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SKYDIVING

You may think it is a high-tech activity with lots of built-in safety mechanisms and measures but to some skydivers and former skydivers there may be no such thing! This may be especially true concerning the ever-so-popular, "static-line" jumps which some dive masters just hate!

Static-line jumping is when you jump out of the airplane alone. There is no pulling of the ripcord by each individual skydiver. Instead, it is pulled automatically as in military paratrooper-style jumping. This way there is no free-falling before the ripcord is pulled.

In this static-line type of jumping, theoretically, there is not much need for many hours of training. Beginner jumpers oftentimes prefer the static-line style of jumping because it is cheaper to skydive this way compared to jumping out of the plane in "tandem" with a trainer harnessed alongside you, the beginner, to help ensure all things go well.

However, there may not be enough instruction that goes along with static-line jumping because the beginner here is essentially tossed out by themselves, on their own, so to speak, and if anything goes wrong....well, those are the breaks! Some jump masters do not even allow beginners to jump alone until they have at least 2 or 3 tandem jumps under their belt with trainers alongside them to help bale them out of trouble if necessary.

Some jump masters would even like to see some beginners do 10 to 15 tandem jumps before doing anything else in skydiving. Tandem jumping cuts down injuries possibly up to 10 times more than static-line jumping because tandem jumping requires one-on-one personal guidance from a jump master during the skydive.

With static-line jumping you learn in groups and it is considered more thrilling because you are skydiving all alone when you jump even though there is no actual free-falling before your ripcord is released like in tandem jumping. On average, for every 100 static-line jumps someone may end up with an injury like a broken leg.

Static-line jumping, believe it or not, is considered to be more manly or "macho". It is also preferred more by younger men. Older folks prefer the less risky, potentially safer tandem jumping.

SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: MIAMI HERALD NEWSPAPER 11/26/95

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