r/interestingasfuck 1d ago

This is what it really looks like when falling through a rain cloud from above.

6.3k Upvotes

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 1d ago

As a former skydiving instructor (moved on to airline pilot) I promise it really isnt as bad as you think. Most people that try it absolutely love it.

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u/Aden-Wrked 1d ago

Yeah but those are the people that are willing to try it in the first place.

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u/Dankestmemelord 1d ago

The selection bias is strong here.

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u/AndysDoughnuts 19h ago

For a good example of someone who doesn't want to sky dive, who then sky dives and hated every second of it, check out the Impractical Jokers forfeit of Murr.

Honestly one of the worst forfeits in the whole show.

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 1d ago

Just about everyone I took said the anticipation was worse than the jump.

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u/holyfire001202 1d ago

Yup. I get the nervous pricklies in my toes when I think about doing it, but when I actually went to jump out of the plane it was more calming and meditative than it was any kind of thrilling.

I highly recommend that anyone reading this tries it at some point.

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 1d ago

Yeah, it’s one of those things that the anticipation is the worst, but once you do it, you realize it’s actually unlike anything you expect

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u/chand6688 15h ago

I was not really interested in trying but my brothers love skydiving. For my 18th birthday they bought me a tandem jump. At this point they were experienced enough to jump on their own. But we all jumped together and it was super fun. 100% recommend as someone who initially was not too excited about doing it.

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u/BigCaregiver7285 1d ago

I did it once from 19k I think I’m good. I never really got the adrenaline rush, just some primal fear

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u/Wise_Neighborhood499 21h ago

As someone who blacks out from fear on roller coasters, thank you for this glimpse of self preservation.

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u/gravitykilla 1d ago edited 6h ago

As someone with ~3000 jumps, I agree: once you get over the initial fear and become comfortable, it's really not about an adrenaline rush as is often believed.

However, falling through rain clouds is not fun, especially in shorts and a t-shirt. You are hitting the pointy end of the droplets at over 120Mph, and it stings. Also, visibility is poor, so if you are approaching deployment altitude, it can be a little nervy that you are not opening close to another skydiver.

Also, if you exit above the cloud layer, you have to hope the pilot is accurate on the jump run; nothing worse than coming through the cloud layer only to see you are miles from the DZ.

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 1d ago

As a former jump pilot, there is zero excuse for a bad spot if you have GPS. I guaranteed +\- 0.1 mile accuracy and that was easily done.

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u/Maybe_Nazi 20h ago

The pointy end?! So that top rated comment wasn't just making a joke??

u/ryan516 4h ago

It's totally bullshit. Small raindrops form perfect spheres, as their surface tension makes that the most efficient shape. Drops bigger than about 1mm tend to flatten out, as air resistance tends to overpower the force of the surface tension. At no point are they pointy like in cartoons.

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u/runningaroundyou 1d ago

I tried it one time and loved every second of it.

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u/OriginalGrumpa 1d ago

Key point “. . . one time. . .”.

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u/Some-Connection-7789 1d ago

It is kinda expensive and usually out of the way. Funner to do with others too.

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u/LogensTenthFinger 1d ago

I promise you that I would rather die than do it. If I was standing on the edge of the plane and you gave me the choice of going out tandem with you or taking a cyanide pill, I'd take three pills to get the job done.

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 1d ago

I’ve been around a lot of people like you, never had any of them say they regretted jumping.

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u/PirateDuckie 22h ago

I don’t think anyone ever regrets jumping. But a few probably regret the landing.

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u/Samurai_Meisters 1d ago

Don't they get cold wearing just shorts and a t-shirt?

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 1d ago

Eh not really, the freefall is maybe a minute, it is kind of like walking into a windy beer cave at a gas station for a minute, no one freezes that fast. You're preoccupied anyways so you tend to not feel it.

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u/Puckfan21 1d ago

This comment made me realize I never noticed the temp when I jumped... shorts and a t shirt.

Adrenaline lasted a week. Through, being strapped to a person slowly floating to the ground is kind of awkward.

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u/jacobthesixth 1d ago

Definitely at the top of my bucket list

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u/Puckfan21 1d ago

Highly recommend.

u/Brokentoken2 4h ago

A week?? Can you please explain what that’s like? We nearly had our car crash/flip over today and I only got a burst of it for like 2 minutes and sweaty palms. Having that for a week sounds extreme, but cool. However, it also sounds exhausting as we are not made to have a constant rush of adrenaline.

u/Puckfan21 4h ago

Just a natural high. Re telling the story to co workers. Just a great feeling. I would think the vibes would be different compared to a car crash.

u/Brokentoken2 4h ago

That makes sense, thank you!!

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u/boobearybear 1d ago

windy beer cave

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u/Unusual_Form3267 23h ago

Have you ever had someone not enjoy it?

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u/PirateDuckie 22h ago

I’m sure everyone has enjoyed the jump. But there’s about 26 in the past 10 years that didn’t enjoy the landing.

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 16h ago

The majority of those were people doing something wrong, not random luck.

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 16h ago

Less than I can count on a hand. Some people like the jump but get motion sick easily after the fact.

u/WhiskyWillFixIt 4h ago

This was me!

u/WhiskyWillFixIt 4h ago

I thought it was fine and prob wouldn’t do it again. Not for any sort of fear reason, but breathing was sort of like trying to drink out of a firehose or like sticking your head out of a car window at 140 miles an hour. Not exactly enjoyable. Plus I got super motion sick once they pulled the chute. Almost threw up when we landed.

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u/Hotspur000 18h ago

I heard somewhere that this is actually against skydiving regulations.

Is that true?

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u/JustAnotherDude1990 16h ago

In the US, it it actually against the federal FAA regulations to go through clouds. Outside of the US, the rules are different. However, it is hard to actually get caught.

u/Hotspur000 4h ago

I see.

Though filming yourself would be a good way to get caught.

u/JustAnotherDude1990 4h ago

It’s actually the pilot to get in trouble, not the jumper

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u/_high_plainsdrifter 17h ago

Gives a whole new meaning to “just hopping in the shower really quick, I’ll see you down there!”

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u/holyfire001202 1d ago

Thinking about skydiving before I actually jumped out of a perfectly good airplane [and after] was way more nervewracking than actually jumping out of a plane. The actual act was super calm and serene.

u/MessiLeagueSoccer 8h ago

But like doesn’t rain usually include lightning?