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I bought my reserve on dropzone.com and it worked like a breeze. The seller and I talked via email a few times, on my request he shipped the canopy to the rigger at Skydive Chicago for them to check out. The rigger at SDC called me and gave me a report of how it checked out and then I sent the money to the rigger. The rigger sent the money to the seller and packed the reserve in my rig and voila! Successful exchange. Use a rigger you know and trust. Anything about "wiring" money or that kind of thing ... personally I'd be skeptical of. Not to say they're all bad, but why be unsure?

Hey there - I am doing EMDR with a therapist right now and plan to continue for while. Helping with the way I have responded to getting "dumped" by a guy and it seems I have some abandomment issues from waaaayyy back ... I like the EMDR and so far it has been kind of mysterious but is beginning to help. We'll see. I am definitely only a work in progress, but since you mentioned EMDR ...

You have chosen a wonderful DZ. Jim and his staff are all awesome and you've got some long-time jumpers who have followed him there. Best of luck!

Awesome! Glad you're back. Congratulations!

Please. 30? I am a female and I started a year ago one month before my 56th birthday. I agree with a previous post - stop talking about it and just go to the DZ this weekend and do it. Once you've had your first tandem you'll understand the feeling. Then do your second tandem right away so you can actually comprehend what just happened without being so overwhelmed by the sensory overload. After the tandems, that's when you may want to do your thinking ... Have fun!! It's supposed to be fun!

Thanks!

I will look for that PD video. Sounds like it helped at least two of you - can't hurt, right?

Hey everybody - thanks for all of your suggestions! Funny ... actually, I'm a girl born and raised in Michigan. Never even been to the UK. Thanks for reminding me that this doesn't have to be so complicated. There's no mysterious answer to how you all learned to pack so fast. It is a little intimidating for a newbie to watch you pack at the DZ though. I've arranged to spend some time with my rigger to get a refresher lesson in packing. Then I'm definitely going to take your advice and practice repacking several times a week at home. Will be a challenge in my 800 sq. foot apartment with a cat who wants to burrow into everything! It really helped me just hearing that you have to do it over and over and over until it becomes second nature (kind of like skydiving, huh?) I WILL watch and ask and try and buy beer...over and over - all great ideas! Am looking forward to the possibility of helping another new skydiver next year. The same way experienced skydivers are willing to jump with me now - maybe someday I'll be able to "pass it on" to repay what's been done for me. Thanks again to all of you. I really appreciate your patience and thinking back to what it was like when you were just starting out. I hope I cross paths with some of you and maybe jump together sometime!

I have 46 jumps and got my A license last summer. Got my own rig late last fall and I've never packed it myself. It's been a year since I packed and jumped my student rig for my A. What's the best way to learn to pack my own? I really don't have any skydiving friends who live near me. Guess I could go to a rigger or learn at the DZ. There are lots of instructions on the internet but that doesn't feel safe unless someone is watching me pack at least the first time. Any suggestions?

Oops, got your post mixed up with another one -- disregard what I said about you being able to get to the DZ often. Are you close to your DZ? In the beginning, it does help if you can get there every weekend ... so if you live close by, go as often as you can. That sure helped me.

In March of this year I broke my back doing a recurrency jump at around 39 jumps. It had been 4 months since my last jump and as a NOOB I probably should have used a larger canopy after that length of layoff. I didn't flare in time, didn't PLF. After 8 weeks I got the all-clear to go back to the DZ to get current again, and I had alot of fear about my ability to flare and land. The night before that first post broken-back jump, I actually started to panic a bit. When I got to the DZ the next morning I talked to my instructor about my fears. That's what I'd recommend to you - talk you your instructor, find out your options, go over your EPs, maybe get in the harness to work on them. Get on the radio for your landing (I did my first jump back and it helped.) Ask your instructor if you can keep the first jump simple, do some breathing exercises on the way to altitude to help relax you. Once I got past that first jump the extreme anxiety let up a bit. At least I knew what to expect. Your fear of the door sounds pretty normal to me. I fear the door too, on every jump, and I am forcing myself to breath and relax on the ride to altitude. Again, talk with your instructors about your fears. Use their expertise and confidence and follow their recommendations. They want you to succeed. You are in a good position to overcome your fears because you can get to the DZ often. Speaking for myself, I tend to feel more confident after I've been able to make a few jumps close together. Good luck to you! I understand your fears, I have been there, but you have already proven you are a gutsy person by just jumping out of an airplane! Now you just need to decide if this is something you really want to go for and if your body is ready for it.

Oh and one other thing. Don't overthink it. I too read everything I could get my hands on, practically memorized the SIM. You know what? Keep it simple. SIMPLE. Listen to what your instructor is telling you for THIS dive. Hear just that and focus on just that. It's enough. Stop playing mind games. In skydiving, one of the major obstacles to overcome is our own minds. It's a mental sport. Don't overthink it. Doing that almost put me into a bowling league

Oh man, I can really identify with what you're going through. I know I can't give you advice, but let me tell you what it was like for me. Although not as extreme, I had the same kinds of anxiety and fear. Dry mouth, couldn't breath. Cut yourself some slack, remember that our bodies have a natural response to very unnatural situations. Understanding that, here are a few things I did that at least helped ME get out the door. And for me at least - ONCE OUT THE DOOR the fear is gone. All that sensory overload and I'm immediately in the moment, all the physical sensations, the noise, focusing on the dive flow. There seems to be no room for fear with all of that stimuli going on. I agree with an earlier post - first talk with your instructors about your fear response. They may have ideas on how to cope with it. My instructors did breathing exercises with me on the ride to altitude, especially after the green light came on and we were close to exiting. We actually knelt in the door and took a couple deep breaths (without delaying the separation too much

I got my A license last year and I always write a detailed description of the entire jump, from exit to landing. My instructiors always ended their entries with lessons learned, and what I should work on during my next jump, etc. So I still do that - on every jump there is always something I need to work on the next time and logging that serves as a reminder. Just don't forget to also log what you did right! If you don't know, then ask the person you jumped with. If your jumps are on video, it's fun to add a small picture of your jump on that page of your logbook. When I had an injury, my instructor told me to be sure to tape my medical ID bracelet from the ER into that page of my logbook. I know it'll be neat to look back on all that stuff someday. Like others have said, be sure to put the names of who you jumped with and get them to sign it - I like to ask at least a couple of the jumpers to sign my logbook after the jump. Even though I've only been in the sport for a little over a year, it's already fun to go back and read my log book. Hope you have fun with it! Best of luck!

Hello! Good for you for making a decision to pursue your license! Last May I began my "A license in a week" training at Skydive Chicago. The week I had booked my training and took off work to spend at the DZ ended up being almost completely weathered out, so on subsequent weekends I had to travel to and from the DZ from my home in a different state. I received my A license at the end of July. In spite of the multiple trips and the 3-month time span, this schedule ended up being the best thing for me, as it allowed me time to absorb what I had learned. I found out after I enrolled that I really was not cut-out to earn my A license in a week, and I'm so glad my training did take longer. The only downside was the time it required for travel, and the added cost for the travel. For the training itself, the DZ was completely flexible even though I was technically an "A license in a week" student. If you are seriously considering pursuing your license in any sort of compressed time frame. I'd highly recommend purchasing your program as the total "A license" package. It definitely was a better value for me than if I had paid for each jump separately. There was also a sense of cohesiveness that I got from being one of the "license in a week" students as opposed to showing up at the DZ randomly and taking my jumps individually. Anyway, I suppose the "A license in a week" is possible to complete in the 7 days timeframe, but I agree with the former post that it totally depends on weather. Keep in mind that weather holds are common for students. Experienced jumpers can jump in winds that will ground a student. Be prepared to return to the DZ after that first week. Be flexible about the "in a week" schedule. As I said, in my experience, the greatest advantage was the cost. Purchasing my training in a package was definitely advantageous. However, if there is a chance that you will not be able to complete your A license at that specific DZ, you shouuld definitely find out if your training will transfer to the DZ that is local to your home. The training I did at Skydive Chicago would NOT have completely transferred to my local DZ where I live. I would have had to repeat some levels if I Quotehad to finish up at my local DZ. ASK your local DZ before you invest in a program that you may not be able to complete, particularly because you are traveling international to do your training. Good luck to you! I hope you enjoy your training!