Skydiving (and all things related)

I started this during my fourth year at uni. It was always something I wanted to do, but didn't know much about a club until later. Do I really need to say that it's one of the most fun things I've ever done? I jump at a drop zone in England (Langer) but obtained my license in California for the Easter tour earlier this year. At the moment, I'm very short on funds so I have to delay getting the next level of license and my training for formation skydiving.

I want to get into freeflying and take on different positions in formations or do some artistic solo stuff. I considered teaching people the basics (how to stay stable, keeping your body from spinning wildly in freefall) but I don't trust myself with other people's safety at all, so that's out the window. Ultimately, I want to skysurf one day (which won't be for several years) but only get the sticker - it's too dangerous to do out of habit. The deaths you hear of are usually from cockiness, but there are major risks to it which put me off doing it regularly.

Is there anyone else who does it, did it or wants to at least do a tandem?

I'm too scared of heights.

I probably wouldn't be able to do that without having a major freak out :?

However, I do want to go scuba diving and I'd like to try something like rock climbing.

just back in my military days.never had any interest to jump afterwards.

Yeah I'd like to go skydiving one day.

What's the failure rate on parachutes? I've always been interesting in skydiving but I thought I remember hearing that parachutes have a disturbingly high failure rate (something like 1%).gameguy6700

You always have a main canopy and a reserve. Malfunctions (which can include total mals, such as the chute not opening, the chute opening up so that it is dangerously uncontrollable or minor easy-to-fix inconveniences) are common on the main (less than 1% but still common enough) but the reserve rates are very good. There is a 1 in 64000 chance of getting a mal on both, and reserve mals are usually easy to fix. Ever heard of a line-over? That is when one of the canopy lines has been deployed over the chute, distorting its shape thus making it uncontrollable, and qualified skydivers are given hook knives to deal with these on their reserve. Your reserve is easily the most reliable equipment and to repack it costs £70 and two hours of the time of someone from, I believe, a place where canopies are manufactured. Plus, it has to be unpacked and repacked every two months, possibly less.

As far as I know, the death rate for this sport is 3 out of every 10000 jumps, and they are usually down to cockiness, people who don't learn the drills properly or deliberate tampering. Sometimes, you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but reserve mals are isolated incidents. Yeah, there is a risk, but it's so small and I'm much more likely to get hit by a bus.

As for tandems, the only risks depend on how healthy you are.

I'm jealous. I've jumped three times, and was on 2nd level AFF in Hollister, CA.,but then moved here to Hawaii (Maui), where the nearest DZ is over on O'ahu (20 min plane trip), so it'd be hard and expensive to continually fly over there+the expenses. I do hope to get more into it in the future if I move to someplace with a nearby DZ, but as for now it's on hold unfortunately. No better feeling in the world, though. I'd eventually like to fly a wingsuit. THAT looks like an absolute blast.

To those who say you're afraid of heights...I am too. Very. But when you jump you're so high it's impossible to judge how high you really are. My least favorite part was hanging 500-1000 feet above the landing zone under canopy, because THEN you can see how high you are. And it's QUIET. Kinda freaky. Plus, if something goes wrong at that point, you're basically ****ed. I remember them telling me you need at least a few thousand feet to ditch and deploy the reserve, and that's possibly at terminal velocity. Could be mistaken though.

To those who say you're afraid of heights...I am too. Very. But when you jump you're so high it's impossible to judge how high you really are. My least favorite part was hanging 500-1000 feet above the landing zone under canopy, because THEN you can see how high you are. And it's QUIET. Kinda freaky. Plus, if something goes wrong at that point, you're basically ****ed.

Rekunta

This especially. In fact, I was very nervous before many of my jumps when I was a student, but looking out of the door actually made me feel much better. I agree that the worst part is being under canopy. You are taught to steer clear of other traffic and avoid it in advance, so assuming that you opened at the correct height and you have a controllable and landable canopy (whether it's your main or reserve), you should be fine by 500-1000 feet. Like I said, you can still be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Two experienced skydivers died at Langer after they crashed into each other under canopy which was down to bad luck, from what I heard. It's the most dangerous stage of the jump, but that's why a lot of drills and other safety precautions are taught thoroughly. In fact, most what the instructors teach you is based on what could happen at that stage. I still can't help but think that the vast majority of deaths are caused by human error. That's why you have to be quick but never rush into the wrong decision.

I qualified with the RAPS system, which could be fun but pretty awful too. Luckily, I was really good at it took me 18 jumps and 20 minutes of tunnel time so it worked out much cheaper for me (ballpark figure of £900, maybe less). It's a popular option among students because it's cheaper, but over 90% move onto AFF. It's the most ineffective way of learning, but it emphasises one important aspect - staying stable, which you have to be before you deploy. Lots of mals are caused by deploying in a terrible position (as a student anyway).

I can't believe I almost forgot about the wingsuit!

I definitely want to go skydiving someday.