from cheap to cheap

[devarona 0]

I recently sold off my gear and im just wondering if Im playing with my life here for going cheap... Im as broke as @#$% so I sold my gear and bought some old stuff I found on classifieds.

I sold off a mirage g3 dom 2005 with a PD reserve and an old sabre.
I bought a reflex DOM 1999 for 250 thats in great conditions and a swift plus reserve for 250 too DOM 1996. The thing is, instead of having a new container like I used to, im planning on buying a pilot thats not far off from 2005 or something. That would leave me with an older container and a recent main instead of the other way around...
As far as the reflex and the reserve, were these bad choices or am I gonna live past 30?

[PhreeZone 15]

Reflex's are fine. I just packed one up last week for a customer and while the Swift Plus is not a current design it will save your life provided you don't deploy it while freeflying or something like that and even then it has a decent chance of saving your life.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[JohnRich 4]

Age does not necessarily equate to serviceability.
Have a rigger inspect them.

[skybytch 259]

What are you loading the Swift at? Probably not the best reserve to load over about 1.0.

I loved my Reflex. Comfy and freefly safe, Best used gear deals out there right now, I think.

[iowa 0]

What size, what wing loading on the Swift Plus?

Go past a 1.4, 1.5 and they stall radically.

Sold mine after I learned the hard way.

Keith

''Always do sober what you said you would do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.'' - Ernest Hemingway

[devarona 0]

OMG! The rigger that sold me the reserve told me it was just fine to load it to about 1.5...

Im loading 1.34 on it, what happened to you on your swift?

[davelepka 4]

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Im loading 1.34 on it, what happened to you on your swift?

According to your profile, you were loading your Sabre 150 at 1.5, which puts you at 225 out the door. Are you really 225 out the door, and are you really loading a canopy at 1.5 with 70-something jumps?

The Swift might be the least of your worries. At that loading with those jump numbers, I'd be more worried about safely landing your main.

[councilman24 36]

Nobody has bothered to ask what size Swift Plus? They came in 3 sizes. 145, 175, and 225.

No you shouldn't load it at 1:34. Especially if you don't have any experience flying canopies of that era and design. Best kept to 1:1 Can you probably get away with it? Maybe.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[devarona 0]

All of you guys are right, Its a 1.5 load... I was in a class when I posted last night and forgot to add gear to the division! lol! anyways, YES, I am pushing it too far as to jump a 150 at 1.5, its all beacuse of my cheapness. I know it couldve cost me or it might cost me more than money. I downsized to a rented 170 right after AFF and switched to the 150 18 jumps later. Now I have 50 jumps with the 150 and have perfect landings on all of those jumps. I do NOT intend to swoop nor will I ever dare to in about 300 jumps or more cause im not even interested...
The least of my worries is flying a 150 here... I do feel very unsafe with a reserve that might stall on me or something... So even if I can land a 150 canopy, do I have to worry about the swift plus because of its crappyness even if flown without any swoops or radical turns?

[councilman24 36]

The swift plus is IMHO as good as any reserve of that era and design. You would have the same issues with a Glide Path or Precision canopy loaded the same.

It's a matter of not knowing how to fly a canopy with that design. It causes some people to flair it wrong and stall it prior to landing. This is NOT the fault of the parachute. It's the fault of the user, loading and flying.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[timmyfitz 0]

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Now I have 50 jumps with the 150 and have perfect landings on all of those jumps. I do NOT intend to swoop nor will I ever dare to in about 300 jumps or more cause im not even interested...
The least of my worries is flying a 150 here...

It seems like I've heard this before. Is there an echo in here?

[hookitt 0]

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It seems like I've heard this before. Is there an echo in here?

My reply to something like this... Ssshhhhh

It doesn't seem like anything. You know you've heard it before. Be condescending and you become the old guy with an attitude. that nobody cares to listen to anymore.
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To devarona: As far as the canopy of choice is concerned... well, it's not the best but if you've already jumped it 50 times, it's not as if you'll replace it. Do not get me wrong, It's not the correct canopy by any means and I disagree with you having it for reasons I have seen for the past 18 years. But, since you have it, learn it, have fun and don't die.

Make decisions high if you're going to land out. For a non-swooper, you need to be careful not to over control in an unexpected situation. (easier said than done... at least the first time or 2). People don't get hurt landing carefully, it's over controlling the unexpected avoidance turn.

If you find yourself under that particular reserve, it's just a parachute but... it's a parachute you're not familiar with. You MUST do a canopy control check. Most of the check is finding where it stalls. Don't fold it up or anything but DO test flare it as many times as you can. The control stroke is short. Learn where it is before you get to the ground.

People tend to forget to test flare their reserve. They are so excited to have had a reserve ride and think it's fragile because it's a reserve. It's not fragile.

What happens is the person gets near the ground and just crams on the brakes for the first time, stalls the canopy and crash lands onto their backs. You don't have to do that. Practice flaring it and figure it out quick. Remember where the flare is and do your best guess when you land. Feel it. Prepare to PLF like you mean it....remember a PLF is a perfectly good way to land.

Hope that helps.

Oh yeah. The Reflex is fine. I would prefer the catapult being removed if it's still installed. I don't like the swift but I certainly don't mind it. Don't expect it to fly like you want it to, fly it like it wants you too.

Good luck!

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[ripcord4 0]

... "So even if I can land a 150 canopy, do I have to worry about the swift plus because of its crappyness even if flown without any swoops or radical turns?"

SIGH.......

[NWFlyer 2]

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its all beacuse of my cheapness.

Hope you have incredibly generous insurance because otherwise that canopy could become very, very expensive.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[devarona 0]

Thats the kind of advice I really needed! thanx a lot! I almost considered returning it but I think Ill use it until I get the money for another PDR. I think I should practice PLF from a tall structure somewhere since ive never done a PLF in my life! well...

[kmills0705 0]

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Thats the kind of advice I really needed! thanx a lot! I almost considered returning it but I think Ill use it until I get the money for another PDR. I think I should practice PLF from a tall structure somewhere since ive never done a PLF in my life! well...

Sigh.

Did you ever take a first jump course? No PLF?!

Kim Mills
USPA D21696
Tandem I, AFF I and Static Line I

[JohnnyD 0]

You need to put your home dz in your profile so people will be able to locate and avoid you.

[petejones45 0]

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You need to put your home dz in your profile so people will be able to locate and avoid you.

Likewise

Look out for the freefly team, Smelly Peppers. Once we get a couple years more experience we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future! BLUES!

[MarkM 0]

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YES, I am pushing it too far as to jump a 150 at 1.5, its all beacuse of my cheapness.

You can buy used gear that's WL appropriate, jump it a hundred jumps and sell it for about what you paid. Money isn't a factor here.

Actually, if you really look for good deals and take your time, you can even make money doing this. Make offers, buy low, use it for a bit, sell high.

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I do NOT intend to swoop nor will I ever dare to in about 300 jumps or more cause im not even interested...
The least of my worries is flying a 150 here...

Sorry man, you're way more likely to get burned on that main

I landed out Sunday, tight spot with a fence I didn't see til coming in and had to land my main in a partial flat turn to avoid the fence. Knew I could do that because I've flown the shit out of that thing and just PLF'd it out with a small leg scrape.

WL isn't about stand up landings. It's about what you can handle in a shit situation. It's about being able to make a radical move, when you need to, and get out okay because you have the jump experience for that speed of canopy. A 1.5 WL is way hot for your experience level and it'll bite you hard once you get in over your head.

[riggerrob 558]

Back when Para-Flite designed the Swift Plus reserve (Precision designed the Raven reserve and Glide Path designed the Fury reserve) no one was loading main canopies beyond one pound per square foot, so why anyone would expect a reserve (from that era) loaded considerably beyond one pound per square foot to land softly is a mystery to me????????

[devarona 0]

Jesus... I asked the rigger that sold me that reserve about it and he told me it wouldnt be a problem... good thing I used paypal and he agreed upon a return...

Should I return the thing and ground myself until I get the cash for a new reserve?

[riggerrob 558]

Yes!

The alternative is buy LOTS of medical insurance.

[ghost47 18]

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Jesus... I asked the rigger that sold me that reserve about it and he told me it wouldnt be a problem... good thing I used paypal and he agreed upon a return...

Should I return the thing and ground myself until I get the cash for a new reserve?

I've gotta ask -- why are you willing to listen to people here about your reserve and not your main?

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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All of you guys are right, Its a 1.5 load... I was in a class when I posted last night and forgot to add gear to the division! lol! anyways, YES, I am pushing it too far as to jump a 150 at 1.5, its all beacuse of my cheapness.

You do know that a broken leg can cost $30,000 - $40,000 for your first hospital stay?

Complications make things even more expensive - my bone graft has run $20,000 so far at the insurance company's negotiated rates (the bills total $56,000 at list price).

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Now I have 50 jumps with the 150 and have perfect landings on all of those jumps. I do NOT intend to swoop nor will I ever dare to in about 300 jumps or more cause im not even interested...

Straight-in landings into a wide open grassy field are not a big deal.

How many times have you landed out, landed down wind, landed cross-wind, landed up-hill, landed down-hill, made 90 degree turns 50 feet off the ground, and landed with induced speed off the front risers?

Those are the sorts of things which get combined to save your butt when cute girls flash the pilot on sunset load so you have extra altitude, your climbout is delayed because your buddy got hypoxic and got his foot stuck on a seat belt, you have a bad spot, land out, don't see an obstacle in the low light until the last instant, and turn 90 degrees at 50 feet for a down-wind landing on an asphalt road with extra speed because the turn wasn't as flat as it should be.

If you haven't done them you should do so in a controlled environment before you need to. If they scare you too much you need to be under a bigger canopy. Turning after plane-out is important too.

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The least of my worries is flying a 150 here... I do feel very unsafe with a reserve that might stall on me or something...

Your chances of using the reserve are about 1 in 600. Your chances of landing the main are about 599 in 600. I'd worry a lot more about the main.

[devarona 0]

I got the first 150 for a very sick price. I was scared of a low WL in such a short time, but you know how foolish people are, they never listen until something happens... I tried the 150 and didn't find it to be so different. Then again, to be honest, I only judged that upon landing, not emergency evasions like the one ive read in this post. I finished AFF in february and ive been to 6 DZs so far, 3 in the US and 3 in Europe and the only place I got shit for my gear was in France where I had to rent a 210 because they didnt let me fly my main. The thing is, ive never been scared into upsizing, not until this post! After reading all this I think I should just sell everything I got and buy something bigger...