New to skydiving!

[piepiepie 0]

Hi, I'd very much like to become a regular skydiver. I did a jump many years ago in America and I now live in Dundalk. So I seem to have a problem:
If I do join, how can I be expected to afford such ridiculous prices. I know it's an expensive hobby but we're talking about thousands of euro just to complete a decent training course/period. Has everyone at these clubs paid all this? Surely there has to be another way for people? I can find cheaper flights to the states than to take me up a few thousand feet to jump out over my own island (Ireland).
Please advise.
JJ.

[cocheese 0]

If there is a will, there is way. Good luck on your journey.

[piepiepie 0]

Perhaps. Perhaps I should have mentioned that I'm also a student and can barely afford cornflakes at this stage in my life. What is the usual way for people to get into this? I don't know anyone else who does it any everony thinks I'm mad when I try to convince them to do it with me.
Feel pretty alone and confused right about now.

[cocheese 0]

It's a very expensive bad habit. It may be good for you. I might not be good for you. You might have to wait a long time to achieve your dreams. Many here have been in your shoes. You are not alone. It is not impossible to become a world champion in 2 years. Yes you. A world champion in 2 years.

Think.

[Zeppo 0]

I know some people that spread their training over a number of years, simply because it is an expensive hobby.

One way that can help, and keep you at the DZ. Learn to Pack. Work weekends packing parachutes and use that money pay for your skydiving.

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Smile

What goes up, must come DOWN!!!

[Eule 0]

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What is the usual way for people to get into this?

For the bold, a ski mask, a pistol, and several banks. For the more clever, a brand new €100 note, a stack of old €5 notes, a bottle of bleach, and a color copier. :)

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I don't know anyone else who does it any everony thinks I'm mad when I try to convince them to do it with me.

That's fairly normal. I have talked to several people at the dropzone who came out to do tandems and originally planned to come with several friends. As the weekend approached, their friends would call them with various excuses. Many of them ended up coming alone, but still had a good time.

From what I read on here, it's relatively common for people in the UK (which I know doesn't include the Republic of Ireland) to visit Spain or the US to get their licenses. Apparently, doing this is both cheaper and faster - there are more days with good jumpable weather in Spain or the southern US than there are in the UK. Some of these "foreign" dropzones have instructors that are certified by the British Parachuting Association (BPA), so you can get the same license that you would get by jumping in the UK.

It appears that if you trained in Ireland, you'd get a license from the Parachute Association of Ireland. It might be worth seeing if a "foreign" dropzone allows you to get a PAI license, or if PAI would accept a BPA or USPA license.

I hope this helps!

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[KNewman 0]

First sell your golf clubs (like I did), then sell your hand-gun (like I did), then sell your paintball stuff (like I did), and then ask if anybody needs some climbing gear cheap (two trad racks with three sets of cam's), nobody has bought my climbing gear yet but I will find someone!!!
Say there pie cubed, for all of this good advice, me thinks you need to buy my climbing gear

Blue Skies and Stand-up Landings!!!!!!

[Gato 0]

I think your estimated costs are a bit high. My static line progression will end up costing around $1700 US (around 1375 Euro) to get an A license - one would think a comparable school across the Atlantic would have similar pricing. If you are having to pay much more than 1600 Euro, perhaps you should think about being trained in another country.

Hope you find what you're looking for - I think I did.

Good luck and stay safe,

Gato

T.I.N.S.

[udder 0]

sell your ass virginity on ebay. But always make sure they use paypal upfront. and tell them you wont be pushing back cause thats gay.

"In one way or the other, I'm a bad brother. Word to the motherf**ker." Eazy-E

[lowie 0]

There's a lot you can do to prepare yourself for skydiving. First get every last bit of cash you have and put it in a bucket. Then, borrow as much money from everyone you know and also put it in the bucket along with two cups of petrol. Light the petrol. Now you are really broke.
This is what it feels like to be a skydiver, only the money will most likely burn for longer than a skydive lasts.

This is not a student friendly sport - financially. May pay to wait until your earning first. The sport will still be here. And it will never get cheaper.

[Jumpah 0]

Sucks that its so expensive out there. My 235 jumps has cost somewhere north of $15,000 USD so far...thats training, three trips, gear, beer...

...its been the best year and a half I've had in a very long time, and life has always been pretty damn good.

[kirrz 0]

i'm a student too, took me about 9 months (23 jumps) to get my a license cos i couldn't afford to jump more. i literally sold all my stuff on ebay, got a decent paying part-time job and stopped buying anything uneccessary. i also did my tandem & got into the sport alone because everybody u speak to "would love to try skydiving" but how many actually go through with it? not worth waiting around for...

so...where there's a will, there's a way. maybe look into getting licensed in spain.

[RandomLemming 0]

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Some of these "foreign" dropzones have instructors that are certified by the British Parachuting Association (BPA), so you can get the same license that you would get by jumping in the UK.

Just a word of caution on this. I'm not aware of any DZs in Spain that are BPA affiliated. I think that some of them might be USPA affiliated though. Pretty much all of the schools in Spain have ties to a UK DZ, but make sure that you find a school that has ties to a DZ close to you.

I found some issues on getting back to the UK having trained in Spain. mainly because the DZ affiliated with the school I used was not practical for me to get to.