subject: Different False Beliefs On Skydiving And The Facts Behind Them [print this page] There have always been a lot of myths flying around (excuse the pun) about skydiving, here we will try to find out if any of those myths are to be believed or whether they are just complete nonsense created to give people an excuse not to go skydiving.
1. It is impossible to breathe when you are skydiving.
This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the biggest myth of all when it comes to skydiving. Of course there is no truth whatsoever in this, otherwise everybody that goes skydiving is surely jumping to their death. If you cannot breathe when skydiving then you would become unconscious. If this were to be the case then how would you manage to open your parachute safely and of course how would you land?
2. You are able to hold a conversation whilst skydiving.
Another myth I'm afraid, may be good on screen watching two or more people talking whilst they are skydiving, but alas due to the force of the wind rushing past your body, it is virtually impossible to hear anything from anyone. This is why you always see skydivers try to communicate through using hand gestures.
3. If for some reason you fall out of a plane without a parachute, then holding onto somebody that has one will save you.
This is not entirely true. It is virtually impossible to say that this will help you. It may have occurred a few times, but it is very unlikely that this is going to save you.
4. You can free fall for at least five minutes.
This would be true if you were skydiving from over 60,000 feet. Unfortunately this is not the case, and the average free fall before a parachute is opened is probably more like 40 seconds.
5. Once I jump my parachute will not open.
Again another total myth I'm afraid, as most accidents and deaths caused by skydiving today are either by misjudgement on behalf of the diver or not being properly prepared beforehand. Today's parachutes are in the main practically failsafe equipment.
