Cliff Diving and MREs

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“”Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage.””

You have seen your favourite characters take the leap in the movies. You have probably dreamt about doing it yourself. There is indeed something that attracts every adventurer to engage in the 25 feet dive landing feet first into the water below after a few somersaults. Why not go ahead and just do it? You think Cliff diving is not an easy sport to engage in. It certainly isn’t. The very thought of jumping down from such a great height into what seems like the infinite vastness of water has given you the thrill but has also made you conclude that you will never have the courage to do it. Well, courage is just another word for that leap of faith that you have to take to overcome your fear. The only good thing to do would be to go ahead and just do it to experience that it is not, after all, that fierce and frightening if done after making the right preparations. It is in fact, one of the least dangerous activities that lie in the category of extreme sports. You don’t have to worry about spending hundreds of dollars and buy expensive equipment and gear to do cliff diving. You don’t need any special clothes, and there aren’t any provider services that you must hire. All you need is yourself and that unusual speck of courage that will push you just when you need to be pushed. All you need is the drive to jump and cut through the air falling from the dizzying height into the infiniteness of the water below. And that is just a little to ask for in life that is any ways full of challenges that are not as thrilling and exhilarating as cliff diving. Moreover, if you have prepared yourself in the right way, there is no possibility of anything going wrong. After all, you cannot simply jump from a height of 26 metres and land safely if you don’t know how to do that the way experienced and professional cliff divers do it.

To help you get the best experience while taking the leap, here we are, with some excellent tips that will add quality to your cliff diving experience. Cliff diving is all about being mentally prepared to let your physical self, take over and get the most out of the fall. Taking these tips into your consideration is the first thing you should do. Also, keep in mind that the best thing would be to get some training from someone who has done cliff diving before just to have an idea of what to do when. Starting with smaller cliffs is what you should do as a beginner.

1. Going cliff diving alone is not a good idea. Anything, when done in a close-knit group of friends and family, becomes a lot more fun than when done alone. As much fun and adventurous cliff diving can be, it does demand a little courage. Having your friends or family with you, all ready to jump just like you gives you that last moment courage and the adrenaline rush to step forward and finally dive. Going alone with no company to cheer you up and encourage you can take away from your determination to go ahead. Moreover, if for any reason, something goes wrong, you will have people right there to help you out.
2. Do not take the dive together with your friends at the same time. Go one by one. When a person goes first, wait for him to come out of the water and swim away from where he dove before you take the plunge. This wait will not just ensure that your friend is okay and has not hurt himself but will also eliminate the possibility of you crashing into him from above. Though cliff diving does not need any sneakers or swimsuit, if you are a beginner and want to take all the precautions you can, taking them along and wearing them when you dive is not a bad idea.
3. Cliff diving involves jumping from a height that is usually between 25 to 30m unless the cliff is very high. When you jump from such heights right into the water below, your ear drums can get damaged because of the enormous pressure. You can always ensure their safety by using silicone or putting a few drops of olive oil in them to ease out the pressure.
4. One of the biggest factors you need to consider before you go cliff diving is “”Where?””. Most people who are fascinated by the sport and want to try it out by themselves before doing something big forget that cliff diving involves jumping from a great height right into the water. Gravity is a known phenomenon, and the water body below needs to be as deep as it can. There have been countless instances where amateurs have ended up hurting themselves badly or even losing their lives because they dove off a cliff into shallow waters and hit the ground too soon. So when you decide that you want to go on a cliff diving adventure, the first thing to do is to conduct a little research on the place from which you could start cliff diving. If you already have a place in mind, you could look that up. Another great idea is to approach someone who has had experience diving off the cliffs, and he or she could direct you to a good place to start. The general rule is not to consider jumping if the depth of the water is less than four metres. If you are choosing a cliff from which you will dive into the sea or the ocean, then keep in mind the tides and the strong water currents. Make sure you know how to twist your way and escape them.
5. Always keep your safety as your priority. Starting safe is important and to do that you have to do a few things which include:

• Confidence: Being confident is the key to keeping the last minute blues at bay and having an experience to which both your heart and mind are open.
• Be lucid and don’t just lose control over your body. To have the fall that you expect, you need to control your movements during the jump. No one wants to dive head first or worse, face first into the deep waters from a height of more than 25 metres. 98 percent of the professional cliff divers jump feet first, and that is what you should do.
• Choose a jumping point that gives you a stable ground to stand on. This will help you in gaining control of your actions before you dive.
• Right before you jump, look around, calculate your dive and analyse what you need to do while jumping. If you have decided to do two somersaults, do not go for a third mid-air. It can be dangerous. Visualizing your jump is also something you should do.
• When you start your jump keep your hands stiff and close to the body in a straight position as this is the best position to cliff dive. Ignore all those silly people in the photos. They’re probably just doing that for the camera.

1. Breathe in and jump without a pause. Breathe in the thrill that comes with realizing you are in a free fall from a great height and enjoy every moment while you are in the air. Being receptive and open helps in having a positive experience. It helps you relax whereas panicking and being afraid only makes the experience much worse. You can never say you had a good time diving when you were brimming with fear all the time. Just let go!
2. No matter what, whenever you hit the water with this furious speed that you have due to the height from which you have jumped, it is going to hurt. How much is something that you can control. When you see that you are reaching the water, tighten up your body so that the impact of it hitting the water surface is not that hard. A loose body will get more hurt than a tight and stiff one. Make sure that your toes are all stretched out, and your arms are close to your body. Maintaining this position will help you slide through the water with ease.

As soon as you come in contact with water, all you have to remember is to take all the breath you can through your mouth and then breathe out through the nose. Do not let anything interfere with the process of our breathing. Maintain your calm.

Grab a bite after the dive.

Cliff diving and then swimming is tiring. Since most of the times, cliffs are situated away from the city and the population, the only way to grab a bite is to walk back. A better idea is to carry a healthy food item with you. MRE or Meals, Ready to Eat is a great option. These meals are rich in nutritional value and contain 1300 calories, such as our 1300XT, that are enough for a person for a day. The MRE meals come in handy when you are going on a cliff diving trip for more than a day, and you have to keep your energy levels high. Since the MRE packets are packed in a hermetically sealed environment and are resistant to impact, they can easily be taken on any outdoor trip. The MRE meals also come with eating utensils, water packets and a wonderful variety of tasty foods.

Always remember that once you decide you are in, you have to be in until the end. There is no fun in backing out at the last moment or you will spend regretting it for a long time. It can be scary when you stand at the edge of the cliff and stare down thinking that once you fall there is no saying when you will reach the ground. But these are the thoughts that trouble every cliff diver. All you have to do is not let them affect your decision. Remember that even if you did not have a good take off, maintaining your calm will help you finish smoothly. You have what it takes, and it is not as scary as you think it is, just go ahead, keep these tips in mind and do it!”