Andy9o8

Plenty of people keep jumping while they have young kids, and they're still caring parents. On the other hand, plenty of people take time off from jumping to lessen the risk to themselves while their kids are young, and many of them, like me, are dads; and there's nothing dishonorable about doing that, either. I did it (took time off while my kids were younger), and the sky was still there when my family was older and I was ready to come back. Currency/uncurrency issues usually aren't the main decision variable for most people (plenty of people who live up north stop jumping for the winter months every year). But if you do take a good chunk of time off, when you come back, have patience and make sure you ease your way back into it to compensate for the uncurrency.

Um, if you want to keep your girlfriend, don't break your important bone.

Hey, is that an old Paradactyl under the walkway?

Doesn't Relative Workshop test their Skyhooks sort of this way? (With the exception of the backwards harness.) Of course, that's in the interest of science. All work, no play...

And terminal velocity for a piece of gum is...? Oh, that depends on the flavor. And the, um, salivation factor. I'll get back to you on that.

Fine, if a wad of gum ever hits my windshield at terminal velocity, I'll know who to blame.

There are some people who can't jump and chew gum at the same time. It confuses them.

Get some videos of your landings and post them on here. Then we can really flame your ass.

The training in Spain comes mainly from the plane. Just thought I'd mention that.

OK, how about this: Right now, you're a "student skydiver". Is there a magic threshold, one single jump, at which time the word "student" is removed? No. Quade just said: A person that can understand the nuances of the risks is a skydiver. . That's an excellent answer to your question. I think an equally valid question is "when is someone not a whuffo?" IMO, being a whuffo is a state of mind. There's a certain ..... call it "understanding" of the "Why" (and not the "how") of skydiving that separates someone who no longer is a whuffo from somone who is. Remember, "whuffo" means "Whuffo you do that?" A whuffo has no idea what the answer is to that question, and often feels compelled to ask. A non-whuffo understands the answer, even if he can't quite put it into adequate words, and especially if he's gotten sick of hearing the damned question from whuffos.

Yes,you make entirely valid points. I'm not really advocating one handle over the other. I'm just saying I feel slightly more secure with the greater grab-ability of a rigid/open reserve handle. But maybe that's just because it's what I've always been used to. As I said, I've got an open mind on this subject, especially since I've seen, first-hand, so much evolution in gear (and gear philosophies) over the past 30 years

You have a D-ring for a cutaway handle? I've never seen one before. Who made it? Derek Oh, shit! My bad, I mis-read your post. For some reason my brain registered "reserve handle". I only had 3 hours of sleep last night zzzzzzzz. Yes, I have a pillow cutaway handle. No, I don't recall its ever getting tucked-under.

I really resent that. I am not fat.

I did S/L progression, so my first “real” pull - my first freefall on Jump #6 – felt almost exactly as my previous 3 DRCP jumps, because I basically pulled the instant I left the step, so I had a canopy over my head as fast as if it had been a S/L. Now my first EVER jump, I remember the JM’s “Go!!”, I remember leaving the step....then I remember looking up and seeing a big, round T-10 over my head. I have absolutely no memory, no visual picture whatsoever, of the 3 or 4 seconds between exit and canopy. Total sensory overload. And then...all was calm. Remember how incredibly QUIET it was the first time in your life you were under a canopy? The silence of that first canopy ride was the most magical sound I had ever heard, and it would remain so until years later when I heard my oldest child’s heartbeat in utero for the very first time. And that’s quite a comparison.

Do you have a pillow for a cutaway handle? Have you ever been concerned that your cutaway handle would be tucked under the main lift web if you ever needed it? Nope, I've always had a D-ring. But I've heard & read about the occasional tuck-in, so that's why I think what I thunk. But I have an open mind to others' opinions on the subject.

I've always been concerned that if the shit hit the fan I might find a reserve pillow "tucked under" and hard to grab, so that's why I prefer the d-ring.

It's buried deep in the back crevasse of the sofa way under the cushions. Right next to my TV remote.

That was just their day job. They were practicing flying the relative wind off the step.

You may not like it, but it happens to be true. More so than with virtually any other human activity. If that's sobering, well, it's supposed to be. This is another form of the MYTH that driving is more dangerous than skydiving. It's not. If you let go of the steering wheel & do nothing with the brake, you'll go off the road, and you may very well survive. But unless you've got the little gizmo backing you up, the simple truth is, you jump out of an airplane, you do nothing, you die. Every time. It's as simple as that. It helps to say these things out loud.

Break dance.

We're thinking about switching our cell phone service away from Sprint PCS which sucks ass. Verizon seems to have the fewest “dead zones” throughout the country. T-Mobile seems ok, but I wonder if they have more dead zones than the bigger companies. Cingular has about the same deal as Verizon, possibly a few more dead zones, but the thing I find attractive about Cingular is they have rollover minutes, which the others don’t have. Oh, what to do?

All of these posts make excellent points, and I echo them. You noted that your current anxiety came after several months off. Currency, or lack of it, often has a direct relationship to how much pre-jump anxiety one feels. Perhaps, as part of your decision-making process, you need to move beyond the hypothetical and conduct a real-world experiment. How about making one more tandem jump to see how you feel? That will get your head back out the plane, but since your TI will be doing all the work, you won't have any added pressure to perform. Then, after that jump, make your decision. But this is just a suggestion. If you really, really don't want to jump, then you shouldn't jump, and that's OK.

The chances of simply passing out while in freefall are extremely remote. However, all student jumpers' gear is equipped with an automatic activation device (AAD) to deploy your reserve canopy at about 800 ft if you don't have a survivable main canopy over your head by then. This having been said, skydiving instructors understand that first-time jumpers often have sensory overload and the "fear factor" to deal with until they have a couple jumps under their belts. Therefore, each of the 3 most common methods of training new jumpers is designed to minimize the effect of this factor. 1. In Static line or Instructor-Assisted Deployment (IAD) jumps, all the student does is exit the aircraft, and the main canopy is automatically opened for him/her immediately, with full inflation occurring in roughly 4 seconds. 2. In tandem jumps (as you have experienced), including "working tandems" in the Accelerated Freefall Progression (AFP) method, your Tandem Instructor is responsible for deploying the canopies, so "student freeze" is not really an issue. Most "tandem progression" programs have you do 2 or 3 tandem jumps first, to get your senses accustomed to experiencing freefall, to learn basic stable body position, and to introduce you to a couple basic maneuvers (such as controlled turns and forward movement) before moving you on to further training. 3. In Accelerated Freefall (AFF), on your first 2 or 3 jumps you will have 2 instructors holding onto you from the moment you exit the aircraft through the entire jump, keeping you in a stable body position during freefall. Although you'll be trained to deploy your own canopy, each instructor can (and will) deploy one of your canopies for you if it appears you're overloaded and need the assistance. On later AFF jumps, you will have 1 instructor exiting the aircraft with you. Dropzone.com has a dropzone locator function to help you find drop zones close to your home. Use it, and then call or visit a couple drop zones directly. (This is much better than using any kind of so-called "referral service") Speak to the drop zone's owner or instructors and ask them to explain their student programs to you. (Weekends are very busy on DZ's, so they may have more time to speak with you on weekdays.)

i thought about that, but they think i'm gona have a party or soemthing, i keep telling them i'm not 16 anymore .... My point.

1. Got a spare bedroom in the house? If not, be a gentleman and put her up in yours, and sleep on the living room couch. 2. Still worried about what you parents will say? Well, it's their house. I don't know your age, but even if you started jumping at 18, 7 yrs in the sport makes you at least 25. It's your choice to be living where, as a grown adult, you're not free to have anyone you wish sleep in your own bedroom. You choose to live with them, you dealt the cards, you play the hand. 3. She's your lady. Spend the bucks and put her up in a good hotel. She deserves no less.