A gift for someone who does not need another thing

The safe gift is usually the forgettable one. Something one size out, a book she already owns, another object for the shelf. An experience has no size, needs no guessing about taste, and cannot arrive in duplicate.

What you are actually buying

• An exit at 4,000 metres and around a minute of freefall at up to 200 km/h.
• A few unhurried minutes under the canopy over Pomerania.
• No preparation beforehand: the whole briefing takes about fifteen minutes at the dropzone.
• A bearer voucher, valid for 12 months from purchase, with the date fixed whenever it suits her.

She stays attached to the instructor at four points for the whole jump and does not have to operate anything. The instructor deploys the canopy and brings them both down; under the canopy the instructor may hand her the steering for a while, if she wants it. The whole day, step by step, is in the guide to the first tandem jump.

Knowing whether she wants it

The surest sign is what she says about herself, not the skydiving videos she enjoys watching. You can love watching someone else's jump and have no wish at all to stand in an aircraft door. “I'd love to do that”, said about herself, is a different matter, especially if it keeps coming back.

If you are not sure, ask her directly before you buy anything. There tend to be three answers:

• “Yes”: buy it, and let her choose the day.
• “Yes, but I'm scared”: a common answer, and not a bad one. Fear is something to talk about, not a barrier; there is more on it below.
• “No”: that is an answer, not an opening position.

Surprise or a decision made together

Between a surprise and a straight question there is a middle way: you talk about the idea, and the surprise is the moment the voucher reaches her. The date belongs to her anyway, so there is nothing to hide for months.

That moment can be planned to the day. At checkout you mark the order as a gift, give her e-mail address and a delivery date up to 11 months ahead, and the voucher arrives that morning. The subject line says who it is from, and inside is your dedication if you add one. There is no price and no order number in it.

Delivery on a chosen day applies to a paid order. You pay online in the shop (BLIK, card or a fast bank transfer through Paynow), and the payment is usually confirmed within seconds. If it is confirmed only after the chosen day, the voucher goes to her straight away. Your own copy arrives as soon as the payment is confirmed, so you can always hand the voucher over in person as well.

Requirements worth checking before you buy

There are three conditions and none of them is about fitness. There is no minimum age, though under 18 written consent from a legal guardian is required. The body-weight limit is 100 kg. The third condition is no medical reason to avoid physical exertion. All three are collected in the guide to requirements.

Nobody needs to know or guess her weight. The weight field at checkout is optional, and without it we ask when the date is being arranged. When you hand the voucher over, mention that the standard limit is 100 kg and leave the checking to her. Above it a jump can sometimes be arranged individually, if she writes to us before booking a date.

A lot can change in the 12 months a voucher is valid: an operation, a fresh injury, a pregnancy. Each of those is something to talk through with a doctor before a date is booked. If it becomes clear the jump will not fit within the validity, write to us before the voucher expires rather than after.

Wanting it and fearing it

Many people want to make a first jump and are scared of it at the same time. Fear rules nobody out, and it does not mean the present missed. It tends to peak in the days before and for a few seconds at the aircraft door, and it usually goes after the exit.

Three things genuinely help. The first is knowing what is going to happen, because the unknown frightens people more than the height does; the guide to fear of skydiving covers it. The second is a short gap between deciding and jumping. Twelve months of validity is slack for the weather and the calendar, not an invitation to put it off, so once she has decided, it is better to book a date straight away. The third is jumping with someone. If somebody close to her would like to go too, two vouchers in one order cost less per person, as explained under a gift for couples.

Film: her face or the whole jump

The jump itself is identical in every option. The only difference is whether and how it gets filmed, and for a gift the footage is often half the value, because it lasts long after the day itself has settled.

The hand-held camera is in the instructor's hand, at arm's length from her face, and records the exit, the freefall and the canopy opening close up. The camera flyer is a separate skydiver who exits with them and films from outside: the whole tandem, the exit seen from the side and the moment of opening. The variant with both cameras combines the two. The footage is handed over after landing.

If she dislikes a lens right in her face, a camera flyer filming from a distance is easier to live with. If she dislikes being filmed at all, choose the jump on its own for 1,150 zł.

Who can come along

Anyone she wants to bring. People coming along book nothing, pay nothing and can watch the take-offs and landings, so if the present is from the whole family, the whole family can be there for it. Expect several hours on the dropzone, because the order of the day is set by the weather and how busy it is.

She needs photo ID and the code from the voucher, plus written consent from a guardian if she is under 18. Comfortable, sporty clothes and lace-up shoes; the harness, goggles and, if needed, a jumpsuit are provided on site. What else is worth bringing is in the guide to what to bring and wear.

What she receives

A PDF voucher with the code, the expiry date and her name if you give one, plus who it is from and one line of dedication. In the voucher studio you can see it live before you buy anything, together with the occasion, a birthday or Valentine's Day for instance, which sets the line, the colour and the drawing on the document. The file can be downloaded in four styles, from plain white for printing to a version with a photograph, and in three sizes.

After that she books a jump date with the code. Wind too strong or cloud too low on the day simply means a new date, with the same code.

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