If you’re like many, the first time skydiving came up in conversation as something to do; it was after a few rounds with that one friend. At the time, even you had to admit that it sounded like a great idea, but now the sun has come up on a bright new day, and it just sounds… crazy! Fun, of course, but nuts. “It’s dangerous, isn’t it? Parachutes flat-out don’t work sometimes, right? I mean, YouTube!”
The levels of risk you’ll face on your tandem skydive are probably not what you’re expecting, but that doesn’t mean we don’t understand why people have reservations about jumping. Trust us, we get it! We started out at jump number one, and there’s a good chance we had the same fears; just like us, the desire to make that first skydive was strong enough to motivate you to learn more. So, let’s look at what those fears you’re having might be and the reality behind them.
MILLIONS OF SKYDIVES ARE MADE WORLDWIDE EACH YEAR
We understand that to a non-jumper, that number just sounds bonkers! The general public usually sees skydiving as a “once-in-a-lifetime” activity. It’s only a rare bunch we see on television and in movies that do it professionally and recreationally, right? The truth is, not even glancing at the numbers of people that go out and make a one-time tandem skydive each year; there are roughly 42,000 USPA licensed skydivers in the United States alone, who made a whopping 4 million jumps in 2023. That, friends, is a whole lot of airtime!
COLD HARD NUMBERS
When people talk about potentially dangerous activities, we as people tend to dance around the nitty-gritty bit, but the truth is, we want to know what the odds are we might get ourselves killed, right? So, no two-stepping or double-talk here. Can you die on a skydive? Absolutely. You have a solid 0.00045% chance of not surviving a sport skydive. For a tandem skydive, it drops to 0.0002%. To put it into perspective…
ODDS OF DYING BY:
SHARK ATTACK 1 IN 1,000,000
BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING 1 IN 750,000
TANDEM SKYDIVE 1 IN 500,000
EARTHQUAKE 1 IN 95,000
CAR ACCIDENT 1 IN 93
The flat fact is that more people shuffled off on skiing trips in 2023 than in all of skydiving. If you’re strictly a numbers person, jumping out of an airplane is starting to add up in your favor. You are dramatically more likely to have a near-death experience on your drive to our skydiving facility than you are to have an accident while you’re here!
Once you’ve made it to us, you’ll find yourself in the hands of professionals who eat, sleep, and breathe skydiving. They’ve trained and jumped for years to attain a level of experience that allows them to take you on your first skydive and maintain a continued level of training designed specifically to ensure you’re making the safest possible skydive.
“HOW ABOUT THE EQUIPMENT? IT’S JUST CLOTH AND STRING, RIGHT?”
Exactly. The parachute systems you’ll be jumping are cloth and string (canopies and lines). Yet this is no ordinary stuff! It’s cloth and string designed by some of the world’s most talented engineers and designers. Putting to use all that technology has to offer, modern skydiving equipment's design and manufacturing process is as stringent as it gets. Without getting too into the weeds, every piece of skydiving equipment out there has to adhere to incredibly rigid Technical Standard Orders or “TSOs”, and is test-jumped and flown sometimes for years before it’s released for use. You aren’t jumping a parachute as much these days as you are flying a highly efficient packable wing.
“But no matter how good they’re designed, cloth and string get old and worn out, right?” Yes, absolutely. The canopies we fly, the lines that attach us to them, and even the containers we wear are subject to wear and tear over time, which is why CSC has an aggressive 3-year replacement cycle in place, even though the equipment is designed to last 15-20 years. For perspective, some sport jumpers will use the same equipment for their entire careers, but what can we say… we like new toys as much as anyone, and our replacement program simply removes wear and tear concerns.
“I hear parachutes don’t always work, though…” That is true. There is no doubt that sometimes the unexpected occurs, even when everything has been designed, built, packed, and used correctly. But here’s the thing… 99.9% of the time, they do work – yet even with that fantastic statistic to lean on, skydivers know better than to come unprepared! That main parachute you use 99.9% of the time is only one of the TWO canopies at your disposal during your skydive. Your reserve parachute packed by an FAA-licensed rigger is ready and waiting for that 0.1% to complete the job! On top of that, every skydiving “Rig” used at CSC is equipped with an onboard computer system designed specifically for safety, adding an extra layer of protection against any potential “what ifs.”
Chicagoland Skydiving Center is a world-class skydive training center with a perfect student safety record. Our aircraft, instructors, equipment, and procedures are the best in the business. We have the awards to prove it. We focus on professionalism, customer service, and taking the fear of the unknown and turning it into excitement. The only question is... what are you waiting for?
If you’re interested in signing up for your first tandem skydive, read our other article on 6 Tandem Jump Tips for First-Time Skydivers to prepare for your freefall.
Download your copy of The Complete Guide to Tandem Skydiving for First-Timers, today.