Oh the pain!

[jvr553 0]

So i did my first jump on sunday, it cost more than i expected as i had to pay an extra $48 for the 24 pounds over 200 that i weight( guess i need to hit the gym).

It was by far the most exhilarating thing i have done, and i loved it. That is until the canopy was deployed, then it was incredibly painful. It felt like i had just done the splits. The part that was interesting was that the pain on my left thigh was just from the pressure from the strap but on the right it felt like i had torn something. I seriously though I was gonna cry from the pain but then the instructor loosened the straps in that helped a lot.

On the way down as he turned to get us to the landing spot the pain got worse on every turn and i kept trying to pull myself up to relieve some of the pressure. The landing was not bad, i had no trouble putting my legs up so we could turn our butt into landing gear and the touchdown was relatively soft. I got up and was ok the pain was still there but it was by no way crippling.

Im thinking about going back in a few days as i want to do continue through the aff program. What im worried about is that if i do and the time comes to solo the pain will be too severe for me to focus on the landing. The next jump is a tandem so im gonna try to evaluate my ability to do so when i have to guide the canopy. Is this fairly normal? Is there anything that can be done to lessen the pain?

[virgin-burner 1]

i reckon you did a tandem then? from what i've heard, this can happen on tandem-rigs. you should be reasonably fine on a student-rig.

i had a couple of hard openings on those, once to the point of turning all black and blue. and i'm not really the sensitive type.

you'll be fine! go out and do it!

and yea, loose a couple of pounds..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[cjsgrlsx3 0]

Tandem harnesses hurt. I did 6 of them and all of them were uncomfortable. I did not experience any pain in the student rig I used while going through AFF!

[RickNC 0]

You think that hurt try a T10 harness.

[kkeenan 14]

Ask the DZ if they can let you hang in a suspended harness. That way you can see how a solo harness feels and also analyze the pain you may feel to see if a different adjustment of the legstrap placement may work for you. Who knows, maybe you just left your car keys in your pocket, and the got under the strap. That's still better than a "roaming" testicle getting under a legstrap. Now there's some pain.

kk

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[JohnRich 4]

Wear extra layers of pants too, to provide more cushioning and to spread out the force from the straps. For example, wear shorts underneath heavy denim jeans.

[jvr553 0]

Quote

you'll be fine! go out and do it!

and yea, loose a couple of pounds..

[jsaxton 0]

easy solution, wear a strap

[Andrewwhyte 1]

One of the major causes of pain on opening is the strap moving up the leg under tension. After you have the harness on try doing the "sumo move" where you lift each knee high. This will move the strap higher into your crotch where it is going to end up anyway.
If you are into losing weight the cardio machines are your friend, but a few leg exercises will help build muscle tone on your inner thigh.

[sgoltry853 0]

I had a similar experience on my first tandem. I'd venture a guess and say it might have something to do with the added weight you're carrying... or at least I'm pretty sure that's what it is in my case. I've made three AFF jumps as well, and though I still experience some leg pain on opening and during sharp turns with the student rig, it's not horrible and it's less severe than with the tandem harness. For the experience of skydiving, I'll just put up with the discomfort and bruising until I get into better shape.

[jvr553 0]

Did my second jump today. It was alot better, i think the rig we used actually had some patting on the legstraps which i do not remember on the first one. I also tried doing the "sumo move" and the straps did move up a bit although they were already pretty tight. Still had some pain but it was much less than lat time. Thanks again for the suggestions.