buy gear or wait?

[5kyd1vergav 0]

ill make it quick:

iv few jumps- 27. im 150 lbs (approx 170 out the door). im jumping a 170 and want to buy gear but i was advised to wait and get a 150 because that wing load would suit me better. im reasonably accurate under canopy already.

should i wait or try find gear?
if i did wait how many jumps would i be looking at before my exp is enough?

cheers, gav.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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ill make it quick:

iv few jumps- 27. im 150 lbs (approx 170 out the door). im jumping a 170 and want to buy gear but i was advised to wait and get a 150 because that wing load would suit me better. im reasonably accurate under canopy already.

No. It's not the accuracy into a wide open field that you're worried about (that's easy).

You're sizing your canopy for landing at dusk with a low turn to avoid unseen power lines to a down-wind landing on asphalt (think about what happens on the sunset load when the cute chicks flash the pilot for extra altitude and some one in your group gets hypoxic and gets their foot caught on the seatbelt so you take forever to climb out and have a long spot). Things seem to happen much faster, you may not stay flat enough in the turn to avoid a painful impact, and you won't get away with running out a landing where you didn't flare all the way.

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should i wait or try find gear?

Buy used gear. Switch to a 150 after 100 total jumps if you're comfortable doing all of the things in Bill von Novak's checklist and still want to.

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if i did wait how many jumps would i be looking at before my exp is enough?

Another 70.

[Ron 7]

My first rig was a 220 7 cell. I put almost 300 jumps on it before I got my second rig. I weighed about 140 at the time.

At 170 exit weight:

170 = 1:1
150 = 1: 1.13

Not a gigantic difference.
Small steps will allow you to spend more time jumping and less time getting hurt.

One benefit of buying a 170 is you can jump it for a season and maybe get your money back out of it... 170's are popular.

But if you are fine under the 170 (not just standing, but able to put it where you want 90% of the time).. then a 150 might be a good choice. The TYPE of canopy is important as well... a 150 Spectre would be better than a Stiletto 150 for example.

All in all... If you can land in the area you want to land 90% of the time... Maybe a 150 would be fine.

BUT, a 170 will not *hurt* anything.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[5kyd1vergav 0]

fair points! thanks for the speedy reply...

only problem i have is i live in ireland and trying to find second hand gear (170 especially) is a little like trying to find a hooker in a church!

taken onboard , much obliged!
gav

[5kyd1vergav 0]

cheers!.. ill put another 20 jumps down and see how accuracy goes.
i was landing 10-20 away from my target on jumps i actually tried for accuracy. we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks..

peace

[hcsvader 1]

if you can find a rig that will allow you to downsize to smaller canopies after the 70 then I would say go for it.

I bought my first rig when I had around 30 jumps. I bought a complete rig for $3000. It had a 190 main and I did about 100 jumps on that before I downsized to a 170. I then sold the 190

The money you are paying for gear rental everytime you jump is money you will never get back. If I had done another 100 jumps on rental gear because I waiting to be able to jump a smaller canopy it would have cost me around $2000 in gear hire.

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[Amazon 7]

Quote

ill make it quick:

iv few jumps- 27. im 150 lbs (approx 170 out the door). im jumping a 170 and want to buy gear but i was advised to wait and get a 150 because that wing load would suit me better. im reasonably accurate under canopy already.

should i wait or try find gear?
if i did wait how many jumps would i be looking at before my exp is enough?

cheers, gav.

Buy good used gear with a 170 and learn to really fly it. Rental gear is paying for someone ELSES gear., Oh and do not get in a rush you want to stick with your Original Equipment Manufacture landing gear. You really don't want to be with the cool kids with the after market metal parts installed in their bodies.

[sundevil777 93]

Your gear will weigh more than 20 lb total - shoes, helmet, jumpsuit, clothes, altimeters, etc. so you're going to be more than 170 lb.

Many very experienced jumpers are at a wingload of about 1:1 even though they have the experience to use a much smaller canopy. I just like having a nice soft landing, still find my big canopy to be fun to fly, and I am more likely to still be able to walk without a limp for more decades of jumping.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[dragon2 0]

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fair points! thanks for the speedy reply...

only problem i have is i live in ireland and trying to find second hand gear (170 especially) is a little like trying to find a hooker in a church!

taken onboard , much obliged!
gav

You don't have to buy from within Ireland. There are 2nd hand parachutes in England, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, USA etc too

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[rygon 0]

I weigh just over 150lbs without gear and was slowish to downsize (280, 240, 220, 210,190 until jump 90ish then on a 170) jumped that for 80jumps or so before going to a 150. At the same time as buying a 150 I did brian vachers safe canopy school on a 170 .. and hell I made that thing fly like ive never been able to before.

Id recommend getting a 170 and getting yourself on this course (or something similar) and learn how to fly the canopy properly and you defo wont be bored of your canopy for quite a while

[piisfish 135]

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You don't have to buy from within Ireland. There are 2nd hand parachutes in England, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, USA etc too

or Spain (like take a Dublin-Girona and go to Empuriabrava)

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[riggerrob 558]

January and February are the best months to buy second-hand parachutes.
Most skydivers are struggling to pay off Christmas debts, then they have to pay income taxes, so most are "short" until some time in April.
So you can often buy second-hand parachutes for "cheap" because owners are financially desperate.

[regulator 0]

I jumped a 190 while in training for my A and got a 190 when I got my license...I was doing like you...landing within 20 meters of the target...then I started jumping in no wind days and that shit started kicking my ass. There are a lot of variables you probably havent accounted for and I'd suggest you put AT LEAST 200 jumps on what you are used to before downsizing ANY SIZE down. You may not think its that big of a deal...but trust me when I was eating shit coming in on final I was so totally glad I didn't downsize.


And on to your original question I saved up during the cold parts of the year and bought a brand new container, new AAD, new reserve and a used main. The container fits like a spandex vagina and the double wide leg strags are so much more comfortable than the other rig I was jumping as a student...but at least you arent like the other jackass that was asking about mounting a gopro on your helmet before you got your A license. Good luck my friend