rj2163

Is it better to relax my neck or tighten the muscles to minimize neck strain on opening? I have a bad neck from an old whiplash car accident. I don't have any broken bones or anything. I'm just more sore the more I do. I have lots of good treatment (massage, chiro etc) but I'm often on the floor for a day or two after a jump weekend but what can I say, I love it. I'm a newb and honestly I'm still at the stage that when I throw my pilot chute all I'm thinking about is counting down to perform my EP's and "please God, please, please...YES! when my chute is opening. So, I haven't experimented yet with tightening my neck muscles to see if that would reduce the strain. My neck is pretty sore so far this year and I just wanted to ask if anyone had any experience/advice before I tried experimenting.

Me at my first tandem: Hi, I'm Rob, how you doing? TM: (shrugs) I'm a little depressed. Warning: this is a SCUBA joke but it's one of my favorites. I get the impression a lot of skydivers also SCUBA and have probably heard a variation of this conversation with my non-SCUBA, non-skydiving sister a couple weeks ago - she walked right into it. Sister: I'd do a tandem jump but I won't SCUBA dive. Me: Why? Sister: I'm terrified of being eaten by a shark. Me: That's just not going to happen and I'll even give you the knife. Sister: What's a little knife going to do to a big shark!? Me: the knife's not to stab the shark, it's to stab your buddy. (me in this case )

You and your friend are not alone. I gotta say I was totally wind sock challenged. I had a real mental block. Up to about 30 jumps I'd note the wind direction and plan my landing pattern before I'd jump, I'd check my drift in the air and get the wind direction and strength but I'd see that frigg'n wind sock and my brain would say "the sock is pointing in that direction (like an arrow) so that's where I'm going" - downwind. I had to focus constantly to avoid getting confused. I only landed downwind once. Fortunatley the wind was light but I still came in fast with first a run, then foot slide and finished with with a knee slide stopping 3 feet in front of a rasberry bush that I then watched my canopy settle on. Then someone told me the "eat the carrot" thing and that just clicked for me. rj

Chris, I think you’ll be ok because 3 (or 4 depending how you count boobies) of the best points are from your own posts! I can’t add anything to what others have said. Head injuries suck - been there done that (also with a lot of back/neck pain), but things have improved such that I’m getting back to my old self and doing stuff like jumping out of planes. I do understand a bit of what you’re going through but everyone’s situation is different. I know that the total effect on you is far more than the sum of the individual symptoms you listed, that every aspect of your life is affected, and the frustration can be absolutely beyond words. So, I’m sorry this happened again. However, I think one of the most important things you can do you have already done – you know not to let yourself become isolated and to stay connect to people especially when your getting overwhelmed. I understood from your post things were improving from your first accident. This recent fall is a setback and it sucks but because you have been through this before you know you CAN do it and things WILL improve. Have faith in this knowledge and use it to your advantage. And your absolutley right about the laughter and boobies rj

A couple of us will be in Arizona for a week starting this Friday. We will eventually get down to Eloy for some jumps and tunnel time. But with the flight times we have we'll probably stay in Phoenix on the days we fly in/out so does anyone have suggestions on cheap (quiet, clean, safe) accomodations around phoenix not too far from Sky Harbor airport? We will also go to Sedona for a couple days. Any suggestions for budget travelers around Sedona?

Any stats on how many drop zones there are in the world also broken down by country?

Haven't tried it myslef but I like this pic of Trevor (Packerboy) from our DZ in Fuzzy's Personal Photo Gallery.

Sorry for the big post but I know how lousy nerve pain can be. I was in a car accident in 1990 and basically walked away with a severe whiplash and a lot of nerve pain. I was in pretty bad shape up until about a year ago when I had a couple alternative treatments that really helped for my situation but here’s my advice. BIG RED FLAG!! It sounds like your toughing it out at this point and trying to treat the symptoms to get some relief. You sound like me and I ended up in a terrible situation. Be careful with toughing it out – it can be a slippery slope. My advice: 1. treat the cause not the symptom 2. don’t tough it out – be persistent in getting help to find the cause if it’s interfering with your life. 3. Non-drug pain relief. Always talk to your doctor but my pain doctor had recommended these: - ginger was already mentioned but I can’t remember the dose – it was high though - Vitamin D3 1000iu 2/day - magnesium glycenate or Proteinate 100mg 2/day - Omega-3 fish oils 4. Drugs - avoid them which you are trying to do. However, if your in misery and if nothing else helps IMHO periodic narcotics can help without getting dependent and minimizing other side effects. If you are in pain you tend to tighten up which can make the pain worse. So I think some periodic drugs can be helpful while minimizing side effects if meditation and relaxation, which I highly recommend, don't give enough relief. I still periodically take a narcotic called Dilaudid which is fast acting and short action and gives some item to lay down or get in a hot bath if things really flare up. Anticonvulsants and tri-cyclic antidepressants help some people but I’d stay away unless your desperate. Don't go near sleeping pills if your having problems sleeping. 5. if you do take drugs for pain relief be careful your not just masking a problem that is getting worse end you end up worse off in the long run. 6. the problem may be your discs but don’t you or your doctors necessarily write off the problem to this. There could be another problem somewhere else. Pain doesn’t necessarily appear where the problem is. For example one of my pain doctors told me that one of her patients had a debilitating back problem that ended up being cause by a tight muscle in her jaw that set up chain of cascading problems that screwed up other muscles and resulted in all sorts of problems lower down. 7. Get someone to check your posture body mechanics (Physiatrist, physiotherapist, kinisiologist, chiropractor, sports medicine doctors) and maybe just a couple specific exercises will help.

>Yes. I've watched friends of mine die, and it's a horrible experience. I'm sorry about your friends but am grateful for your post even though it causes you to re-live some painful memories. I'm too new to the sport to have a "gut feel" for the risk so I try heed the words of experience and learn from it. So, I read your post several times. I've done lots of risky sports and my job deals with risk so I'm familiar with the idea for risk perception, prepare for the worst and hope for the best and all that. However, your right, it often goes to hell when someone dies. A guy jumped out of my apartment building (30 or so stories) and hit the pavement in front of my balcony. Maybe not high enough for terminal velocity but enough to make a real mess. This was years ago and I still can't get the sound out of my head it was so loud. So, when I first saw this post come up I couldn't watch the video. After reading your post I realized thats a problem. So, I watched it. This is a bit of an unusual situation and the parents were stupid. But, unfortunately the deaths of your friends and others are a reality of this sport that newbs like me can't push aside and have to accept the whole reality of the sport to make informed decisions. I check out the incidents to try to learn from them but they tend to be very factual. However, I think it takes someone like you thats been there to really hammer it home to make the point even though some might just consider it a downer. The thing is I don't take your post as negative. It is as it is. If I can't embrace all of it then thats a problem. So, initially when I read your post I didn't agree with some things you said but after thinking about it I ended up agreeing with everything you said. So, thanks for your post and I'll keep I'll keep it in mind. rj.

check out the jump number (I know shit at this point)....but I'm bored and bumbed out at the weeks of bad weather here so..... solo jump - At my DZ we do 4 tandems before starting the AFF. There are lots of little overlapping bits on the Tandems so I found the transition to AFF first jump pretty seamless. 1. on one of my tandems the instructor had me "go big" immediately on exit and I think I was more stable off exit on my solo because I'd already experienced it. But that's totally at the discretion of your DZ and instructor. 2. I did my last tandem the same day as my first AFF jump (I did the ground school the night before) and just focused on relaxing and arching on the tandem so it was comfy for the solo. 3. My instructor always would say "you do in the air what you do on the ground". I was nervous so I'd mental image things a lot prior to jumping so on the plane I was mostly relaxing. Sometimes just before the door would open I'd think I was going to go blank but when the door opened things would just kick in and do exactly what I'd rehersed - I was really surprised. But like the other said the whole trick is relax, arch and have fun - your body will follow. Talk about any concerns with your instructors, spins, if your nervous - whatever - they WILL prepare you. Don't get yourself worked up. family - If you love it just do it and probably the best you can hope is that they tolerate it. If they don't, do it anyway but I wouldn't be in their face with it as I doubt they will change their mind. I agree with Matt, I don't know if dragging people out to the dz is a good idea if they are not into it. I'm older than you and I don't know if it has anything to do with age. My family has really never given me a hard time about the things I've done for fun over the years but they sure were never enthusicastic. I do whatever and often tell them after the fact if an opportunity comes up. LOL - My parents thought my tandem video looked fun so I showed them one from a few weeks ago doing flips, rolls, tracking and stuff. My dad said absolutely nothing and my mom paused and said "well, thanks for sharing". WTF!? They just did't know what to say! Too funny! The rest of my family and friends are half and half. they are just concerned and if they do ask questions I answer as directly and truthfully as i can and there are lots of threads on this site that deal with these types of questions.

well....I don't know.....that's a close call. If you wore it around your neck on a string I'd give to ya no problem.

Hey Droolbaby, thats a great schtick so is this an uncontrollable problem? A neighbors dog used to have a real slobbering problem and they gave it a "goober rag". Lol- it always had this cloth in its mouth with the ends hanging out on either side. Maybe something like that would help. I think the patent is still available.

Hey, Mark, how's it going. Man, you were a man on a mission this year! You accomplished a lot. Way to go. Tom encouraged me to try to go to Eloy when I'm around Phoenix and I asked him if I could jump with my USPA student status. I believe he said a solo jump could be arranged. I've mostly just been doing fun stuff so I haven't looked into the licenses too much. I briefly checked and there are a couple minor thing's I haven't done on the USPA license requirements like front riser turns. As far as group stuff I only did some basic docking with Andrea. I just won't have time to do any written stuff. I emailed skydive arizona explaining the situation and asked if I could jump and exactly what they would want and am waiting for a reply. I actually signed up for USPA because I thought it would be more likely I'd jump down south in the winter than at another DZ here in Canada in the summer but I really didn't think much about it at the time. What was that? Also, what did you end up doing about insurance when you went to Florida? So, if jumping doesn't work out Tom encouraged me to visit anyway just to see the place and I've already emailed the Wind Tunnel guys about some RW lessons if I do visit. rj

You are correct sir! Yup, yer basic "standard pleasure model". I liked the movie and I don't know why but that name has always stuck in my head. Also, I think it came out in 1982 which was the year I did my first IAD. rj edit: Also, I was thinking about it because the scene in Kill Bill 2 after Daryl Hannah lost her eye was obviously a flashback to Blade Runner where Pris was killed.

Nope, that's not it. But it is from and entertainment type thing rj

I don't know what that's about but, I'm not surpised your in the doghouse bro after the thread with the girl who lost her dog. I remeber the crossbones. You sould have bailed out of that one a lot earlier. but welcoming newbs to the site is a good way to get out of dropzone purgatory.

Hey, there we go!! Thanks Skymama, (sigh) I am complete

Hi, I lurked on the site for a couple months but I decided to “come out” and say hi. We have barely seen the sun her in Kingston, Ontario, Canada for a few weeks. It was beautiful on Friday and I was pretty excited about jumping this weekend but the weather has sucked and it’s raining today. I hadn’t intended to partake in the usual banter but I just couldn’t resist a thread a couple weeks ago and made my first post. Actually I’m just fishing for a welcome by Skymama. I don’t think its official until Skymama welcomes you to the site. She (and some others) seems to usually welcome people to the site. Kudo’s to you Skymama. There are so many that make this site what it is and you are big part of it ………and you’re a babe I’m always interested why people started in this sport so I’ll tell my story. I used to do all manner of fun and adventurous stuff. About 22 years ago I talked a few friends into doing the IAD jump (3000 feet still with round canopies then). I was the 4th of 4 to jump. When I saw the others jump I thought “I don’t have to do this!!”. (lol – of course they made the one girl in the group jump first) I think we did a go around because I remember we did a steep turn and gained altitude because the blood rushed out of my head and things were going black. As soon as my head started to clear the instructor yelled “lets go”. I thought I was going to die. But I ended up having a blast. I wanted to take the freefall program but couldn’t afford it. In 1990 I was sitting in traffic at a stop light after work one day and a guy went thought a stoplight and smashed into me from behind. (so, yes skydiving is riskier than some other things but it just goes to show you can play it safe and shit happens anyway). The pain got worse over time and to make a long story show up to about one year ago I was in misery virtually bedridden most of the time. However, I tried some radical treatments and it was like a miracle. I was up and around doing things again and worked at building up my condition and strength.. I felt I had a second chance at life so I wanted to do some things and freefall was one. Like I said my first IAD jump was a little scary and I thought freefall would be scarier. This thought had festered for years. Maybe 5 years ago I went through a short phase where I felt good so I dropped by the dz to inquire about the freefall program. They said the twin otter was there and we could do a tandem right now from 13,000 ft. I said I would think about it. I went back to my car, sat there for a bit and just drove home. I just wasn’t mentally prepared. I dropped by Skydive Gananoque a couple months ago to look into it again. Again, they “don’t think about it, lets to a tandem right now”. This time I did it. I had a BLAST!! I went with Will. These people are total pro’s. They inspire confidence but keep it fun. I got the video (by Simon) and I went home got drunk and watched it over and over. The great thing was I was the only tandem on a 206 so a few other jumpers came along. The first guy (Chris) did a hop and pop and tracked away out the door on his back – I thought that was on of the coolest thing I’d ever seen. At altitude two others (Kara and Trevor) jumped sitflying – awesome. I watched these people on the video I thought I just had to try this myself. NOTE: I know the tandem is expensive and the video is more but I highly recommend people get the video for a couple reasons. First, it is a great memory because the first jump is a bit of a blur. But also, having the camera man there makes it a completely different, better and more interesting experience. You can’t see the tandem instructor behind you so instead of just looking around and hoping your parachute is going to open: you see this other person a few feet from you who is relaxed, smiling and having fun so you relax, your focus becomes clowning around for the camera, it becomes a little party of 3, and it’s extraordinary seeing another person in freefall and when the camera man falls away when your parachute opens. So, I took the freefall course with the view I only wanted to get the point of jumping myself. My instructor Rick was great. Other than having some difficulty finding my pilot on the first jump ( so I just kept doing them all the way down until I opened) things went way smother than I thought it would. A guy at the dz was selling his rig. It only had about 300 jumps in virtually new condition. It seemed perfect for me so I bought it a couple weeks ago. So my new (used) rig and I have been bonding for a while and I shall name it Pris (if you figure out where that name comes from, you get……well, nothing). I was concerned about hard openings with a Sabre 190 (1997 with 300 jumps) as I saw many really negative reports on this site. I tested it a couple times before I bought it and they were “brisk”. I bought it about 3 weeks ago and have only been able to jump with it twice since then because of the bad weather and they were the softest openings I’ve ever had. It’s getting cold here so the season is almost over. I’d rather be plummeting to the earth at 120mph at the moment but here I sit pining watching the rain outside writing this super long post. So, woe is me HOWEVER, I’ll be around Phoenix starting November 11 for a week and maybe I can get to Skydive Arizona to run and dive out the back of…..well, one of those planes that you can run and dive out the back

Thats it. Thanks rj

I could be wrong about the birdman suit but I was just interested in the fact that he mananged to get back in the plane

Hi, sorry I wasn't sure where to post this. I once saw a video clip on the net of a guy that jumped out of a plane with a birdman suit, the plane went into a dive and he flew back into the plan? I can't find it now. Anyone know where I could find it? rj

Thanks, I feel at home already!

man oh man.. and to think I was wasting time in the Training and Safety section. Hi, all I'm new to the site. I was looking for what to do in the event of certain malfunctions and meandered over to the Bonfire section and this caught my attention. (Homer Simpson voice) bj's....MmmMMmmmMmm So, I forgot what I was looking for and am screwed up now....oh yeah...If I end up with a biter, do I just cut away and pull....or what