How big is skydiving?

[theduke 1]

Hello all,

I am doing some research for a little business plan I got.

Does anyone know how big skydiving is worldwide?
I have been trying to get totals, but no luck so far.

I would like to know the following numbers worldwide;

Dropzones (1264 dz.com)
Skydivers?
Riggers?
Manufactures?

Cheers

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Eeh, well USPA Skydivers...

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[theduke 1]

Hmm,

USPA = USA


What about Europe, Russia Asia etc?

[PixieUK 0]

For the UK, try the British Parachute Association
www.bpa.org.uk

Membership (not all full members are active skydivers)
http://www.bpa.org.uk/member/

Dropzones:
http://www.bpa.org.uk/where-can-i-jump/

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

[strife 0]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4598239;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

Cheers?

3.

[theduke 1]

Thanks for that, that will get me started!

[potatoman 0]

I would like to know what the average number of jumps is per person, and the average spending power.

Then, how is that spending power devided into jumps, gear, beer, travel, etc.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[PixieUK 0]

potatoman

I would like to know what the average number of jumps is per person, and the average spending power.

Then, how is that spending power devided into jumps, gear, beer, travel, etc.

Ha ha ha
How long is a piece of string??????

No such thing as an average person. You might as well ask how much the average person in the street spends on beer, smoking, clothes, food.
In the UK, every person who does a tandem must be registered as 'a student' for BPA insurance cover. The vast majority never go on to make another jump. Ever. So if you take the average, from the stats on the BPA website, you'll probably end up with number of jumps as slightly more than 1

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

[potatoman 0]

I get you.

But when you do your yearly USPA membership or any country for that matter, you could do a survey which will, in the bigger picture offcourse, give you reasonable information.

With that you should have a far better business plan, than just BPA numbers like you say.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[PixieUK 0]

Hmm, I doubt that a survey will tell you anything useful. For one thing, it seems notoriously difficult to get any significant number of people to fill them in (for any sample, not just skydivers). And for another, the answers are only likely to be valid for a very short period of time and some answers could well skew your statistics drastically.

eg I have less than 100 jumps, I have my rig on long term rental (very unusual in the UK and requires a B licence) so I haven't spent £'000's on a rig yet I spent around £700 recently on a brand new full face helmet, a digital altimeter and 2 secondhand jumpsuits. But those are one-off purchases and are not typical of my expenditure. Only my analogue altimeter, gloves and 2 of my hook knives were new, everything else is secondhand (open face helmet, audible, 3rd jumpsuit etc).
The weather in the UK has been rubbish so far this year so my jump numbers are incredibly low for the times I've actually shown up at a dz (in theory I should have done maybe 20-25 jumps by now, I've actually managed 5). If the weather is good (highly unlikely but possible) over the next few days which include an FS course and a Bank holiday weekend, in theory I could get 20+ jumps in.

So my expenditure on jumps is highly weather dependent - that's far more likely to be the case in Northern Europe than in Florida, for example. My travel costs are skewed far too high for the number of jumps - I've been to 3 different dz's on 7 visits for those 5 jumps, in the summer I could easily expect to do 5 jumps at a dz in one day.

Similar conditions apply to associated expenditure. If I'm not jumping, I'm not likely to be getting beer fines, and if the weather is generally rubbish, I won't be hanging around the dz for hours to sit in the bar, I'll go home. In the summer I'm more likely to camp, then I'll have a couple of beers in the evening, but not many as I want to be up early without a hangover to start jumping as soon as possible. And if the forecasts aren't great, I'm unlikely to travel to dz's that are further away, even for boogies or special events - what's the point if I'm not going to get jumps in?

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr