Cocowheats

I love this place... So the general consensus here on DZ.com seems to be: - Emergency approved vaccines are good to go. No need to vet it further. Nothing could go wrong with them...We have enough proof and numbers. - If it saves one life, then it's ALL worth it. Those who are harmed by the vaccines are just dust in the wind, comparatively. - Your religion is garbage and stupid if it means no covid vaccine for you. Screw your first amendment rights, they mean nothing if it's covid related. - Any actual science that refutes Covid vaccines or refutes anything about the virus itself is leftest antivaxxer propaganda. - You're a POS if you don't get vaxxed, regardless of your health risk potential or personal beliefs. - Government intervention in form of mandates = ok as long as they align with your own beliefs. - You deserve to die and nobody will morn you if you don't get vaxxed. - Orange man bad. Senile grandpa not so bad. Got it. Glad we can have such open-minded conversations on here.

So I guess I'm DZs resident devil's advocate...so here we go. What I haven't seen asked/mentioned is why engineering? Is this something you have a passion for, or at least did at some point? Or, is this your parents choosing your path (maybe your parents or grandparents were an engineer and they want you to follow the family legacy)? If it's the latter, then maybe your allure to skydiving is because it's your choice, your path, and not what was decided for you. I'm not telling you to skip college, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to take another path than what your parents have laid out for you, if that is the case. I have known many people who were "bribed" with things like a free education at a top school so that they could be just like dad/mom/gran dad/etc and fulfill the family legacy. I'm talking people who spent many years going to school to be things like a dentist, because mom and dad said, just to discover that they would rather do web design or something completely different. Some feel like they wasted years that they could have used for a degree in what they wanted. Others feel the experience was worth it, nonetheless. My story echoes some of the above. I wanted to go to a specialized trade college that was not an accredited college. My parents refused to pay for it and since I was financially tied to them still, I had little to no way to pay for it myself without a student loan(which needed a co-signer). I ended up in a community college for the same type of program that would net me an actual degree. I got screwed because the college dropped the program for a few years after I was already in it. Short story, I never got to fully follow that dream... A few years went by and I had discovered a very passionate hobby(not skydiving). I spent my free time taking training classes and enjoying the community. At some point I realized I could make a good career for myself in this field, so I started doing more and more courses and earning more and more certifications. I now have a good paying stable job in a field that I am still very passionate about. This career has afforded my ability to skydive, which is a more recent venture. That all being said, I have a few regrets being that I let my parents more or less make some big life decisions for me through the years(college was only a single instance). I also have a less than stellar relationship with them somewhat stemming from that. I guess my point is, if engineering is a path that was chosen for you, not by you, then you have every right to be apprehensive. Sometimes it's better to be happy doing something you love rather than doing something just to pay the bills...but paying bills and having money is pretty important as well. You need a healthy balance of both happiness and income. It can also be pretty hard to decide on a career path that you will remain happy with down the road when starting so young. It took some ageing/growing for me to find my path, as it does for many. So, like many, I started jumping after having a career, insurance, house, car, and enough money to not work for a few months if I were injured. Whatever you choose, make sure you get most of those things crossed off the adulting list before getting back into skydiving. You seem like a smart young man. Get your life "established" then come back to jumping. Doesn't matter how you do that, as long as you are happy and well.

Double tap. My bad.

Some areas I thought it could serve purpose. -Exits with multiple newer jumpers - Can maybe see what went right or wrong amongst the group and evaluate what it took to get stable. -Landings - Would have a POV of your entire landing pattern and landing. Might help if you're wondering why a landing was hot/rocky/hard/etc. Might help with precision landings as you'd have visual references of where you were throughout the pattern. -Malfunctions - You typically look up at your canopy to check that it's there and square. If it's not, your glasses cam would likely pick up what you saw so you can evaluate what options you might have had to fix it for future instances. Maybe you chopped at 3.5k and really you should have pumped the brakes first. Easy too see and learn from it you have the video.

Valid point. Then my post should generally cover this situation...but I'm assuming at least an A license under USPA standards.

USPA says you should make a jump with a coach or instructor. Seems typically a check dive is what is done. So you get stable after exit, get unstable(flip/roll), get stable again, maybe some 360s and or other basic tasks. Maintain altitude awareness and initiate breakoff at correct pre-decided altitude. Track away and pull. May be different depending your country/dz/governing body regulations. I'm no expert on this, but it's what I've experienced and see/hear.

So a topic came up amongst some new jumpers that I didn't have a good answer for. One person mentioned getting some semi-cheap glasses with a camera in the temple to record their jumps up till they were at the USPA recommendation of 200+ jumps to mount a helmet camera of good quality. They were wondering since the glasses would not necessarily affect the helmets safety rating, like a mount can/will, and eliminates the USPA's worry about a snag or turbulence issue, that it may be permitted. This is obviously in part the decision of the DZ to allow or not... But it's an interesting thought because these jumpers are allowed to wear sunglasses under a helmet as A & B license holders. From what I saw, these camera glasses are slightly bulky glasses with mediocre camera quality. Just enough to see how the jump went. Obviously awareness, or lack of, is another concern addressed by the USPA, as they don't want the jumper sucked into getting "the shot". Thoughts on skirting the USPA camera recommendation via glasses cam under a helmet? I could see it being useful to jumper with good discipline perhaps on a B license with say 75+ jumps to help record and critique progress.

The problem is that is a slippery slope. It's not unlike like saying insurance shouldn't cover injuries from skydiving. You knew the risks, now fully pay for it out of pocket. Why should reasonable folks who don't take "unreasonable" risks subsidize your high risk hobby injuries? How many here have been injured skydiving and used your insurance? Shame on you... See what I mean? I get it, ideally....but it never works out like that. Not saying I disagree, just that it ain't that simple.

I've said my peace. You guys obviously will never see this from one of many other perspectives. Some people simply are playing out what they feel is safest for them. If that's waiting for a true FDA approval and some better insight on efficiency and possible complications, then that seems like a reasonable approach to me. Obviously you folks will mostly lump the people you saw not wearing masks when they were required and those that are hesitant on the vaccine as idiots. You just can't fathom a reasonable reason to be anything other than. Bravo... You shouldn't decide what's best for someone else. It is their choice.

That covid number is skewed. We will never know if it was truly more of less for many of reasons that we've already spoke of. Having to wear a mask by mandate/law is a violation of freedom. Wearing one by choice is not. Big difference. Hard to comprehend, I know. Remember when Fauci and many others said they were useless? They backtracked around that. Hard to believe anyone would second guess any of this, huh?

Keep trying to shame me. Good luck. Many of you probably enjoy shaming the non-mask wearers as well it sounds. Perhaps you can't comprehend that you could look perfectly healthy yet be a one lunged war veteran with breathing issues...or many other actual valid reasons. So those that couldn't actually tolerate wearing a mask should be forced to stay at home(loss of freedom)? What about that war veteran with one lung who lost that lung fighting for freedom? He should have a choice to live as he sees fit, like you or I. Yes I understand many non-maskers have a bs reason, but not ALL. The whole book by its cover thing, ya know... The fact that you guys can't seem to comprehend why a reasonable person may decide to wait out the vaccines for awhile shows much of your own true colors, just as you folks thinking my posts show mine. I also never said I wasn't vax'd. I offered an alternate view and be damned if it angered you folks, lol. Dropzone never disappoints...

It means if it comes at the cost of sacrificing freedom and/or liberty, then that is a trade off I and many patriots will not be willing to get behind. So to that, I am unapologetic that freedom can be scary.

So you honestly believe as more positive statistics about the available vaccines come out that they will not affect anyone on the fence about the legitimaticy of the vaccines? Ok.

It depends if it comes at the expense of freedom and/or liberty. I'm not sorry that freedom can be scary. This is a concept that many "free" people can not fathom.

That is good. Solid statistics is what will bring more people around to getting the vaccine. In the USA, a full FDA approval would be a step forward as well.

I did not. Blue skies Art. I'm not refuting that some people can/will die from covid. Some people do. Some people also die from the flu, rabies, killer bees, car crashes, and even *gasp* skydiving *gasp*. Life is filled with risks. Some we have a choice in taking, others we don't.

LMAO. We are talking things like nervous system disorders and other life altering or even ending complications, like GBS. GBS is a known risk for a few vaccines including rabies and inactivated influenza vaccines. GBS will eventually cause you to be paralyzed. Eh, but who cares, only so many people end up paralyzed, right? So what if GBS runs in my genes? Should I just roll the dice because "omg, humanity!"??? Again, this shaming people into to getting vaccinated is absolutely despicable! Many people have a valid reason not too....and if not, well it's THEIR choice, not YOURS!

Then let's compare your own numbers... The 2020 USA census says there were 331,449,281 recorded people in the USA. 1:50 is 2% of that population. You say vaccine complications are 1:6,800,000. 1:6,800,000 of that census population number is 2.05%. So your own numbers show that death from covid or complications from a vaccine are PAINFULLY close in percentage. My point is that there is much misinformation and no FDA approved vaccines (that I know of). So to go online and bash people for being selfish idiots for not wanting to be a guinea pig is just pitiful. I just want to shed light on to why someone may reasonably decide to wait since many people can't fathom the why and instantly lump these people with anti-vaxxers.

Show me the proof in those statistics. By those numbers, I should have at least 2 people in my phone contacts dead from covid. I know of no deaths though. I know medical professionals who have been pressured to write off anyone who dies with a positive covid test as a covid death, regardless of the actual cause(like internal bleeding from a car accident). I bet the 1:50 is a pretty damn skewed number.

This does not reflect my personal stance on vaccines. I am not against them. That said, I don't see why anyone would fault someone for not wanting to take a non-FDA approved vaccine. As far as I know(I may be wrong), none of the current vaccines have a USA FDA approval. They have only been approved for a crisis/pandemic emergency usage, which could be revoked. Vaccine complications are real. Many people have been permanently messed up from bad reactions to a common vaccine. Without a FDA approval and a few years of statistics on complications and/or efficiency, I could see why some would rather wait. Key word here is wait...plenty of people will take it down the road when more information is available. Remember, cocaine and tobacco weren't unhealthy for you at one point in time. I mean lots of science said so....many years later we know that's not true. So again, faulting people for not wanting to be the guinea pig is just pitiful. We need guinea pigs, but it should be your choice to be one. Furthermore, the risk for many people of dying from covid are about as low as having a vaccine complication. So why trade one risk for another? Frankly, as a seemingly healthy adult, I am at more risk of dying from chicken pox than I am from covid. I do not need a chicken pox vaccine to travel on a plane though. Then there are the arguments that if you are vaccinated, then why are you worried if someone else is? If your mask works at protecting you, then why worry what others do? With all the miss-information that has been spread not only by social media, WHO, and many governments, I can definitely understand why some people would not want to get right in line for a covid vaccine. If you're worried about covid, get a vaccine and follow protocols. Worry about you and yours and let others make their own decisions on what's right for them. Remember, it's not always because "I don't believe in vaccines".

Thought was that a plf would be stressing a bad ankle more than a slide to butt.

Honestly, this is what I was planning on at least for a few jumps.

Thought it was a reasonable question since in many sports athletes wear padding over areas that they know are likely to make hard contact. Thanks for the not serious replies. What a grand way to help someone get back in the air...

I'm amazed that skydiving suits and pants are not offered with some sort of butt padding! Let's face it, you won't walk off every landing. Nothing wrong with sliding in, but a reality of sliding in is you risk your tailbone! I'm sure we've all whacked are butts a bit harder than we'd like. I know I have. Which leads me to ask if any of you wear butt padding(like baseball shorts)? I know a few people on here say they slide the majority of their landings due to physical limits. I might be in this category for awhile as I'm still re-abillitating from an ankle injury. TL;DR - Looking for suggestions on butt pads.

Truth, even for AFF. 25 jumps minimum for an A license via AFF. Think I was at 34ish when I got mine. Seems most people repeat at least a few. OP, please post the results on here when available. I didn't want to give an email...