The Funnist: Falling for Fun

Dear Funnist,

I have a question for you. I want to give my 20 year old daughter a unique birthday gift. I am thinking of giving her skydiving. What do you think?

The Mighty Hawaiian in SD

Dear Mighty Hawaiian,

And not only mighty but I have to assume a fun dad based on your gift idea. This is the type of letter I enjoy getting as it makes my job sooo easy. And by "the gift of skydiving" I assume you mean more than this:

The first thing that comes to mind is the old adage, "If at first you don't succeed then skydiving is not for you." Luckily I have some personal experience** with this subject matter.

I have to assume that as her parent your main concern is her safety. (when really it should be all the dirtbag parachute dudes hitting on her) Most likely she will be doing what is called a tandem jump where she is physically connected to a qualified instructor through out the entire jump. She's just along for the ride, as it were. She will be fine!

A little bit of research shows the cost for this to be under $200 in San Diego. Should you really be questioning it I recommend the 'tunnel' up in Perris. Sky divers call this "the crack pipe" as flying in the tunnel is sooo addictively fun.

So I say go for it! And if you chose the real thing or the tunnel make sure you have her take a GoPro and either a helmet, wrist or chest mount. Saving the money over their dvd package.

** I have taken 5 tandem jumps. I have been to the wind tunnel 3 times. And I have done my first AFF jump. If I had a spare two grand around and another friend who did, I would totally get into it and then try to BASE jump once I had enough experience.