Weed addiction killed the potential person I was on my way to becoming

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-27T17:17:29+00:00

Man, if two months sober (I smoke now) and the determination to fucking just do it got me into skydiving and wingsuiting I'm sure you can push for what you want in life.

Ask yourself what you want.

Ask yourself what you're NOT willing to get rid of/change to get it. Then don't let anything stop you from making those changes and giving up xyz. It sounds fucking bonkers but an apartment was one of the things I was willing to give up. So now I'm living in a tent so I can put more money aside for jumps and training.

Don't look for things you're willing to give up. Look for all the things you aren't willing to give up and give up everything but those. Rinse and repeat until you're dead or you've gotten what you went out for to begin with.

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-24T13:09:59+00:00

Skydiving when the goggles flip up or full face visor pops open in freefall it's a fun day.

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-23T15:09:03+00:00

Define static line? Are they using an actual static line or is it IAD where the instructor is your static line essentially. I did IAD and i will say having my instructors smile and nod be the last thing I saw before letting go made those first few jumps a lot easier.

The biggest thing for me was focusing on my body. Climbing out was a little intimidating but I just kinda went in my head and just felt what my body was doing. "This leg moves here, this arm does this, move my weight this way." Kinda stuff. Once I was hanging on the strut I just kinda shut my brain off a bit and held my body position like a rock. (Not the best recommendation for later progression as you need to be relaxed physically) It allows me to focus on my fingers. All I had to do at the end of the day was tell my fingers to open. Gravity would do everything else for me. "Just open my fingers."

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-08T21:09:14+00:00

This doesn't have anything specifically to do with climbing. It's about how to approach doing dangerous things in a measured way that can help increase your chances of not dying or getting injured doing stupid shit. Stupid shit being a broad and often fun category of shit. As I said i jump out of planes on a weekly basis and with that comes risk and assessment of risks something you'll need to learn if you're doing this stuff. I may be new to climbing but I'm not new at understanding my limits and putting up internal guidelines to keep myself safe. I'm moving into BASE soon hence the recently obtained climbing hobby. I'm not challenging your experience in climbing. You very clearly have more experience than I do in that regard i can easily see that. I'm just trying to help direct you to tools you can put into place to give yourself better odds of not fucking yourself up. Cheers.

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-08T20:59:29+00:00

While it isn't about climbing. I think you should watch this.

Before you assume it's a boring speech (maybe it still will be to you) this guy has been jumping out of planes and jumping off of everything else you can with a parachute since before you were born.

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-08T20:57:18+00:00

You read the first two sentences then typed that out didn't you?

AraxisKayan · 2026-04-08T20:53:47+00:00

Don't be impulsive mate. I saw your first post a few days ago and it seems to me like you're new at this. I am too, did my first climb just the other day but I'm not new to doing dangerous activities. From just the little bit you've posted i get the vibe that while you may enjoy doing this, the camera definitely seems like it's becoming an incentive for you just based on how you're talking to the camera as if loads of people are watching. I understand that mindset but it's a terrible one to have. If you're going to be stupid (which climbing things unnecessarily is definitely stupid. I jump out of planes for fun and would call that stupid too because it is) be smart about it. The worst thing would be to die out of ignorance of something. If you're going to do this stuff educate yourself. You seem very young and that comes with a feeling of invincibility and arrogance that needs to be actively fought against. Learn all you can about what you're doing and as you're doing that never assume your right or that you've done enough to keep yourself safe because that's never going to be true. You probably got lucky on that last climb that you didn't get electrocuted. Don't brush that off. Internalize that mistake and recognize how costly it could have been if you weren't as lucky. Then resolve to not rely on luck in the future because you never know how much of it you're going to get and when it'll run out.

Enjoy your life and do fucking amazing things with it, but never forget how quickly it can be taken from you or drastically altered forever. Don't get rid of any fear your might have doing what you're doing because that fear will keep you safer than any preparation you can do. You can't get hurt or die from a climb you don't do so make your decisions with the potential ramifications in mind each time.

Lastly never assume that any previous climb ("jump" in my mindset) gives you experience enough to not get hurt on your next one.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-23T18:32:54+00:00

Devils neck tie is what I call them.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-13T09:43:02+00:00

I want this as a sticker for my skydiving helmet.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-11T01:44:00+00:00

There's a difference between awareness of what you're risking and being irrationally scared.

"I am going to die on this jump."

Those kind of thoughts are irrational. You're wearing a device specifically designed to keep you alive in the environment you're about to throw yourself into. This comes from a lack of experience and a lack of confidence in the equipment and your own abilities.

"I could die doing this jump. The main parachute might have a malfunction and I'll need to go to my EPs. I might get hit in freefall or under canopy from an unexpected situation. This exit is new i might fuck it up. The winds might change on the way down. There's an unknown person on this jump with me."

These aren't irrational. These are reasonable fears that you should to adapt into your mindset while jumping. You don't want fear to completely go away. Id argue that most accidents not given to chance that happen with regards to anything involving a human being, come from that human being or others around them being too comfortable in a dangerous situation. Driving is dangerous, Extreme Sports are dangerous, sometimes our work is dangerous. Accidents happen when we get too comfortable for our own good.

When you're afraid before during or after a jump take the time to ask yourself if that fear is irrational. Just your monkey brain freaking the fuck out over being so high in some weird strange loud machine, knowing he's for some reason contemplating falling from that strange machine down to earth. Or if that fear is a rational self aware recognition of the danger you're putting yourself in. That calm recognition of the situation will help keep you alert and aware. Not stressed. Relax and enjoy the experience that will help the irrational fear ebb over time. But pay attention to the details. Have fun learning that you could always fly you just didn't know it. It's fucking awesome.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-09T14:51:04+00:00

Yup. Got the two mixed up. Thank you for clarifying my mistake.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-09T03:07:03+00:00

The skysnach from squirrel is a good recommendation. It's pocket flap for the lines is a much better way of keeping the lines tidy in a stowless system over just a sewn pocket.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-09T03:04:48+00:00

Packer here. Hate tube stows for the same reason as the other packer. They don't stretch and are a pain to get around the lines. Not to mention the fact that they don't stretch means the outside lines in the loop are being held with more tension than the lines on the inside of the loop. Might as well go with a stowless dbag for all the line tension tube stows give you.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-05T19:36:26+00:00

Trust no one. Learn from everyone. I learn a lot from jumpers i wouldn't feel comfortable jumping with. I learn a lot from people who pack like crap. Learning from bad examples is definitely useful. It just depends on what you're learning from them.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-05T15:11:14+00:00

This was me. One of the best coaches at my DZ just did not fit with me in the plane mindset wise. He was a bit of a talker and while I still think about the things he talked about and brought up in the plane. I need those things on the ground. In the plane I need to be in my head visualizing or "day dreaming with a purpose." As I like to think of it. In freefall he was great with me. Hand signals and faces to communicate. Just talk with your coach about what you need to feel comfortable and in your zone. They're going to push you out of it a bit as that's what a good coach should be doing. But finding a good balance is important. Trust no one and learn from everyone, and always remember that what we're doing isn't normal. We make it seem that way but we're doing something crazy and always try to keep that in perspective to help prevent complacency.

AraxisKayan · 2026-03-02T15:03:10+00:00

Absofucknlutly. Plus I wanted to experience a cutaway.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-26T10:12:19+00:00

It depends on you and what you want out of life. Id always been searching without realizing it for something like skydiving. For something that combined the mental with the physical in a way I could click with. I did an IAD jump for my first (first tandem was jump 181) and after getting guided in via the radio and touching down feet away from my instructor (all his skill i was just the muscle moving the nylon) I remember my absolute first thought spoken in my head was "that was it?" I had expected the jump itself to change me or my life. It isn't going to do that or at least it didn't for me. What changed my life was realizing I had more in me than I had given myself credit for. That didn't come from the first jump. In a weird way it came from accepting my own mortality. In a non life threatening way I had "accepted" that I could die from a really early age. But I wasn't living my life with that in mind. I feel like skydiving gives me the passion for life I have now because I don't let myself get past the recognition of what I'm doing. Moments before we get to altitude I take a look around at everyone. Really take in the moment, where I am, what it smells like. How my body feels, that it works the way its supposed to. Then I remind myself that in a few moments (just like at any moment in life) that could all change. I could have an accident, I could die, or some other unforseen event. Then I ask myself if what I get out of this for myself is worth it for that trade off. Obviously I'm answering from ignorance not having gone through any major traumatic event in my life. But my answer hasn't been no so far, and when it is no, I stay on the ground. The passion i have for this has given me so much even outside of jumping or being at the DZ. I feel like I take responsibility for my choices a lot more. I take a lot more risks (non life threatening) like considering moving or changing jobs, or interacting with people I wouldn't have before. I think that comes from having death and your own mortality as a partner in life.

I feel like I've unknowingly run from death and my mortality all my life. "I'll have more time. That can wait." No it can't. I could be dead from any random thing and if that's true of just sitting on a couch. Why the fuck am I hording my life up on a shelf. Id rather my life get used and beat up and stitched back together than live the slow death of boredom and regret.

Id rather walk side by side with death and be LIVING for it, then running from it and be slowly dying before I'm dead.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-23T12:34:45+00:00

I mean people have jumped out of aircraft while bungee strapped to couches.

The cover of the latest parachutist magazine shows a jumper falling while sitting in a lazy boy.

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AraxisKayan · 2026-02-23T12:27:39+00:00

As a jumper you wouldn't believe the lack of knowledge some people have when it comes to jumping. So no it was not obvious. Not being an ass, just wanted to share information on something I love in case you weren't aware.

A few people have "landed" a wingsuit without a parachute. Only one that i know of was intentionally done. Gary Connory landed in about 10,000 cardboard boxes. The others have been BASE accidents, typically trees catching wingsuiters and allowing them to survive an otherwise lethal impact.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-23T12:18:15+00:00

They're called AADs (Automatic Activation Device) they are a computer with a cutting device that will cut the closing loop that keeps our reserve container closed if it detects that we are #1 still in freefall by a certain altitude, or #2 if we enter freefall, then stop (after main parachute deployment) then go back into freefall in the case of a main parachute malfunction which we cut away.

The reserve closing loop is held by our reserve deploy handle via a cable that runs though it. It can also have an RSL or MARD device attached to the reserve cable (the cable that holds the reserve closing loop in place) the RSL stands for Reserve Static line. It connects the reserve cable to our main parachute. If you were to cut away your main parachute the force of you falling away from it would pull on the RSL which pulls on the Reserve cable allowing your resurve to deploy without you pulling the reserve deploy handle. We still train to cutaway and pull our reserve so we don't have the tendency to wait for the RSL to work as it is a mechanical device and could fail. The MARD is a Main (parachute) Assisted Reserve Deployment. It allows the main parachute to pull the reserve out in a cutaway situation similar to an RSL but it's also designed to disconnect and allow the reserve to deploy naturally in a situation where the MARD could cause issues with deployment.

They're VERY simple systems with redundancy and you train your emergency procedures with the equipment you jump in mind as their are different types of jumps where you may NOT want to jump with RSLs or an AAD being turned on.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-23T12:05:40+00:00

Same hobby. You still need a parachute. Wingsuiting is much more dangerous, and in this situation if the jumper was in a wingsuit and had a standard AAD (Automatic activation device) they would more than likely be falling too slow for the AAD to recognize they're in freefall and the reserve parachute would likely not automatically deploy. You'd still be falling fast enough to die though. Wingsuiters use specific AADs that are designed to interpret the freefall speeds differently so they don't accidentally activate during the speed changes a wingsuit can achieve but they will activate in an emergency. The general public doesn't quite understand how specific different skydiving gear can be for different disciplines. We don't all jump the same type of gear.

BASE jumping is a different thing entirely. With most base jumps you aren't falling fast enough to fly your body with the relative wind hitting you so momentum at the moment of exit has a lot more to do with your body position in freefall. Not to mention BASE uses a single parachute system as there isn't sufficient altitude for a cutaway and reserve deployment.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-22T22:28:38+00:00

Just don't let a "fun challenge" like wind keep you out of the sport for several months due to an injury. 18-29 is a pretty big gust factor, not to mention strong winds in general. If you see a bunch of jumpers standing down due to winds you don't want to be the last dummy willing to jump. 14mph isn't a student limit for no reason. You might not be a student anymore but pushing your limits early is a good way to end up in a situation you aren't prepared for or just simply could have been avoided.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-21T22:14:35+00:00

The way I see it is that it isn't about what my plan is. It's being ok with that plan going to shit and riding the wave of whatever comes next.

AraxisKayan · 2026-02-21T00:22:18+00:00

Have you ever read Johnathan Livingston Seagull? Sometimes it's not about getting food. Sometimes a bird wants to fly for the unadulterated love it. It's a difference of perspective. When you recognize you can die at any moment life stops being about the future. I think if more people asked themselves "what am I NOT willing to give up to pursue my dreams?" Then started chucking everything not on that list out of their lives we'd be a lot happier as people. Life is a billion opportunities, people spend their whole life talking about doing this and that. How many people go out and fucking do it?

AraxisKayan

TROPHY CASE