, I said "No, sorry. I'm going down with the plane." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm going down with the plane" And so I did. I lost 300 $ for my failed AFF1. Now I think this was partly because of my fears and partly because of my jumpmaster rush in preparing my rig. I think an AFF 1 student should be cared for more accurately. It really takes 5 minutes for an expert jumper to pack a parachute, and for not wanting to spend those 5 minutes they gave me a parachute they didn't know who it had been packed by. Maybe a student? There was en error on the rig, there could certainly be two. I paid, when I came back to earth and I didn't say anything also because I think it was my responsibility to accept to board the plane. But now I'm a little angry with them too, becuase I think a student should be cared for more accurately. And after refusing to jump the first time, I'm afraid I will find it harder to jump the next time. What do you think about it? Zagor. (sorry for my English, which is not my language)

Thank you all, people, for your kind answers. I will certainly keep you up to date as to my decision (if I ever come to it ) At soon, Zagor.

Hello everybody. I'm new to this forum, although I have been visiting dropzone.com for a long time. Two years ago I started reading documents about skydiving and then I decided to do a tandem jump. People around me were quite scared when I told them about it, but I did it anyway and it was great! Since then, I kept on thinking about flying and about how I would like to do it on my own, instead of being attached to an instructor. Last month I decided I would take the AFF course, so I obtained all necessary documentation (medical fitness, authorisations, etc.) but... while driving to the dropzone, I started slowing down on my accelerator... I was not sure I wanted to do it anylonger. Then I went back home... Sure I like flying, and I'm not too scared from heights to the point of not wanting to jump. What actually makes me doubt is the possibility of a parachute malfunction. I know statistics say that skydiving is quite safe and that accidents are more often caused by human error than rig malfunction. But there also is a component of chance in the opening of a parachute. So, even if you have a perfect rig and make perfect procedures, you cannot be sure you 're not going to have a mulfunction. And I know, you always have a reserve parachute. But also the reserve parachute follows the same rules. Indeed there is an ineliminable component of chance in skydiving. What do you think about this? Zagor.