You articulate the meaning of the experience very well, but not sure you articulate the reality of it quite as well. For example, on my second tandem jump and two first solo jumps, all involved bodily injury of some sort. My muscles ached for three or four days afterwards. I got large black bruises near my groin from the chute opening so hard and I couldn't life my arms because they felt like they got ripped out of their sockets from the parachute opening so hard. (What happened is that on my first solo jump, my instructor lost hold of me and I was spinning uncontrollably. I couldn't see him so I pulled early.) On another jump, I got bleeding cuts from my leg scraping against grit tape on the floor of the plane (which still haven't completely healed after 6 weeks). I got line twists on my second solo jump (which, thank God, I managed to untangle) and a few minute later a hard landing because my instructor didn't warn me he wasn't counting out my flare. I thought I broke my legs on landing. So what I want to know is, can a student can expect less bodily injury as they progress through the AFF course?
Wow. I never had any of those experiences. At this point I’ve never had any kind of injury while skydiving, and I’m sorry you’ve had that experience. The worst I’ve had is line twists, but that wasn’t a big deal. Stick with it; things are always rocky at first but it’ll get smoother as you go!
That first tandem changed my life. Only one day after my tandem went past and I was just staring up at the sky wanting to be back up there again. So I booked in two more tandems for next year then going to do AFF ! It feels like a brand new wave of excitement in my life that makes me feel alive. My only regret is I’m 29 so I wish i started sooner
@@steffenfrost995 first tandem I loved but there was some errors that I could of corrected to make it more smoother. I kind of naturally nosedived instead of adopting the correct falling position so feel like I still need a bit more experience in the sky before going for aff haha
@@Train-iq5cc You can practise a lot on the ground will aid muscle memory. I would suggest going to a wind tunnel instead if you have one nearby as this will be much cheaper for more practice time. (You'd likely be fine going straight to AFF whatever you choose. There will always be nerves at the end of the day).
Skydiving definitely played a huge role in improving my life. Skydiving helped me break out of a particular dark time period of my life. It taught me to embrace fear, create my own validation, and live life in my own way. I would love to learn more about how to use skydiving to promote a charity
I’ve finished my A license year ago. There wasn’t one day when I wouldn’t think about to jump out of the plane. I can’t wait till tommorow when I will be back in the sky.
Same just did my first and I'm so grateful I did it, it changed something in me. From the fear to I no longer look in the past and beat myself up, but look forward to my next jump and utilizing that I look forward to all future challenges in my everyday. Something happened to me up there my mind telling me I couldn't, then this amazing feeling filled my heart and said you can and need to. My instructor touched my shoulder and asked are you ready just as that feeling overcame me i nodded and the rest of my life had just begun. Thats the best way i can explain it to anyone
I’m doing mine a month today! I’m so excited! I’m really happy to hear this from you, it makes the experience even better for me, so thank you! I’m so happy you had such an experience and feel that way for it
I did my skydiving today, it was an experience that is very hard to explain with words. The free fall is just an amazing experience, I had no thought, I was not afraid, I felt pure 100% present at that moments.
Every video of skydiving that i watch i have the biggest smile on my face, i want to do it so much. Nothing looks more invigorating... maybe one day ill get the chance!
I just finished my AFF, and I stumbled upon your video and I have to say that you have articulated everything so well. I relate with it completely. All the things I been through mentally and emotionally. Your video is fantastic
I am a coach and licensed skydiver in California and I really enjoyed watching your video, you were very thorough and accurate and I think you will benefit a lot of new jumpers with your well done video! 🤘🏻🦅🪂
Hey - jumper here with 600 jumps - this is one of the best skydiving videos I’ve seen. You superbly and clearly explain the mental challenges of skydiving. Congratulations on your progression 👏 Skydiving gives you confidence and self belief that you can use in all aspects of life. Blue Skies 🪂 (the phrase ‘the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next’ is a great mindset to help understanding your progression in this sport. We are always learning whether you have 1 jump or 10,000 !)
Thanks so much for this comment! I appreciate the feedback; I spent a lot of time thinking through what skydiving did for me, and writing it all out etc. There’s just so much that goes on in a skydive, well beyond the physical thing itself.
Just started my AFF this weekend. Absolute best time of my life, even though I’m struggling with that anxiety and fear before every jump I’m still able to try. If I can anybody can ! This video is amazing. I’m on to level 6 haha
I did my first tandem 4 days ago … for my 18th birthday n I can’t stop thinking abt getting my aaf license… U just inspired me soo much more THANK YOU !!!
I've done 1 tandem and I'm hooked. This winter I'll be doing aff. What really makes me want to get in the sport was being under canopy. I absolutely loved that!
I trained in a cessna & that door opening is terrifying. Otter is much easier. Skydiving does clear the mind like nothing else. 175 jumps and it still scares the hell out of me.
Congrats! Its really special that you bypassed the 2 Tandem jumps. Dont prematurely transition from "belly flying" to "shit-flying" (squatting) .perfect your skills in Diving , Swoop, Stop, dock, and fly your slot. And definitely continue getting signatures, you'll be glad to have them. For me. Flying is the bonus, its keeping your adrenaline in check. And it gets better when others depend on you as the instructor to keep your students safe. Also dont forget the dive is not over after you have a good canopy. Too many tunnel flyers dont Track and wave off. Big trend in Unintentional CRW. (Canopy Wrap) BE SAFE.... HAVE FUN
I don’t feel there is anything wrong with going quickly into freefly. But you should make sure the rig you jump is freefly friendly. The other basics absolutely true.
My PhD thesis was: "A field study to determine the association of self-esteem, self-confidence and life satisfaction with successfully engaging in an extreme sport." I did the study in the year 2000. My test subjects were 57 first-time skydiving students. The results of the study showed a significant increase in self-confidence and self esteem. There was also an increase in life satisfaction but my research did not show that particular parameter to be statistically significant. However, from my own knowledge and experience, I believe that further studies would likely show all three parameters to improve significantly. Increasing one's self-esteem and self-confidence will naturally increase the likelihood of success in all of life's endeavors.
@@ReaganSchrock I earned it from United States International University in San Diego. It's now Alliant University. I was a skydiving instructor for 10 years. That's how I had access to skydiving students. I retired from the police department and skydiving in 2002 after exactly 3000 jumps.
Wow that’s incredible. Maybe one day I’ll get to that level of skydiving awesomeness. :) Your study sounds fascinating; did you ever publish what you discovered?
I just got my A this year as well, and it also took me about a year. I did start out with tandems though, & I can't imagine doing that first jump without having done at least one! But everything you said about overcoming the fear, and how the experience translates over to helping deal with other stressful situations, is spot on in my experience at least!
I went into AFF without doing a tandem first and now I highly recommend people to do a tandem before starting AFF. I had complete brain lock and sensory overload on my first jump. The free fall was a complete blur and my AFFI had to pull for me lol. I snapped out of it under canopy and landed fine, but it scared the daylight out of me. I almost didn’t come back to the sport. It took me 2 years to build up the courage to comeback and finish my license. I’m so glad I did, can’t imagine my life without this now.
Great video. I have been skydiving for 25 yrs and agree with your sentiments. It leads to amazing personal growth and you get to know so many like minded individuals in your path through learning and later being an experienced jumper. On the other side of fear is freedom ! Be safe.
Watched this vid months ago, really boosted my confidence up to submit to my own skydive timeline. Banked in 9 jumps in past four days. Thanks to your sharing bro, blue skies. Ready, set, go! Keep embracing through and enjoy. Stay safe
Great video, I did my first Tandem for my 50th birthday & loved it then felt sad that I had left it this long to do. It was an amazing experience I would do again.
Reagan, your experience reminds me so much of my own at so many points of your story. Your description of sensory overload and mental lock-up and conquering fear is so right. It seems to me that few skydivers describe in their posts having gone through those obstacles. I did all my skydiving (24 total jumps) in the summer of 1989 (yes, I'm old now). I started with 3 static line jumps before they talked me into doing the AFF course. I experienced some bizarre things on my first AFF skydive. I was reacting to the jumpmasters' signals, and it seemed like I was doing what they wanted and what was required, and when I received the PULL signal I started to do it, thinking I was doing everything correctly, but before my hand reached the ripcord handle, the hand of the instructor on that side came flashing in out of nowhere like a lightning bolt and pulled it for me! I was pissed because I knew that meant I'd just failed the AFF level 1 skydive. I didn't know what I had done wrong. After I landed (I fell down) and got with my two instructors for the de-briefing, I told them what I remembered, and they told me that during my PRCPs, when I was supposed to put my hand on my ripcord handle and then return to the standard position (3 times) I wasn't doing it I was just patting my hip near the ripcord handle but I wasn't touching it. That was the best my completely sensory-overloaded mind could produce at that point. (During the 3rd failed attempt my instructor grabbed my hand and placed it on the ripcord handle, but I didn't remember that at all). When I described the actual ripcord pull they told me yes, I was starting to do it but it was like I was moving in slow motion relative to the actual time elapsing, and we were already down to 3400 feet, so they had to pull it for me! It was wild to experience how poorly my mind was functioning during those first several jumps. I had already had a bizarre experience on my very first jump (the first static line jump). The canopy opened up but a couple of the cells on the left side failed to open. So I knew I needed to follow the emergency procedures to try to inflate those cells. So I tried stalling the canopy 3 times to try to get them open but it didn't work. I think that's all I knew to try at that point, and I'd been told that only a fully-open rectangular canopy would be considered acceptable, so I pulled the cutaway handle and immediately pulled the reserve handle and after *HARD OPENING SHOCK* I looked up and saw a perfectly round and inflated canopy. (In 1989 they were still using round reserves). That was the limit of what my terrified hindbrain was prepared to handle. I was supposed to steer the round reserve into the wind by pulling down on one of the risers, but below me was a freshly tilled field of soft dirt and my brain said "all is well" and I relaxed and hit the soft dirt and tumbled like a sack of potatoes, ending up sitting on my butt with my legs out in front of me and my torso vertical and I didn't realize it at first but afterwards it became clear that I had been in a mild state of shock. Because I sat there in the dirt and had ZERO desire to do anything else but continue to sit there. I was supposed to wave toward the instructors to signal I was OK, and was of course expected to stand up, if indeed I was alright, but I didn't want to do that. I just wanted to sit there in the dirt, like, FOREVER! One of the jumpmasters came running over (I'd crash-landed a couple hundred yards from where I was supposed to be) and I was still sitting in the dirt with no urge to get up and the jumpmaster ran over and said "Are you OK?" I said "Yeah." But he clearly didn't believe me so he asked me again and I said, again, "yeah", but made no move to stand up. Which the guy clearly wanted me to do to prove I was OK. So, with a bit of irritation, I got up (I WAS totally OK physically). In hindsight it was clear my mind still wasn't working at 100% when I was sitting there. Anyway, I ultimately completed the AFF course and did 6 solo skydives, but winter was coming in Colorado (I was jumping at the no longer existing(?) Skydive Colorado drop zone) and I had to decide if I wanted to buy my own equipment and I knew I didn't wanna skydive in the winter so I stopped skydiving at that point. But I really miss it and I think I'm going to go to the nearest drop zone and do a tandem skydive for old time's sake, since I'd have to start completely over again after so much time has elapsed. But virtually my entire experience with skydiving was echoed by you in your own story so I was motivated to tell mine. I hope you read this far! :)
My drop zone doesn't permit a solo skydive without 6 hours of training and a tandem dive first. They want to assess the ability of a student to solo. It also helps prevents brain lock during solo because it's not the first time the student experiences free fall.
Skydiving changed my life. Greatest thing ever. Nothing but wonder & intense joy. I'm like the Jehovah's Witness of Skydiving - I try recruit everyone I meet. "Here's our literature -please accept this flower"
Was the same for me travelling up in the plane, I was nervous and anxious but as soon as I was sat on the edge of the plane and jumped all that went away. It’s such an amazing feeling and rush skydiving! Can’t wait to start my aff course in 2024 🤘
I enjoyed watching this well-shot documentary. My adrenaline kicked in and I literally laughed out loud from the thrill of imagining that I was doing it with you. I respect you for your accomplishment. I appreciate the encouragement to push through fear. I have done that a few times (starting a business, leaving a cult). I’m looking for a hobby. Maybe sky diving is it? 🤷♂️
Thanks for the kind words! Pushing through fear to the other side is so important, and it took skydiving for me to see that. And yeah, everyone should have a hobby that helps clear their minds. Doesn't have to be skydiving, but it sure does the trick for me. :)
I had my first jump (tandem, 15000 feet) one month ago and it was a dream come true but not what I expected no matter what I thought it was to be free falling, etc, etc. Out there, in the first seconds it was something I never felt before: not fear (or maybe it was fear with a bunch of other stuff mixed in), for sure, not like the adrenaline pump rush that I was told I would be having. It was something... different I can't really explain to this day. I need to do it again, in order to try to understand what I actually felt. This video was super interesting. Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
@@ReaganSchrock Portugal, Evora. I was super lucky:; sunny day, just some clouds. I'm super glad I was given the chance to do this. When I was there getting ready I was told by them: "The problem with skydiving is that it is super addictive, and once you make your first jump, trust us, you will want to do more and more". They couldn't be more right about it 🤣 Cheers buddy. Hope you enjoy your journey. Best of jumps for you and take that freedom to live life at the best.
I'm from Mexico and in 2 months I'm going to enroll in an academy to learn skydiving, meanwhile i am watching videos about skydiving, tutorials and all related to skydiving, i am so anxious about skydiving. Thank you for sharing your thoughs and feeling
This move reminded me my aff course... 8 jumps, yes I have one jump extra, and 6 solo in September 2022. I earn and go back to do license A in Spain. This filling of fear and excitement is... Amazing I just can't explain it but you did it. Great job dude good luck 🤙
I'm going for AFF 6/7/C+ soon and this video really resonates with me. I was a nervous wreck for the first few jumps but the confidence grew in myself and my equipment, as you mentioned yourself. This is a fantastic video on the progression, thank you. Blue skies!
Thanks for your kind words! Yeah, definitely know what you're saying about being a nervous wreck. :) Even after coming off student status there's a lot of nervousness etc. But I'm getting there. I think one of the best things for me was simply showing up consistently and working away at the skills regardless of if I was feeling up to it. If you're ever in east TN let me know, we should do a jump together. Blue skies!
@@ReaganSchrock I'm fascinated to hear if there's been any update on your progress with the foundation you work with in terms of flying in supplies. That's an incredible concept to me.
There’s not much update at the moment. Right now we just need to get more people trained and make some more connections. Feels like we have a long way to go yet, but we’ll keep trying! :) Yeah, after what I’ve seen in Iraq it definitely feels like this is something aid groups need to be able to do.
Finally doing my Aff this month at Honiton UK Thanks again for this vid , has given me a lot of incentive ❤ Also after a rewatch , seems my car is going local (ish) to you . Got an old Evo 4 and in talks with Duncans in Nashville about exporting it . Crazy old world ! Hope you and yours are well ! Nothing there to fear .... I say this quite a lot ❤
Having been involved in air drops of supplies for humanitarian work it can be very hard and expensive and as a result is usually reserved for use my militaries for humanitarian work. It’s very unique skill set and depending on what you want to drop size wise and what supplies makes a huge difference. We air dropped supplies of water and rations and would budget on loosing nearly half. We had the ability of being able to drop 20-40lbs of stuff up to 2000plus pounds in one bundle.
That’s fascinating. When did you do this and in what locations? Seems like a pretty difficult thing to do, but in working in the nonprofit world for a while now I’ve seen a number of times this capability was greatly needed but there was no one to do it.
@@ReaganSchrock I am based in Australia. We done this in limited capacity post natural disaster. PNG assist in late 2007 was one I was involved with. We did limited aerial delivery/resupply there. We have also dropped hay etc to livestock after floods and fires. It’s usually the last line due to the costs involved. Usually we would set up distribution/mobile air load teams where we would set up temp air ports if you could call it that where smaller aircraft and helicopters would land and we would resupply that way. Dropping supplies in larger quantities (individual items above 50lb) cost a lot with parachutes being lost forever. One task we trained for but never did outside of training was to jump in first as ‘pathfinders’ and then set up a cargo drop zone in the area for a larger follow up aircraft to drop 30,000lb’s of supplies. If was cool but we just spent most of our careers doing training work
@bornepatrol thanks for those details. That’s very helpful! Still not sure how we’d use it but I could see being used for small drops of critical supplies. Anything large seems way too complicated and expensive.
Kinda late commenting on the vid, but I started my AFF one month ago. My next jump will be my 10th. The fear of jumping out of the plane dropped extremely after Lvl 6, when I found out that jumping out of the plane and even not hitting the perfect wind does nothing. In the end you just arch and thats it. On my 9th jump I did a forward roll exit with closed eyes. What a nice experience! Definitely looking forward to my next jump in the next couple days. Sadly the season ends soon. Hope I can finish my license by end of October. Oh and in terms of landing, my first 3 landings with a flare command over the WalkieTalkie were on the butt. On lvl 4 I jumped with another instructor, who said: " you dont need the WalkieTalkie. You can do it without it." And then I actually did it perfectly (landed on my feet). Luckily I watched before a youtube video on the right flare timing. How did this text get so long. I guess its a passion. And to whoever reads this: thanks for reading and stay safe!
This was such a good video! I´m a skydiver in Sweden! But damn, would LOVE to make a jump with you some day! Your thougts and ideas are just PERFECT! You are a true inspiration!
Wow ! Enthralled watching your explanation and your progress. Your humility is refreshing. I think about trying this from time to time but don't really have the real urge. I think my most challenging thing was getting SCUBA certified about 10 years ago. I've done parasailing while being the passenger .lol Great to see this . Continued victories. God bless. Champion.
@@ReaganSchrock The spirit's got to hit me. Still if I were to do it I would do it alone like you did. In case I never wanted to do it again . I could say I sky dived and survived! lol Keep up the excellence in everything.
It's called Base jumping it free. Little more risky but not when U learn. Nothing like standing on a building looking at the street... Then freedom. Don't let me encourage U though ❤️😂
Loved this explanation of the process. My first AFF I had line twists, but perfect parachute and was able to get out of it. First solo, accidentally opened in a cloud and stayed there for 2k feet, listened to my instructor’s precautions for clouds and it all worked out. I was terrified, but I’m still here!!! Looking forward to jump 18. Still get scared, as you talked about, but getting better and more confident. Also, can we talk ab how much parachute packing sucks. 😂 it’s so frustrating and nerve-wracking. Congrats on your license. Maybe I’ll see you out there one day, maybe we can use our skills one day to help others! Blue skies!
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah packing is annoying. But it gets better with time. I’ve never opened in a cloud before! That would be a wild experience. :)
@@ReaganSchrock I didn’t mean to open in the cloud, literally while pulling my pilot chute I saw the mist around me 😳 just took left turns repeatedly so I’d at least stay in one spot until I could see the ground below me. I got one peak of the ground below during my decent and knew I was close to the airport, so I kept spiraling to the left until out of the cloud and made my way to my holding area. I was so scared! The wind had changed direction but I couldn’t mentally process changing my landing pattern at the time, I knew the other skydivers were already on the ground and safe, so I went with my original pattern. Rough landing, PLF and bit the dust, but it all worked out. Better at tracking and spotting now and hopefully will be avoiding clouds.
I always said id never skydive i really wanted to back out on the first one but once your out the door its the best feeling ever iv done 5 tandems now im booke next month for the aff course cant wait!
I remember when I actually had time to think and process. My I first thought I said WOW this is wild. Skydiving has changed my life for ever. “Conquer your fears of being uncomfortable” Getting past this fear gives you such a different meaning in life. And your character grows so much. For me it’s therapy. It’s you and God at that point.
Great video. Thank you. I've done 2 IAD skydives and loved every minute of it but time and money kept me from pursuing skydiving. But it led me to flying paramotors. I'm a relatively new pilot and still deal with some fear but as soon as I launch all that fear goes away and I just fly like a bird. it's just that initial fear that holds me back sometimes. Pushing through that fear is a liberating experience.
Thanks for your calm video and all the details you mentioned. I am going to do my first tandem jump this Friday and i would love to do it to celebrate my 30th. I am super stressed and I just feel so much dear and your video destressed me a bit. Many thanks and hope I feel it cause its mentally so important to me. The best wishes and thanks again.
Legit vid man. Good on you for also trying to apply your new skill for a greater good. Freedom is on the other side of fear (Will Smith said that after his jump). Blue skies, my friend.
Excellent video my guy. I made my first tandem jump just the other day with a group of friends and posted the video on here, too. Well.. I scheduled us ALL again. WE LOVE IT !!
@ReaganSchrock I'm hooked man..the Aff is what brought me here and I've been researching licenses and so on. I greatly appreciate a response from you man..is there anything I can watch or learn specifically at this point ??
@groundpounder24365 Honestly, watch some videos but don’t spend too much time researching; just full send it. You can’t really prepare for plummeting through the sky. ;) The hard part is signing up and doing that first jump. It’s easy to spend a lot of time thinking about it, but then the mind starts playing tricks and the fear can get in the way. Instead, just go for it. :)
This is so cool to watch! I really appreciate the detail you went into and how you described everything. I just completed my AFF jumps yesterday and you perfectly described the way I felt while going through each jump. I wish my DZ went year round though because I know I'll be missing it during the colder seasons
"Why would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" Either: "The door was open" Or "Those things are not perfectly good. They're held together by duck tape"
Great video and insight through the experience of skydiving! I'm a skydiver myself and second everything you said! Beautiful location. I would love to jump there. Southern Tenessee you said? --- Blue skies bud!
Thats badass. You must be in jumping at Skydive Twin Citys? Thats where I did my first tandem! Starting my AFF in May! I recognized AJ in your video with the High Ridaz helmet! Great video!
Stupendo! Dopo aver fatto aff nel 2021 ora nel 2023 tornerò a saltare... lo sogno da due anni. Il tuo video mi ha dato forza e emozionato. Keep pushing !
Everything you said in the first five minutes about mental overload is why it is BEST to do a tandem jump first so you get that experience. mike 2000 skydives D-33093
Woww ! Thanks for that video..i love the part where you explain that challenge in our head in the plane ...i did 4 tandem and will do my first jump with 2 instructors soon and your video is what i needed to to help me deal with my stress 🤟
I did my first 4 jumps AFF and wow ! That feeling is amazing ..after my first jump...the door was not that scary wow!!! I never tought i would be able to go trought that 2 days ago and now i am so proud and feeling so good ...so anxious to continue and finish my formation ..BIG thanks for your video !!!!🤘🤘🤘
@@ReaganSchrock i can't t wait 🤩.Thanks for the answer and thanks again for that video that helped me to work on my mind , my stress, my fears..i belive i just found a passion 🤟
I realy like your idea about "jumping into otherwise not reachable areas" with NGO personal. Some things that instantly sparked my mind if you realy want to do it: 1. Logistik (I´m sure you´re aware about that) You need a jumpable plane, and all the stuff you´ll need to sustain yourself in the target area until further help arrives or you can get another airdrop in. 2. Weather and unpredictable groundconditions in the landing area: You´ll most likely can not bet on a smooth field of green for your landing 3. A thing you mentioned in your vid about canopy formation and every canopy will steer and behave diffrent! My advise for an operation: GET RID OF THAT! You´ll need a fleet of Identical parachutes. For me the hole endever sounds like what special forces are capable of, and that´s how you may should look at it. In my opinion it boils down to this: What you´ll need is military grade training about jumping into an onknown area, with gear (as a private licenced skydiver you usually don´t jump with additional gear). And you´ll need some tandemmasters, because not every spec. NGO personal will be capable to jump on its own, but you´ll need them on the ground. The only other group besides military personal who are able to pull this off are, as far as i know, some Firefighters who junmp into bushfire regions. Keep on going and Blue Skys!
Thanks for this input. This is very helpful. There’s a ton of challenges with doing something like this, though it has been done by civilian skydivers in the past. The amount of training and logistics would be immense!
If only the skydiving community was more open to answering questions rather then fearing liability from it. Been trying to get my license and still can’t get questions answered without the im not an instructor ask your instructor… who doesn’t have the time of day to explain to me. “Braked approach and landing” still not signed off since no one has time to watch me do it yet I have.
Your AFF level 1 is a great example of why tandem progression is better. You locked up, forgot to even do your practice touches, you're not looking at the altimeter when practice touching, legs kicking and swimming. Main side AFFI could use more lead on jump one. You didn't pull on jump one, that was assisted at best.
That’s great! Yeah tunnel time was one part I left out of the video, but it was hugely helpful. I was pretty unstable and had trouble with turns etc till I trained in a wind tunnel. Totally worth it! Made the rest of AFF lot easier!
Excellent & inspiring! Good job on production and editing as well. This video has helped decrease my fear and increase my excitement for it! Have you had your first solo cutaway yet?
The most basic biomechanical skills of skydiving are rudimentary, compared to - say - learning to ride a bike when you are not yet 7 years old. The real challenge is in learning how to focus on the basic drills, instead of being overwhelmed by the first-time experience. I doubt that many first-time jumpers attain that degree of focus, because it is so alien and unexpected. But they are nevertheless very simple basic drills. I'd argue that "just freefalling" is a whole lot simpler than learning to ride a bike, but then very few people are scared to death that riding a bike will kill them. Knowledge and experience dispels fear, opening the door to the joy of the sport. The hard parts come as you try to master precise control of your body as you fall (fly?) through the air, in concert with other like-minded folks. It is a fabulous, joyful discipline, and a community filled with fabulous, joyful people. Don't be afraid to join them
I’m doing my first tandem jump, my first skydive in a month today. In Germany! I’m so excited! Thank you for this video. It’s really helpful and makes me even more excited! Thank you! What are your tips for someone doing it for the first time?
Amazing and honest video. How many skydives did you need to get your A license? I’m finishing up AFF now. I think the word terror was the best description of how I felt for my first three jumps. It’s gotten a little easier but I’m still super scared. The feeling every time I land is surreal and joyful. There are good weather days but I’ve found myself too worried to book to the dropzone sometimes, which is frustrating and definitely has slowed my progress!
You are not strapped to someone else in a tandem jump, you are both hooked to the same parachute system. Most people do not do tandem progression, most people do static line or Instructor assisted deployments.
That's mostly incorrect. The instructor, who is wearing the parachute system, connects their harness to the student's harness. SL and IAD aren't the primary training methods anymore. AFF is.
That's mostly incorrect. The instructor, who is wearing the parachute system, connects their harness to the student's harness. SL and IAD aren't the primary training methods anymore. AFF is.
So cool! I badly want to go on a tandem jump sometime, but none of my friends are super eager to try it 😂 I don't think it'd be too bad to jump tandem, but jumping on your own would be whole different level 😅 Also, I don't know how you survive, with all the stuff you're into-I barely survive work and a trip or two each year 😁
Just come on down to Tennessee and I’ll take you for a jump. :) Yeah, getting a license is on a whole different level then a tandem jump. And yes I’m involved in a lot of things, not sure how I make it all work but maybe one of the keys is that I really enjoy all the various things I’m involved in. :)
I have got my private pilots license right now for fixed wing I always wanted to be a skydiving pilot but now I'm thinking of getting my skydiving license it just looks like to much fun I love adrenaline and this video really was cool any advice
Would you jump out of a plane at 13,500 feet? :)
Every weekend!!!😀👍
You articulate the meaning of the experience very well, but not sure you articulate the reality of it quite as well. For example, on my second tandem jump and two first solo jumps, all involved bodily injury of some sort. My muscles ached for three or four days afterwards. I got large black bruises near my groin from the chute opening so hard and I couldn't life my arms because they felt like they got ripped out of their sockets from the parachute opening so hard. (What happened is that on my first solo jump, my instructor lost hold of me and I was spinning uncontrollably. I couldn't see him so I pulled early.) On another jump, I got bleeding cuts from my leg scraping against grit tape on the floor of the plane (which still haven't completely healed after 6 weeks). I got line twists on my second solo jump (which, thank God, I managed to untangle) and a few minute later a hard landing because my instructor didn't warn me he wasn't counting out my flare. I thought I broke my legs on landing. So what I want to know is, can a student can expect less bodily injury as they progress through the AFF course?
Wow. I never had any of those experiences. At this point I’ve never had any kind of injury while skydiving, and I’m sorry you’ve had that experience. The worst I’ve had is line twists, but that wasn’t a big deal. Stick with it; things are always rocky at first but it’ll get smoother as you go!
Everyday and id love to do 20000 ft again
I have 2 tandems so far. I am saving for my AFF this spring here in Moab. I can't wait for the season to start. 🪂
Those who jumped can't explain and those who haven't won't understand 🤙
Yep that pretty much sums it up. :)
@@ReaganSchrock you could always jump again 🤣
Definitely!
Yes they say to explain to somebody is like explaining sex to a virgin 😂😂😂
I’m jumping in 1 month today!
Started skydiving a few weeks ago. I have a whopping 12 jumps. I love this sport so much! I'll be skydiving the rest of my life. Great video!
That first tandem changed my life.
Only one day after my tandem went past and I was just staring up at the sky wanting to be back up there again.
So I booked in two more tandems for next year then going to do AFF ! It feels like a brand new wave of excitement in my life that makes me feel alive. My only regret is I’m 29 so I wish i started sooner
That’s fantastic! Glad to hear you’re going for AFF. You won’t regret it. ;)
That’s amazing! My first tandem is a month today!
I'm genuinely curious why you are doing 2 more tandems before your AFF?
@@steffenfrost995 first tandem I loved but there was some errors that I could of corrected to make it more smoother. I kind of naturally nosedived instead of adopting the correct falling position so feel like I still need a bit more experience in the sky before going for aff haha
@@Train-iq5cc You can practise a lot on the ground will aid muscle memory. I would suggest going to a wind tunnel instead if you have one nearby as this will be much cheaper for more practice time. (You'd likely be fine going straight to AFF whatever you choose. There will always be nerves at the end of the day).
Skydiving definitely played a huge role in improving my life.
Skydiving helped me break out of a particular dark time period of my life. It taught me to embrace fear, create my own validation, and live life in my own way.
I would love to learn more about how to use skydiving to promote a charity
Wow I’m so proud of you. That’s amazing. I feel that. I’m so happy that skydiving has helped you and has done this for you. Amazing.
I’ve finished my A license year ago. There wasn’t one day when I wouldn’t think about to jump out of the plane. I can’t wait till tommorow when I will be back in the sky.
That’s great!
Hey!!
Is there a way we can connect in order to chat about the A license? I’d love to do the course as well!
Sure! Shoot me an email through my website: reaganschrock.com
I did my first tandem jump this year. It changed me man. You just can’t explain to someone how it is.
So true. It’s impossible to really explain unless you’ve done it yourself.
Same just did my first and I'm so grateful I did it, it changed something in me. From the fear to I no longer look in the past and beat myself up, but look forward to my next jump and utilizing that I look forward to all future challenges in my everyday. Something happened to me up there my mind telling me I couldn't, then this amazing feeling filled my heart and said you can and need to. My instructor touched my shoulder and asked are you ready just as that feeling overcame me i nodded and the rest of my life had just begun. Thats the best way i can explain it to anyone
I’m doing mine a month today! I’m so excited! I’m really happy to hear this from you, it makes the experience even better for me, so thank you! I’m so happy you had such an experience and feel that way for it
I did my first tandem jump today. It was such an amazing experience. I want to do it again
I did my skydiving today, it was an experience that is very hard to explain with words. The free fall is just an amazing experience, I had no thought, I was not afraid, I felt pure 100% present at that moments.
Every video of skydiving that i watch i have the biggest smile on my face, i want to do it so much. Nothing looks more invigorating... maybe one day ill get the chance!
Three words
.. just do it
It's awesome
I just finished my AFF, and I stumbled upon your video and I have to say that you have articulated everything so well. I relate with it completely. All the things I been through mentally and emotionally. Your video is fantastic
Appreciate it! Way to go completely AFF!
I recently did the same. Went straight into Aff with no tandems. It was magical.
I am a coach and licensed skydiver in California and I really enjoyed watching your video, you were very thorough and accurate and I think you will benefit a lot of new jumpers with your well done video! 🤘🏻🦅🪂
Thanks so much! Your comment means a lot.
I had my first solo jump 7/24/23. I’ll never forget that first step out of the plane and certainly that first controllability checks!
Yeah for sure! Same here!
Hey - jumper here with 600 jumps - this is one of the best skydiving videos I’ve seen. You superbly and clearly explain the mental challenges of skydiving. Congratulations on your progression 👏 Skydiving gives you confidence and self belief that you can use in all aspects of life. Blue Skies 🪂 (the phrase ‘the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next’ is a great mindset to help understanding your progression in this sport. We are always learning whether you have 1 jump or 10,000 !)
Thanks so much for this comment! I appreciate the feedback; I spent a lot of time thinking through what skydiving did for me, and writing it all out etc. There’s just so much that goes on in a skydive, well beyond the physical thing itself.
Just started my AFF this weekend. Absolute best time of my life, even though I’m struggling with that anxiety and fear before every jump I’m still able to try. If I can anybody can ! This video is amazing. I’m on to level 6 haha
That’s fantastic! Enjoy the ride and welcome to the incredible world of skydiving. 😁
I did my first tandem 4 days ago … for my 18th birthday n I can’t stop thinking abt getting my aaf license… U just inspired me soo much more THANK YOU !!!
I've done 1 tandem and I'm hooked. This winter I'll be doing aff. What really makes me want to get in the sport was being under canopy. I absolutely loved that!
Yeah canopy is the best! Have a blast with AFF!
I trained in a cessna & that door opening is terrifying. Otter is much easier. Skydiving does clear the mind like nothing else. 175 jumps and it still scares the hell out of me.
Yeah Otter is way better. Nothing like that feeling when the door opens. :)
Congrats! Its really special that you bypassed the 2 Tandem jumps. Dont prematurely transition from "belly flying" to "shit-flying" (squatting) .perfect your skills in Diving , Swoop, Stop, dock, and fly your slot. And definitely continue getting signatures, you'll be glad to have them. For me. Flying is the bonus, its keeping your adrenaline in check. And it gets better when others depend on you as the instructor to keep your students safe. Also dont forget the dive is not over after you have a good canopy. Too many tunnel flyers dont Track and wave off. Big trend in Unintentional CRW. (Canopy Wrap)
BE SAFE.... HAVE FUN
Thanks! That’s some good advice. I haven’t been jumping this call because of travel, and I miss it. I have a lot to learn
I don’t feel there is anything wrong with going quickly into freefly. But you should make sure the rig you jump is freefly friendly. The other basics absolutely true.
Good point.
My PhD thesis was: "A field study to determine the association of self-esteem, self-confidence and life satisfaction with successfully engaging in an extreme sport." I did the study in the year 2000. My test subjects were 57 first-time skydiving students. The results of the study showed a significant increase in self-confidence and self esteem. There was also an increase in life satisfaction but my research did not show that particular parameter to be statistically significant. However, from my own knowledge and experience, I believe that further studies would likely show all three parameters to improve significantly. Increasing one's self-esteem and self-confidence will naturally increase the likelihood of success in all of life's endeavors.
This is fascinating! I can relate to what you discovered in your research. :) Have you done skydiving? What university did you do your PhD at?
@@ReaganSchrock I earned it from United States International University in San Diego. It's now Alliant University. I was a skydiving instructor for 10 years. That's how I had access to skydiving students. I retired from the police department and skydiving in 2002 after exactly 3000 jumps.
Wow that’s incredible. Maybe one day I’ll get to that level of skydiving awesomeness. :) Your study sounds fascinating; did you ever publish what you discovered?
@@ReaganSchrock The PhD thesis was published.
Very cool. I’ll try and look that up (or send me a link to it if you care to).
I just got my A this year as well, and it also took me about a year. I did start out with tandems though, & I can't imagine doing that first jump without having done at least one! But everything you said about overcoming the fear, and how the experience translates over to helping deal with other stressful situations, is spot on in my experience at least!
Yeah I don’t recommend not doing a tandem first. ;)
I went into AFF without doing a tandem first and now I highly recommend people to do a tandem before starting AFF. I had complete brain lock and sensory overload on my first jump. The free fall was a complete blur and my AFFI had to pull for me lol. I snapped out of it under canopy and landed fine, but it scared the daylight out of me. I almost didn’t come back to the sport. It took me 2 years to build up the courage to comeback and finish my license. I’m so glad I did, can’t imagine my life without this now.
That’s quite the story! Definitely can relate to that brain lockup on the first jump. The instructor had to shake me pretty hard to snap out of it!
The connection with your self is unbelievable
Indeed. It’s impossible to describe, everyone should experience it.
Honestly, with this being an 8-9 month old video-I’d have to say this is one of the best if not THE BEST video out there!!!
Really appreciate that! Thanks!
Beautiful story. Beautiful message! Thank you so much! ❤ ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Great video. I have been skydiving for 25 yrs and agree with your sentiments. It leads to amazing personal growth and you get to know so many like minded individuals in your path through learning and later being an experienced jumper. On the other side of fear is freedom ! Be safe.
Thanks so much for sharing this!
Have you ever injured yourself?
@@Spicynoodles761 Nope never
@@richardtustin that’s amazing! I’ve been thinking about going skydiving for the first time and I think I’m most scared about any possible injuries.
@@Spicynoodles761 it’s a safe sport if you follow rules. Go do a tandem.
Watched this vid months ago, really boosted my confidence up to submit to my own skydive timeline. Banked in 9 jumps in past four days. Thanks to your sharing bro, blue skies. Ready, set, go! Keep embracing through and enjoy. Stay safe
That’s awesome! It’s great to hear this video was helpful on your journey.
Great video, I did my first Tandem for my 50th birthday & loved it then felt sad that I had left it this long to do. It was an amazing experience I would do again.
I did iad in 2021. Changed my lide. Made tons of wonderful friends. And falling is much harder than anyone knows
Reagan, your experience reminds me so much of my own at so many points of your story. Your description of sensory overload and mental lock-up and conquering fear is so right. It seems to me that few skydivers describe in their posts having gone through those obstacles. I did all my skydiving (24 total jumps) in the summer of 1989 (yes, I'm old now). I started with 3 static line jumps before they talked me into doing the AFF course. I experienced some bizarre things on my first AFF skydive. I was reacting to the jumpmasters' signals, and it seemed like I was doing what they wanted and what was required, and when I received the PULL signal I started to do it, thinking I was doing everything correctly, but before my hand reached the ripcord handle, the hand of the instructor on that side came flashing in out of nowhere like a lightning bolt and pulled it for me! I was pissed because I knew that meant I'd just failed the AFF level 1 skydive. I didn't know what I had done wrong. After I landed (I fell down) and got with my two instructors for the de-briefing, I told them what I remembered, and they told me that during my PRCPs, when I was supposed to put my hand on my ripcord handle and then return to the standard position (3 times) I wasn't doing it I was just patting my hip near the ripcord handle but I wasn't touching it. That was the best my completely sensory-overloaded mind could produce at that point. (During the 3rd failed attempt my instructor grabbed my hand and placed it on the ripcord handle, but I didn't remember that at all). When I described the actual ripcord pull they told me yes, I was starting to do it but it was like I was moving in slow motion relative to the actual time elapsing, and we were already down to 3400 feet, so they had to pull it for me! It was wild to experience how poorly my mind was functioning during those first several jumps. I had already had a bizarre experience on my very first jump (the first static line jump). The canopy opened up but a couple of the cells on the left side failed to open. So I knew I needed to follow the emergency procedures to try to inflate those cells. So I tried stalling the canopy 3 times to try to get them open but it didn't work. I think that's all I knew to try at that point, and I'd been told that only a fully-open rectangular canopy would be considered acceptable, so I pulled the cutaway handle and immediately pulled the reserve handle and after *HARD OPENING SHOCK* I looked up and saw a perfectly round and inflated canopy. (In 1989 they were still using round reserves). That was the limit of what my terrified hindbrain was prepared to handle. I was supposed to steer the round reserve into the wind by pulling down on one of the risers, but below me was a freshly tilled field of soft dirt and my brain said "all is well" and I relaxed and hit the soft dirt and tumbled like a sack of potatoes, ending up sitting on my butt with my legs out in front of me and my torso vertical and I didn't realize it at first but afterwards it became clear that I had been in a mild state of shock. Because I sat there in the dirt and had ZERO desire to do anything else but continue to sit there. I was supposed to wave toward the instructors to signal I was OK, and was of course expected to stand up, if indeed I was alright, but I didn't want to do that. I just wanted to sit there in the dirt, like, FOREVER! One of the jumpmasters came running over (I'd crash-landed a couple hundred yards from where I was supposed to be) and I was still sitting in the dirt with no urge to get up and the jumpmaster ran over and said "Are you OK?" I said "Yeah." But he clearly didn't believe me so he asked me again and I said, again, "yeah", but made no move to stand up. Which the guy clearly wanted me to do to prove I was OK. So, with a bit of irritation, I got up (I WAS totally OK physically). In hindsight it was clear my mind still wasn't working at 100% when I was sitting there. Anyway, I ultimately completed the AFF course and did 6 solo skydives, but winter was coming in Colorado (I was jumping at the no longer existing(?) Skydive Colorado drop zone) and I had to decide if I wanted to buy my own equipment and I knew I didn't wanna skydive in the winter so I stopped skydiving at that point. But I really miss it and I think I'm going to go to the nearest drop zone and do a tandem skydive for old time's sake, since I'd have to start completely over again after so much time has elapsed. But virtually my entire experience with skydiving was echoed by you in your own story so I was motivated to tell mine. I hope you read this far! :)
Wow that's quite the story. Thanks for sharing. You should go do a jump again, just to relive those memories. :) Its a great sport to be a part of.
My drop zone doesn't permit a solo skydive without 6 hours of training and a tandem dive first. They want to assess the ability of a student to solo. It also helps prevents brain lock during solo because it's not the first time the student experiences free fall.
Yeah I’ve heard some drop zones require the tandem first. I can understand that. It would definitely help you know what to expect.
Skydiving changed my life. Greatest thing ever. Nothing but wonder & intense joy. I'm like the Jehovah's Witness of Skydiving - I try recruit everyone I meet. "Here's our literature -please accept this flower"
Haha YES
Was the same for me travelling up in the plane, I was nervous and anxious but as soon as I was sat on the edge of the plane and jumped all that went away. It’s such an amazing feeling and rush skydiving! Can’t wait to start my aff course in 2024 🤘
I enjoyed watching this well-shot documentary. My adrenaline kicked in and I literally laughed out loud from the thrill of imagining that I was doing it with you. I respect you for your accomplishment. I appreciate the encouragement to push through fear. I have done that a few times (starting a business, leaving a cult). I’m looking for a hobby. Maybe sky diving is it? 🤷♂️
Thanks for the kind words! Pushing through fear to the other side is so important, and it took skydiving for me to see that. And yeah, everyone should have a hobby that helps clear their minds. Doesn't have to be skydiving, but it sure does the trick for me. :)
I had my first jump (tandem, 15000 feet) one month ago and it was a dream come true but not what I expected no matter what I thought it was to be free falling, etc, etc. Out there, in the first seconds it was something I never felt before: not fear (or maybe it was fear with a bunch of other stuff mixed in), for sure, not like the adrenaline pump rush that I was told I would be having. It was something... different I can't really explain to this day. I need to do it again, in order to try to understand what I actually felt. This video was super interesting. Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
That’s great! Yeah, you can’t really put it into words… Where did you jump?
@@ReaganSchrock Portugal, Evora. I was super lucky:; sunny day, just some clouds. I'm super glad I was given the chance to do this. When I was there getting ready I was told by them: "The problem with skydiving is that it is super addictive, and once you make your first jump, trust us, you will want to do more and more". They couldn't be more right about it 🤣
Cheers buddy. Hope you enjoy your journey. Best of jumps for you and take that freedom to live life at the best.
Thanks mate. I appreciate that.
I'm from Mexico and in 2 months I'm going to enroll in an academy to learn skydiving, meanwhile i am watching videos about skydiving, tutorials and all related to skydiving, i am so anxious about skydiving. Thank you for sharing your thoughs and feeling
That’s fantastic. Enjoy the journey; that’s the best advice I can give you. :)
Respect, I did it this way. But let's not forget our instructor saves our life.
For sure!
I've done 2 tandems and I'm doing my first "solo" (with instructors) jump tomorrow!
This move reminded me my aff course... 8 jumps, yes I have one jump extra, and 6 solo in September 2022. I earn and go back to do license A in Spain. This filling of fear and excitement is... Amazing I just can't explain it but you did it. Great job dude good luck 🤙
Appreciate the kind comment. You’re jumping in Spain? I’ve never been there but would love to visit that country.
I'm going for AFF 6/7/C+ soon and this video really resonates with me. I was a nervous wreck for the first few jumps but the confidence grew in myself and my equipment, as you mentioned yourself. This is a fantastic video on the progression, thank you. Blue skies!
Thanks for your kind words! Yeah, definitely know what you're saying about being a nervous wreck. :) Even after coming off student status there's a lot of nervousness etc. But I'm getting there. I think one of the best things for me was simply showing up consistently and working away at the skills regardless of if I was feeling up to it. If you're ever in east TN let me know, we should do a jump together. Blue skies!
@@ReaganSchrock I'm fascinated to hear if there's been any update on your progress with the foundation you work with in terms of flying in supplies. That's an incredible concept to me.
There’s not much update at the moment. Right now we just need to get more people trained and make some more connections. Feels like we have a long way to go yet, but we’ll keep trying! :) Yeah, after what I’ve seen in Iraq it definitely feels like this is something aid groups need to be able to do.
Nothing there to fear ... to begin with ...
Thank you for this , a very down to Earth point of view ❤❤❤
Thanks. That concept changed my life.
Finally doing my Aff this month at Honiton UK
Thanks again for this vid , has given me a lot of incentive ❤ Also after a rewatch , seems my car is going local (ish) to you .
Got an old Evo 4 and in talks with Duncans in Nashville about exporting it . Crazy old world !
Hope you and yours are well !
Nothing there to fear ....
I say this quite a lot ❤
Having been involved in air drops of supplies for humanitarian work it can be very hard and expensive and as a result is usually reserved for use my militaries for humanitarian work. It’s very unique skill set and depending on what you want to drop size wise and what supplies makes a huge difference. We air dropped supplies of water and rations and would budget on loosing nearly half. We had the ability of being able to drop 20-40lbs of stuff up to 2000plus pounds in one bundle.
That’s fascinating. When did you do this and in what locations? Seems like a pretty difficult thing to do, but in working in the nonprofit world for a while now I’ve seen a number of times this capability was greatly needed but there was no one to do it.
@@ReaganSchrock I am based in Australia. We done this in limited capacity post natural disaster. PNG assist in late 2007 was one I was involved with. We did limited aerial delivery/resupply there. We have also dropped hay etc to livestock after floods and fires. It’s usually the last line due to the costs involved. Usually we would set up distribution/mobile air load teams where we would set up temp air ports if you could call it that where smaller aircraft and helicopters would land and we would resupply that way. Dropping supplies in larger quantities (individual items above 50lb) cost a lot with parachutes being lost forever.
One task we trained for but never did outside of training was to jump in first as ‘pathfinders’ and then set up a cargo drop zone in the area for a larger follow up aircraft to drop 30,000lb’s of supplies.
If was cool but we just spent most of our careers doing training work
@bornepatrol thanks for those details. That’s very helpful! Still not sure how we’d use it but I could see being used for small drops of critical supplies. Anything large seems way too complicated and expensive.
Just took my first tandem jump ever a few days ago, and it was amazing.
That’s fantastic!
First solo jump today :) SO excited
That’s fantastic!!
Nice work on the video. Randomly came across it and was cracking up that my wife and I are in it multiple times at Carolina.
I'm an AFF-I. I like watching these, it helps me to better connect with students. Good luck in the sport. Cool DZ by the way.
Thanks! Yeah it’s a great DZ, right by the Smoky Mountains. Where are you an instructor at?
@@ReaganSchrock Bay Area Skydiving in California
Nice. Would love to jump there sometime.
Yeah. Come jump with us. Right now is a perfect time. All the hills are green. Pretty soon they will be all brown for the summer.
Would love to. I’ll see!
Kinda late commenting on the vid, but I started my AFF one month ago. My next jump will be my 10th. The fear of jumping out of the plane dropped extremely after Lvl 6, when I found out that jumping out of the plane and even not hitting the perfect wind does nothing. In the end you just arch and thats it. On my 9th jump I did a forward roll exit with closed eyes. What a nice experience!
Definitely looking forward to my next jump in the next couple days. Sadly the season ends soon. Hope I can finish my license by end of October.
Oh and in terms of landing, my first 3 landings with a flare command over the WalkieTalkie were on the butt. On lvl 4 I jumped with another instructor, who said: " you dont need the WalkieTalkie. You can do it without it." And then I actually did it perfectly (landed on my feet). Luckily I watched before a youtube video on the right flare timing.
How did this text get so long. I guess its a passion. And to whoever reads this: thanks for reading and stay safe!
Best aff video i’ve ever seen. The honnestie, the fear we all encountered…. ❤️🙏🤘
Wow thanks for that! Appreciate it
This was such a good video!
I´m a skydiver in Sweden! But damn, would LOVE to make a jump with you some day!
Your thougts and ideas are just PERFECT! You are a true inspiration!
Thanks for the kind words! Come on over to the US and we’ll jump together. And if I’m in Sweden maybe I could visit your DZ. :)
That is probably the best vlog I've ever watched on TH-cam.
Wow that means a lot. Thanks so much!
Just turned 16 and Done a 15,000ft tandem ❤ It - Working my butt off for the summer to hopefully get Some AFF training done and some new Equipment ✅
That's great. Don't be in a rush to get your own gear till you figure out what you like tho. There's a ton of options!
Wow ! Enthralled watching your explanation and your progress. Your humility is refreshing. I think about trying this from time to time but don't really have the real urge. I think my most challenging thing was getting SCUBA certified about 10 years ago. I've done parasailing while being the passenger .lol Great to see this . Continued victories. God bless. Champion.
Thanks for the kind words! You should at least do a tandem skydive sometime. :)
@@ReaganSchrock The spirit's got to hit me. Still if I were to do it I would do it alone like you did. In case I never wanted to do it again . I could say I sky dived and survived! lol Keep up the excellence in everything.
Just full send it. ;) It’ll change your life that’s for sure! Thanks for the kind words.
I wish I could...I wish it would go cheap that even a normal person can fulfil desire to skydive....the video very informative👌
Yeah it does cost a lot. Everyone should try it at least once though! :)
It's called Base jumping it free. Little more risky but not when U learn. Nothing like standing on a building looking at the street... Then freedom. Don't let me encourage U though ❤️😂
What a beautiful journey.
I just signed up to my AFF course today.
Yo that’s awesome. Best to ya as you learn this incredible sport. Blue skies.
Loved this explanation of the process. My first AFF I had line twists, but perfect parachute and was able to get out of it. First solo, accidentally opened in a cloud and stayed there for 2k feet, listened to my instructor’s precautions for clouds and it all worked out. I was terrified, but I’m still here!!! Looking forward to jump 18. Still get scared, as you talked about, but getting better and more confident.
Also, can we talk ab how much parachute packing sucks. 😂 it’s so frustrating and nerve-wracking. Congrats on your license. Maybe I’ll see you out there one day, maybe we can use our skills one day to help others! Blue skies!
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah packing is annoying. But it gets better with time. I’ve never opened in a cloud before! That would be a wild experience. :)
@@ReaganSchrock I didn’t mean to open in the cloud, literally while pulling my pilot chute I saw the mist around me 😳 just took left turns repeatedly so I’d at least stay in one spot until I could see the ground below me. I got one peak of the ground below during my decent and knew I was close to the airport, so I kept spiraling to the left until out of the cloud and made my way to my holding area. I was so scared! The wind had changed direction but I couldn’t mentally process changing my landing pattern at the time, I knew the other skydivers were already on the ground and safe, so I went with my original pattern. Rough landing, PLF and bit the dust, but it all worked out. Better at tracking and spotting now and hopefully will be avoiding clouds.
That worked out well! Glad you were all right. Clouds are terrifying.
I always said id never skydive i really wanted to back out on the first one but once your out the door its the best feeling ever iv done 5 tandems now im booke next month for the aff course cant wait!
Loooove your message!! I’m going in 2 weeks!! Cant wait!!!! ✌🏻🙏
Just did my first tandem yesterday, Loved it, Looking into getting my license lol
I remember when I actually had time to think and process. My I first thought I said WOW this is wild. Skydiving has changed my life for ever.
“Conquer your fears of being uncomfortable”
Getting past this fear gives you such a different meaning in life. And your character grows so much. For me it’s therapy. It’s you and God at that point.
I’ve heard other jumpers call it therapy too. I think there’s a lot of truth to that!
I am doing AFF course and next week if weather is good, it will be my first solo jump.
Btw nice video. I needed it before my first jump.
Great video. Thank you. I've done 2 IAD skydives and loved every minute of it but time and money kept me from pursuing skydiving. But it led me to flying paramotors. I'm a relatively new pilot and still deal with some fear but as soon as I launch all that fear goes away and I just fly like a bird. it's just that initial fear that holds me back sometimes. Pushing through that fear is a liberating experience.
th-cam.com/users/shortskAnLIXs-Nuw?feature=share
I’ve always wanted to get into paramotor! That’s fantastic. Maybe in time you can get back into skydiving again. :)
Thanks for your calm video and all the details you mentioned. I am going to do my first tandem jump this Friday and i would love to do it to celebrate my 30th. I am super stressed and I just feel so much dear and your video destressed me a bit. Many thanks and hope I feel it cause its mentally so important to me. The best wishes and thanks again.
Thanks for sharing! Glad this video helped. Have a great jump!
Legit vid man. Good on you for also trying to apply your new skill for a greater good. Freedom is on the other side of fear (Will Smith said that after his jump). Blue skies, my friend.
Thanks for the kind comment!
Excellent video my guy. I made my first tandem jump just the other day with a group of friends and posted the video on here, too.
Well.. I scheduled us ALL again. WE LOVE IT !!
Way to go! You should start AFF now. :)
@ReaganSchrock I'm hooked man..the Aff is what brought me here and I've been researching licenses and so on.
I greatly appreciate a response from you man..is there anything I can watch or learn specifically at this point ??
@groundpounder24365 Honestly, watch some videos but don’t spend too much time researching; just full send it. You can’t really prepare for plummeting through the sky. ;) The hard part is signing up and doing that first jump. It’s easy to spend a lot of time thinking about it, but then the mind starts playing tricks and the fear can get in the way. Instead, just go for it. :)
@@ReaganSchrock well.said
Keep us updated on the non profit please!! I’m getting my A license in a couple months and would love to contribute!!
This is so cool to watch! I really appreciate the detail you went into and how you described everything. I just completed my AFF jumps yesterday and you perfectly described the way I felt while going through each jump. I wish my DZ went year round though because I know I'll be missing it during the colder seasons
Appreciate the kind words! That’s awesome you just finished AFF. If you’re ever near Skydive East Tennessee hit me up, we could do a jump together.
Great video! Blue skies!
Thanks! Blue skies to you as well.
Loved watching this! You go! 🤩 Yes, I would jump out at 13,500 feet. 😊
We should go sometime. :) Thanks for watching!
I really mean it - it is a life changing sport!
That’s for sure.
Skydiving is the best sport for young and old.❤
Amen!
Great video! I want to try skydive one day as well, hoping it's soon.
"Why would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?"
Either:
"The door was open"
Or
"Those things are not perfectly good. They're held together by duck tape"
Yep pretty much sums it up. ;)
My 1st tandem was in October 2022!🪂
Fantastic!
Great video and insight through the experience of skydiving! I'm a skydiver myself and second everything you said! Beautiful location. I would love to jump there. Southern Tenessee you said? --- Blue skies bud!
Yep southern TN. Come on out sometime, let’s jump together. Thanks for the kind comment.
Brain: “you don’t need to do this man”
Heart: “send it”
Thats badass. You must be in jumping at Skydive Twin Citys? Thats where I did my first tandem! Starting my AFF in May! I recognized AJ in your video with the High Ridaz helmet! Great video!
Stupendo! Dopo aver fatto aff nel 2021 ora nel 2023 tornerò a saltare... lo sogno da due anni. Il tuo video mi ha dato forza e emozionato.
Keep pushing !
I am 15 and want to skydive as soon as I can (18+ in the US) I've been training in wind tunnels so I will have exerience!
Everything you said in the first five minutes about mental overload is why it is BEST to do a tandem jump first so you get that experience. mike 2000 skydives D-33093
Totally agree! Wish I would have done a tandem first.
Good ol skydive carolina. Ms Judy was one of my instructors also.
That’s fantastic! Wish that DZ was closer to where I live…
Woww ! Thanks for that video..i love the part where you explain that challenge in our head in the plane ...i did 4 tandem and will do my first jump with 2 instructors soon and your video is what i needed to to help me deal with my stress 🤟
Thanks for the kind comment! You totally got this; have a great time with AFF!
I did my first 4 jumps AFF and wow ! That feeling is amazing ..after my first jump...the door was not that scary wow!!! I never tought i would be able to go trought that 2 days ago and now i am so proud and feeling so good ...so anxious to continue and finish my formation ..BIG thanks for your video !!!!🤘🤘🤘
Yooo that’s amazing! So awesome you went through with this. Just wait till you get your license; it gets way better!
@@ReaganSchrock i can't t wait 🤩.Thanks for the answer and thanks again for that video that helped me to work on my mind , my stress, my fears..i belive i just found a passion 🤟
@stephaniemorin4166 that’s so awesome my video helped. All the best as you keep jumping. 😎
I did my course in 3 days it can be a bit challenging but you kinda make it sound harder then it is.
Great Video! I did three Tandems and on Saturday ist my AFF 3 jump. I'm already nervous and exicted:)
That’s amazing! Good idea doing some tandems first. :)
I realy like your idea about "jumping into otherwise not reachable areas" with NGO personal.
Some things that instantly sparked my mind if you realy want to do it:
1. Logistik (I´m sure you´re aware about that) You need a jumpable plane, and all the stuff you´ll need to sustain yourself in the target area until further help arrives or you can get another airdrop in.
2. Weather and unpredictable groundconditions in the landing area: You´ll most likely can not bet on a smooth field of green for your landing
3. A thing you mentioned in your vid about canopy formation and every canopy will steer and behave diffrent! My advise for an operation: GET RID OF THAT! You´ll need a fleet of Identical parachutes.
For me the hole endever sounds like what special forces are capable of, and that´s how you may should look at it.
In my opinion it boils down to this: What you´ll need is military grade training about jumping into an onknown area, with gear (as a private licenced skydiver you usually don´t jump with additional gear).
And you´ll need some tandemmasters, because not every spec. NGO personal will be capable to jump on its own, but you´ll need them on the ground.
The only other group besides military personal who are able to pull this off are, as far as i know, some Firefighters who junmp into bushfire regions.
Keep on going and Blue Skys!
Thanks for this input. This is very helpful. There’s a ton of challenges with doing something like this, though it has been done by civilian skydivers in the past. The amount of training and logistics would be immense!
If only the skydiving community was more open to answering questions rather then fearing liability from it. Been trying to get my license and still can’t get questions answered without the im not an instructor ask your instructor… who doesn’t have the time of day to explain to me. “Braked approach and landing” still not signed off since no one has time to watch me do it yet I have.
I’d say find another instructor then. My instructors were amazing and always willing to answer questions and help.
I just recognized the plane at my DZ in Ohio this year is the plane you jumped out of!
Nice. It’s a great plane!
Your AFF level 1 is a great example of why tandem progression is better. You locked up, forgot to even do your practice touches, you're not looking at the altimeter when practice touching, legs kicking and swimming. Main side AFFI could use more lead on jump one. You didn't pull on jump one, that was assisted at best.
Very informative and insightful! Thank you.
I'm on AFF 6 I want to do some tunnel time work on stability and turns. I hope to finish levels this month and A license by years end!
That’s great! Yeah tunnel time was one part I left out of the video, but it was hugely helpful. I was pretty unstable and had trouble with turns etc till I trained in a wind tunnel. Totally worth it! Made the rest of AFF lot easier!
Excellent & inspiring! Good job on production and editing as well. This video has helped decrease my fear and increase my excitement for it! Have you had your first solo cutaway yet?
Nope no cut aways. :) Thanks for the kind comment!
The most basic biomechanical skills of skydiving are rudimentary, compared to - say - learning to ride a bike when you are not yet 7 years old. The real challenge is in learning how to focus on the basic drills, instead of being overwhelmed by the first-time experience. I doubt that many first-time jumpers attain that degree of focus, because it is so alien and unexpected. But they are nevertheless very simple basic drills. I'd argue that "just freefalling" is a whole lot simpler than learning to ride a bike, but then very few people are scared to death that riding a bike will kill them. Knowledge and experience dispels fear, opening the door to the joy of the sport.
The hard parts come as you try to master precise control of your body as you fall (fly?) through the air, in concert with other like-minded folks. It is a fabulous, joyful discipline, and a community filled with fabulous, joyful people.
Don't be afraid to join them
This is a great point. Thanks for this well thought out explanation. I agree.
Did a tandem last week. It was awesome. Considering AFF.
Do it! It’ll change your life. :)
Hey Reagan.. want to know what changed in your life after this? I am going to start my lessons soon 😉 and how difficult it is to learn?
I found it pretty difficult, but I enjoyed the challenge. It’s good for me to push through something like this.
I’m doing my first tandem jump, my first skydive in a month today. In Germany! I’m so excited!
Thank you for this video. It’s really helpful and makes me even more excited! Thank you!
What are your tips for someone doing it for the first time?
Just full send it and don’t overthink it. :) That’s the best advice I have. Also I love Germany. Hope I can get back there again soon.
@@ReaganSchrock Amazing! Thank you! I hope you can too! I'm glad to hear you love it so much! me too!
Amazing and honest video.
How many skydives did you need to get your A license?
I’m finishing up AFF now. I think the word terror was the best description of how I felt for my first three jumps. It’s gotten a little easier but I’m still super scared. The feeling every time I land is surreal and joyful.
There are good weather days but I’ve found myself too worried to book to the dropzone sometimes, which is frustrating and definitely has slowed my progress!
Keep at it and you’ll get there. It took me 25 jumps to get my license.
You are not strapped to someone else in a tandem jump, you are both hooked to the same parachute system. Most people do not do tandem progression, most people do static line or Instructor assisted deployments.
That's mostly incorrect. The instructor, who is wearing the parachute system, connects their harness to the student's harness. SL and IAD aren't the primary training methods anymore. AFF is.
That's mostly incorrect. The instructor, who is wearing the parachute system, connects their harness to the student's harness. SL and IAD aren't the primary training methods anymore. AFF is.
Congratulations 😃👍‼️
Thanks!
So cool! I badly want to go on a tandem jump sometime, but none of my friends are super eager to try it 😂 I don't think it'd be too bad to jump tandem, but jumping on your own would be whole different level 😅 Also, I don't know how you survive, with all the stuff you're into-I barely survive work and a trip or two each year 😁
Just come on down to Tennessee and I’ll take you for a jump. :) Yeah, getting a license is on a whole different level then a tandem jump. And yes I’m involved in a lot of things, not sure how I make it all work but maybe one of the keys is that I really enjoy all the various things I’m involved in. :)
@@ReaganSchrock cool, I might need to find an excuse to drive down there next summer 😁 🪂
@@rayweaver2069 Sounds like a plan!
DONT WAIT ON YOUR FRIENDS!!
You’ve got a point there…
Great video brother.
Thank you sir.
I’m a jump pilot. Cool vid.
Very inspiring. Thx ❤
I have got my private pilots license right now for fixed wing I always wanted to be a skydiving pilot but now I'm thinking of getting my skydiving license it just looks like to much fun I love adrenaline and this video really was cool any advice
You should totally do it. Can’t hurt to give it a try and see if you like it! :)