Advance 7 by Basik

[timeslikethese 0]

Hey, just wondering if anyone owns or jumps an Advance 7 container by Basik of France. Looks like a fantastic container and am thinking of buying one but would like to hear some first hand feedback first.
Thanks
http://www.basik.fr/en/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=189&category_id=6&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=28&vmcchk=1

[piisfish 135]

I don't own one, but have jumped a couple, packed both main and reserves.
A very nice harness/container. Lots of very well thought details, good comfort and quality.
Shoot a PM to BKR here, he knows quite a bit about them rigs (he is the manufacturer).
Also they used to have (don't know if they still have that programme)an "exchange" plan, where for a small amount of money, you jumped your new main canopy for a year or so, and exchanged it for a smaller size new main.

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

[freeatlast 0]

There's a couple in use here in the Uk.

One of the University clubs has one as club kit and they posted the following in the gear section of dz.com

Quote

Our University Club owns an Advance 7. Basik were extremely helpful in adding/removing options that were necessary/unsuitable for University club kit (e.g. remove the Magnetic D-bag/Freefly PUD, add adjustable laterals, RSL etc.) For people who just completed their AFF, transitioning to "more comfortable" kit is something they always enjoy. The comfort of the "Seven" is comparable (although not equal) to that of my own (custom) Vector 3. I was surprised to find, in spite of my extremely tight specifications, that the rig arrived with a "Hooktable" cutaway handle. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, just a surprise. A couple of minor flaws that I identify with this rig (from a University perspective): 1) The "magnetic d-bag" leads rookie (student) packers to become lazy and simply "shove" lines in. Hence why we ordered a bungee d-bag. 2) The cordura freebag is substantially heavier than its equivalents. This concerns me in the event of a (admittedly unlikely) reserve horseshoe/reserve PC in tow malfunction. 3) The main closing sequence appears "odd", particularly if students are used to learning to pack Javelins/Vectors. I've already caught one person trying to force it the "wrong way"... In spite of these minor flaws, which can (except for 2) be corrected using education, the value provided by the Advance 7 rig is phenomenal. Having chosen Cordura 1000 material, since it will have a tough life (University students and all), I will be updating whenever there appears to be wear or damage to the container. I foresee it being easily durable enough to stand a decade of University student use without major repairs required.

This is a copy of an email sent from one of the guys who rented one from me in 2010 to a guy who was enquiring about them:-

Quote

Hi Liam,

I just had a look through the posts on UKS, and although there are a lot of people who are very experienced skydivers saying these things, very few have actually jumped one. I rented an Advance Seven with 170 X-Fun and an X-Fast reserve with Vigil 2 AAD off James for the BCPA Perris trip and managed to put 39 jumps on it, and i must say i loved it.

The padding is excellent bar none, our club ( Birmingham University Skydiving) had ordered a brand new vector 3 container with 'Extra' padding to be assembled while in Perris, and i tried it on, and it felt positively uncomfortable compared to the Seven, and jumping only in short and a t shirt, the rig was still as comfortable, despite the lack of a jump suit.

The canopy was something i agree, never having heard of, i was a little wary of, especially since i hadnt done that many 170 jumps and i am a fat buggar! But to be honest, it was an excellent canopy, it was extremely responsive, yet forgiving in the landings, with the flares being lovely and gentle ( on occasions lifting me and gliding it in). Also the fact it is a hybrid (half F111 and half ZP fabric) it was very very easy to pack as it didnt keep inflating like so many non hybrid canopies. Compared to other canopies i have jumped, i would put it as one of my favorite, MILES above a Sabre and on par with my favorite which is a Pilot. If i ha to compare it to a modern canopy i was say it was somewhere between a Spectre ( nice openings) and a Pilot (Very responsive and nice landings.)

Right, now we get to the interesting part - the Magnets...

Magnet D-Bag: Right i was a worried about packing this as anyone. However, the magnet bag was very very easy to use. I spent an hour with a Rigger, who just passed me onto someone who knew how to pack them, and then i was packing it for myself, and packed it for the entire 39 jumps and had no problem with openings. Considering the age of the canopy, around 20 jumps when i got hold of it, the openings were as soft as you like with opening annoyances likes twists and end cell being almost non existent.. a few of the openings were off heading but i put that down to me having a rubbish body position. The magnetic stows resulting in gorgeous openings, and resulted in less twists than conventional bungee bags. Once you get the hang of it, the magnetic stows in my opinion were easier than bungees, and a lot kinder on the fingers :P

Magnetic riser covers: Having read a lot on the UKS about these, i can honestly say that i never had a problem with my riser covers, and can only assume people who picked up on this problem were either using old rigs, or older versions of the Seven. Myself and a friend had a Seven in Perris, and neither f us experienced this problem, to be honest i was commonly tucking in other peoples covers who didnt have magnets. The key to it, is not to just place it in, ie put the cover in 1-2 mm, you need to shove it in, put it in all the way , and the magnets will do their job.

Magnetic Freefly Handle and Pouch - Right , this would be my only criticism of the rig, but something that if you are getting a new one can be easily rectified, as obviously i had no choice in this, but did find a solution. I had the Freefly pud handle which used a magnet and a tucking tab. The tucking tab was far too stiff and required a two handed pull a few times! However, i then instead of using the tab and the magnet, used only the magnet ( which was cleared by an instructor to be secure enough to jump in) and i even used it for freefly, tubes etc etc. and it was perfectly secure and resulted in a pull easier than a spandex pouch. However, the rig my friend had, didnt have the tuck tab and had a larger handle (which i would recommend if you are a new A license holder) and he had no problems with this, but since you are getting it new, it can be up to you on the type of handle you get ( i would recommend speaking to James.)
Also the codura pouch, yes did prove difficult to get the pilot chute in at first, however after some practice it became very easy, and obviously as mentioned above, if you are still uncomfortable with this, it is something you can get modified in manufacture.

Sorry for the essay and i hope it has been of help to you, and if i had the cash sitting about i would definitely be buying the Seven i hired, as saying goodbye to it was painful.
However if you do decide to buy one, expect instructors and very experienced skydivers to be looking at the new features ( like the stainless steel yellow cable housing) and complimenting you on the rig :-P we had a lot of AFF instructors in Perris looking at the new features, and mentioning how much better they were than conventional ways.

Like i said, if it was my money, i would love to buy one and i think you wouldnt regret it.. alot of people who havent tried something properly are often too quick to snub it..Hi Liam,

I just had a look through the posts on UKS, and although there are a lot of people who are very experienced skydivers saying these things, very few have actually jumped one. I rented an Advance Seven with 170 X-Fun and an X-Fast reserve with Vigil 2 AAD off James for the BCPA Perris trip and managed to put 39 jumps on it, and i must say i loved it.

The padding is excellent bar none, our club ( Birmingham University Skydiving) had ordered a brand new vector 3 container with 'Extra' padding to be assembled while in Perris, and i tried it on, and it felt positively uncomfortable compared to the Seven, and jumping only in short and a t shirt, the rig was still as comfortable, despite the lack of a jump suit.

The canopy was something i agree, never having heard of, i was a little wary of, especially since i hadnt done that many 170 jumps and i am a fat buggar! But to be honest, it was an excellent canopy, it was extremely responsive, yet forgiving in the landings, with the flares being lovely and gentle ( on occasions lifting me and gliding it in). Also the fact it is a hybrid (half F111 and half ZP fabric) it was very very easy to pack as it didnt keep inflating like so many non hybrid canopies. Compared to other canopies i have jumped, i would put it as one of my favorite, MILES above a Sabre and on par with my favorite which is a Pilot. If i ha to compare it to a modern canopy i was say it was somewhere between a Spectre ( nice openings) and a Pilot (Very responsive and nice landings.)

Right, now we get to the interesting part - the Magnets...

Magnet D-Bag: Right i was a worried about packing this as anyone. However, the magnet bag was very very easy to use. I spent an hour with a Rigger, who just passed me onto someone who knew how to pack them, and then i was packing it for myself, and packed it for the entire 39 jumps and had no problem with openings. Considering the age of the canopy, around 20 jumps when i got hold of it, the openings were as soft as you like with opening annoyances likes twists and end cell being almost non existent.. a few of the openings were off heading but i put that down to me having a rubbish body position. The magnetic stows resulting in gorgeous openings, and resulted in less twists than conventional bungee bags. Once you get the hang of it, the magnetic stows in my opinion were easier than bungees, and a lot kinder on the fingers :P

Magnetic riser covers: Having read a lot on the UKS about these, i can honestly say that i never had a problem with my riser covers, and can only assume people who picked up on this problem were either using old rigs, or older versions of the Seven. Myself and a friend had a Seven in Perris, and neither f us experienced this problem, to be honest i was commonly tucking in other peoples covers who didnt have magnets. The key to it, is not to just place it in, ie put the cover in 1-2 mm, you need to shove it in, put it in all the way , and the magnets will do their job.

Magnetic Freefly Handle and Pouch - Right , this would be my only criticism of the rig, but something that if you are getting a new one can be easily rectified, as obviously i had no choice in this, but did find a solution. I had the Freefly pud handle which used a magnet and a tucking tab. The tucking tab was far too stiff and required a two handed pull a few times! However, i then instead of using the tab and the magnet, used only the magnet ( which was cleared by an instructor to be secure enough to jump in) and i even used it for freefly, tubes etc etc. and it was perfectly secure and resulted in a pull easier than a spandex pouch. However, the rig my friend had, didnt have the tuck tab and had a larger handle (which i would recommend if you are a new A license holder) and he had no problems with this, but since you are getting it new, it can be up to you on the type of handle you get ( i would recommend speaking to James.)
Also the codura pouch, yes did prove difficult to get the pilot chute in at first, however after some practice it became very easy, and obviously as mentioned above, if you are still uncomfortable with this, it is something you can get modified in manufacture.

Sorry for the essay and i hope it has been of help to you, and if i had the cash sitting about i would definitely be buying the Seven i hired, as saying goodbye to it was painful.
However if you do decide to buy one, expect instructors and very experienced skydivers to be looking at the new features ( like the stainless steel yellow cable housing) and complimenting you on the rig :-P we had a lot of AFF instructors in Perris looking at the new features, and mentioning how much better they were than conventional ways.

Like i said, if it was my money, i would love to buy one and i think you wouldnt regret it.. alot of people who havent tried something properly are often too quick to snub it..

Jonny

I am biased but have always found them to be decent rigs

[kellja2001 0]

I wrote that review and stick by what I said.

Sure, its got some pros, and some cons.

Teaching people how to route the bridle (above the pin) is tricky, because it doesn't have anywhere "obvious" where it should sit - unlike the Jav/Vector etc.

As its getting older, it is stretching, and losing a little bit of its bridle protection (below the pin) (simply due to things being a bit looser) - nothing a tighter closing loop can't fix though :-)

The major thing we've had is instructors stopping "just qualified" jumpers from using it due to the hooktable cutaway pad (http://www.basik.fr/fr/images/Advance/adv_5_1.jpg)... I'll let you make your own mind up about that...

I do have to coerce riggers into packing it (they all seem to hate it), but I think that's due to the sheer force of the spring and slightly weird reserve closing method.

The Cordura 1000 is fantastic. Our rig has been seriously abused (it came back from Perris a mucky brown colour, having originally been black). A quick dust-down and its showing no signs of wear.

I just remembered I also asked for a spandex BOC Pouch - because another University had a couple of problems with their Cordura one (stiff pulls, leading to an AAD fire (also partially attributable to the AAD being set on Student mode)) - but as I understand it, theirs is now fine.

I'm going to add the usual "not a rigger" disclaimer - but if you're ever in the UK, and want to have a fiddle with ours, I'd be happy to show it to you/with our new President's permission, let you jump it ;-)

[kellja2001 0]

I've just read that e-mail from "Jonny" and one thing that stood out to me was the quote "alot of people who havent tried something properly are often too quick to snub it.." - I think this is very true.

Sure, I've been known to slag ours off (particularly that bridle routing :p) - but I've met some people who say "I'd never jump one" seemingly without rationale.

On the flip-side, we got ours with a serious discount (thanks Sooze!).

Would I have spent €2190 on one? Probably not, as I could get a Javelin for less than that - and for personal kit, I think the Jav is better value for money, just as durable, and better as an all-round package.

That said, if you asked Jerome (@ Basik) nicely, he might be able to offer you something ;-)

[Floflo 0]

I owe one and made around 100 jumps on it.
Great container, very comfy when seating in the plane and piloting, and I really don't feel it in the air.
The only con in that area is that due to the very thick padding, leg straps have to be set really tight.

Packing is easy with the magnetic D-bag. You see every little detail has been thought about a lot.
The openings are really good, more on heading and less prone to line twists than the Atom and Javelin I tried (Same canopy).

Regarding durability, can't say much yet, but it seems strong.

I'd stay away from the free fly handle and cordura hand deploy pouch, I really don't like their design and have witnessed problems with both of them.

Bottom line is: get one!