absane

Knock on wood, I haven't seen anything yet. About all I've seen is 3 cutaways and a 70 year old skydiver land in the trees and come out with a bloody mouth.

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You can count on the SIM to give you the bare minimum that a DZ is required to do, what they actually want to do beyond that is up to the discretion of each individual DZ.

The portion of the SIM that spells out recurrency training is not a requirement, as in it is not part of the BSR's. It is just recommendations. Dropzones would be wise to follow them to some extent but there may times when it is better left to the DZ's discretion.

I read a fatality report about a licensed skydiver that was inactive for years coming back into the sport and he did not do a recurrency jump. He jumped solo and ended up killing himself on his first jump via "no-pull." Witnesses said the guy was very nervous before the jump, too. I have no idea if it was suicide or brain-lock... but I wouldn't be surprised if it was brain-lock.

Point being: I think recurrency should be taken seriously at all DZs.

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Actually I have to agree... Fast Eddie is a great instructor...

Yea, he is. He was my ground school instructor.

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I could always pitch a tent in the DZ and feed off small children ;)

Please tell me I'm not the only one whose mind went somewhere else with this statement.

Wow... I walked right into that one...

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The one that really stuck out for me was that I should have trusted my intuition/gut. At a point (when I could have acted and made it back) I suspected there was a mis-communication and that I should disregard the instructions I was being given and stayed in my holding spot....this was confirmed by a few instructors and it's a lesson I will not forget.

Ultimately, it's YOUR responsibility to land safely. My instructor said that if I feel like he is giving me incorrect instructions on my landing pattern, I am free to ignore him and go with my gut.

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I've also been thinking about injury rates. At some point in time I know it's going to happen, if only a small sprain. I'm going to try and never be injured, but what is realistic?

It'll likely happen. I sprained my ankle after a walking away from a safe landing (damn holes). I've cut my hand badly on the risers during opening. Hit my elbow HARD on the bottom of the door on the plane during my first hop and pop (lots of blood and bruising... haha). I almost broke my legs twice (once while letting up a flare low to the ground and the other while flying in gusty winds). Nothing major... but it's always fun to tell my family and friends "so, there I was, thinking I was going to get killed..."

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One student on this board has been injured a couple of times in their training. What's to be expected?

For some, it's part of the learning curve. Most AFF students I see at my DZ don't injure themselves. It really comes down to the student's willingness to take things seriously and to learn as much as possible. Read the SIM cover to cover, learn from your mistakes, and learn from the mistakes of others. During AFF I'd watch videos of malfunctions and bad landings and then ask myself what I'd do in those situations (though, right before my jumps, I'd watch success videos to get those mirror-neurons firing

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Welcome to the forums!

Thank you! Yea, I'm one of those that needs goals to work on, otherwise I'd get bored. Currently I'm working towards my B license so that I can jump at night (SWEET!). After that, I hope to be able to buy my own rig and become a coach.

I want to do BASE jumping in the future. That's probably 25% of the reason why I went into skydiving. As for the other 75%, I haven't got a clue. Family and friends want me to "explain myself" but I have no rationale. I just felt an urge to do it, and did it.

You should go straight to AFF and maybe do some tunnel time after that. That's what I did. AFF 1 isn't all that hard... just arch really hard, do your practice touches (very important), stay altitude aware, and follow what ever instructions your instructors give (hand signals and what not). The key to doing all of this is RELAX!!!!!!!!

I did 15 minutes of tunnel time after AFF 5 I think... and while it did help me learn more about body position, I really didn't need it all that much. I could have saved that money for more jumps... because, freefall skills are learned much faster than canopy skills... and, you can't practice flying the canopy while in a tunnel.

Ok. An introduction I guess :p

My first skydive ever was Feb 3rd 2010, and it was AFF 1. I thought about doing a tandem for years and it almost came to that, until I found an offer to go through ground school and the AFF 1 jump for only $200. It cost just as much for a tandem so I figured "what the hell, why not?" I remember very clearly my state of mind during the exit... I though "oh shit, what have I done?!?!" Of course, right after that my head cleared up like everyone said it would.

I didn't have too strong of an intention before AFF 1 to actually become a skydiver. Like, I wanted to be one... but my motivation was lacking. I guess I was kind of like all the tandem students I see coming in... they have a blast and knock out an item on their bucket list, but you'll never see them again. I became part of the 2% that was like "SHIT MAN... I GOTTA DO IT AGAIN!"

I graduated from AFF March 19th.

Since the time I got my license I've been having a blast jumping with others. I don't know what you call it, but I love the exit where you hold on to one grip of another jumper... jump out, twist your body, and grab on to his other grip to complete a dock while on the hill. Must just be me, IDK. I also like to jump out, flip over on my back, and watch the plane go away.

I've done a Horny Gorilla (I almost lost my shoe!) and a 4-way hybrid with a guy hanging off our chest straps and a freeflyer docking while head down. The latter was definitely an experience.

I haven't though much about my goals in skydiving. Though, I think that one day I want to make it a part time career... like coaching, AFF instructing, rigging, or whatever. It's definitely fun, and I get just as much fun out of skydiving as I do watching tandem students and AFF students have fun.

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Third, if you should decide to stick with skydiving for the long haul...before long, you won't have any worldly possessions of any great consequence to leave anyone anyway...so don't sweat it.

haha so true. I just sold a bunch of thing on eBay to afford a jumpsuit. It may come to selling my truck just to buy a rig

Better move to the DZ, or having a rig aint gonna be good for shit.

I could always pitch a tent in the DZ and feed off small children ;)

I assume it depends on your DZ. When I got my A license, I was told that if I've been out for a few months, that there I'd have to do an AFF level 4 style jump.

That's awesome, man! What method did you use? I use the Petrus method. Back in HS, I averaged 52 seconds. I've been wanting to do this same jump one day. GJ

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Third, if you should decide to stick with skydiving for the long haul...before long, you won't have any worldly possessions of any great consequence to leave anyone anyway...so don't sweat it.

haha so true. I just sold a bunch of thing on eBay to afford a jumpsuit. It may come to selling my truck just to buy a rig

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Congrats. ASC/Skydive Georgia is my home DZ. I'll be up there this Friday... maybe I'll see you around.

Are you admitting to supporting fraud and organized crime?

I don't know about any of that. I started skydiving when I saw an internet advertisement from them for a $200 AFF level 1 jump. Went in, paid $200, and came back a few days later for ground school and the jump. Kept coming back ever since. I never got ripped off. The staff and instructors have been nothing but amazing.

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Hey all I did my LVL 2 AFF today and the whole ride up i was scared out of my mind but as soon as i was falling i was just fine. Does the pre jump fear go away or should i just prep for it better

Here's my take. I was nervous for AFF 1... but not much. It was more "performance anxiety" than anything. For AFF 2-7, I was a bit more nervous because I started to gain more awareness of what was going on in freefall, but I compounded that on top of the performance anxiety I had.

Real nervousness didn't start until I started my solo jumps just off AFF. My fear was that at pull time, I'd do something to kill myself. It took me a while to get comfortable with pulling at 4500-4000 instead of 6000 feet.

@ 34 jumps, I'm still nervous... but, I'm starting to loosen up a bit more on the plane. Though, if I were you I'd try to cherish the nervousness. I've got an instructor here that says he'd do anything to get his back.

Edit: A small amount of anxiety will help you out. It'll help you stay mindful when it comes to gear checks and such. I check my gear at least 3 times and I've even found a bad closing loop that the packer missed. The day that I stop noticing things like that is the day that I should take a break from skydiving.

I'm not that experienced... so, I'll tell you the same thing an instructor told me when I asked about choosing between a 200 and a 280 (the 220 that I rent was being used)... you can't go wrong with larger.

Just talk to your recurrency instructor. If you haven't gained weight, I bet they'll put you on a rig you started with on AFF. I've spoke to jumpers that came back after months off from jumping... and consistently, they tell me that freefall skills come back much faster than canopy skills.

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Hmmmm...are you the ASC Level 1 that landed at The Farm?

When was this? I do remember a few weeks back I was on the same load as a guy that was doing a hop and pop over the Farm. Why... I don't know...

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I spent the weekend doing my AFF. Passed with flying colors. Now I'm ready to really learn the sport. I don't think I've ever felt an addiction take hold this quick! The crew at ASC in Cedartown GA were the best! Thanks to all my instructors and new friends for their welcome to the sport.

Congrats. ASC/Skydive Georgia is my home DZ. I'll be up there this Friday... maybe I'll see you around.