Just for fun: How does skydiving work?

[dontbounce 0]

Anybody ever seen this article? Anybody see anything wrong with the accuracy? I thought it was a pretty cool overview (and pretty accurate). Anybody know what kind of container that is?

How Stuff Works site is a great resource...


http://travel.howstuffworks.com/skydiving.htm/printable

[Floats18 0]

Thats a strong dual-hawk tandem rig

w00t w00t

--- and give them wings so they may fly free forever

DiverDriver in Training

[JohnMitchell 16]

Nicely done article. It was interesting to read the "Is it dangerous?" part. Seems you'd have to make 17 jumps in a year to have the same risk as driving 10,000 miles a year in your car. Since I typically make 200 or so a year, I guess it's a dozen times more dangerous for me than driving my car.

I've been saying for years that it's not as safe as driving.

[Andy_Copland 0]

I read this when i was thinking about making making my first jump, very good i thought

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

I do like HowStuffWorks.com

I have shown a few people that website at work, so that they can gain a better understanding of how skydiving works.

I remember when I did not even know which part of the rig contained the main or the reserve. I coulda used that website back then.

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[dontbounce 0]

Thanks!

[dontbounce 0]

Quote

It was interesting to read the "Is it dangerous?" part. Seems you'd have to make 17 jumps in a year to have the same risk as driving 10,000 miles a year in your car.

Yeah, I was surprised at how friendly they were in terms of explaining the risk. You would think they would have been like "only crazy people do this, and you could die", instead they were really cool.


The risk depends a lot on the quality of your gear, the conditions you jump in, the quality of your pack job, and the decisions you make in terms of high performance flying vs. safe flying.

So, 200 jumps a year could be safer than driving your car, or it could be less safe than playing russian roulette.

[JohnMitchell 16]

Quote

I remember when I did not even know which part of the rig contained the main or the reserve. I coulda used that website back then.

When I started jumping, it was simpler. The main was on the back, the reserve was on the front. You never got them mixed up.

[JohnMitchell 16]

Quote

The risk depends a lot on the quality of your gear, the conditions you jump in, the quality of your pack job, and the decisions you make in terms of high performance flying vs. safe flying.

So, 200 jumps a year could be safer than driving your car, or it could be less safe than playing russian roulette.

You're very right about that. Now, don't forget what you just said when you get 100-200 jumps and maybe want to start swooping big time.