If you knew you'd die skydiving...

[JUDYJ 0]

Here's my thought...

If you knew you were going to die driving your car -- would you still drive?

If you knew the subway would crash and kill more than you, but lots of people -- would you walk instead?

If you walk and get hit by a drive-by --- do you still walk??

Life is what we make it. Perhaps it isn't what we do but how we do it that makes all the difference.

Judy

edited for spelling

IF you are going to be Stupid - you better be tough!

[MikeForsythe 0]

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....would you still do it?

Absolutely! I have been blessed with the life of 10 men. I have embraced life rather than fear it and it has been the ride of a lifetime! If I die tomorrow, I do so knowing that I have lived life to the fullest.

Time and pressure will always show you who a person really is!

[mdrrus 0]

Every time you leave the plane you are going to die, unless you do something to prevent it happening. You either throw out that pilot chute, pull that reserve and land safely. The only exception is maybe a Cypress, but even then without your intervention a small canopy can spell disaster. That's an intrigal part of skydiving, and what makes it safer, is your doing the right things to land safely.
You have your life in your hands, (with the help of some good equipment), on every jump.

[kbordson 8]

It's hard to say for certain, but I would have to say that I would keep jumping. The way I see life, is that we all have a time to learn what it is we are supposed to experience on this journey and the time is going to come when it ends. I honestly feel that we die when we are supposed to... not that it's completely pre-ordained, but that each person has their time on this Earth. The when is set, the how and where is not. So cancer, MI, car accident, skydiving, fire.... even if the number of pages are set, the final chapter is yet to be written.
Anyway, that's just my thought on that.

Karen

[FIREFLYR 0]

No. I wouldn't skydive,
I play the odds.
~J

"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

[nael 0]

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Absolutely, without a doubt, I wouldn't make another jump.

Life is sweet and there are too many people/things for me to live for. I love life, and that is why I skydive, but I don't want to die. Knowing there is a chance I could die doing it is worth the risk, but if I KNEW I would die doing it, then no way.

I love this sport, but I wouldn't die for it.

This is how I feel. Plus, other than all the wonderful things I would leave behind, I imagine being in freefall less than 1500' would be extremely frightening!

As ccowden said, it's an awesome sport, but it's not worth dying for.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[skybytch 273]

I've already accepted that I can die skydiving, so yes, I'd keep jumping.

[JRock 0]

Sweetie... you are going through (I believe) what I went through 8 months ago.

This is a fact. We are all going to die.
We are saddened when our loved ones leave us.
That is natural. But don't be scared of life.
I was to the point when I got in the car,... should I leave 5 minutes later and that will keep me out of an accident that will kill me? You cannot live life like that.

You know what got me back up in the air. The love from some very special people in the sport.

I don't mean to Bible thump here, but only one person knows when your time is up and that is God.
And I pray all our souls will be in his presence.
Your friend now might be the voice in someone's ear that inspire's them to do great things.

Live life.... God gave you coconuts to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. Do what you love to do.

[diablopilot 2]

Tough question. Probably not.

I know I *could* die doing it, and I *know* there are situations that could be completely out of my control, but it's not the same as *knowing* I AM going to die skydiving.

That all said, I'm not giving up the sport anytime soon. The enjoyment is worth the risk to me.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[nate_1979 9]

Yes, I would keep jumping... I can think of MUCH worse ways to die, .. I love doing this, and if some day it takes my life I know that I will have done EVERYTHING in my power to prevent it, but sometimes shit happens... I'm really not afraid of death, I'd rather live for awhile longer as I have much more to do, but I'm gonna die sometime.. Personally I'd rather die doing something I love than die all old and broken, unable to really experience life in my final years because I'm too fragile... ...

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[Bdog 0]

it's 100% chance that i will die someday. i would rather of died having fun than sit in my basement eating dried beans and powdered milk rather than having lived for a few extra years trying to be careful.

_________________________________________

---Future Darwin Award recipient-

[CanuckInUSA 0]

To quote William Wallace (from the movie Braveheart).

"Every man dies, not every man lives".

Jumping has brought a new meaning to my life and I can not see myself not doing it. Besides, this way I wouldn't need to worry about saving my a long retirement.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[MarkM 0]

Depends when I'd die. If you said 20 years from now, I could quit and take up acrobatic hang gliding and die from that in 1 year.

You're gonna die eventually anyway, so what are you going to do about it?

[tbrown 26]

Well, if I knew I'd die jumping, would I know which jump ? Could I stop at 1937 if I knew it was 1938 ? Or would the Twilight Zone nab me in some twist of fate anyway ? I'd hate to board a plane knowing THIS WAS IT. Common sense would say to ride the plane down.

We have all accepted to some degree or other that we could die each & every time we do this. I say a quick prayer for everyone on the plane while we're taxiing and then I sit back and enjoy the ride.

There's lots more to life than just skydiving too. And we should all pry ourselves away from the dropzone regularly to enjoy those other things. But bottom line is we're all gonna die anyway, so just be sensible and try not to worry about it. Hell, I'm turning fifty this year, I'm probably more than halfway there anyway, but still healthy enough to jump (and a few other things without pharmaceutical assistance), so I just count the blessings and keep going.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[GravityGirl 0]

I can't answer " No, I would not jump" , because if I KNOW that I'm gonna die jumpin' then I also KNOW that I have to jump again to die doing it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[nate_1979 9]

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I say a quick prayer for everyone on the plane while we're taxiing and then I sit back and enjoy the ride.

Me too But I usually say mine about half way through the ride up.

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[LearningTOfly 0]

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If it was in the stars that skydiving was how you'd buy it and you quit jumping, would you be immortal?

No... but what if quitting meant the difference between buying the farm next week or twenty years from now after tripping on the sidewalk, knocking yourself unconcious, and drowning in a puddle? (also quick and easy)

I've reasoned back and forth on the topic a bit. I figure in the end it's just odds that determines which side of the fence we land on We improve the odds by staying safety concious... pack relatively neat, keep the rig inspected, and if worse comes to worse it appears that the solution to a reserve baglock is to reel the sucker in and hand deploy it (dump high) After that, you're subject to flying yourself into something, bad luck, or structural failure of the harness... the latter of which is my biggest concern.

Back to the origional topic: I'd quit if I knew for sure... I'm still a kid and while the future is blurry, it's there none the less.

[windcatcher 0]

I voted yes, because I don't really care how I die, so long as it isn't a long, painful, drawn out death...

I do not fear death at all

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[cloudseeker2001 0]

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Nope, wouldn't do it anymore. I'd just stick to base jumping.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Only to get shot by the farmer!!!!!!!!

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[Tonto 1]

Well, you'll never really know that you're going to die skydiving until just before it happens - and since I've been quite close a couple of times - I never knew anything of the sort as I was too busy working at NOT dying.

The question I ask myself is if it happens, was it worth it? At this point, looking back over 20 years, incredible friendships, continents travelled etc - I think it has been. That's certainly what I've told both my parents and my kids - that if it happens - that's OK.

For those that are newer at the game... You may not have reached the level of benefit that 20 years gives you. I think dying at 100 dives is a fucking raw deal, and you should work hard to have that not happen. Of course, when I was at that level I also experienced death in the sport, and reacted with a mix of arrogance (Stupid. Won't happen to me!) and denial. (Bummer. Won't happen to me!)

Ironically, those early dives were the most dangerous for me, in a pre AAD era, with gutter gear and an attitude from hell that resulted in several pauses in the sport due to major injury. Somehow though, at about 25 years old and about 500 jumps, my desision making changed, and the worst I've had since then is a nose bleed or a skinned knee.

I get to work on Monday after another weekend skydiving, and some whuffo got beaten up by bouncers, or rolled their car, etc. My life seems constant, stable, mild by comparison.

No one who knows they will die skydiving will continue to skydive unless they want to die. Those answering "Yes" to your poll are either suicidal, have a death wish, or are simply liars. Your "could be 1000 from now." gives many skydivers less time than those diagnosed with terminal illness. Could be 10 000 from now? Well, at my current pace - that's "Natural causes" for me.

The truth is, for all of us, it could be the next jump. Knowing that, we go anyway. Why? Because it's worth it for the way it makes us feel when it matters. When we're alive.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[NWFlyer 2]

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The truth is, for all of us, it could be the next jump. Knowing that, we go anyway. Why? Because it's worth it for the way it makes us feel when it matters. When we're alive.

Beautifully stated. Thanks.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Tonto 1]

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I voted yes, because I don't really care how I die, so long as it isn't a long, painful, drawn out death...

I do not fear death at all

That - and at your current pace it will take you over 114 years to get to 1000 dives or 518 years to get to where I am. Kinda stacks the odds in your favour in a numbers game, doesn't it?

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[heidihagen 0]

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That - and at your current pace it will take you over 114 years to get to 1000 dives. Kinda stacks the odds in your favour in a numbers game, doesn't it?

t

hehe that's the first thing that came to mind when i saw this thread since i'm still doing student jumps and moving slowwwwwww. i spend more time waiting for the weather, i'm more likely to be killed in a flood.. or by wind (or clouds maybe?)
but to answer the question: no, i'd quit if i knew. i know the risks involved, but if you KNOW your future in the sport, i would think it would take the fun out of it.
but like everyone else said, it really just depends when. if it happens to beat cancer or some other form of natural death like 50 years from now-- then i probably had a pretty cool life =)
...but right now?
nah... there's too much i want to do, see, and experience.
heidi

i didn't lose my mind, i sold it on ebay. .:need a container to fit 5'4", 110 lb. cypres ready & able to fit a 170 main (or slightly smaller):.[/ce

[soulshine 0]

This is a very interesting thread. There are some really well thought out and wise answers up here and then there are some that are the brash and foolish answers of youth. What is interesting is that overall those that said they would give it up are those that have accomplished alot in the sport. Those that said they would keep doing it are "relative" newbies to the sport. I'm not saying all, just mostly this is the case.

Personally, I'd walk away from it. Skydiving is a beautiful and amazing experience in life, but it's not the only one. There are still hundreds of places that I want to see the sunset in, I want to hear my childs laughter for the first time, I want to travel more, grow old with someone, I could go on and on. While jumping is great, it cannot give me these experiences.

While skydiving has contributed to the person I am right now, it does not define me or make up who I am. I hope it never does.

Yes, we all are going to die. Yes it could be tomorrow in a car accident or 80 years from now of natural causes. I don't know when my number is going to come up. I do know that I will do all in my power to make sure it isn't soon. I have too much to live for.

Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity!
~DEVIOUS BEEF~~FGF #69~

[Tonto 1]