Product Description

Skydiving is the closest humankind can come to unfettered flight. Parachuting, The Skydiver’s Handbook helps both novice and experienced jumpers get the most out of the sport. The book details every phase of skydiving, canopy flying, safety, and equipment. It thoroughly explores freefall progression, learning to skydive, canopy progression and formation flying, specialized jumping, and every aspect of parachutes. With hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and charts, this revised and updated edition conforms with the new regulations of the U.S. Parachute Association.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1063493 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 408 pages

Amazon.com Review
A free-falling parachuter, strapped onto a snowboard with a Cheshire grin and arms spread wide, graces the book's cover (as does his recently departed airplane, pitched at a rather precarious angle). Don't be misled: only a few pages of The Skydiver's Handbook are dedicated to skysurfing, one of the more radical aspects of parachuting. Instead, Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff's parachuting guide is exhaustive, addressing all levels and styles of skydiving, and providing a glut of like resources. The guide opens with a why-do-this analogy: "If riding in an airplane is flying, then riding in a boat is swimming. If you want to experience the element, get out of the vehicle." Novice skydivers will learn the basics, from tarmac preparation to the first static line jump. And yes, experienced jumpmasters will find enough advanced material to hold their interest: free fall and canopy progression, equipment updates, and emergency procedures. All readers will appreciate the glossary and the lists of skydiving centers, parachute equipment dealers, and literary material. --Rob McDonald

From Library Journal
The latest edition of this book since its original 1978 publication. LJ 's review from July of that year said,"A valuable collection of information and a good first look at the sport." A nice touch is the appendix, which lists addresses of many national and international parachuting associations, manufacturers of equipment, and books, newspapers, and magazines on the subject.-- MR
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

This is only up-to-date basic sport parachuting handbook and it is highly recommended.-The Next Whole Earth Catalog.

Poynter's latest fills the bill of educating while entertaining. He says it well.-Parachutist magazine.

For a lesson or just some vicarious thrills, read Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook.-New York Post.

A valuable collection of information and a good first look at the sport.-Library Journal.

Dan's strength as a writer lies in his technical descriptions of equipment; these are faultless.-British Sport Parachutist magazine.

This handy volume falls into the "Everything you need to know about..." category and is required reading for everyone who wants to jump out of and aeroplane.-Flight International.

All aspects are covered in a clear and authoritative fashion.-Air International.

Chapters cover an overview of the sport, detailed discussion of each facet of the first jump, the history of parachuting, and an in-depth study of parachuting emergencies. Other sections discuss specialized jumping and equipment. Appendix contains a glossary and a list of drop zones, books, magazines and films.-Sporting Goods Business.

Well-written, this volume is profusely illustrated with photos and drawings. A useful addition to the public library collection.-Choice.

Dan Poynter has done it again.-Spotter NewsMagazine.

Sports\Recreation\Skydiving

Fly With Your Own Wings

S kydiving! It's not just falling but the thrill of unencumbered horizontal flight. Sport parachuting today is not rough and tumble. New equipment and the latest training techniques let you advance quickly to graceful freefall, swift and controlled canopy flight and smooth and easy tip-toe landings. This all-new, seventh revised edition covers every phase of beginning to advanced skydiving.

You will learn: * What will happen on your first jump and your next . . . * Exceptional freefall maneuvers that will surprise your instructors. * Advanced canopy flying techniques. * To be thoroughly prepared for every possible emergency. * How to open your reserve parachute. * All about Automatic Activation Devices. * Why people jump out of planes. * Where to get the best equipment and what to look for. * How to get into the action with lists of skydiving centers, parachute equipment dealers, books, videos, magazines and more-worldwide.

Dan Poynter has earned virtually every license and rating in his 35 years of skydiving. He is past Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Parachute Association and past President of the Parachute Industry Association.

Customer Reviews

A "Bible" for the beginning skydiver
This book continues in the excellent tradition similar to the "Dummies" books. It might just as well have been called "Skydiving for Dummies." It is especially aimed at the beginning skydiver who wants all the information available for just before, and just after the first few skydives. However, as an experienced skydiver with over 1,300 jumps, I also learned a few things. Humorous little quotations adorn many of the pages, helping to lighten up what could, in areas, become so technical as to be, well, overwhelming for the skydiving neophyte. But, in my experience, beginning jumpers will gobble up all the information available. And this is a complete and healthy meal. The only thing missing is the dessert--that is, the photos and info that show how really COOL and high-tech the sport has become. And the camaraderie that develops among like-minded sport parachutists, who are also called skydivers. It is really a fun and exciting sport for today. If you want to learn all about it, this is the book for you!

This is the how-to "Bible" of recreational skydiving.
Now in a completed revised, updated and expanded eighth edition, The Skydiver's Handbook continues to be the "bible" of this dramatic and popular sport. Skydiving is much more than just jumping out of an airplane with a parachute. Skydiving today is as close as a human can come to unencumbered bird-like flight, and with proper aerobatic maneuvering, a skydiver can cover about 1.35 miles on a sixty-second skydive from 12,500 feet, providing 10,000 feet of freefall. Skydiving is aptly described as high-speed vertical aviation, and The Skydiver's Handbook is a reader-friendly, comprehensive, reliable, informative, and complete instruction manual and guide to a safe, exciting, skill-building skydiving experience.

A necessity for any newbie, student or novice skydiver!
After reading it and digesting alot of it I have come to quite a few conclusions. This book is an incredible source of knowledge and enlightenment on the fundamentals of skydiving. It is so well written that even the newest student can understand the technical aspects and physics of our sport. It is an awesome plethora of knowledge combined into one little 396 page book and well worth the $$ spent and the time committed to reading it. To all skydivers: A great tool for re-inforcement and reference.