" It ’s comical , " one of the sweater atSkydive Milwaukeetold me . " None of these multitude are flasher . "

I look at him , skin bare but for a pair of socks , a parachute strapped to his back , and a helmet . He was correct , of path , but you would n’t know that from his current appearance – or that of the 10 other skydiver practice their formation in the nude a few infantry from us . You ’d only realize it if you noticed how everyone cautiously ( and almost imperceptibly ) breed up their spare number before hopping into the airplane .

Well , all except Bob . The older jumper was the first to strip and the most carefree about the nudity , countering telephone call of " You did n’t have to get naked yet , Bob ! " with " I got nothing anybody has n’t seen before . "

Skydive Milwaukee

Courtesy of Skydive Milwaukee

This was n’t the distinctive jump at Skydive Milwaukee – I was there for an notice drive on a SANS jump , the Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving . Anyone who ’s made a nude jump can join –   $ 5 will get you a membership number , certificate , three spine , a attractor , and an bizarre group of like - minded people . Jeff Dawson , the 61 - class - old homo who ’s made the most au naturel skydives on record ( 639 and rising ) , started the group in 2011 . He makes at least one naked skydive every calendar month , and has been doing so for 14 year .

Jumping in the nude is a rite of passage

" To make a naked skydive is a huge accomplishment , " he said . " By nature , I ’m not the type of individual to show a lot of skin . But I revel being up there destitute . You get a lot of , ' Why would you do that , thing are going to fall off , ’ a lot of good - natured sport . But nobody objects to it , at least where I jump . "

Traditionally , a naked parachuting is a rite of passage in the sky dive earth . Once you murder 100 jumps , you keep by banish it all and countenance the wind caress your skin on the fashion from airplane to ground ; though Dawson pronounce many hoi polloi do n’t do it anymore because of the proliferation of GoPros and societal medium . What once was mostly private and impulsive now has an unregulated platform for broadcast .

There are rules to naked skydiving

Shortly before the jump that day , Dawson laid out the basis formula :

First , " if we impact each other , we ’ll be fine . "

Second , be prepared to set out slowing down about doubly as far by as normal . Without the skydive cause , you fall a lot quicker and it ’s harder to flee on the nose .

Skydive Milwaukee

Courtesy of Skydive Milwaukee

Third , do n’t bury that nude skydiving is just as deadly as any other jump , and the same guard demand to be in place . Dawson shared the story of a adult female who tried to do her first SANS stand out , but forgot to unbuckle her seatbelt tether . She dangled outside the planer or else of loose - falling and had to be pulled back in .

Fourth , Dawson give perhaps the most important part of advice : be aware of your physical structure . " You ca n’t cut away with a nut under , ” he said , tugging at the parachute ring straps around his thighs .

Naked skydiving gives new meaning to “free-balling”

One of the other skydivers , a teacher who asked to remain anonymous , also prepared himself for the after - effect . " My bits are blend to flap around a little flake , " he said . " It may be a fiddling sensitive afterwards . Worse things have happened , I reckon . " This was his first SANS jump .

The airplane pulled up and I mount into the co - fender ’s seat , followed by 11 naked bodies cramming into the small aircraft . It would have been 12 , but as Dawson told everyone , the 12th guy cable cancel – he draw a blank he was get a vasectomy that day .

Excitement was high-pitched on the 15 - arcminute flight to the jump zone . Everyone cheered as the carpenter’s plane accept off and passed a clenched fist bump throughout the group as the door opened at altitude . Unloading was quick and deliberate . As the plane broke away from the divers and careened toward the ground , the pilot – Raven , who has also skydived nude – attend at me , laughing . " That ’s yucky , " he said . We share a grin and I cogitate back to what Dawson told me in the first place .

" Just the physical feeling of being out there and being all free , it ’s amazing , " he say . " You feel the malarky on your intact body . To be up there without any clothes with no one there to see it , there ’s a common sense of exemption . "

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