There are many skydiving myths out there, but are any of them true? Let’s dispel some of the falsehoods that surround skydiving once and for all and help ease your fears about this awesome adrenaline sport.
Skydiving is overly dangerous
One of the biggest skydiving myths that prevents people from trying the sport is that it is perceived to be overly dangerous. Whilst it would be untrue to say that accidents don’t ever happen, the sport is incredibly safe as all aspects of equipment, facilities and tuition is tightly monitored by the regulatory bodies.
My landing will be hard after skydiving
Many people think that landing a parachute will be a hard and fast experience but modern parachute designs mean that you can apply ‘brakes’ upon landing and land very, very softly with the minimum of impact on landing.
Skydiving will hurt
A common misconception is that many think that when opening a parachute the sudden ‘jolt’ from falling at 110mph (177 kmph) to just 5mph (8kmph) will cause some kind of injury. This simply isn't true. Modern parachute designs mean that the canopy opens gradually and the fall in speed is also gradual meaning you experience little or no jolt at all.
I may land in a tree or in a lake after skydiving
All drop zones are chosen for their location and are well away from any natural or manmade obstacles to landing skydivers. Drop zones will always be flat and away from areas of trees, buildings, electricity pylons, major roads, rivers and lakes.
I will get blown way off course when skydiving
No! Very strict wind speed limits are set for student skydivers to be able to jump so that you will easily be able to land in the drop zone. All modern parachutes can be easily manoeuvred with the use of steering toggles and after just a few jumps you will be competent at steering your rig and choosing exactly where you land.
Communicating during skydiving
Unlike in some of the movies (which seem to be behind half of the skydiving myths out there), you cannot actually talk whilst you are in freefall. All communication is carried out by a series of hand signals. Once you have opened your canopy, dropzone staff can talk to you via a radio attached to your harness in order to guide you through your first few landings.
You can't breathe whilst skydiving
Yes! Some people think that they will not be able to breathe while they are skydiving but this is not the case and breathing is no problem. The majority of skydives are made from around 4,000m (12,500ft) where there is plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere to breath comfortably.
My parachute won't open during skydiving
Many people have a natural fear that their parachute will fail to open, but all modern parachute rigs are now fitted with a device called a Automatic Activation Device (or AAD) that will automatically deploy your reserve parachute should you fail to do so yourself.
My freefall will last minutes
A common misconception is that a single skydive will last for five minutes or more. Sadly this isn’t the case; most skydives are carried out at around 4,000m (12,500) giving 40 to 45 seconds typical freefall time. For longer freefall times higher altitudes are required but this requires the use of supplementary oxygen.
Skydivers are a little crazy
Ok … so maybe there is a little truth in one of these skydiving myths! But many skydivers would say that you’d be more than a little crazy not to have a go at one of the most enjoyable, adrenaline packed sports on the planet.
