boozin at the DZ

[skybitch 0]

I'm prompted to write this by a work colleague who asked me if it was illegal for skydivers to drink the night before they went jumping...
Yes, I, like you, spewed coffee all over my computer as I laughed heartily at such an absurd suggestion (my drinking club has a skydiving problem, if you get my drift)....But was wondering.....do any of you guys put limits on when you stop drinking the night before if you're intending to be on the 9am lift?
SB

[SkySlut 0]

I think that its "recommended" that you stop drinking for 10 hours from bottle to throttle...
-Slut
"I'll jump anything!"

[skybitch 0]

Aha, the key word here being 'recommended'......but I want the gory truth!!! Are we really this safe? Always?

[chronistin 0]

When I signed all the papers for my AFF course, there was a paragraph requesting "no alcohol or medication 24 hours before jumping"
I signed.
Andrea || Chronistin

[skybitch 0]

ha ha haaaaaaHA HA HAAAAAAha ha pwhaaaaahhhhhhhHHHHAAAAAA!!!!

[Greg 0]

If I "know" (important point there) I am going to jump the next day, I usually keep it to a dull roar eat a good dinner and will stop drinking and get some sack time by about 9:30 or 10:00pm. Unfortunatly, the way it works, on occasion, is that after some serious drinking (read courage enhancement), and some "s*it talking, I decide that "Im going skydiving tomorrow" quite a bit later, and after quite a bit more drinking. But I certainly enjoy a day more at the dz with a "clear head" and not hung over.

[Stacy 0]

that my friend is why you get a morning job in manifest. get paid to work off the hangover then jump in the afternoon. much better. we keep a bottle of excedrin in the office. those 7:30 AM mornings can be killers...
Stacy
http://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks

[chronistin 0]

i said I signed... not I obeyed

[wingnut 0]

well i'll drink untill 2 or 3 in the morning then sleep until around 12. i'm not known to make the first load ever! but it is recomended that ya have 8 hours before jumping from when ya stop drinking, but everybody is diffrent. if your ust sloshed then mayb more time wouldn't hurt. altitude does affect how alcohol hits you...you might feel fine on the ground but 3 miles up the air gets a little thiner and your brain racts diffrently. just use your best judgement!

"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows

[chronistin 0]

8 hours sounds reasonable to me.

[cdunham 0]

Dude, I'd be happy to see fewer people drinking/smoking/whatevering between skydives, never mind the night before.
Carl

[Pammi 0]

*between* skydives?? Hmmm...that can't be healthy.
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
-Joan Borysenko

[cdunham 0]

Yeah, one would think that the Darwin effect would kick in at some point, but some of these people have been jumping forever, which makes it tough to convince the younger ones that it's not a good idea.
Not that it's all that rampant, but there are the little groups, you know the ones. More common at the smaller DZs.

[VivaHeadDown 0]

Since everyone takes in alcohol different, I think you're just going to have to take caution and use your own judgement. Don't pilots have to stop 8 hours before a flight per the FAA? Any pilots out there to check that? I think that's about what I usually do for the 8am loads, but whether or not you want to try breakfast is up to you : ). (Be kind to the jump plane, fill your helmut before the reserve of the guy in front of you)

[skyhawk 2]

well here in the land down under it is a mandatory 8 hour rule and we have the national safty officer so it is generally followed :-) this dosnt effect me cause i usaully run out of money for grog by 1am :-)

[lazerq3 0]

I havent drank the night before I go just for the fact that the last 6 jumps I made were AFP jumps and its hard enough to learn to fly clear headed let alone with a hang over, plus Im a light weight....4 beers and I'm feeling pretty tipsy! what can I say I'm a cheap date!!
jason

[huffermoose 0]

a 1 can Van Damme eh?
ttfn Allan

[skybitch 0]

Well guys, have to say I'm surprised....I KNOW it's sensible not to jump with a hangover (and certainly not if you're still pissed!) but my experience suggests loads of jumpers get wasted until all hours and start jumping again first thing...For instance, at a recent boogie, we were on the lash till 4pm and up for the first lift at 9pm....Sensible? No. Reality? Yes.
Maybe it's a European thing...they do say we're all a lot less healthy over here....
SB

[skybytch 273]

Nothing cures a hangover better or faster than being on the sunrise load after three or four hours of sleeping it off on the packing floor. The ride to altitude is hell but by the time you land you're all better.
Not that I've ever done anything like that...
pull and flare,
lisa

[SkySlut 0]

Ever spiral yourself into nausea??? Could be a major issue with a fullface helmet on...
-Slut
"I'll jump anything!"

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

The ride to altitude is hell

Yea, that is unless that person is puking all over you. That's what happened to me when I sat next to the guy on the load with a hangover. Yuck! Much love and blue skies,
Carrie http://www.geocities.com/skydivegrl20/

[SpeedRacer 1]

Quote

Nothing cures a hangover better or faster than being on the sunrise load after three or four hours of sleeping it off on the packing floor. The ride to altitude is hell but by the time you land you're all better.

I've noticed this too. Sex in the morning after is also a good cure. Come to think of it, that happy relaxed feeling after sex & after skydiving is very similar.
Speed Racer
"Bluez, brewz & screwz"

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Worse feeling ever is getting within about 500 feet of the ground under your 85 square foot canopy and realizing you are about to PASS OUT! This, after a two-day bender with no sleep whatsoever. Needless to say I slept most of the day away after that jump and missed out on a day of 4-way team practice. Not a good deal.
Chuck

[freaksister 0]

I am just like Wingie! I stay up late and sleep it off. I have made the first load of the day ONE TIME. It was a tandem, go figure! LOL I used to get hammered and sleep till noon and then lay around the dz all afternoon feeling crappy. But now, my tolerance is up and I can drink a twelve pack without a hangover! Blue Skies!
Sis
"What we're all really seeking is something where we can feel the rapture of being alive."J.Campbell

[pyke 0]

Alls I can say is....y'all are soft!!!!
NZ regs state that you have to have 8 hours from bottle to throttle, but I am living proof that it can be pushed to 4 hours if you just don't tell anyone(oops!)
...and, other substances REALLY help that ill feeling of being hungover and make your sleeps REALLY WONDERFUL, so you wake up refreshed!!!
Many times I have been the last one drinking (and other!!Freaksis, that is really SORRY, you TOOL!!! I don't know if I can hang with such a softy!!!!
Kia Kaha,
Pyke
NZPF A-2584