Can I Skydive with my own GoPro?

If there's no video, it didn't happen. It is for this exact reason that you were planning on skydiving with a GoPro to catch all the footage and feels during the fun of freefall. After all, that teeny weeny action camera seems like the perfect adventure accoutrements: what's more action-packed than a skydive?

These are all solid points. We get it. From an outside perspective, the logic is sound. However, as innocuous as your GoPro may seem, it's a big no-go for non-experienced skydivers to bring any kind of camera along on a tandem skydive. This includes skydiving with a GoPro. Here's why.

Rules are Rules

The "no GoPro for non-experienced skydiver" rule isn't one we made up to squeeze some extra cash out of our customers. No, that rule comes from the very top. Allow us to explain.

The two primary organizational bodies responsible for the oversight and governance of skydiving are the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Parachute Association (USPA). Between the two, the USPA has been charged with compiling data and providing guidelines to make the sport of skydiving as safe as it can possibly be. Annually, the USPA disseminates important information, guidelines, and recommendations through a digital and printed compilation called the Skydiver Information Manual (SIM). In other words, the SIM is pretty much the playbook for the sport of skydiving.

Well, just to tell you just how big of a deal that not-so-big little camera of yours is, the SIM has an entire section dedicated to camera usage during skydiving (section 6-8 to be precise)! The SIM advises that "Prior to jumping with a camera, a skydiver should have enough general jump experience to be able to handle any skydiving emergency or minor problem easily and without stress" (SIM SEction 6.8-E). If this is your first, second, or third jump, it's unlikely that you fit the bill.

Even if you were, somehow, uncannily naturally skilled with both the camera and the freefall portion of the skydive, the SIM goes on to say that a jumper should have at least 200 skydives before skydiving with a GoPro or other camera. Even then, in order to cut down on the potential for mistakes, the jumper should have made at least 50 recent jumps using the same equipment they will use on the jump.

Little Cameras Can Cause Big Problems

The 200 jump recommendation may sound perfectly ludicrous to you, but trust us, cameras have been involved in accidents countless times. If the camera is not in the right hands it can interfere with safety and emergency procedures and even entangle with parachute lines at deployment. To safely fly with a camera requires physical deftness in freefall and hyper keen awareness of what's happening around you in freefall. Both of these come with practice, experience, and time. Three prerequisites that we have covered.

We've Got Your Back (And Your Front Too!)

Not only have we literally got your back on a tandem skydive, but we can also get your front too--with a video and photo package that is! At Skydive Long Island, we have plenty of options to choose from and offer discounted rates when you purchase a skydiving video and photo package at the time of booking.

For each of these packages, we use a state-of-the-art video editing and delivery system software called Revl. For those who purchase a video, the system creates three unique videos optimized for you to share on social media: a 45-second edit for Instagram, a 60-second video of your freefall, and the full 4-5 minute video of your skydive! These videos are ready just moments after you land, and if you download the Revl app, you can pick from 9,000 licensed songs for even greater customization of your skydiving video!

Rest assured, you can leave the camerawork to us. Ready for your close-up? Purchase your skydiving video or photo package today!