feeling faint while skydiving

[lespaul980 0]

i recently did my first tandem jump. when the instructor opened the parachute, i felt a little lighted-headed and nauseous for about the first minute. my instructor loosened my leg straps and told me to wiggle around and i felt a lot better. i'm taking my first aff class this saturday and i'm a little nervous of experiencing the same feeling and passing out. should i be concerned about this? my instructor said that flying under your own canopy is a lot more comfortable. i appreciate the feedback.

[jeremy556 0]

Nope, Tandem harnesses are VERY uncomfortable and restricting – student rigs are much better in comparison, sport rigs are much better still

[NWFlyer 2]

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Nope, Tandem harnesses are VERY uncomfortable and restricting – student rigs are much better in comparison, sport rigs are much better still

All that said, to the original poster - you already know the trick if your harness does cause you to feel uncomfortable and faint. Kick and move your legs to keep the circulation up. But it's pretty darn rare in student/sport harnesses to be that uncomfortable. But can and does happen on rare occasions (it happened to me, so I speak from experience).

"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

[Amazon 7]

Dont forget to BREATHE...... big deep breaths..you are going up thousands of feet where the air is thinner,,,,. it will help calm you and keep some oxygen in your system

[BIGUN 1,307]

Some of the older model tandem harnesses rode the artery in the leg causing one to fill a "little light-headed and nauseous." My guess is this was true with your harness and we were all taught to adjust our student's harness if they complained of this. Which you did and it was resolved. This is generally not the case with student harnesses.

Please enjoy your AFF dive with the confidence that you may experience some discomfort with the legstraps that will pass with time... kinda like riding a horse. till you get used to it, it's gonna be a little uncomfortable...

If worse comes to worse and you still have concerns... then by all means do another tandem and ask for it to be a Category B (working) dive (same block of instruction as your first AFF jump). It'll count towards your training and your license.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[DJmikeD 0]

I agree Breathing is a biggie, Look in the sim manual and they have some exercises that helped me out during the climb to altitude. With my own arness I went from very tight on the original to loos for the chest strap with my own rig. It sometimes seems too loos but you should be able to fit a fist in it on most occasions.

"Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part!
-DJ Mike

[lespaul980 0]

Thanks for the responses. I'm looking forward to making my first jump.

[JohanW 0]

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Nope, Tandem harnesses are VERY uncomfortable and restricting – student rigs are much better in comparison, sport rigs are much better still

Tandem harnesses are *worse* than student rigs ?!?

I was not about to make a tandem jump any time soon, but that is one more reason ..

Johan.
I am. I think.

[riggerrob 643]

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Nope, Tandem harnesses are VERY uncomfortable and restricting – student rigs are much better in comparison, sport rigs are much better still

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sure, old tandem harnesses are as uncomfortable as old skydiving harnesses: worn out padding, odd harness geometry, etc.
However, the current generation (Sigma and ringed Strong student harnesses) are pretty comfortable if adjusted correctly.

[recovercrachead 0]

my friend had that sleeping disease and he feel asleep under canopy at a demo and landed in the trees

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[veri 0]

Same thing happened to me, and everyone else covered it perfectly :)

[lespaul980 0]

well i'm happy to say i made my first jump this weekend without feeling nauseous or faint. so 1 down, 24 more to go

[Brumby 0]

I seen a tandem passenger pass out once, the leg straps were tight and was cutting of the circulation which caused her to faint. she was ok in the end