I have a company trip in April to Fla. One of the optional events is a tandem jump from 5000 feet. One of the things I said I’d never do is skydive. For the obvious reason (splat!). Is this a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’d regret I didn’t do or should I leave it alone? Any advice is appreciated.
Do it.
You won’t regret it and you won’t splat either.
Skydiving is fairly safe if a little intimidating, I have never done a tandem or freefall jump, all mine are good old military static line. The first step is a doosy but I really enjoyed the part between finding out the chute opened correctly and hitting the ground.
You might want to find out if they offer AFF (Accelerated Free Fall) as your first jump. It’s a program to get you jumping by yourself. It is the first step to getting certified. It costs more, but you’re not strapped to some dude. While you do jump with two instructors, it certainly feels like you’re the one who is in the drivers seat. I’ve never tandem jumped because I felt like I would not be overcoming the fear barrier myself. If I jumped tandem and totally freaked out,then some dude would need to save me. With AFF there is 2 instructors jumping with you, but you feel more responsible for your own safety. I thought the sense of satisfaction would be greater.
Downsides are that it costs almost double, and requires probably 3X the time commitment. Also, when I first showed up to jump the drop zone operator asked me what I was doing that day. I told him I was doing my first AFF jump. He said he was glad I enjoyed my tandems. I said I didn’t do a tandem jump. All he said was “ballsy”.
Enjoy yourself.
Burns
I have 57 jumps. 56 successful.
It is a lot of fun. I recommend it. You should get quality instruction and pay close attention to your instructors. Although skydiving is a safe sport it is an inherently unforgiving sport. Mistakes almost always result in a serious injury or fatality.
Get good instruction, listen carefully, and remember to count to four.
You’ll enjoy it. Keep your feet and knees together. Airborne, All the Way!
Biggest charge of my life. Makes the last corner of a Pro I/II crit seem downright pedestrian. Mine was a static line also from around 2500 ft. Since I was the novice, I was the first one to go, and sitting in a Cessna on the passenger side right next to the door, or rather, where a door should be. I had to step out onto the wheel well and hold the wing, with one foot dangling in the air until the instructor said release. It was a bit funny (afterward at least), I was scaarrrreeeddd *&%less sitting where I was. When the instructor told me to get out onto the wheel well, I was stuck. Felt like I was trying to move a Mac truck. While trying to suppress the vomit, I tell him my chute is stuck on something (hoping in the back of my mind he might tell me I couldn’t go). He just gave me a little shove, and lo and behold, I’m on the wing. That 10 sec until the chute opens was the longest 10 sec of my life, but the however many seconds I was standing on the wheel well seemed 10 times longer. Forgot to count, probably would have died if the main shoot didn’t open, because I would have forgotten how to pull the backup. Well worth the money and the experience for me though. OTOH I’m sure it’s not for some people, and I know there are some that actually back out while in the air. I don’t know what the stats are, but I think it’s really pretty safe. How many people have you heard about splatting? Some, but not too many. Doing a tandem would give me added sense of security because the guy that you are jumping with is darn well gonna make sure your chute opens.
Sitting here I just realized it was 20 yr ago, and I remember every second as if it happened yesterday.
Interesting Tom. What was the result of the unsuccessful jump?
Ahh… They should be taking you higher than 5000 feet for a tandem jump, but other than that if you want to do it, go for it.
I’ve made over 1660 successful jumps, and counting (knock on wood). The scarriest two jumps were as a Static Line instructor for my brother-in-law. (Sole provider for my sister and niece.)
The first one is a huge blast no matter which method you try.
Blue Skies,
Cheryl
my brother in law is psycho and will literally chase a bear to get a photo–he lives out west.
he did a skydive and said he would never do it again. which, of course, makes me want to do it more.
i say go for it…just make sure you use the bathroom before you get up there. you don’t want to land with crap in your pants…lol (or, do you? )
I got hurt pretty bad.
what do you mean you got hurt pretty bad? tell us more…
Oh, in fairness, I should point out it was in the dark, in very poor weather (high winds, thunderstorm) and from extremely low altitude. Certainly nothing a person in sport parachuting would every encounter. I was also carrying a substantial amount of heavy equipment.
Definitely do it. Tandem jumps are a great way to be introduced to skydiving. They’re great because you can get in the air with minimal instruction and there’s some peace of mind to having an instructor who knows what to do strapped to your back. But jumping is not a joke. Take the instruction and classes seriously. Things can and do go wrong. The only way to recover from issues is through training and experience. My first jump (I’ve got 33) was a tandem and I thought it was the way to go.
FWIW a tandem from 5000 feet is pretty low. Typically a freefall jump would be from 12-13k. I’d go for the higher jump if you can. Freefall is FUN.
There is nothing like the feeling you get the first time you step to the door and know you are about to go through it. Flying under a canopy is one of my favorite things in the world.
I think that 5000’ is the recommended lowest opening altitude for a tandem? Maybe they forgot the ‘1’ and meant 15000’?
Almost word for word my same experience. Crawling out onto that wheel was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done–much, much worse than bungy-jumping or cliff diving (jumping).
Stand up, hook up, shuffle through the door.
Jump right out and count to four.
If my main don’t open wide,
I’ve got a reserve by my side.
And if that one should fail me too,
look out ground, I’ma comin’ through.
Pin my medals to my chest,
and bury me in the leanin rest.
You should definitely do this one time. You will always remember that you did it.
After one time, I don’t see the appeal.
Here’s a good Airborne story:
Our stick loads up into a big C-141 Starlifter. The aircraft taxis and suddenly smoke starts coming from an access panel. A flight crew member comes flyig down the stairs from the cockpit with a little flashlight, opens up the panel, smoke billowing out now, and sticks his head in there looking around.
He pulls his head out and looks at me with very big eyes. I say to him, “Hey man, doesn’t bother me. I’m getting out in a minute…”
Skydiving is a mixture of fear and fun. The fear is more apparent in the first few, the fun in the rest. It’s as near to flying humans can get without being strapped in a machine. Though falling at over 100mph you can ‘fly’ with, around, down to and even up to other jumpers in the formation, relatively speaking, and that’s where the enjoyment and skill lies.
FWIW, for my 2000th jump, I was hoping to do a 50 way formation, on my 50th birthday in the middle of May. Due to IMAZ training I’ll be a few short though.
Don’t confuse skydiving with what Demerley was doing in the defence of the country. That’s dangerous, which is why of course, his jumps were free.
As one skydiver screamed when he saw his friend’s parachute fail, “You stay here, I’ll go for help !”
yeah man you should definatelydo it. i did it once and i had a kick ass time