Regret in skydiving

[cocheese 0]

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I wish I could have been a skydiver back in the days before it became all about money.

If it was all about money, there would only be about 5 dropzones in the USA.
There is no money in skydiving. I think 20% of the jumpers are having 80% of the fun because they learned that money is not the answer to a happy life.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. ~W. Gretzky

[Squeak 17]

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Do you have regret from skydiving?

only regret is that i wish i had started sooner

YOU'RE WHAT 20 YEARS OLD
I started at 39, but I'm certain that if I started at 20 I'd be dead now. I was a tad irratic


I have no regrets in skydivng, other than the loss of friends, but that will happen sooner or later in any field

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[MikeJD 0]

I think I'd like to have been around when the sport was new, people were making it up as they went along and there didn't seem to be any rules! At least, you wouldn't think so, to look at a lot of the photos from that era.

But I'd want to be there with 21st Century gear.

[skydivermom 0]

I haven't been at it that long (less than a year) but I do regret my first (and only) AFF jump. I tried to do it the same day I completed ground school and it was a disaster. I was tired, incredibly nervous and not feeling well. Should have landed with the plane; wouldn't have sprained my ankle that way.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[NWFlyer 2]

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Do you have regret from skydiving?

Nope, none so far. When I was a student and when I first got my license I was pretty obsessive and skydiving was all-consuming. I think I've been able to recapture a little bit of balance and I hope to continue to maintain that as I continue in the sport. Last year I was happy that we had a crappy snowboarding season so I could focus on (and obsess about) skydiving. This winter I'm hoping the snow is great so I can mix up my weekends (and practice PLFs with a board strapped to my feet ... or get better so I don't fall so much!).

Part of me regrets that I waited till I was 33 to start, but not really. I'm at a point in my life where skydiving fits into it perfectly. I'm not sure that would have been the case 10 or 15 years ago.

"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

[gemini 0]

My only reqret is not being more supportive when a jumper was downsizing to quickly. I should have "offered" more advice and jumped with them more often.

Blue skies,

Jim

[RevJim 0]

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i regret a 2 point 4-way I had on Saturday... a complete waste of a jump ticket and (quite frankly) fuel to altitude.

You jumped? You played, deployed, and landed safely and able to jump again? I don't call that a waste, I call that a jump.

Please, never jump with me, ever. I have fun in this sport. Every jump is a new challenge. A new adventure. So it might not go as planned, so what? You didn't even blow the whole dive, you still got 2 points? Some of the most memorable dives I've even been in blew apart right out the door and never fully recovered, but the view from above was awsome!

Of all the jumps I've done, there are NONE I would call a waste, and only one that I regret, but that's personal.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[NWFlyer 2]

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Please, never jump with me, ever. I have fun in this sport. Every jump is a new challenge. A new adventure. So it might not go as planned, so what? You didn't even blow the whole dive, you still got 2 points? Some of the most memorable dives I've even been in blew apart right out the door and never fully recovered, but the view from above was awsome!

Of all the jumps I've done, there are NONE I would call a waste, and only one that I regret, but that's personal.

Well-said, Jim. Especially when jumping with newer skydivers, I work really hard to talk about the good stuff on the jump and how much fun I had. When I had just gotten my A license I was afraid to ask others to jump with me for fear of "ruining" the jump. One of my favorite people to jump with at my DZ has well over 2000 jumps and she still makes you feel like you're doing *her* a favor by jumping with her. No matter how the jump goes, she gets to the ground and says, "Wow, that was fun!"

That, to me, is what this sport is all about. I'm trying to give some of that back already even though I'm still pretty new myself.

"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

[RevJim 0]

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Please, never jump with me, ever. I have fun in this sport. Every jump is a new challenge. A new adventure. So it might not go as planned, so what? You didn't even blow the whole dive, you still got 2 points? Some of the most memorable dives I've even been in blew apart right out the door and never fully recovered, but the view from above was awsome!

Of all the jumps I've done, there are NONE I would call a waste, and only one that I regret, but that's personal.

Well-said, Jim. Especially when jumping with newer skydivers, I work really hard to talk about the good stuff on the jump and how much fun I had. When I had just gotten my A license I was afraid to ask others to jump with me for fear of "ruining" the jump. One of my favorite people to jump with at my DZ has well over 2000 jumps and she still makes you feel like you're doing *her* a favor by jumping with her. No matter how the jump goes, she gets to the ground and says, "Wow, that was fun!"

That, to me, is what this sport is all about. I'm trying to give some of that back already even though I'm still pretty new myself.

Yep, the same person I wrote about a minute ago (in another thread) laos taught me that lesson. I was afraid of jumping with up-jumpers for fear of messing up the dive. He flew me like a kite, and no matter how bad {{{I}}} thought the dive went, he was always grinning, and thanking me for the jump. He instilled a great deal of confidence in me, and I thank him for that yet today.

It's about the FUN!

Thanks, Elvis.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[flyangel2 2]

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Of all the jumps I've done, there are NONE I would call a waste, and only one that I regret, but that's personal

Please tell me it's not the demo jump we did at WFFC and you and I held a kiss pass till we opened

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[sinker 0]

I regret that I didn't get together one last time w/ Chris Martin before last October... hard to believe it's been almost a year...

-the artist formerly known as sinker

[Bolas 5]

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Of all the jumps I've done, there are NONE I would call a waste, and only one that I regret, but that's personal

Please tell me it's not the demo jump we did at WFFC and you and I held a kiss pass till we opened

If it is, he regrets not holding it longer, you know til when your Cypresses fire.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[shunkka 0]

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Do you have regret from skydiving?

to start late

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"jump, have fun, pull"

[Lindsey 0]

I wish there were more weekends. For a few years, skydiving was my top priority on the weekends, and I missed out on a lot, but I also learned to skydive pretty well. Now I skydive sometimes (right now about once a month) because there are lots of other things that come first. BUT I'm glad that for a few years I jumped quite a bit, because now I'm at least a competent skydiver even if I only jump one weekend a month.

I think it's a good thing to throw yourself into skydiving for a while anyway. But remember that you can always back off and enjoy the other things in your life--you'll find that they're still there !

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[popsjumper 2]

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....One of my favorite people to jump with at my DZ has well over 2000 jumps and she still makes you feel like you're doing *her* a favor by jumping with her. No matter how the jump goes, she gets to the ground and says, "Wow, that was fun!"

THAT'S the kind of person I'm trying to be at our DZ.
It was payed forward to me and I'm trying to do my part as well. There's working jumps and there's play-time jumps and they're all fun because your attitude lets them be fun.

My regret is:
Quitting back in '77 because I had no confidence in doing the EPs if it became necessary. Should have stayed with it and worked harder to develop the confidence.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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One. When I was on a HALO/SCUBA team in SF, that I didn't ets (get out of Army) before I got a chance to go to HALO. I passed SCUBA and became certfied Advanced Open Water, and that has been fun through the years, but I often think what it would have been like if I'd stayed in and gone through HALO back in 1979. Just think of all those years I could have been skydiving

You poor, poor guy.

Chuck
Combat Dive Supervisor/Military Freefall Jumpmaster

[JustaBill 0]

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i regret a 2 point 4-way I had on Saturday... a complete waste of a jump ticket and (quite frankly) fuel to altitude.

You jumped? You played, deployed, and landed safely and able to jump again? I don't call that a waste, I call that a jump.

Please, never jump with me, ever. I have fun in this sport. Every jump is a new challenge. A new adventure. So it might not go as planned, so what? You didn't even blow the whole dive, you still got 2 points? Some of the most memorable dives I've even been in blew apart right out the door and never fully recovered, but the view from above was awsome!

Of all the jumps I've done, there are NONE I would call a waste, and only one that I regret, but that's personal.

Thanks for that sentiment Jim. I have less than 100 jumps and am nervous about screwing up jumps for the more experienced people. I got invited (couldn't believe they were asking me) on a 4 way where after my 95 jumps the lowest jump number was like 2200. That jump was a blast. I blew the exit (forgot to take a grip), still got 7 pts, and they all thanked me for goin on the jump with them. They were all smiling in freefall, especially when the exit went to hell. To date that is one of my most memorable jumps. And I'm really thankful for the oppurtunity. There needs to be more people out there that will do that. Take a chance and let a newbie jump with you, you never know it might be a lot of fun, and us newbies really appreciate it.

------------------------------------------------
I've done so much, with so little, for so long
I'm now expected to do everything with nothing forever

[StevePhelps 0]

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One. When I was on a HALO/SCUBA team in SF, that I didn't ets (get out of Army) before I got a chance to go to HALO. I passed SCUBA and became certfied Advanced Open Water, and that has been fun through the years, but I often think what it would have been like if I'd stayed in and gone through HALO back in 1979. Just think of all those years I could have been skydiving

You poor, poor guy.

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Now Chuck, what if you had to learn to skydive via the civillian route instead of courtesy of US Army SF? Ya gotta admit, MFF is a lot cheaper!

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[op5e 0]

2 points, damn im averaging 1 atm.

[skydivermom 0]

Linz,

What do you think of a student skydiving only once or twice a month? I would love to do it more, but I already had a family when I got into the sport and feel guilty going to the dz every weekend. Is it possible for me to learn properly only jumping twice a month or so?

I guess I didn't want that to be one of my regrets; that I sacrificed family to learn skydiving (especially since my boys are so young).

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[j0nes 0]

my 2pt. 4-way was with 3 divers who had 3000+, 600+, and 400+ jumps. there was absolutely no excuse for the way the dive came off.

we all have expectations in life. My expectations for that dive included pulling off more than 2 pts.

[chuteless 1]

Thats the same regret Ihave...I wish I had started sooner....maybe about 1952 instead of 1962.

Bill Cole D-41

[popsjumper 2]

Bill,
Any chance of you moving to Georgia, USA?
I have a feeling that you have a LOT of good stuff for us youngsters to hear....

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Bolas 5]

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Linz,

What do you think of a student skydiving only once or twice a month?

I'm not Linz, but I'll answer this one.

It took me over a year and 35 jumps to get my license. At one point I was only able to afford one jump a month. I had quite a few levels I failed but just barely stayed current. If I had to do it over, I would've stopped after 1 or 2, gotten the $$$ together for the whole program and them gotten my license in a month or two.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[tbrown 26]

It's really important to keep your balance. I can't afford to go jump every weekend, so I end up having to spend a lot of weekends in the real world. There's a lot of life to be lived off the dropzone too. You could probably do to take a few more weekends off during the season as well and go to parks and beaches, or anything else. It can also help you not burn out on jumping as well and might even save you a few bucks.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !