New to sport, what and when to buy?!

[AngryMK 0]

Well, Im new to the sport and certifing soon. Im gonna want to buy my equipment soon so I can get comfortable and used to it. Dont see the point in renting equipment for a long period of time and then buying and jumping something new. I think I would benefit from getting some stuff and just getting comfortable.

Anyways, been searching the used classifieds on complete systems and also browsing around different items as well.

Im 6ft 190lbs. For a novice newbie, what do you expierienced jumpers and riggers recomend? I don't mind spending money on a good looking safe rig, but don't need to buy the professional hardcore super expensive stuff either.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
AngryMK

[KCJumper 0]

For my own knowledge what are you jumping now. Student gear wise what size main have you been on. What are you used to at this point.

Your instructors/S&TA should be able to guide you for a great rig. Depending on the size main you are wanting to get will help you decide slightly what kind of container. That is if you are buying used gear.
Looking good is nice but for first gear safety is the concern. My container now isn't the prettiest but it's a comfortable and safe rig.
Good luck on that gear and early congrats on the license.

Patrick

[quade 3]

Where are you jumping?

What do your instructors recommend? They might have a better idea on the local gear rental/demo/purchase situation than we can possibly have.

What do the locals recommend? See above.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[AngryMK 0]

home DZ is Santa Rosa CA

[Dougjumper 0]

I would Focus more on AFF and getting the Basics down at this point. Once you have passed AFF and have a few jumps then you may know more what you would prefer. Dont get in a hurry to get stuff. I made that mistake and kinda wished I would have waited a little until I knew more of what I may like down the road for all kinds of Jumping. Again its your choice but I would go by the recommendation and advice of your Instructors and the area you will be jumping at.

Blue Skies..

The glass is half full or half empty doesn't matter. Let go and have the Lord guide your path. He will take care of it all.

[AngryMK 0]

Im definatly gonna wait until im done, im just reading about equipment and looking for recomendations on what people use. I preplan everything I do. But research is limited to reading about manufactures and why their equipment is the best, curious as to what you would recomend. Do I jump a rental for 100 jumps or do I get a rig and get comfortable in my own equipment? Im just curious as to what the norm is and what is recomended. I need advice cause I don't know anything about equipment other then its expensive and saves my life!!! Thanks for the help.

Mark

[Casquito 0]

What does everyone think about a newbie gear thread that stays permanently at the top of the gear forum that says "read this first?" It was not so long ago that I got into this time and money sucking sport and had the same questions (seems like I'm still cutting tags and peeling stickers off my gear). I found all the answers I needed just doing a forum search and didn't have to post, but it would be nice to have all the info in one easy to find place for all the new jumpers. It seems at least several times a week we see the same questions over and over, so obviously it's not that easy to find the answers everyone seems to have...

Anyway, here's my 2 cents:
Here's a cut and paste from a previous post on the same subject earlier:
I'm fairly fresh with only 100 or so jumps, but here's what I did (am doing). My DZ has a great shop (SQ1) with a demo program that lets you try out gear as much as you want for as long as you want before you buy. The caveat is you have to buy a new rig from them and put some cash down (1000+). That gives you unlimited jumps for 50-100 a month (or free if you put down 4k). The reason I did it was to try out a ton of different canopies and rigs before I plunked down thousands of $ to buy. It's hard to try all the stuff out there and it's impossible to know if you like it if you don't fly it. I think the program's great and I've been using it to the fullest. I've downsized from a 210 off AFF to 135 now, which would have been difficult or expensive if I had bought gear initially. At this point I'll probably order a rig soon since I don't think going below 135 anytime soon is a great idea.
As an aside, don't be too eager to downsize and think hard about it before you do. I usually pull a little high and play with the canopy to learn how it flies (flat turns, front/rear risers, stalling it into a ball of shiznit, etc) and really concentrate on good landings and accuracy. Having gone down a few sizes in a relatively short period of time, I can attest to the fact that the tolerance for pilot error goes down dramatically and exponentially as the canopy size decreases. Just my 2 cents...
Check out ebay too if you're set on buying. A buddy of mine bought an Infinity with a PD? 150 and reserve but no AAD for 2500. ONE jump on it.... what a steal. Guess the poor sap's wife didn't like him jumping out of planes.

[CrazyRock 0]

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What does everyone think about a newbie gear thread that stays permanently at the top of the gear forum that says "read this first?"

I think thats a good idea, but i also think that something like that should be moderated well- meaning that irrelevant/repeating info posts be deleted/edited, and just leave the posts that have good info. or, maybe what i am saying is that instead of having something like a "forum" with a ton of posts to wade through, something more like a single "guide" that people contribute to, but is something that is revised and edited. The "Newbies gear buying guide"

-Seth :)

[CrazyRock 0]

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Check out ebay too if you're set on buying. A buddy of mine bought an Infinity with a PD? 150 and reserve but no AAD for 2500. ONE jump on it.... what a steal.

probably literally. I've always had to be suspicious of rigs on ebay.. seems that thats the place to sell stolen rigs. kinda like this post in bonfire: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1095448#1095448

-Seth :)

[Brodes 0]

Im upto aff7, im buying decent goggles and a helmet this week, alti a bit after that and hopefully my own rig by the end of the year

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[nael 0]

Do a search on the forums. Depends what exactly you wanna know, but I've learnt heaps by reading up on sabres vs spectres vs saffires vs everything else. Now I know the exact main I want in my first rig, now all I have to do is find it which is proving difficult.

This site has so much info right at your fingertips, all you gotta do is search!

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store