Have you gone skydiving? Or, would you?

That's pretty wild. How much liquor did you need to get up the courage to jump?

Yeah, it's tough to think of what could happen to my kid if there was a chute malfunction. Unfortunately, I can't say he'd be in good hands with his mother if I went splat. Funny how quickly the reckless, stupid impulses I used to have disappeared after he was born.

 

It was pretty early in the morning, so I was stone cold sober.

I went bungee jumping in college off a bridge... That scared the living fuck out of me. My roommate, who also went skydiving with me said it was far scarier than skydiving.

 

I skydived (static line, not tandem) and regretted it for two reasons:

* I ended up in an ambulance and screwed up my shoulder for life. (Bad landing. It was really hard to gauge wind direction and my shoulder got ripped out of the socket while trying to flare.)

* Also, once free fall is over it's -- surprisingly -- boring as hell (until you land).

Bungee jumping is much, much better because it's all free fall and you're unlikely to break anything. It also takes infinitely more courage. If you want to feel alive, opt for the bungee.

 

I do it all the time. I think in a marriage, it's only fair.


Oh, sky diving. Never mind.

 

The free fall is what's great about it. The parachute ride didn't do much for me.

 

I did it about seven years ago in Hawaii. I always wanted to do it but I wanted to do it in a place where the view would make it extra special. Coolest thing I've ever done in my life. It was a tandem jump and you go with a professional so it really removes the fear that you might panic and end up not pulling the cord right or whatever else. Even if something goes wrong, those guys have a handle on it. Your job is to enjoy the ride and try to help land softly.

The free fall part is absolutely exhilirating. Once you get to the parachute ride, you can really take in the view and enjoy it. I'll probably do it again in my life but it will have to again be in a more exotic locale.

P.S. it's not cheap. I think I paid something like $230.

 

For Hawaii, that's not expensive at all.

 

I'm thinking you probably went where I went in late '70s. I did static line, too, and the worst part of mine was going through the 4-6 hours of training, only to find out in mid-afternoon that the winds had picked up and we'd have to come back the next day to actually jump.

That meant working up the nerve all over again, and a pretty sleepless night.

The jump itself was way cool. Stepping onto the plane's little tiny step, through that open door, bracing against a wing strut and knowing you weren't getting back into the plane was wild. Very neat as well to look way below and see birds flying down there. Super quiet, with helmet and mostly because you're near nothing that makes noise. Other than your heartbeat.

Missed the target area ... and the flight school compound ... and wound up on other side of the road in a cornfield, spraining my ankle on landing. Screw it, it was worth it. Got that over most of my buddies now. Had a roommate who was going to join me but claimed he was strapped for cash that weekend. Right.

Never had urge to do a second one. Would add little to the experience, while taking on 100 percent of the "risk" and trepidation again.

Oh and many years later I learned that my instructor, who had one of those fancy wing chutes when we were learning with Army surplus, perished in a botched dive.

 

Did that come with a reach-around?

 

You're spot-on with the tiny step and wing strut. That was the hardest part even though that's exactly what you went there to do.

 

Chris the bastard is thinking about starting a similar thread. He's looking for feedback about attending a Tijuana donkey show.