Basejumper.com - archive

G'day everyone

I'm planning my come back (or least working out whether it's feasible to come back) after about 15 months of not jumping thanks to the ridiculous roster I was working in my last job. The only free flight I've had in that time is about is 18 hrs or so coastal pg flying, so I'm farking uncurrent all round.

Anyone out there, who's been inactive for a long stint and got started again, have any nuggets from your experience? Anything that was really valuable or that you'd do differently a 2nd time round?

Cheers

BJ

Hang out at a popular jumpsite and watch until you feel comfortable with the scene again. Oh, and bring your rig ;-)
Take care,
space

Ride a motorcycle in LA during rush hour to get your mind back up to speed, then do what Tracy suggests.


44

P.S. I was serious about the motorcycle riding, but the main thing is:

How many jumps do you have - total?

Do you have 10,000 skydives and 100 base jumps... Do you have 1,000 of each? Or are you a 200-skydive wonder with 50 or 100 or 200 base jumps?

And are your base jumps mostly from Perrine or similarly "safe" sites, or do you have a wide spectrum of objects and associated risk?

State your experience and not just your down-time duration and you'll get better feedback.

Take me, for example. I have thousands of jumps over many years. My base down time lasted several years after a serious injury. I started skydiving again not long after that injury. I started riding my motorcycle in LA rush hour traffic again a year or so after that. Then I went to Perrine and jumped with some experienced and current people. First base jump after several years: rock solid.

The thing is, when you have lot of jumps, jumping is second nature and getting back into is no big deal as long as you don't go doing something gnarly right out of the gate. But if you don't have many total jumps, then it's a different deal entirely and you have to approach things differently.

I did 8 months out due to injury. I opened a tower solo that I was barely clearing tree tops to make the LZ (the reason it was virgin.)

Looking back it was dangerous and not smart... But I really do think it was one of the best jumps of my career.

Can you feasibly get a trip planned to the Perrine? I don't think there is anything better/easier than going there and doing as many jumps as possible and staying 3+ days (of JUMPING). Start with a PCA if you have to. The feeling of currency (and actual currency) you'll come back with is more than worth most hassles that would get in the way of such a trip. Worked great for me coming back from an injury. Just choose your jumper partners carefully

I have done this from skydiving, base, and flying various airplane types on more than one occasion. My best advice would be to study up, practice your packing and rigging, go through the practice motions until you feel silly, and then go do some easy jumps with experienced jumpers on the load. Take the time to analyze how it went, afterwards. You'll be fine, and those mundane jumps (if there is such a thing) will suddenly be way exciting again.

It sounds dumb, but you won't know what you've forgotten. So be thorough, take your time, and have someone watching you if you can.

Thanks everyone who's replied to so far.

Robin, LA is a bit too much of a hike for me As far as experience goes, I'd intentionally left that out because I didn't want to limit any responses, but seeing you ask, I've got 150 jumps between 2008 and last year. Prior to that was 800 skydives (I stopped skydiving at the end of 2009). Most of my jumps have been in Oz (also visited US, UK and Switzerland). Most of my jumps are S/D from <= 300', with a lot landing on hard rock or steep talus. All but 1 of my S/U jumps have been subterminal. On your motorbike comment, I have done bugger all jumping/flying/climbing in the last year, so I definitely haven't had to deal with much stress requiring quick reactions.

Colm, your point about not knowing what I've forgotten is exactly what I'm trying to work through. Lots of relearning to pack, rehearsing EPs and visualising is definitely in order. I've got a local 240' ish S/L jump that's pretty mellow, day jumpable, with a really long canopy flight and big grassy landing so that's gonna keep me going for a while for sure.

Space, I hadn't thought of going back to being ground crew for a while. Nice one.

Zebu, Perrine's out of the question unfortunately. Wrong side of the planet.

Pikey, I like your style mate! But anyone who's jumped with me a bit knows I'm conservative to the point of cowardice

Hey mate, if you're looking for jumpers in the Sydney area let me know. I've sent you a PM.