"Back in the day"

WARNING! Thread drift ......

" ... I agree. There were some real characters who jumped back then. ... Sometimes it's more fun to jump with people who are a little on the crazy side. .

One of the wildest, grossest, craziest guys ... jumped at Kalispell back in the 70's. He was fun to be with, just for entertainment purposes.

Then he got religion. The first thing I noticed was that he didn't cuss any more. Then he started to wear a cross on his jump suit. This kind of scared some of us. ..."

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Has anyone considered that maybe, just maybe Jesus himself is scared of all those millions of people wearing crosses?
Maybe, just maybe all those crosses bring back some painful memories for Jesus?
Maybe, just maybe all those crosses make Jesus feel unwelcome in the modern world?
Tee!
Hee!

Back in the good old days, I remember farbmore "dirty biker" types skydiving, far more cussing and far more "off colour jokes."

We also told far more racist jokes.

At first listen, we might have sounded like red necks, but if you listened long enough, you would hear us tell sarcastic jokes about every race: crackers, KKK, lazy negroes, drunken irishmen, block-headed germans, stuffy englishmen, chinamen with speach impediments, hillbillies, tight-fisted Scotsmen, tight-fisted Jews, sneaky Welshmen, frog-eating Frenchmen, maple syrup sucking Canadians, siesta-taking Mexicans, tangoing Argentines, Brazilians in butt-floss bikinis, etc. and if you listened long anough, we would eventually tell a few jokes about "brain dead red necks."

And if you left any of your gear, money, dope, beer or you ol lady out in the open it would all still be there in the morning......well maybe just as few roaches and empty cans left and they would towel off the ol lady.

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At first listen, we might have sounded like red necks, but if you listened long enough, you would hear us tell sarcastic jokes about every race: crackers, KKK, lazy negroes, drunken irishmen, block-headed germans, stuffy englishmen, chinamen with speach impediments, hillbillies, tight-fisted Scotsmen, tight-fisted Jews, sneaky Welshmen, frog-eating Frenchmen, maple syrup sucking Canadians, siesta-taking Mexicans, tangoing Argentines, Brazilians in butt-floss bikinis, etc. and if you listened long anough, we would eventually tell a few jokes about "brain dead red necks."

Well, I guess if you were racist and bigoted against everyone, then it's OK.

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At first listen, we might have sounded like red necks, but if you listened long enough, you would hear us tell sarcastic jokes about every race: crackers, KKK, lazy negroes, drunken irishmen, block-headed germans, stuffy englishmen, chinamen with speach impediments, hillbillies, tight-fisted Scotsmen, tight-fisted Jews, sneaky Welshmen, frog-eating Frenchmen, maple syrup sucking Canadians, siesta-taking Mexicans, tangoing Argentines, Brazilians in butt-floss bikinis, etc. and if you listened long anough, we would eventually tell a few jokes about "brain dead red necks."

Well, I guess if you were racist and bigoted against everyone, then it's OK.

Naaa, not EVERYONE...he didn't say nuthin' 'bout us Pollacks!

Really seriously, "back in the day" would at least have been before the gear revolution of the seventies. The early seventies began with people jumping rounds, chest mounted reserves, capewell cutaway systems, motorcycle helmets, and big heavy boots. By the end of the decade most people were jumping squares in piggybacks with 3 rings, (even a few square reserves), hockey helmets or those stupid leather caps that hold your brains together after you die, and sneakers, sandles, or even barefoot. All the new gear since 1980 has really been a refinement, the real revolution was in the seventies.

I suppose you're REALLY baaaaack in the day if you turn the clock back before the first low porosity sport canopies of the early sixties. Then it was all military surplus - and a lot of the reserves didn't even have pilot chutes - they were the "toss and pray" type.

Hi Tom,

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I suppose you're REALLY baaaaack in the day if you turn the clock back before the first low porosity sport canopies of the early sixties. Then it was all military surplus - and a lot of the reserves didn't even have pilot chutes - they were the "toss and pray" type.

JerryBaumchen

We did this stuff in '91-92, guess I was jumping "back in the day" according to your definition.

cc

I would have to say that "back in the day" refers to a time when certain types of equipment (like rounds parachutes) were common on the DZ but rarely seen today. Also consider the number of products that have aone by the wayside since you started skydiving.

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We did this stuff in '91-92, guess I was jumping "back in the day" according to your definition.

cc

I'm going with 'Back In The Day' as referring to more along the lines of an individuals attitude and maybe how it relates to their earlier time involved with the sport.

Like any serious long term relationship...at the start when everything is new, we tend to see it untarnished, as exciting and pure.

Further down the road and gettin' comfortable, we start to notice some of the pot holes and speed traps.

It's only natural to think back fondly on when things were better, because they were 'fresh'...maybe untainted.

Certainly a person needs to be in the 'relationship' for a long enough period of time to see/feel the change. I think pretty much everyone that sticks with it long enough recalls 'back in the day' ~things~ being quite a bit different than they are now...no mater when they started.

I think when you refer to "back in the day" you acknowledge you may be over the hill...

(I also think that skydiving defined itself in the late 70s and early 80s)

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I think when you refer to "back in the day" you acknowledge you may be over the hill...

(I also think that skydiving defined itself in the late 70s and early 80s)

Great, now we just gotta define what 'Over The Hill' means!

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...Great, now we just gotta define what 'Over The Hill' means!

Don't look at ME!

I may be old, fat, wore out, bald, somewhat senile, and hard of hearing....but don't ever call me over the hill. That really hurts my feelings!

No problem you old worn out bald headed deaf fat ass nut case, from back in the day! We'll make note of that.....

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No problem you old worn out bald headed deaf fat ass nut case, from back in the day! We'll make note of that.....

...in fact, what say we let him spot!

Hell, I love to spot! Just point me toward the door....

I have no problem with that, I'm pretty sure he is one of the few I trust to spot a round load, I have no fear.....yet

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Hell, I love to spot! Just point me toward the door....

Which...don't tell me...ya can't find yourself. without your GLASSES!

Oh, don't worry about that! I can find myself okay.

Some times I have a hard time when it's really cold out, and I have on a lot of clothes, and I have to take a whiz....but usually I can find myself just fine.

I did lose my glasses a while back. When I find them, maybe we can get a load put together....I get to spot!....

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The people I remember from 'back in the day' were cut from a different cloth than the "jumpin' yuppies" that we see today.

For a number of reasons I haven't jumped in over 20 years. My 16 year old daughter, Rebecca, can't wait to jump so my plan is to get current so I can jump when she does. In anticipation of us jumping I took her to a DZ about an hour from us to look around.

The thing that surprised the me most about the sport today is how many people pay other people to pack their parachute. Back in "my day" the only person who packed another's rig was a rigger who packed the reserves. [I have to admit I packed my own reserve a dozen or so times before getting a rigger's ticket.] EVERYONE packed their own rigs when I started. Matter of fact, passing a packing test was a prerequisite for making the first jump.

Today, it seems to my old-school brain, the yuppies have taken the "purpose" out of the sport. I always used skydiving as a metaphor for life: We have to pack our own parachute; we have to be totally responsible for ourselves and our actions.

Not anymore, it seems. It's something else. I haven't hung around the "new" DZ often enough "to get" what's going on today. What ever it is on the DZ seems to be pervading society in general: No personal responsibility; blame the other guy; get him to bail me out...of what ever.

The other thing I couldn't get my mind around is the number of tandem jumps being made. WAY more tandems than FJC jumps. WTF is that all about??!!

The sport no longer exemplifies my existential "putting your own life in your own hands" perspective. I must really be getting old.

It sure ain't like back in my day.

Hi Guru,

+1,

However, I do accept that things change; it's just getting harder & harder to keep up with the changes. But it does give my kids a laugh now & then.

JerryBaumchen

Today, it seems to my old-school brain, the yuppies have taken the "purpose" out of the sport. I always used skydiving as a metaphor for life: We have to pack our own parachute; we have to be totally responsible for ourselves and our actions.

Not anymore, it seems. It's something else. I haven't hung around the "new" DZ often enough "to get" what's going on today. What ever it is on the DZ seems to be pervading society in general: No personal responsibility; blame the other guy; get him to bail me out...of what ever.

I think you nailed it with the 'condition of society' analogy.

'Back in thy day' everyone wanted to learn it all, get proficient at it all, collect all the licenses, ratings and awards...even if ya didn't wanna be a hard core CReW 'dog', you earned a 4 & 8 stack patch because it was all part of the sport. A riggers ticket was just another step in the progression.

A willingness to learn and achieve was standard equipment, the sport of Skydiving was for the most part for 'sportsmen'.


Now it's a hobby for a less dedicated segment, maximum enjoyment for minimum effort.

But there's good & bad with everything.

~A good percentage of that segment because of that very ethic, has pushed the whole thing a lot farther & faster and in more directions than we old farts ever did, or even could have imagined!

Like with the tandems, it's a different mindset, we're marketing & utilizing the program quite differently than originally intended.

Seems a whole heck of a lotta people wanna 'enjoy' a skydive with even LESS than minimal effort...they stand in line for a good time, to get a ride ~

Cash, Check or Charge Card ~ they leave an hour later with a video, a tee shirt, a story and a smile . . . thanks for stopping by, tell 'em where ya got it!

Not a bad thing by any means, it gives skydiving lots of exposure and does generate interest...and is the main reason, (Thank God) for that wonderful kerosene smell that permeates the drop-zone ALL day long!

Not a bad thing by any means, it gives skydiving lots of exposure and does generate interest...and is the main reason, (Thank God) for that wonderful kerosene smell that permeates the drop-zone ALL day long!

And that reminds me, it's hard to picture a day "back in the day" without a couple of those radial engines smoking up the DZ...

Some of us younger jumpers still have that attitude...

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Oh, heck, we're inventing new ways all the time. Wingsuits, for example, have brought with them whole new ways to kill yourself, including inadvertently just falling out of your gear.

Was that new? No one used B10 legstraps to do that before?