How To Prevent a Poor Skydiving Experience

Your skydiving experience is meant to be a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime adventure. There is nothing that puts us out of sorts quite like hearing that someone has had anything less than an incredible skydiving experience. Our mission at Skydive Long Island is to provide you with one of the most exciting escapades of your life. We want you to leave delighted, not disappointed.

Truth be told, there are several ways a skydive experience can be less than satisfactory, and the majority of these instances are entirely preventable. Here's the thing, you don't know what you don't know, and there are a few choices that can make or break your skydiving experience. But you don't have to go it alone! Below, we will highlight the ways you can prevent a poor skydiving experience.

Skydiving For Someone Else and Not Yourself

Positive peer pressure, along with a little good natured goading, can help you to push past your limits and overcome challenges you never thought you would. While sometimes we make our decisions based on what others around us are doing-including skydiving- the decision to make a skydive should be an autonomous one. You shouldn't decide to skydive to impress anyone. Rather, you should skydive because you want to. If you aren't in it for the right reason, you'll find the experience to be unrewarding. While those around you will feel elated to have faced their fears and come out the other end victorious, you might not have the same reaction. Ultimately, before committing to a skydiving experience, you should find intrinsic reasons you want to make a jump, rather than basing it on another's decision.

Allowing Emotions To Get the Better of You

Sometimes anxiety can get the best of us. We find ourselves becoming easily irritated-lashing out at others when we otherwise wouldn't. This is one of the main ways to dampen the positive emotions that your skydiving experience should evoke. It's important to try to be patient and calm. Especially because, there is a logistic jigsaw puzzle that goes into getting you and your friends into the air. Our team needs to make sure each group of tandem skydivers is adequately briefed, the equipment needs to be inspected before each jump, parachutes must be repacked after each jump, and the plane will need to be shut down and re-fueled intermittently. If there is a delay in one of those imperative sections, it can be felt later on down the line. Also, it's important to remember this isn't just a thrill ride, you're attached to a living, breathing, human being. They need time to decompress, grab a bite to eat, and get into the right headspace before they escort you on the adventure of a lifetime.

It's important to know ahead of time that the process may not be an expedited fast-track from check-in to jump time. You may have a bit of down time on the ground. Come prepared with reading material or maybe even a deck of cards to pass the time. Having something to occupy your mind will help you to channel your nervous energy and keep your emotions from getting the better of you.

Overeating or Not Eating At All

Feeling overfull and feeling hangry (the clever portmanteau of hungry and angry) are two very unpleasant feelings, and both are a recipe for a poor skydiving experience. The day you skydive will be a remarkable day, but in some ways, it's important to treat the day you skydive like any other day. This is especially true when it comes to your consumption of food. Some stress over the length of time they will be at the dropzone and eat a large, heavy meal before they join us. Other individuals are afraid they will become ill on the jump and avoid eating at all. Neither is the right choice. On the day of your skydive, eat a light breakfast and bring a bit of lighter fare with you. Prepare for your skydive like you would a hike, packing snacks like energy bars, fruits, or easily transported veggies (like celery sticks or baby carrots) and dip.

Not Dressing For Success

Because the temperature at altitude may be quite a bit cooler than the temperature on the ground, it is a good idea to come prepared with layers! A versatile wardrobe allows you flexibility throughout the day, in case it warms up or cools down. If you wear clothing that is too heavy while on the ground, you may sweat. The sweat at altitude will chill, and you may feel like you're freezing in freefall. Inversely, if you don't have a warm layer, you might spend the entire time, from ground to altitude, unpleasantly cold. Bringing layers helps you to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature has in store.

Know that Delays are Possible and Likely

Skydiving is a weather dependent activity, and until it is safe to do so, we will not put you in the air. This may mean you have to wait longer than you anticipated. Please trust, we have your best interest in mind. Wind, rain, and low clouds are all possible reasons we may have to postpone jump operations. If the weather looks iffy, feel free to give us a call on the day of your jump. If skydiving prevents jumping, we will gladly reschedule your appointment for a day that seems more favorable.

A poor skydiving experience is fairly rare. By following our advice, you can make this possibility even more unlikely and help ensure your skydiving experience is everything it should be! So, are you ready for the experience of a lifetime? Contact us today!