Encouragement

[bigfall 0]

Hey everybody I am thinking of making my first jump back after my accident last year. I was thinking about next weekend but I have been saying that for weeks now. I know that the skydive will be great once I am out the door it's just going near the door, the fear of being pulled out by my reserve is sometimes over whelming. I was hoping that my skydiving family would have some words of encouragemnet that might not put it out of my mind but help ease me back into it so I can feel the rush again.

STEP OUT AND FEEL THE RUSH!!!! LATER
SKYBOMB

[kschilk 0]

Maybe jumping a different rig, might ease your mind a bit...less deja vu? At any rate, I'd bomb the door, no hanging out in the doorway or outside the plane...just go!

[Andy9o8 2]

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the fear of being pulled out by my reserve is sometimes over whelming.

Is that what caused your injury the last time? If not, why are you focusing on that in particular?

[stratostar 5]

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Is that what caused your injury the last time?

No what caused his injury's was the tail of the plane cutting 4 out of five lines on the front riser of his reserve, thus causing high speed spining impact with ground from 5K. He is a very lucky man to be here today.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[Andy9o8 2]

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Is that what caused your injury the last time?

No what caused his injury's was the tail of the plane cutting 4 out of five lines on the front riser of his reserve, thus causing high speed spining impact with ground from 5K. He is a very lucky man to be here today.

Well...that's why I asked the question: to find out whether a reserve pop is what happened to him the last time.

[Flying-Wench 0]

Hi Bigfall,

Wow you are lucky to still be around. You had this incident at 40 jumps? damn.

Im also trying to do my "comeback" after a 6 month health break, no accidents or incidents, my body just needed a rest. Im more nervy now than i ever was on my first jump. Not having ever been injured in this sport i cant understand your situation, but can relate to feeling peaky after a break.

Ive been spending lots of time at the DZ, and lots of time talking to my partner and friends whom are instructors, about the DZ, the plane (both new!), my gear, landings etc. They have helped me come up with a "plan" to get back into skydiving, addressing my areas of concern, they give me alot of support and will be there for me when i decide the time is right.

Are you able to do this? Hang out at your DZ and get instructors to help you plan your return?

[bigfall 0]

Yes I have been hanging out at the dropzones alot I have 3 of them within 1 hour of the house. I have lots o friends there and they have been nothing but supportive for me, Stratostar is a very good friend of mine and has been very supportive I just need to wipe the demands and get back in the air. I hope that evrything goes great for you and that you get back into the air soon.

STEP OUT AND FEEL THE RUSH!!!! LATER
SKYBOMB

[Flying-Wench 0]

that sounds great, im sure you will get back in the air, good luck to you as well! I hope i get back up, its driving me crazy. Nothing more frustrating!

[stratostar 5]

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Well...that's why I asked the question:

I know, just explaining what happend, in short.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[cocheese 0]

The sunset load. Need i say more?

[Baksteen 84]

At jump #55 I had a dumbass high speed "mal" - couldn't locate my ripcord, something I am still frustrated about. The rc wasn't in any kind of weird place or anything, so why I couldn't find it after approximately 30 freefalls?

The plan was to pull at 3K.
Wave off, grab.. grab again... ok this is it..
alti, legs, look, grab, look, pull, grab, pull.

However, I suppose jumping with rc "drilled" me into hanging on to things, so I was fumbling with my cutaway handle a second or two before I pulled the silver.

The first alti I am consciously aware of is 1000 ft, so I didn't have time to learn to fly the reserve properly.
I flared the canopy twice, and that's it.
The rest of the time I was busy trying to select a field, but due to the relatively high winds I found myself heading for a ditch at very low altitude.
I tried to do a minor correction, to little effect, and I decided that I'd rather take my chances in the ditch than risk hooking any canopy, much less an unfamiliar one.

Splash. Ouch.

Torn ankle ligament. No jumping for a month. (I was very, very lucky)

The first jump since the incident. I was scared shitless during the ride up, had to close my eyes before exit and take several deep breaths. I exited stiff like a plank, but here comes the point of this entire story:

Not ONCE did I consider not jumping again, or riding the plane down. And once I was out of the door again, I found myself arching. Within two seconds I was stable and I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulder. I smiled and I sighed. I was BACK.

For the rest of the freefall from 13k to 4k I have been doing dummy pull after dummy pull

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[Andy9o8 2]

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due to the relatively high winds I found myself heading for a ditch at very low altitude.
I tried to do a minor correction, to little effect, and I decided that I'd rather take my chances in the ditch than risk hooking any canopy, much less an unfamiliar one.

Splash. Ouch.

Torn ankle ligament. No jumping for a month.

That was good judgment, especially for a low-timer under stress: to resist the urge to turn low, and to suck up a rough landing. Not resisting that urge has badly broken and killed a lot of people.

[airathanas 0]

Sounds like you had a horrible experience. I'm so sorry that you had to got through something like that.

Even if you never return to jumping but still stay in the skydiving community, there's no shame in that.

This is YOUR decision. After my second malfunction, I took three years off. I came back to the sport when it was right for ME.

http://3ringnecklace.com/