Going Home Again

I haven't made a skydive in over five years.  Why is not important.  What is important is that my rig is being put back together and I'll be going back home sometime this spring. 

I have not kept up with much in the sport since I had to stop.  I know things have changed in five years.

So what's different?   What's better now than it was five years ago?  What's worse?  What do you think a returning old fart should know about jumping today?

Thanks!

You will have no trouble. I have made recurrency jumps with people out of the sport 40 years, and no issues. Just get a complete briefing from an S&TA or head instructor, and perform EPs several times. Follow the BSRs, don't do anything out of your comfort zone, remember to breath, it all comes back to you. Good luck!

Oh my...

I thought you were playing hockey. 

Welcome back.

Gear has gotten prettier. Everyone has an AAD & a MARD. 

To a large degree, the 'canopy Nazis' won (this is a good thing).
The old 'cowboy' days of big turns and swooping into the main landing area are pretty much over. Again, a good thing. 
Some places don't even allow big turns and swooping at all. (a bit of overkill, IMO).

Almost everyone has a smart phone. Pics on the plane, in the landing area, all of that are pretty common. 
There's an app called 'Burble' that lets you manifest from your phone. It also lets you send a message if you land out (various degrees of urgency, from 'I'm ok & walking back' to 'call 911 right now') Pretty handy.

Everyone spends a lot of time in the tunnel. In air skills are pretty good. Everything else?
Not so much. 
Gear knowledge & understanding in particular. Lots of folks don't seem to pack for themselves after they get their A. 

All the 'cool kids' are freeflying or doing 'angly stuff'. The only ones flying belly are the 'crusty old guys' and hardcore belly comp folks. 

After hours shenannigans have taken a huge hit. The fact that everyone has pic & video capability in their hand has discouraged a lot of the nudity and silliness. Nobody wants evidence of this sort of thing. Understandably.

The people are still the same. Even if they are different people, they are the same. Best bunch of weirdos, miscreants & delinquents I've ever hung out with. 

On 2/24/2019 at 9:49 AM, wolfriverjoe said:

To a large degree, the 'canopy Nazis' won (this is a good thing).

We did? We made a difference? 

Thanks for the replies. Can't wait to get back up there.

RW groups may not be the first ones out. It may be people who are referred to as movement groups.  These are people on tracking dives or angle flying. With two movement groups on a load, one group may go first and one may go last. They may also not be that good at it. Make sure you know where they intend to go and watch for them. 

Welcome back

I went home today.  Hop and pop from 6k with my awesome hubby.  Almost got blown off the plane because I forgot about the prop blast.  Perfect exit, perfect deployment, almost perfect landing.  If only the winds hadn't gotten all weird, I'd have done at least one from full altitude.  But that's okay.  There's always next weekend.

Life is good again.  

That is awesome! Welcome back!

21 hours ago, skybytch said:

Life is good again.

Awesome.

On 5/5/2019 at 9:48 PM, skybytch said:

I went home today.  Hop and pop from 6k with my awesome hubby.  Almost got blown off the plane because I forgot about the prop blast.  Perfect exit, perfect deployment, almost perfect landing.  If only the winds hadn't gotten all weird, I'd have done at least one from full altitude.  But that's okay.  There's always next weekend.

Life is good again.  

I'm mostly a lurker but you were a moderator here and I think an active AFF instructor when I first started skydiving and found this forum in 2001. I've always valued your input. Welcome home!

On 5/5/2019 at 8:48 PM, skybytch said:

I went home today...

...Life is good again.  

Welcome back.