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Napalm_C

New Rig - Questions

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I know there's another thread about buying a first rig but I feel that our situations may be different enough to warrant a new thread. Forgive me if I am mistaken :)

Also apologies for the long-ass thread which follows, for those not bothered to read all of it I would appreciate input on the following question.

Container - Buy direct from manufacturer or go through an online shop (paragear, chutingstar etc.)


First off - I have made the decision to buy a new harness/container system. The reasons are multiple:
1. I'm very small so a good-fitting 2nd hand is hard to find.
2. I'll be putting a 150 main into it loaded at 1.05:1 so next step will be a 135 after about 300+ jumps. At a rate of 100-150 jumps per year (small weekend DZ) I feel that a container will last me a good 6-7 years.
3. I have the available cash-flow so this will not affect my jump numbers.

Having made the decision to buy new though I find myself with a question I cannot seem to find the answer to. We have no suppliers on my island so my only option is to buy off the net. Would you recommend going direct to the manufacturer or going through one of the well known online shops? I'm thinking more in terms of price and whether or not this affects delivery time.

Canopies - Again I am looking to go down the new route for both the main and reserve. I am currently jumping a Sabre2 170 loaded at 0.9:1 and will be downsizing to a 150 loaded at 1.05. I am a pretty conservative canopy pilot and do not foresee swooping in the near future. I do however plan to start WS sometime soon (around 10-20 jumps per year) but will mostly be doing RW jumps.

My local DZ is overloaded with PD canopies and Javelin containers so there is not much exposure to other manufacturers. My current plan of action is to go for a 143 PD Optimum with a Sabre2 150 as Main. Instead of a Sabre2 my other options are a Storm or a Safire2. From what I have read the Storm and the Safire2 will give me more stable on-heading deployments with a similar performance envelope to the Sabre2. Is my understanding incorrect? Any comments on this would be a great help.

Coming back to containers - as mentioned above the local DZ is loaded with Javelins so opinions on other containers are few and far between. Having looked at some prices online the Javelin seems to be on par with the Mirage G4 in terms of price. Voodoo Curv & Wings seem to be slightly cheaper along with the V3 Micron but out of the 5 the Vector is last on the list due to recent videos depicting reserve deployment issues if the packjob is bulky near the top.

So for now my list in order is as follows: Curv, Javelin, Wings, Mirage, Micron

I find myself leaning towards the Curv but I'm not sure if it's just because it's new and seems to have a lot of bells and whistles. So I'd like to learn a bit more about it. Unknowns regarding the Curv: How many flaps are there on top of the reserve? Where is the cutter and reserve closing loop located and can I fit a Skyhook?

The Javelin drops to second merely due to the fact that the main pin cover tends to flip open if the rig is not 'packed' and I plan to downsize to a 135 in due course. I would also like to have a rig that is freefly friendly in CASE I opt to do some FF in the future (seeing as I plan to keep the rig for a few years).

Wings & Mirage my knowledge base is a lot lower as, to be honest, I will most probably be going for a Curv or a Javelin unless someone points out some feature which will improve safety and does not exist on these 2. By the same token the Micron seems to have rave reviews but as mentioned above - that reserve worries me.

I have also looked at the Racer but unfortunately (and I am ashamed to say this) the ugliness has put me off slightly.

Once again apologies for the long post - for those of you that have bared with me I thank you for your valuable input. Needless to say that this is just crowd-sourcing for opinions but any final decisions will be discussed in detail with my rigger and DZO.

Chris

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Going thru a dealer like Chuting Star is advised. Your measurements and questions all could be answered with just a simple phone call to them. You are at a DZ where Javelins are prevalent.... which means your rigger is most likely more knowledgeable about that particular manufacture than the others on the market... In your instance you may be better served sticking with the crowd because of that reason alone. Food for thought.
Woot Woot!

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Quote

Instead of a Sabre2 my other options are a Storm or a Safire2. From what I have read the Storm and the Safire2 will give me more stable on-heading deployments with a similar performance envelope to the Sabre2. Is my understanding incorrect?



The storm while a great canopy is nothing like the Safire2 or sabre2. The storm is a 7 cell and the saf2 and sab2 are 9 cells. the sabre or the safire will have a better glide and a little more sporty than the storm. My first wing was a storm always had decent openings(500-600 feet) got on my new safire2 packed it the same way as the storm and had a nice 1,000 foot + opening.

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Some manufacturers, you cannot go to them directly to by, you have to go through dealers (iirc).

Buy the container that you like the look of the most, is available in a time frame you are willing to wait and in a price range you are willing to pay. All will serve you well.

I thought the Icons looked the best, so I got one of them. I'm happy with my choice. Sure you'll be happy with yours.

Definitely get a 2nd hand canopies if you can - saves money, easier to pack, less depreciation on resale.
Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

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