![[Two skydivers freefly in red suits.] Blue Skies Magazine i113: May 2019 | On the cover: French freefly Team AirWax members Greg Crozier and Karine Joly photographed above Skydive Sebastian in Florida. Photo by Norman Kent normankent.com](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/i113_May2019-244x300.jpg)
It’s tax time, Americans! Let’s pretend you get an unexpected refund. (If you’re not American, let’s pretend your long-lost rich aunt died and left you with cash.) Let’s pretend this amount is $1,000.
This month we want to know: Are you going to spend that money on new gear or on coaching? Or something else? But let’s be honest, the root of this question is: which do you value more right now, gear or coaching? If you want to get specific and let us know what kind of gear and which coach, that would be most welcome too.
Selected responses will be printed in the May 2018 issue (i101) of Blue Skies Mag. We edit lightly for clarity and/or style. You can also email responses to me, lara@blueskiesmag.com. Respond with the exact name you’d like us to use in print please.
I say spend it on coaching — I’d rather jump yesterday’s gear and have mad skills than have the newest swag and poor form.
Skill are important. Yes they are. But why are you in the sky? For me the answer is I want to jump out of airplanes. I just love diving out of an aircraft. I also do not really desire to jump with groups of people. I understand that to most folks the adventure is more exciting doing it with others. I however, have one goal in skydiving: I want to earn my JOS patch by myself. In other words when I turn 70 I still want to be doing my thing out of airplanes. So to answer your question I would obtain new gear with the money.