Does anyone here have an interest in, or participate in skydiving?

I started 2 years ago but quickly ran out of money, so I only have a few jumps under my belt. I thought maybe someone here might also be interested or willing to offer some advice for a newbie? I hope to get back into it when I go to university (cheaper jumps) later in the year and get my license, then do jumps abroad where it is much cheaper and the weather is actually jump-worthy!

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Originally posted by evil_bastard Does anyone here have an interest in, or participate in skydiving? I started 2 years ago but quickly ran out of money, so I only have a few jumps under my belt. I thought maybe someone here might also be interested or willing to offer some advice for a newbie? I hope to get back into it when I go to university (cheaper jumps) later in the year and get my license, then do jumps abroad where it is much cheaper and the weather is actually jump-worthy!

we argue about football and soccer, but relate in skydiving,... ive done it 3 times and thought it is the best thing ive ever done,.. but its too damn expensive,.. it costs about $1300 to get your license,.. and $150 tandom and about $300 solo,... and you need 7 solos under your belt before you can get your license,.. its $1300 if you pay it all at once, but $2100 if you do it $300 at a time,... but who has $1300 to dish out at once for just a skydiving license,... Florida is a fabulous place to skydive,... light fluffy clouds all the time and the warm weather,...

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It's worse in Britain! It costs more per jump, but also your instructors will make you constantly repeat jumps (at your expense) because you have waited so long for the weather to clear! Even in summer, you can never rely on the weather here. With my DZ being near the coast, even when it is sunny and the skies are clear it can often be too windy for a massive 9-cell canopy.

You can get your initial license in as little as 8 jumps here, provided you go the AFF route, but that requires over a grand and a week of sun basically. In England, this is not common. Hence, quite a few DZ's here (including the one nearest me) take people to Spain for their AFF. They charge the same for the course but you have to make your own way there, get a week's accommodation, and then there's spending money. It basically costs a bomb to get your license in the UK.

To get your license jump by jump requires a couple of months of good weather, so in the UK you can forget it. If you had enough money to do it in a week (which I didn't) you would go with AFF anyway so sadly it requires a grand straight up either way.

Jumps are half price here with a university though (provided they have a skydiving club) which obviously is a massive saving.Once you've got your license, rig and packing qualification though it isn't that expensive a sport provided you live in the right place I think. Even my nearest DZ only costs a few pound for a jump if you have your own kit and will pack it yourself. It's just getting to that stage which seems to take so much hard work and money (given that the rig is the best part of another grand). One day though I want to be at that stage, but I will need to go somewhere like Spain, Cyprus or Florida to boost my jump count - there is just no future for skydiving in the UK unless you have a lot of money. And besides, who would want to pray for less than shitty weather so they can jump in a farmer's field (yes, my DZ is a farmers field, you actually have to avoid sheep when landing!) when you could be skydiving somewhere like Florida or the Meditteranean with the sun, sea and sand?

Last edited by evil_bastard on Jan-26-2003 at 22:28