They tried that angle a few times. I was determined to make this jump in light of it. The determination was very strong, so strong that I wanted a friend to join me. If I tried to do it myself, there was some concern that I might chicken out at the last minute. Having a friend along prevented that possibility.
Friends tend to do that for one another.
Call it male bonding. A lot of people turned me down when I asked them to dive with me. Some of them seemed interested but never landed up materializing toward the jump day. Others flat out rejected the notion. I started to think that they knew something I didn't know.