skinnyfat

Not a lawyer, I'm actually insulted at that accusation - just kidding

Funny you should say that, its been done. An obese guy sued the parent company of several fast food chains a few years ago stating it was their fault that he was FAT!! He lost of course, but they still had to pay to defend themselves against his horseshit complaint. Not a big deal for Fast Food giants but might be for a small DZ...

This was the point I was trying to make. Waiver or no waiver, based on our litigious society, it can happen and of it does, its gonna cost big money to the DZ or whoever to defend it, no matter how frivilous. Exactly...and it sucks, welcome to the USA.

I agree, as in everything else you do in this life, you will be surrounded by negligent people. My comment about not tolerating negligence was intented towards instructors and staff at a DZ, not other jumpers. Ouch! You guys are rough...

I am willing to accept inherent risk but not negligence on anyones part. Hopefully, you wouldn't accept it either. There is also a difference between an accident (no ones fault really) and someone being grossly negligent in their actions or responsibility. My interaction with the skydiving community has shown nothing but the utmost respect for the risks involved and have been very safety conscious, as they should be. That is why negligence can not be tolerated, I hope anyone would agree..

I know I am not a skydiver per-se (yet - hopefully) but I do know one thing - It does not matter what paperwork you sign, what the waiver says, in any activity (not just skydiving) you can sue them if you can show negligence on their part. There is a diffence between inherent risk and negligence. I was driving down the road yesterday and saw a dump truck that said on the back "not responsible for falling debris" But surely they are if they damage your car because of negligence in securing their load. The key word is negligence... Just my two cents (and you know what that buys!)

Thanks everyone for the encouragment. I am surrounded everyday by people who say "what are you nuts?" so its nice to have the support from you guys and gals. Like minded people, people who understand the desire. I was reading a different thread that asked what made current jumpers skydive for the first time and a lot of the answers were similar to mine. Interesting. Anyway, I cant say thanks enough to all of you who responded, and event to those who read this thread and thought encouraging thoughts! Blue skies!

Thanks guys for the input. I appreciate you taking the time to give me kind words of encouragement.

I just wanted a little bit of advise / encouragement from this awesome community. Here is the deal: Back in 1995, I made it 6 jumps into my initial AFF training (2 Tandems and 4 AFF levels) at Skydive Arizona (Great place!) and then I lost my nerve. I remember drifting slightly on exit during my last jump (not actually getting unstable) and finishing it cleared to the next level. Something about that scared me. There was about a 2 or 3 weekend break until I could get back down there and for some reason I couldn't do it again. Drove down a few times but couldnt get up there again. I think the biggest thing for me was reading the fatality reports back then in Parachutist and freaking out. Time has since healed me of my freaking out and I have studied it very thoroughly since and know how safe the sport is. Anyway, I absolutely love the culture, the sport, the people, and frequently go down and watch all the skydivers for fun. Bottom Line: I want to start jumping again, really bad, but even as I write this, thinking about it, my palms are sweaty. Any words of advice/encouragement would be appreciated. And dont think you'll hurt my feelings with negative comments, Im a big boy now and would just like to know if any of you guys and gals have had similar experiences (irrational fears) and what you did to over come them. Much appreciated..