When were you last really scared?We'd been watching the Shining. We were staying in an old church building. In hindsight, taking the shortcut home after midnight, in the mist, through the old graveyard was a bad idea.
I'm not sure what started it, but suddenly all the hairs on my neck had gone up and I was crapping myself. It was almost as bad as when, after a few cups of coffee too many and buzzing on caffeine, I got freaked out by my own reflection in the toilets.
When were you last really scared?
(
chthonic, Thu 22 Feb 2007, 15:43)
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skydivingi got my skydiving licence in May 2006, and sadly since then havent done very many jumps (ahem i currently live on england's "tropical" north east coast). you'd think falling out of a plane in itself would be scary, but you get used to it (even ENJOY it) after the first few times. after all if i didnt enjoy it in some way i wouldnt go back to it whenever british weather clears up. however, once you've realised it's not the falling that can kill you, certain other things start to make you nervous:
* sitting in the plane. i dont like flying very much (ironic i know), and smallish planes make it worse, rocking about and all that, plus jump pilots tend to be on the more reckless side. they know it, they love it. anyway, unless the ride to altitude is quick, just sitting in the plane can be scary.
* sitting in the plane thinking about your packjob. yeah this has happened a few times. now technically i shouldn't even get NEAR the plane if im at all worried i mightve packed my chute badly. but that's not really the point, i guess everyone does it at some point, and it's only natural to think about it. most times i console myself with the fact that i AM getting out and what happens happens. then i have a fun skydive, hurray.
* falling when your helmet and goggles aren't quite as tight on your head as you would like, and you spend every couple of thousand feet trying to hold them in place. while trying to stay stable, altitude-aware, and of course wanting to deploy the parachute itself. with glasses underneath the goggles, also about to fly off. oops. same goes for when your goggles arent too tight and a contact lens flips out in freefall. that's annoying and somewhat disturbing too.
and then of course the bit that comes after the falling (cuz let's face it, dicking around in the sky is tons of fun, not scary at all, unless of course you're being spun around by your "mate" for "a laugh" in an ad-hoc bout of silliness.). so you're falling, you make some space in the sky for yourself, and you want to get the parachute out ... to date, no malfunctions, but the following moments i did not enjoy much:
* first time jumping a newish canopy, only to discover that it's about the slowest opening thing EVER. my normal parachute takes a maximum of five seconds to fully deploy. the one i tried out a couple of months back had me hanging under it for what felt like an eternity (where eternity means ten seconds), and just about ready to get rid of it and try the reserve. luckily it saved me the bother and decided to open up properly. phew.
* opening up with a heap of twists in the lines for the first time (my 38th jump, this is a bit late to start having line twists). about two seconds later (just before i started to turn my jumpsuit brown), i realised it wasnt a major problem and got rid of them. but damn was i shook up for a moment.
* and on one of the numerous times i managed to land off the dropzone, i was faced with ditching myself in a dirt-field right next to a busy road ... on a canopy smaller than ones i was fully used to at the time. i got away with a cut on my foot, and someone was nice enough to come and give me a lift back in the pick up.
happy days, blue skies, and don't do shit i wouldn't! XD
(, Thu 22 Feb 2007, 21:31, Reply)
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