Hausse 0 #26 June 25, 2008 I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Vigil yet. Lower maintenance cost AND lower upfront costs then the Cypres. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hackish 8 #27 June 25, 2008 I was thinking of mentioning the vigil but didn't want to turn it into another thread like that. Fact of the matter is many DZ's still operate FXC's. They are proven and have saved a number of lives. The new AADs are better but what should you expect from 20 years of R&D - they should be better. The FXC's are more available on the used market and for cheap so don't consider buying one new and then try to compare the TCO. I'd rather jump a rig with an FXC then a rig with no AAD. -Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #28 June 25, 2008 QuoteI'm surprised no one has mentioned the Vigil yet. Lower maintenance cost AND lower upfront costs then the Cypres. Well yeah, I was thinking about getting one when my Cypres expires. I'm rethinking that strategy what with the company making the Vigil running into problems all over Europe with airworthiness directives or whatnot regarding the cutter and other things. I just read the story in the current issue of Skydiving Magazine. But that's for another thread."Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernokaikkonen 0 #29 June 25, 2008 We just replaced all of our FXC's with CYPRESes. There was no reason not to. We calculated that the cost for just servicing the FXC's for 12 years was equal to or higher than the cost of buying CYPRESes and servicing them for 12 years. If you also need the buy the FXC, you're definitely paying more for an FXC than you'd pay for a CYPRES. At least if you live in Finland. (We had to send the FXC's to Sweden every year) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #30 June 25, 2008 I was thinking that a test chamber is worth $25 a pop; that's another $50.00/year. From my experience about 5-10% fail the test chamber before the two years is up so add a bit there. As others have mentioned the Vigil and Argus have lower presumed costs than the Cypres. I say lower because the original twelve year cycle hasn't been completed. We will see. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #31 June 25, 2008 Billy, I haven't heard any problems with the Vigil 2. My Vigil 1 is doing fine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hackish 8 #32 June 25, 2008 QuoteWell yeah, I was thinking about getting one when my Cypres expires. I'm rethinking that strategy what with the company making the Vigil running into problems all over Europe with airworthiness directives or whatnot regarding the cutter and other things. I just read the story in the current issue of Skydiving Magazine. But that's for another thread. I think if you read into it you will find it's just a bunch of political BS. Most places as far as I know have withdrawn their restrictions when they realised that there wasn't a problem. I know there is a big war going on between a few AAD manufacturers but I happen to like the features and construction of the vigil. Whenever I install one I marvel at how they've got this tough reinforced kevlar wiring while the more popular competition has something thin and twisted like it's 2 pieces of wire heatshrinked together... -Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
