If you are skydiving for the first time, you are hopefully doing as much preparation and research as possible. Although skydiving is usually quite safe, it never hurts to go the extra mile in the safety department. This is a good rule for any endeavor in life, but even more so for those that involve jumping out of an airplane. So, allow me to add my two cents to your research with this short list of tips.
One thing to know for starters is that you should never drink or do any kind of narcotic medication before jumping. Pretty much all skydiving companies have a rule that you cannot jump if you are under the influence of any intoxicating substance. They also have waivers that make you attest that you are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Of course, you could always lie, but there are good reasons for why you shouldn’t. One reason is that, when skydiving, you have to be able to follow instructions at a critical moment. To not do so could jeopardize your life and possibly the lives of others.
Another reason is that alcohol will actually affect the body more at high altitudes. Here’s an article that sums up some of the evidence. According to one study, 2 or 3 drinks at high altitude is the equivalent of 4 or 5 drinks at normal altitude. If you want to skydive Los Angeles CA, this is one to watch out for, as they have a very active party scene. It might be very tempting to “take the edge off” when doing something scary like this, but don’t do it.
Another tip that many have repeated is that you should not give yourself too much time to think about jumping before you do it. The more you think about it, the more afraid you will be, and the more likely you will be to back out. Assuming that you have chosen a good reputable jump company, there is no reason for such fear, so book the trip and do it as soon as you possibly can. Another thing to remember is to breathe as evenly as possible. try to resist the urge to hyperventilate.
Perhaps the most important thing is to overcome the perfectly logical fear of jumping out of an airplane. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be scared of this, but fear creates mistakes, and mistakes can create death. But if I may offer you some facts to ease your fear, check out these statistics on skydiving fatalities. As you can see, the numbers are quite low. As of 2016, your chances of dying in a skydiving accident were about 1 in 155,000. Conducting yourself in an intelligent manner can improve those odds even more.
Now, you should continue your research. This short article isn’t enough, but I do hope it has been helpful to you. I wish you a good time, and that wish will probably be fulfilled.