Unstable 8 #1 April 21, 2008 I think we'll get some good discussion right now on this thread - I have an interesting question and some observations. The economy is turning a bit on the downside, and yet skydiving is still growing. At our Dropzone, we've licensed 4 skydivers this year, and all of them have gone onto purchasing their first rigs! Some bought complete systems, and a few (mostly the ones with different body sizes and shapes) are having to piece them together. As a rigger at our DZ, I've been doing a lot of middle-manning on gear deals. Everyone - go to the "classified", click on "AAD's." You'll see the wanted requrests almost outweigh the overpriced few AAD's that are posted on there! Have the AAD manufacturers cut back on production numbers in order to keep their prices constant? Have used AAD's always been this hard to come buy? Do any of your have any advice on obtaining a good, safe, and reasonably priced AAD?=========Shaun ========== Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #2 April 21, 2008 no, the manufacturers have NOTHING to do with the AAD section in the classifieds. I bet if you call any supplier, they will gladly sell you as many AADs as you want at or closeto MSRP. Unlike main/reserve/container - the AAD is good to you for it's whole lifetime (which very minor outlying exception of swoopers and Cypres1). So most people who stick to the sport will be very unlikely to sell their AAD - rather keep going through their gear cycles and recycling their old AAD. Best advice to FIND one - keep looking.. There's no magic catch-all solution - the AADs are simply not a device sold-off too often, just like any other thing that you put to use and does it's job well for you :) Good luck ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
faulknerwn 36 #3 April 21, 2008 Also remember that with the price of the dollar versus the Euro - AADs manufactured in Europe cost considerably more to Americans than it did just a few years ago even if the manufacturer didn't change the European price at all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EirAnne 0 #4 April 21, 2008 I think that there are several factors. 1. Because of the price of new AAD's, when people sell their equipment they are tending to hang on to their old AAD. 2. There is still a lot of gear for sale from 1996 and earlier, quite a lot of this never had an AAD. 3. There is still a mixture of people out there, people who have jumped for a long time, some of which don't jump an AAD, who still have gear for sale, combined with the new people to the sport, who invariably won't jump without one. 4. There is the first wave of expired AAD's in the past few years. All of these factors keep the price of older AAD's high, since demand far outweighs supply. I don't think there is an easy solution, unless gear stores consider instituting a short term leasing program, rent to own or something along those lines. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idlewild70 0 #5 April 21, 2008 I just bought a new cypress 2 and I know that square 1 got a shipment of 20 or so last week. The price keeps going up as the dollar goes down. Mine was 1420, but i saw other gear stores selling them for $1500. They are out there, if you want to pay for band new. As for the used ones, I know rigges that buy up all the used ones they can find for the student/rental rigs at their dzs.-Fish Blue skies, Soft landings Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
-Scatter- 0 #6 April 22, 2008 I'm piecing together gear, and I had no real problem finding a 4 year old Cypres 2. Sent it in for maintainence and I have no doubts its 100% as good as a new one. I still haven't found a decent used Spectre 190... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tetra316 0 #7 April 24, 2008 QuoteI just bought a new cypress 2 and I know that square 1 got a shipment of 20 or so last week. The price keeps going up as the dollar goes down. Mine was 1420, but i saw other gear stores selling them for $1500. They are out there, if you want to pay for band new. As for the used ones, I know rigges that buy up all the used ones they can find for the student/rental rigs at their dzs. Wow-the price really has gone up. I bought my cypress 1 about 4 years ago brand new from para gear for $850. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #8 April 24, 2008 QuoteQuoteI just bought a new cypress 2 and I know that square 1 got a shipment of 20 or so last week. The price keeps going up as the dollar goes down. Mine was 1420, but i saw other gear stores selling them for $1500. They are out there, if you want to pay for band new. As for the used ones, I know rigges that buy up all the used ones they can find for the student/rental rigs at their dzs. Wow-the price really has gone up. I bought my cypress 1 about 4 years ago brand new from para gear for $850. are you sure it was a brand new Cypres1 manufactured within a few months of your purchase date ? Cypres2 replaced Cypres1s May 2003 as far as I know.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tetra316 0 #9 April 24, 2008 QuoteQuoteQuoteI just bought a new cypress 2 and I know that square 1 got a shipment of 20 or so last week. The price keeps going up as the dollar goes down. Mine was 1420, but i saw other gear stores selling them for $1500. They are out there, if you want to pay for band new. As for the used ones, I know rigges that buy up all the used ones they can find for the student/rental rigs at their dzs. Wow-the price really has gone up. I bought my cypress 1 about 4 years ago brand new from para gear for $850. are you sure it was a brand new Cypres1 manufactured within a few months of your purchase date ? Cypres2 replaced Cypres1s May 2003 as far as I know.... My bad - I bought it in 02 or 03 so that would make it 5-6 years old. Yes it was a brand new cypres1. Before they came out with the cypres2. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrewEckhardt 0 #10 April 25, 2008 I paid $850 for one of my Cyprese-1s and $875 for the other one in 1998 and 2000. Accounting for the Dollar to Deutschemark ratio changes a Cypres-2 which requires no battery replacements is a deal even at $1500 +. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tetra316 0 #11 April 25, 2008 QuoteI paid $850 for one of my Cyprese-1s and $875 for the other one in 1998 and 2000. Accounting for the Dollar to Deutschemark ratio changes a Cypres-2 which requires no battery replacements is a deal even at $1500 +. Do they still require 4 year checks? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #12 April 25, 2008 Yes, 4 and 8 year, but no battery cost on the checks or in between.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkeenan 13 #13 April 25, 2008 It seems to me that there were quite a few used CYPRES units around until the first wave of units started hitting their "drop dead" age of 12 years. If you think about it, the world-wide supply of CYPRES units was getting larger every day until that point. Then, depending on the production rate, the supply of units out there started shrinking, or at least not growing as much. The newer brands have not been around long enough to have much of a "used" supply available. kevin_____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
