Orange1

great perspective and advice - thanks... & the "pilot" chat will be easy as we have 2 instructors that pilot too and there's usually one around on the ground. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

ditto... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

As a low-number jumper... You mention these incidents happened "years ago", and I would hope that the average DZ has improved since then. From my own experiences at the two dz's i jump at, I was just flabbergasted that newbies could be treated like you describe. Most especially the bit about not feeling comfortable asking for a gear check!! But if there are still ones like that around, well, then yet another advantage of dz.com is that students can see that what they might have experienced is not normal and that they have other options. As for this ...i'd rather be labelled a pussy than bounce, but first prize would be a DZ where the guys would say "you put your safety first - congratulations". I do feel quite strongly about this issue as I had an early experience where i wasn't comfortable with the winds and rode the plane down, and if I had been treated like an idiot that would probably have been the last time I'd've been there. Instead, the JM and the more experienced jumpers were very understanding, and I'm still around. maybe off the topic a bit, but on the story about the 1500' pass - was there a training issue involved that these guys had to "decide" what to do? what i mean is, at my level, we're trained that for aircraft emergencies below 1000' you stay in the plane, between 1000' and 3000' you jump but go straight to silver - iow i would expect that if i stayed in a troubled plane from 1500', i wouldn't be mocked, but i would probably be reprimanded for not following the rules. (edited to add: not judging whether or not they did the right thing staying on the plane, just saying there probably should have been an accepted procedure to be followed) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Admittedly only because the only rig packed and ready in my size didn't have one... but (having previously said i'd never jump without one!!) i decided to use it rather than miss the load and wait... and it kinda felt really good afterwards! I'll still definitely get one for my own rig (whenver that happens) but i did get an extra confidence boost from doing something without a security blanket. This isn't a 'beer' first, is it? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

...not where I did it Yes but... I personally feel you get so much more out of a first jump from properly understanding the equipment, how a ram-air canopy flies, and so on... But I do get what you're saying for those who think it's a one-time only thing. Just thinking... my first jump was meant to be a once-off. If I'd done a tandem... it may have stayed a once-off...maybe i'm just wierd. SL is still (I think) the most popular training course here, but it does seem to lead to "fatigue" - at the DZ i learnt at, they said they estimate 10% of first jumpers make it to first freefall (which here you need at least 8 SLs incl 5 DRPs), and 10% of those get as far as their A licence... Back to lisamarie's original post though, it seems to me that it easier to go and get a jump done as an SL student than on AFF - and the point about currency and fear is a very valid one Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

ok... interesting you both say cheaper, down here a tandem is way more than static line FJC, and almost as expensive as AFF1 (and about as much if you have video)... though for me it wasn't a money issue, I just didn't even consider doing a tandem. I wanted my first jump to be completely on my own (even if i did have a big yellow line opening my chute for me ) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

2c worth from a newbie, who's not in this sport because I like danger, but because I love the feelings of jumping off a plane, falling through the sky, and flying my canopy. About the "safe" issue - I think it's relative. Skydiving as a sport is probably much safer than the average whuffo thinks it is, and it is probably safer than many other extreme sports - partly because the DZ can control who partakes in it, and how. But this does not make the sport "safe" in absolute terms. Having said that, I've known people who've died in "normal" sports - rugby and cycling. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Why a tandem? Seems to me to do a passenger thing first is just a waste of time and money ... but don't flame me please, I know this seems to be a popular route over there I did some SL before AFF, very glad i did (gets rid of door fear, builds some canopy experience and as you say comfort with low exits) - from people I've spoken to fear about SL seems to be mainly from the solo exits. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

you go, girl!! congrats & have fun on saturday! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

lol - off the thread, but i inadvertantly whacked my husband practicing throw-outs at home Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

noob question - isn't the point more the fact that YOU are being slowed down less from sub-terminal than at terminal, so the shock feels less? I've only done 2 H&Ps (not counting my SL jumps cos the packjob is different) - the second was so slow i started wondering whether i was having a mal! (I loved it opening shock is the only part of any skydive that i hate!) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

isn't that a bit like saying EPs are "good to know" because you only need them for emergencies Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hmmm. Is there any skydiver out there who can honestly say they never ever had door fear? I lost mine relatively early on, around jump 5, but I can see how something going wrong can make it return. I just wanted to add my 2c about some of the other posts - I found the opposite, namely, on my early jumps if i sat in the door or watched other people jump, it made me MORE scared. In fact, it's only the last 5 jumps or so that I've been happy to watch other people exit. So different things for different people. Best advice I got was always that thing about concentrating on visualising the exit a few mins before jump run, then deeeep breath... and remember, after all, the door is just that irritating obstacle between you and the sky... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I agree the answers are likely to be skewed towards those who did it early.. for me, #2 (no aid on landing), and i stood up exactly every 2nd jump till jump 8, then most of the rest of them, until i recently downsized off the big student canopies and with a couple of no-wind landings... and so the learning curve continues, as it will for the next 10000 jumps. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

you answered 'exactly' for using a pro-track then?

As the title says - I've noticed some people will log the exact freefall time per the calcs, while others round off (usually up) to the closest 5 seconds... I've put "other" as an option in case there is some other option that I haven't thought about yet, if you do answer other please explain! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

and that altitude was...? as mentioned ours was 1000ft, same principle! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

You may find some of the comments from experienced jumpers in this thread on currency of interest. remember one jump every 30 days is only 12 jumps a year...surely you plan to do more than that?!! http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1570869;search_string=currency;#1570869 Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

there's a section on scamorama where they do scambaiting as well - including a dialogue from one "Anakin Skywalker" who insists on calling his Benin counterpart "Luke"... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Q But isn't it possible that someone in a refugee camp in Togo (with internet service) carried $20 million in two 'trunk boxes' through stormy seas and has chosen me, out of the 100 million people with e-mail, to receive great wealth, through a divine plan? A No. http://www.scamorama.com/

At what altitude would you put out a SL student in an emergency? When I did SL we got hooked up at 1000' and for aircraft emergency above that we would have been put out. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

er, that's sister. In SA you can skydive from 16, with parental consent under 21. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

See your point, but at the same time i know a lot of 18/21 year-olds who don't either (though they think they do). Age ends up being an arbitrary factor helping us decide. By the way, at what age can people join the military? Before they are old enough to drink legally in some states, or to skydive, they can shoot people and be shot at? (Not trying to start a speakers corner type thread... just looking for some perspective) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

can somebody give me an idea of what 1sq foot of parachute material weighs? to put it differently, will there be an appreicable difference in your exit weight on jumping canopies (main and reserve) at say 170 vs 230? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

i'm aware of that... it was only jump 8 or 9 so i was fully on 'student wind status' anyway, and it didn't seem at all turbulent when we went up... but sometimes there, especially with a cessna, the winds are not the same when you get down as they were when you went up. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.