Best FS suits?

[MalcolmR 0]

Need recommendations for the best all around jumpsuit for 4 and 8 way, and big way skydiving. I'm particularly interested in fit, durability, and powerful booties. Recommendations?

[Joellercoaster 6]

I have owned several brands, and from those would happily recommend (on the criteria you mention and others):

Parasport
Tony

Nearly all of my jumps have been 4way and 8way.

Unless you are a lightweight, you might find that your comp suit is not the best option for bigway - they tend to shift your range towards fast-fall, and my limited experience with bigways suggests that you want to be able to put the brakes on hard, sometimes

(I keep 3 FS suits around. I could probably get away with two but one of them has sentimental value.)

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[DHemer 0]

I am very happy with my new tony suit, only have about 60 4way fs jumps on it so far so cannot comment on durability.

Fit is great considering I measured it to be tight, allowed me to drop 2kg of lead compared to old suit. Probably not what you want for big way though unless you option slower material
Mega booties are powerful and there is an option for even larger booties or inflatable. Previous suit had bev suit style booties

Customer service was not the best though

[CygnusX-1 42]

Another recommendation for Tony. Mega booties are a must. That would be good for 4/8-way. But not big way. The few big ways I have went to the organizer specifically stated that they did not want people flying 4-way suits. It is a different discipline requiring different skill set. Therefore, I would get 2 suits. One for competition and one for big way.

Then you can get one or two suits for free flying. One for tracking. One to three for wingsuiting. One for swooping. Pretty soon you will need to pack a separate suitcase for all your suits when you go to the DZ.

[timrf79 0]

I recently got a new RW suit from Ouragon.
We designed to fly fast, as I am kinda floaty.
However in big-ways I can not stay up...

Overall it is a great suit.

[Deyan 31]

http://www.rainbowsuits.com/en/products/raptorx-rw

Look no further...

"My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

[ufk22 32]

Bevsuit, Majic booties

This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

[SecondRound 0]

Bev makes a great suit. I have two to give me a range of fall rates. Best thing I did was to get measured by a dealer with a lot of experience and then Bev cut the suit to fit my needs.

[AndreLapointe 0]

Tony's is the worst;
cheap fabric,
poor workmanship,
no after-sale service.
Tony's is the worst !

[tred 0]

CygnusX-1

The few big ways I have went to the organizer specifically stated that they did not want people flying 4-way suits. It is a different discipline requiring different skill set. Therefore, I would get 2 suits. One for competition and one for big way.

out of curiosity, what is generally recommended for a big way suit?

[CygnusX-1 42]

They did not want the massive booties, vents, or anything that would make you somewhat floaty. The complaint was that too many people would get in their slot, take the grip, and stop flying. This was causing formations to be "lifted".

Personally, I thought this was a cop-out. Learn to fly your suit that you are wearing and don't stop when you get the grip, look under the formation - not over it, etc. Do this and you have the booties to give you that extra boost when tracking away.

[377 20]

Tony Pit Special suit is well designed and flies great but:

I had serious color runs in a cold water wash.
Two zipper pulls have broken off without abusive handling.
The main front zipper failed after only 16 months (about 35 jumps) and getting it replaced was expensive. Tony refused to fix anything free or even for a reasonable price. I got my zipper replaced locally with a better quality zipper for far less than Tony Suits wanted.

I'm not sure they used the best quality zippers at the time mine was manufactured. Maybe that has changed. Hope so.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Joellercoaster 6]

CygnusX-1

The complaint was that too many people would get in their slot, take the grip, and stop flying. This was causing formations to be "lifted".

With due respect to the organisers involved, this has nothing to do with jumpsuits.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[betzilla 56]

I always recommend Tony for FS suits, and I have yet to have an unhappy customer. A couple things I recommend:

- get measured by a pro (not your grandma, unless your grandma is a pro, haha). You, the buyer, should look carefully at the measuring instructions before you get measured so you can have a sense of whether they're doing it right. **do not assume that a rigger will be good at measuring for jumpsuits. Some are, but some aren't.

- If you're worried about durability, get reinforcement (cordura) on the parts of you that take a beating. In my case, that's my butt - I slide in a lot. Some people need cordura knees. Some people drag a toe when they land, and want cordura toes on their booties. Plan for your habits.

- There is a chart on Tony's web page that will help you figure out which model you need, based on your height and weight. Don't be sad if you need the "fat guy" suit. Just order what they recommend (if you're in the cracks, you can call them for advice. They're really good at what they do!). If you're planning to lose weight, buy a weight belt later, instead of a too small jumpsuit now.

- not everyone needs a slick nylon jumpsuit, and that's totally ok.

***There are definitely other manufacturers making awesome jumpsuits and giving awesome service. I just have more experience with Tony.

[TheBachelor 4]

I've had 2 or 3 Bev suits, and have repaired the seams on the booties countless times. I wouldn't recommend them for durability.

I've had 2 Michigan suits, and I just love them. The booties catch a lot of air, and the soles are made of Vibram rubber so they don't wear out like the leather does. With 4-500 jumps on my newest one, the only thing I've done is to reinforce the elastic on the bottom of the booties. I doubt I'll ever buy another brand.

As others have said, measure CAREFULLY.

There are battered women? I've been eating 'em plain all of these years...