Newbie wondering if skydiving is for me

[DKane 0]

I've always been extremely enthralled with skydiving since I can remember. When I was 18 I had saved up enough money to do a tandem jump. I was unimpressed. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but it wasn't as exciting as I was hoping. In retrospect I think it might be partly due to the fact that I researched it so heavily beforehand that I knew exactly what to expect.

I still find myself overly attracted to the idea of it though. I can get lost on youtube watching videos for hours. That first jump was 7 years ago, and now I'm older and can afford to actually get into. My question is, do you think I would have fun getting into it if I wasn't hooked immediately after jump 1? I'm wondering if the concept of it is overly romanticized in my mind and if in practice it isn't for me.

How was everyone else's experience with first time tandem jump?

[SStewart 13]

Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
I mean really, you might want to think about this.

Onward and Upward!

[strife 0]

give it a whack

your thrill rate might change with AFF1,

[TracyS 0]

Can't answer the question as to my first tandem jump experience. Didn't go that route. I knew before I ever made my first jump that I did not want to do it as a tandem. If I was going to jump at all; I wanted it to be with full commitment. Me making the decision to jump from that plane and then taking the responsibility pilot the canopy back to the ground. After that, if I didn't like it, then skydiving wasn't for me. I LOVED IT! you couldn't have knocked the smile off my face with a baseball bat. I was certainly glad to have the two instructors along to be sure I didn't do anything stupid or freeze up, but I got to execute the skydive.
Since you've already done a tandem and weren't as impressed as you hoped for; why don't you go ahead and sit through the AFF first jump course and then go make a jump where you will be controlling your own jump and canopy flight. I think that the cost of your first jump course and your first AFF jump is comparable to a tandem jump, but I'm not certain about that detail.
You'll still have your two instructors with you for observation, guidance and safety, but you will be executing the skydive and piloting the canopy back to the ground.
After that, if you're still unimpressed with skydiving, then maybe it's just not for you.

Another thought would be to pay attention to what kind of skydiving videos you tend to gravitate to.
There are different disciplines in skydiving such as Swooping, Wingsuiting, Canopy Relative Work and Relative Work. If you find that there is a particular style of skydiving that you find yourself watching more than any other, then maybe that is where you would want to steer your skydiving training.
Unfortunately, any of the skydiving disciplines that you do realize you may be interested in moreso than any others will all take time and training to get to.
As with any other activity or skill, you must first learn the basics. Everything else you will do builds off of the basic skills and there is a progression you have to go through to get there.
It takes time, demonstration and documentation of improved skills to your instructors to be able to move along your skydiving "career". If you feel like people are holding you back in your advancement along a particular path, Swooping for example, you need to understand that experience has demonstrated, time after time, that failure to build the basic skills and trying to do things too far beyond your skill level can have life changing or fatal consequences. Your instructors want to see you get to whatever discipline you want to be in, but they want to help you get there without hurting yourself.
Hope you are able to figure out what aspect of skydiving it is that interest you.

Canopies must all be female. If I treat mine good, she gives me a good ride. If I slap her in the bag, she will dump me like a turd.

Courtesy of PRE7117, love that line.

[DKane 0]

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Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
I mean really, you might want to think about this.

That actually touches exactly on what I'm trying to say. The IDEA of jumping out of an airplane seems so absurd and incredibly intense that there is a "cool factor" associated with it. What I'm not sure of is if I actually want to do it or just be cool like James Bond.

[ghost47 18]

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How was everyone else's experience with first time tandem jump?

I thought my first tandem was sort of boring.

Four years later, I did a solo jump, and was scared out of my mind. Didn't enjoy it very much. Almost did not return for jump 2, but decided I needed to conquer the fear before walking away.

Five years after that, I've made 650 jumps, and jump pretty much every weekend.

If you're still thinking about it so much, and have the means, go through AFF. If you're still not enjoying it after that, you can stop, and know that you gave it a shot. Skydiving is not for everyone.

[forward 0]

My story is a bit similar to yours. I did a tandem 3 or so years ago, and although I thought it was pretty cool I wasn't instantly hooked.

A couple of months ago I got the whole "skydiving thing" stuck in my head again and decided to go give it another shot. Did AFF at the end of January and I've just completed my A-license. I love it! I can't get enough and I'm at the DZ every weekend. I'm really glad I came back and gave it another try. As mentioned above AFF is a completely different beast compared to tandem.

That's my pretty long winded way of telling you to go for it! If you don't enjoy your first AFF jump then maybe it's not for you. But maybe you do...

Everything else is just noise...

[Lukasz_Se 2]

I can relate to being a bit dissapointed by tandem jump. It was fun as hell but I should have spend the money on AFF. I also think that my problem was that I knew more about skydiving than some people with A licence Well, I signed up for AFF and there is no comparison. Even after some jumps when I became more relaxed before jumping out its still super fun. Playing in the sky with other people, amazing views, the feeling when the door opens...I would say do AFF, get your A licence and THEN you will be able to really decide if its for you or not. Even if its not, those 20+ jumps will be something you will most likely remember for rest of your life ;)

[RickieD 0]

My wife and I did our tandems in August and were completely hooked. We did our AFF jumps a few months back and still love it. We quickly realized after our AFF was completed how much we still had to learn. Skydiving requires considerable dedication at the start as there are a laundry list of things that can go wrong and you have to be prepared for everything. I read and study everything with Brian Germain's name on it and I read these forums every single day. Until your an expert like many of these skydivers, you have to show dedication so they don't discuss you after you failed to respond correctly from a horrible accident. I've only completed 15 jumps and spend considerable time preparing mentally and physically for every single jump. If you have the time and funds, this sport rocks. Never walked away from a jump yet without feeling better than any other day.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Why not give it a shot and see? It's not like you have to drop 10 grand in gear right at the start or anything. You don't even have to pre-pay for the entire AFF course if you're not sure you're going to like it.

The huge adrenaline rush dies down pretty quickly as you get used to doing it, so you might get bored with it if that's all you're after. I was surprised at how rewarding it was to learn how to control my body for freefall maneuvers. You start to feel like a gymnast. Plus it turns out I really like that feeling of flying.

Ultimately only you can answer whether it's something you want to do long term.

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

[skymama 37]

Being a passenger in a car is kind of boring compared to being the driver of the car. The same applies to skydiving.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[BIGUN 1,312]

Its just not for some people.

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

[doorgirl 0]

I was thoroughly unimpressed by my first jump, a tandem. I had been so excited to jump that I had already read a ton about skydiving and even attended safety day with my skydiving boyfriend. After the jump, everybody at the DZ was asking how I liked it.. until my response that it was just alright made it around.

I figured that maybe jumping wasn't for me, because if I didn't have the feeling of freedom I associated with skydiving in the air it didn't seem worth the risk or quite frankly the effort or money.

About a month later I was at a little Cessna DZ with my boyfriend for Memorial Day weekend. I saw how much fun the jumpers were having and I just knew that I had to do it. They set me up with an instructor for an AFF first jump course and I was in the air 4 times that weekend. (Thanks Vermont Skydiving Adventures!!!) I now have a few hundred jumps, though I only have 8 jumps since 2009 due to my own stupidity (injury on landing, all because I froze up and had an undiagnosed bone issue that meant I broke when others would not) and now motherhood. I will be back, I just don't know exactly when that will be.

Basically, if the sky is still calling your name give AFF a shot. Jumping on your own is entirely different than riding tandem, both for the control/responsibility and for the feeling of your body in relation to the air.

There is also nothing wrong in deciding that skydiving is not for you. Be honest with yourself, and allow that to dictate your course.

[skybytch 273]

Go do an AFF jump. If you don't want to go up and do it again when you land from your first REAL skydive (ie one where YOU are responsible for saving your own life), you probably won't find that skydiving is worth your time and money.

[ReluctantStool 0]

Do I think you would have fun getting into it if you were not hooked after jump #1?

No...

ZEUS Skydive Team....FSL Rookie Class

[dthames 0]

In my life (mid 50s now) I have seen a pattern if doing things that not everyone does and often doing them for the challenge of learning something new. I had always considered skydiving something that I might want to do. It certainly looked fun. After I started I didn’t fall in love with it the way some people do. I am not “thrilled” doing the jump. But I feel like I am rewarded in other ways that are meaningful to me.

I started less than 18 months ago. At my age, I expect to give it one good shot and if I leave the sport, I most likely will never return. Knowing that makes me put out my very best effort, to explore the sport to my fullest desire. I don’t want to look back and wish I had stayed with it and not quit. I want to fly wingsuits and I am just now starting that. Maybe the "love" will come. But in the meantime there is a great challenge and I love the challenge.

You might try to better understand what you want to get out of the sport. If you can nail that down, it might help you decide.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[ShcShc11 0]

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Being a passenger in a car is kind of boring compared to being the driver of the car. The same applies to skydiving.

Exactly this.
Its what makes skydiving addictive :)

[IanHarrop 42]

You won't like it... don't do it.

Its expensive, its dangerous and most skydivers never get laid.

Dropzones are boring, no one ever has any fun at those places.

Stop. STOP NOW. Get out while you can... save your money!

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[Bertt 0]

Especially when that car is headed toward a solid object at 120 mph.
To the OP, two words - Wind tunnel

You don't have to outrun the bear.

[oldwomanc6 52]

You could always just write poetry about the IDEA of skydiving.

There's no chance of spoiling it, that way.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[JohnMitchell 16]

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You could always just write poetry about the IDEA of skydiving.

"What kind of canopy do ya jump?"

"It's a Haiku."

[oldwomanc6 52]

Quote

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You could always just write poetry about the IDEA of skydiving.

"What kind of canopy do ya jump?"

"It's a Haiku."

It's got 17 cell-ables.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[DHemer 0]

I think you should give it a shot
I did a tandem 4 years before i started with my AFF. I was pretty underwelmed by my tandem experience though, was fun but i was not really scared and was less exciting
I was still taken with the idea and decided to do my AFF and then reevaluate.
As others have said being a passenger is boring compared to driving. Im now hooked
I dont find it especially scary but its way more fun and exciting than being a passenger

[Andy9o8 2]

I've been alive and around skydiving for a pretty long time. I have to say, with the possible exception of people who've been alive a long time and have already done a lot of physically dangerous stuff in their lifetimes, I'm at a loss to understand how anyone could truthfully find their first skydive from an aircraft, even a tandem, to be an underwhelming experience. I guess the species has devolved.

[Scooters 0]

Only one way to find out, do it!