After Christmas Sales?

[Doug_Davis 0]

So I just got back into skydiving this summer after an eight or so year break (all previous 200+ jumps were military) and got my A license, did a canopy course with Maxine Tate, and as soon as we can shake this bitterly cold weather Im looking forward to jumping a lot come spring.

Ive got my own suit, helmet, Altimeter, etc. But I need a rig.
I'd been looking at buying some thing in the 190 range used (possibly a Storm), but man people keep prices pretty high on used gear in this sport.

So was thinking about ordering a new full rig from someone. Do any of the retailers do after Christmas sales? Any discounts or demo sales I should be keeping my eye out for that are common in skydiving?

Any tips on scoring a good deal?

[Keithor 0]

You said you were jumping with the military. I know Mirage has a military discount and so does Wings I believe. I don't know if retired counts ot if you need to be active but ask around it will probably be the best pricing you will get!

I am currently jumping a Storm myself. It's a great canopy and I feel like it will always open for me. It has some great openings if packed right (like I'm sure most canopies will). It's pretty solid and flies well. The only other canopies I can compare it to are the student canopies I was jumping.

I personally bought a Stock Wings container and I love it. No matter what you get, be sure to get the spacer foam leg pads. I jumped a few rigs with and without it and I would pay much more than any company charges for the upgrade.

I hope that helps.

[piisfish 135]

Rigging Innovations also has a military discount..

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

[Doug_Davis 0]

Well I'm retired from military now so no idea if they will still offer any kind of discount but can always ask I guess.

What about the various retailers? Any big annual demo or other sales? I assumed buying a complete rig from them would be cheaper than having to buy all the individual pieces and pay a rigger to put it all together. Right or wrong?

[Southern_Man 0]

Doug_Davis

Well I'm retired from military now so no idea if they will still offer any kind of discount but can always ask I guess.

What about the various retailers? Any big annual demo or other sales? I assumed buying a complete rig from them would be cheaper than having to buy all the individual pieces and pay a rigger to put it all together. Right or wrong?

Skydiving retailers don't really offer seasonal sales of any type.

You may get a slight break from buying a complete rig but I wouldn't assume it would be very much. You will pay for assembly and packing whether the gear store does that or your local rigger does it.

The way usually to save money on a new gear purchase is to buy a stock rig, stock canopy, etc. These are items that have already been manufactured and are sitting in inventory. You won't get choices about options/colors, etc. but you can often get a pretty good discount on stock gear.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[NWFlyer 2]

Doug_Davis

I'd been looking at buying some thing in the 190 range used (possibly a Storm), but man people keep prices pretty high on used gear in this sport.

People charge what the market will bear. In the case of the Storm, the canopy's only been on the market for six or seven years, so you've got a much smaller chance of finding the "deep discount closet queen" like you might find with a model that's been around longer like a Spectre or Sabre 2. The "back of envelope" calculation for a used main (at least for one that's still available new) is to take the street price of a new one, knock off $100 plus $1 per jump. New linesets are usually needed every 500 jumps or so (give or take); if the lineset's been replaced recently, add $300 back to the price.

Do that math and you'll see that a Storm with 500 jumps and a new lineset might fairly be priced within $300-400 of a brand new one. The question then becomes do you want to save that few hundred dollars and have someone else break in that shiny new ZP for you, or get brand new in your matchy-matchy colors?

Quote

Any tips on scoring a good deal?

Ready cash, quick decision making, and patience. Ready cash because when you find that deal, don't be that guy who says "Well, I have to move money from this account to that account and I can give you a deposit now but I can't pay you till later" because the seller will move on to the guy who has cash in hand.

Quick decision making because if there is a smoking deal out there, you'd better be willing to say "I want it and I have cash ready to send you now" or the seller will move on to the next guy who is.

Patience because the great deals don't come along every day, but you'd better be checking the dropzone.com classifieds every day, and the Facebook groups (this one has a lot of action: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SkydivingGear/) regularly, and tapping into your local sources (do those "in the know" (riggers, dealers) at your local DZ know you're looking for gear? do they have an idea what you're looking for? They should, because they might be able to help you out.)

"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

[Southern_Man 0]

For instance, here are some stock rigs available:

Sunrise Manufacturing

Javelin very limited colors and styles

Performance Designs They have some closeouts on sale

Some may offer better discounts than others. For some the main attraction of a stock rig may simply be a shorter waiting time.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[faulk04 0]

Keithor

You said you were jumping with the military. I know Mirage has a military discount and so does Wings I believe. I don't know if retired counts ot if you need to be active but ask around it will probably be the best pricing you will get!

I am currently jumping a Storm myself. It's a great canopy and I feel like it will always open for me. It has some great openings if packed right (like I'm sure most canopies will). It's pretty solid and flies well. The only other canopies I can compare it to are the student canopies I was jumping.

I personally bought a Stock Wings container and I love it. No matter what you get, be sure to get the spacer foam leg pads. I jumped a few rigs with and without it and I would pay much more than any company charges for the upgrade.

I hope that helps.

For Mirage you have to be active to get their military discount according to their site.

Aerodyne provides the best discount for military but I don't know if you need to be active for that as well

[Doug_Davis 0]

NWFlyer thanks for the tip on the Facebook group. I hadnt heard about them previously!

Southern_Man thanks for the links. I will check them out.
Is jumping non-custom colored stock gear allowed though? I thought according to the SIM I was restricted to either custom colors (which its seems in the entire skydiving world is red/black) or jumping early 90's pink, purple and green?