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marcwgarber

Re-acquiring Old Rig

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Hi guys, I could use some help. Those of you who know me know that I used to be a pretty active jumper from 1994 to 2002. I haven't stayed current since 2002, however, when I became a father. To be precise, I've made three jumps in the past 14 years (all in the past few years).
On the rare occasions that I come out and jump, I have been renting a Sabre2 170, which is fine, but I have an interesting opportunity to re-acquire the first rig I bought new when I had 57 jumps. It's a Vector II (converted from ROL to BOC), Turbo Z 165, and PD-160R. The rig probably has 500-550 jumps, the main has 400-450 jumps, and the reserve has zero jumps. All of this equipment was manufactured in 1994.
My question is, what's it worth? I know the CYPRES is now useless except as a paperweight (and I hope to hell the batteries have not exploded and ruined anything).
The gear is clearly old, but it has mainly been sitting in my ex-fiance's closet for the past 18 years (she quit jumping around '98). The Vector II was a fine product for its day, but I believe it still has velcro riser closures and similar out-dated design features (no articulation). The Turbo Z was a decent canopy but was never super-popular, so demand for it would be on the low end of the scale. The reserve is top-tier, but is there an age at which it must be retired, or is it good so long as it can pass a rigger's inspection? It's probably been through less than 15 repack cycles, so it should be fairly pristine.
With the value of the CYPRES being zero, what would be a fair value for the rest of these components? The last time I saw this gear it was all in very good to excellent condition, and it has mainly sat in a closet since then. I want to offer her a fair price so that I can get back into the air (on occasion) with a rig that is safe for my admittedly-low expectations for
currency.
Thanks for any assistance with component values you can provide!
Marc
A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

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Short answer-it depends...
Long answer-assuming everything is in good shape like you say and it has been stored in a cool dry place either packed or in a bag with no mildew, etc...maybe $500-$1000. $200 like Piisfish says if she just wants to get rid of it.
I'm not familiar with the main-but Para Flite's gear is not super performance based/by today's standards never was. Having jumped some of their other canopies I would turn that thing into a car cover and get another main cheap... Your landing performance will be better which translates to ankle/knee longevity. Flight performance will be better as well which by some people's standard isn't a huge deal and they only want a tool to get down.
The Vector II with BOC and Cypres pocket is likely still airworthy, probably would benefit from some new risers, d-bag/pc, elastics (boc and all your slack retainers) and maybe replace the Velcro... All things your rigger can do for $150-$300. I still see a few of these rigs being used by CRw folks and Style&Accuracy jumpers. Definitely wouldn't recommend regularly free flying in it...Or really ever free flying in it.
Reserve-probably still perfectly fine. Would definitely send it to PD-they'll probably charge you a bit for a reline, inspection, porosity test, but then you have the peace of mind that your reserve has been deemed airworthy by the manufacturer. Your rigger might not agree with me...
Cypres should still be worth $80 towards a new one from SSK/Airtec. Might be worth the investment as it sounds like currency is a challenge for you. AAD isn't mandatory, but it sounds like family is a priority to you and it's not a bad idea have one on the chance you get whacked leaving the plane or something crazy happens. More and more DZ's are requiring them anyway... RSL in my opinion would be worth keeping or installing.
All that being said-you could be into your old rig for $1000 after repairs, repack or as much as $3500 with new main/AAD and a lot of rigging work. If you've only jumped 3 times since early 2000's, doesn't seem like a great investment and that rental gear will serve you better. If the intent is to get back into it more-you're going to want modern gear to participate in modern flying styles. The only part of your old rig that might be worth keeping long term is the reserve-I still have one made in 1993 that was in my first rig (which was also a V2). It's in my WS rig now and I've had three very acceptable rides on it over the years. Your rigger might not feel the same.
Hope it works out either way.
-Harry
"Sometimes you eat the bar,
and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

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While everything is debatable, here's my quick take:

Cypres 1 is worth zero. The small rebate deal when replacing it with a new Cypres was only for ones within 1 year after expiry. Some rigger might want to play with it though.

The PD reserve is a PD reserve and worth a fair bit, and has plenty of repack life left. Some riggers still don't like stuff 20+ years old, so that's a factor, but that often was more of of a factor for weird old technology gear. How much people take into account that it will be 30 years old after 8 more years, I don't know. A PD reserve is still considered a gold standard in North America. (Ok, the PD Optimum might be Platinum, if the regular PD is still Gold)

Turbo Z - nobody newer will recognize it. Out of production nearly (?) 20 years by a company out of the civilian market for that long. Which means replacing lines could be a real hassle. If it doesn't open too hard, and the lines aren't shot, it might be worth a few hundred for a newer jumper. Their actual flying was OK at moderate wing loading as you know.

Vector II -- Worth a hundred or two maybe, I dunno, for someone needing a spare rig or first rig. But these days people may expect everything on the load to be more freefly friendly, so spending money on rigging mods would almost be expected. (Maybe less so if sold to someone experienced who knows the limitations.) Which makes it only worth it if picked up super cheap.

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