AFF Level 1

[elatom 0]

Hi all, this is my first post ever, so hopefully it works okay. I did a tandem jump last December and am planning to start the AFF course on Saturday. The tandem jump went fine, but since then I have been reading a bit too much about skydiving accidents and so forth, and I'm beginning to wonder why, exactly, I am inclined to do this. I'm not so much concerned about bad things happening on the first jump. I figure with two jumpmasters right next to me, there are probably few opportunities for things to go wrong. But reading about uncontrollable spins and twisted lines, I do wonder about having a sense of control up there. Does it become second nature, or is there always the possibility of making some little error that will have bad consequences? What is controllable and what is not, and is it normal to start having second thoughts before starting? And, if so, do those second thoughts disappear? Thanks -- AL

[PhreeZone 20]

Most of these questions will be addressed in your First Jump Class by your instructors, so hold off and ask them anything thats on your mind then
One thing to always remember though is Skydiving is a sport that you can do everything right, and still die.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[skybytch 273]

First off, welcome to the sky!

Quote

is there always the possibility of making some little error that will have bad consequences?

There is always the possibility of making some little error that will have bad consequences. Skydiving is NOT a safe sport, regardless of what anyone may have told you. You can do everything right and still die or be seriously injured.

Skydiving is all about risk management. First you should conciously decide that the rewards you get from jumping are worth the risk of injury or death; this is a decision that each of us must make for ourselves. Next you should make a commitment to yourself to learn all you can about skydiving, skydiving equipment and the various risks you are exposing yourself to by jumping. Once you understand the risks you are taking, you can begin to manage them by deciding how much of each risk you are comfortable with.

Most of the risks you'll be taking on your student jumps will be managed by your instructors; if you do as you are trained to do you should be just fine (note that the majority of student jumpers, even first jumpers, do perform exactly as trained). For right now, focus on reading as much as you can about the equipment you'll be using and the new skills you'll be learning on your student jumps.

I highly recommend the book "Parachuting, the Skydiver's Handbook" by Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff. It's available from any of the major gear dealers (see the links section of this website for contact info) or direct from the publisher, Para Publishing.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Tom

I was in your exact position not all that long ago (six months ago) and asking the same questions. Is skydiving something I really want to do? I think you've already received some good feedback so I'm not going to try and reiterate what's already been said. But I just wanted you to know that skydiving has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. Am I taking risks in this sport? Sure I am, but I risk my life every day when I drive my car, ride a motorcycle, ride a bike, ski, rock climb, mountaineer, etc, etc, etc.

Now there are many people out there who only do one tandem and are happy. There are many people who are happy only doing a few AFF jumps. There are many people who get through their AFF but then don't go on to become licensed. And there are those of us who love this sport so much that we become licensed, dedicated and make new (hopefully) life long friends in the sport. I personally am in it for the long haul.

By the way, your profile says you're in Boulder (as does mine, check it out). Are you doing you first jump course at Mile-Hi? If yes, your first jump AFF instructors are more qualified to answer your specific skydiving questions than I am, but I will be at Mile-Hi jumping this weekend. So if you should see me (and recognize me from my DZ.COM mug shot), say hi. To me making friends in this sport really helps you feel apart of the community and sport.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[rendezvous 0]

Like skybytch said, Skydiving is about risk management. That's precisely what it is. The idea is to keep yourself educated and well informed about the sport so that you are capable of measuring the risk and managing it. Being in the sport is really a matter of what you percive to be an acceptable risk. You have to realize that it's a sport in a different realm. It belongs to a league where errors in judgemnet are not about home runs or touch downs but about getting hurt or dieing. In it's absoluteness it's risky. No doubt about that. The idea is to reduce that risk by understanding it and to that extent the sport has advanced enough to make that risk manageable within the limits of risk the amount of risk that will always exist. I'm in the sport because in my perception I think I'm taking a well measured risk and I'm willing to accept the amount that remains open inspite of all my efforts of being safe. As a return to the risk I take, the sport pays back by harnessing a side of me that I would rather have tamed and disciplined by Skydiving than any other sport in the same league.

[totalwreck 0]

Hey elatom --

I think everyone can empathize with your position. Being pretty new to the sport myself, I too asked myself the same questions not that long ago: why do I really want to do this? am I being unfair to my family (if an accident occurs)? The bottom line is that there is nothing -- NOTHING - like skydiving (but you already know that!). And that relates not only to the time from exit to landing; I can’t think of any other sport where absolute beginners are generally welcomed and treated just like the folks at the DZ with 10,000+ jumps. It’s almost like picking up a baseball bat for the first time and getting to shag flies with Yankees as if you were just one of the team.

As for risk, you know it’s there, but as others have said, it can be managed (although it cannot be eliminated). Comparison to driving a car has become cliche, but it really is a good comparison: how often do you think about how much you’re risking your life every time you operate an automobile? And a large part of that risk is out of your control due to the behavior of the hundreds or thousands of other drivers you encounter each trip. In large measure, how much risk you accept in skydiving is up to you. For example, when I recently bought my first rig, I chose a larger main than what I was advised to get, and selected a large reserve canopy as well. I am also an obsessive packer and always ask for gear checks. I may look like a dork, but I’m planning on skydiving for quite a while.

My point is that there certainly are extremely valid reasons for jumping out of airplanes. Whether the risks associated with doing so are acceptable to you is a question only you can answer.

[jncoughlin 0]

Welcome to the greatest thrill on, or off, earth.

I was where you are exactly one year ago. Had one tandem and was waiting for warm weather to start AFF. I got all the way through AFF level VII and then never went solo because the weather moved in that day. After that I got injured, not skydiving, and sat out the rest of the season. Now I can't wait for spring to resume. I'll probably have to go backwards a level or two but that's OK.

As has already been said, this is not a "safe" sport. I'm a fanatical snow-boarder and I consider skydiving safer than that. You should read everything that you can. The skydivers handbook is great and I recommend you study the hell out of the malfunction section. Also, get the video "Breakaway" which is instructional about mal's.

I was scared before every jump. Once out the door, no fear. It was magic! After you land, there's a certain glow that lasts a very long time. I had pretty good line twists on AFF VII but training, and a high opening, kicked in to give me plenty of time to deal with it. That gave me more confidence.

Study the incidents at the fatalities page:

http://www.skydivingfatalities.info/

There's a lot of educational material buried in those reports. Also note that the vast majority of incidents happen under a good canopy and involve hook turns and turns too close to the ground. Cypress and RSL would have prevented many more. And then sometimes, like everything in life, it's just not your day. If we worried about that then we'd stay in our bedrooms all day!

As for me, I will approach every jump assuming that a mal will occur and ready to react. I will trust that I have a reserve and it will work. I will trust that I'm at least competent enough to recognize and emergency and do what I'm trained to do. I'll double check my gear before each jump and ask somebody to check me again.

Then I'll have the time of my life flying through the sky!

Good Luck.

[elatom 0]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. Next thing to think about is how to pay for it all if I do really get into it.. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow, Steve -- It's supposed to be warm and hopefully will be a great day.

See ya, Anthony

[Luv2Fall 0]

The rewards are priceless.

[hooked 0]

I loved reading this post. Thanks for asking these questions and telling us your concerns. I am about where you are, in that I have done 4 tandems and waiting for warmer weather to pursue anything further. There are days, when I think-'am I crazy?' and then there are days when I remember how great it was to be in the sky and think-'I can do this'. I wonder if I will be able to react to an emergency quick enough or if I will 'freak'?? Just doing tandems has changed my life, I can't imagine what changes will take place if I solo a skydive
J

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Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings.

[Clownburner 0]

I did AFF1 a few weeks ago. I too was petrified at first, but by the time I was done with ground school, I had a very good idea of exactly what to do should something go wrong. I practiced emergency procedures until I was comfortable with them, then I went and jumped.

Personally, I found my first AFF jump to be 10 times as great as the two tandems I did previously. Even though there are two instructors there with you during FF, there's something about jumping with your own parachute and landing on your own that can't be beat. I also got to do my first PLF on that landing (lucky for me it was only from about two feet - I flared too high, but juuuust barely).

Now I have a hard time getting any work done because all I can think of is going out to dive again, and every time the wind kicks up my heart beats faster, as if I was in freefall again. Ok, I'm a junkie, no doubt about it.

If you need to stay productive at work, and don't want to spend the rest of your life obsessed, you're better off not learning to skydive.

7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez
"I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

[Muenkel 0]

Welcome Tom,

I am in agreement with everyone here. I understand what you are going through. I myself did 2 tandems in December of 2001. I did it thinking I was a tourist. I could not believe the effect it had on me. Suddenly it was everything to me. It's now 14 months later and I still think about it every day. To make a long story short, I went back to the DZ the following May to begin AFF. However, it was cut short due to a minor injury in the wind tunnel and a family emergency. Since then, due to alot of miscellaneous stuff I have been unable to resume AFF. Now the warm weather is coming and I find myself torn in two again. I still can't get skydiving out of my head and I am wondering if I am nuts. All the what if's are in full swing right now. However, reading all the different posts here, I have noticed one thing in common. These people LOVE this sport! They must be enjoying it. They must have faced many of the "what if's" and put them behind them.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

Chris

_________________________________________
Chris

[Tonto 1]

Hi There,

Skydiving is mini life. There is always doubt, and there are no garentees. What I can tell you is that skydiving is a blast - the people are incredible - and it's well worth going through some nerves to become one of us. I have over 1000 AFF dives as an instructor, and I have no terrible stories for you.

Enjoy your dive, and lets hear all about it!

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[GroundRush1 0]

I went through the same thing you are going through a few weeks ago, I had to ask if it was a good idea to be skydiving. I had already had one tandem and two static line jumps. So just to let you know, you are not alone.
The fact is, there is a lot of scary stuff about you can do everythihg right and still die. The thing to do is to minimize the risk, they have to tools for doing that, but not everyone uses them. I think the best way to stay out of trouble is to take all precautions until you feel confident, and go with those. Dont let your ego ever get in the way, or dont try to be cool, if your mind says take this many precautions, then take that many. The idea is to be successful at skydiving, not to see how much risk youre willing to take. This is a sport, not a battle with courage. Stick to the big chutes, RSLs, and AADs, dont trust your equipment to save you, trust yourself, practice emergency procedures before going up, know everything that can happen and be ready to react.

Knowing how to react, my friend, is EVERYTHING. Its all about knowing what to do. When you are unsure of how to deal with an emergency situation, that will cause you to panic, then things go really wrong. Its this you want to avoid.

You cant ask too many questions in skydiving, and if your instructors treat you like you are asking too many, then its time for you to walk away from that DZ. Its your butt up there, and you have every right to protect it with as many saftey measures as are available.

In the long run, I think you will find out that the most dangerous thing about skydiving is what one poster said:

If you need to stay productive at work, and don't want to spend the rest of your life obsessed, you're better off not learning to skydive.

They need to come up with a safety measure for that!

[Slink2 0]

I made my first tandem jump in Sept 2000, and spent all of the winter pouring over malfunctions, fatalities etc. I was scared BEEPless!I wrestled with the very idea and why the hell I would do this. In the spring I did another tandem and AFF. Being a student scared the BEEP out of me. I'd read where a fellow AFF burned in and freak out. I came very close to quitting because of fear. I noticed as I gained more control it became fun. However, it wasn't until about 25 jumps that I could really relax on the way to altitude. The levels they talk about in this sport are very true and I have much to discover. It is still a little anxious during jumps but I no longer look at other jumpers as super human as I did as a student.