Buying my own rig for AFF

[davelepka 4]

Quote

Also I'm not a big fan of using someone's else's stuff.

Why not use the jumpsuit you bought for you tandem during your student jumps?

Also, what did you do with the tandem harness you bought for your jump? Did you keep it or sell it the DZ when you were done?

Those, of course, are smart ass questions to poke some holes in the quote above. As I recall, you liked the tandem so much that you're moving forward with AFF, and everything involved in that jump was 'someone else's stuff'.

A big part of the AFF instructors job is working with the rig. It's designed to be 'instructor friendly' so that we can easily check it in the plane, use it to hang on to you in freefall, and be able to deploy it if need be. The rig you buy may or may not also meet those requirements, but the rigs the DZ uses definitely meet them, have been proven over time, and the instructors are used to them.

Please continue to look deeper into things than face value, that's how you get the most out of your learning. Be sure that until you have a 'solid' foothold in the sport, that you run everything past the actual instructors you will be jumping with before you make any decisions about how, when, or why you are going to conduct a skydive.

[PixieUK 0]

promise5

I've read through some of the other threads about what gear a new jumper can start buying and I'm already looking. But, I've asked a few jumpers why I shouldn't just go ahead and buy my own student rig. The answer I get is its a waste if money. So, please explain like I'm 5 why. My thoughts are: 1) Isn't a student rig and a first rig very similar? 2) why wouldn't I want to start with a rig that I'm going to continue to use for a while. I just don't see myself only using a student rig for 25 jumps, I would think I would use it longer because I started with it and I've gotten use to it. Same reason for buying a jumpsuit right away.

I'm so not questioning anyone's advice, I just tend to over think things.

Also I'm not a big fan of using someone's else's stuff.

Having just got my A licence, here's a newbie perspective:

1. Until you've done some solo jumps, you will not actually know if you want to continue. There is a high drop out rate between the start and end of AFF, and also between finishing the AFF jumps and actually getting an A licence. Mostly students who drop out decide it's not for them, occasionally an AFFI will refuse to continue the training because they feel the student doesn't have the aptitude or capability to be safe (e.g. panics, can't maintain altitude awareness, can't physically maintain a stable arch).

2. Student canopies are huge and are nicknamed "buses" for a very good reason! Trust me, after your AFF course, you will be desperate to try something that actually flies. Even for newly qualified students, there are several different types of canopy that will all fly slightly differently and right now, you have absolutely no idea how a canopy opens and flies and what might suit you. I have some ideas about what I may and may not want, but they are very loose ideas, certainly nothing I would commit large amounts of money to just yet, until I've tried some different options

3. If you are very light and have a very low wing-loading, your instructors may downsize your canopy pretty quickly e.g. from a 280 sq ft to a 260 sq ft canopy, then maybe lower again, depending on your canopy handling skills and your landings. How would you know what size canopy to buy? You could conceivably start AFF on a canopy at 300 sq ft and finish your coached jumps on a 240 sq ft canopy or smaller.

4. Student jump suits can be a bit manky - I always wore combats and a thin longsleeved top under mine so if you're bothered, taking clothing to the dz that you can wear underneath. To be honest, I was grateful for the extra layers anyway - it's cold at altitude especially when you're pulling high and descending slowly under a bus

5. For the 'someone else's stuff' attitude, I'd say you need to get over that. Unless you've got several thousand dollars to spare, you're going to be buying a lot of stuff second-hand, probably including jumpsuit and helmet.

I didn't get any of my own gear until I was well into my solo jumps. I now have new goggles, new gloves, a used helmet, a used jump suit (with grips because I fly in the tunnel and will also need to do coached jumps with FS skills to get my B licence) and will buy an altimeter next. I would not have been permitted to use my own gear for any of my AFF jumps, though I did for a few of my later solo jumps.

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

[Southern_Man 0]

Just put a bunch of your money in a pile and light it on fire.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[Nataly 38]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned...

Say you buy your own student rig... Who are you going to sell it to when you are done with it? Nobody, that's who. The only people who want/own student rigs are dropzones.

Note you yourself will not want a student rig any more in just 10-20 jumps...

Your first rig after that, however, could easily keep you happy for 100 or more jumps. In my case, for example, I may *never* downsize from the first rig I bought and still jump with!!! More importantly, once you are tired of this (non-student) rig, someone else will happily buy it off of you so you can change/upgrade yourself

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[ILUVCHUTERS 1]

What she said
I bought my first rig used, jumped it for about 200 jumps, then bought a custom rig. Sold my first one for almost what I paid for it (had it relined though) and it's now on it's fourth owner at our DZ since I've had it. And, over 300 jumps later and I'm still on my first custom canopy (no hurry to downsize, I'm older and clumsy so a bigger canopy is a good choice for me, LOL).

Some things said above about student gear bears repeating - they're made a bit differently, and they're humungous. You aren't going to want to be on a 280 for long - I remember coming down backwards more often than forwards on a 280, as I'm a small girl

As far as student jumpsuits, they're not so bad. I still grab one every so often if I need to be super floaty or whatever and don't have a sweater.

And yes it's true different coaches may dress you a bit differently at first. Although us coaches need to learn to fall with anyone, the reality is, why make it harder? If I see someone who I think is going to be super floaty, the last thing I want to do is put them in a super baggy cotton suit. Nice tight nylon all the way for me.

Plus, I know you don't feel this way now, but the reality is, most people don't stay in this sport much past AFF, and I heard once the average retention of a skydiver is 3-5 years. Don't know if that's true, but I do know how many AFF students our DZ graduates in a year and how many end up staying, even though 99.9% of them say "i'm gonna do this forever!!". I'd wait and see if you're going to stick around before buying new gear.

[promise5 17]

Thanks so much for all the responses and advice. I really do appreciate them. Though wearing a suit with a lot of "funk" still gets me.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[ILUVCHUTERS 1]

Bring Febreeze and Lysol spray

[fossg 0]

A lot depends on your personal situation. In order for me to get back into the sport I had to get my own stuff. Three years later I can say without reservation it was worth every penny

[promise5 17]

Maybe that should be a Febreeze commercial.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[boyfalldown 0]

Reading this thread brings back a lot of memories from my first year of jumping some fifteen years ago. Skydiving completely ruled my life and I spent every free moment at the d.z., even if it meant waiting around all day on a slow Thursday hoping for a walk in tandem to get the Cessna up for a load.

Being 20 and just having paid for aff and a beat to hell rig I was so broke I had to jack off just to feed my cat. The dzo understood my poor financial shape and would send me in to town to the laundromat on those slow days with all the dirty jumpsuits and a roll of quarters. That, emptying all the trash cans, and vacuuming the packing area would get me a couple of jump tickets for the coming weekend. Good times

If the funk scares you that much and you have the free time, you could always volunteer to do some laundry.

[chemist 0]

promise5

I've read through some of the other threads about what gear a new jumper can start buying and I'm already looking. But, I've asked a few jumpers why I shouldn't just go ahead and buy my own student rig. The answer I get is its a waste if money. So, please explain like I'm 5 why. My thoughts are: 1) Isn't a student rig and a first rig very similar? 2) why wouldn't I want to start with a rig that I'm going to continue to use for a while. I just don't see myself only using a student rig for 25 jumps, I would think I would use it longer because I started with it and I've gotten use to it. Same reason for buying a jumpsuit right away.

I'm so not questioning anyone's advice, I just tend to over think things.

Also I'm not a big fan of using someone's else's stuff.

I bought my own rig after my first couple of jumps. I now am done with my A license have 50 jumps and so far have not had any adverse effects of buying new other than it's a 'little' bulky.

Having a rig ordered motivated me to keep at it since I had to get my A license to use my own gear. Having all new gear is AWESOME, especially a crisp canopy, I love seeing that fresh thing open it flies so smooth, the lines are so much thinner than on the student rigs, it packs easy despite having heard otherwise. I never paid for gear rental because I had my rig ready right off student status and the list goes on. If you got the cash go for it.

EDIT: Just read your post more carefully. Definitely DO NOT buy your own student rig. Buying your first rig new has a lot of benefits as I mentioned above, but of course you can't buy your own gear to use during AFF nor would it make any sense to buy your own gear since it you still pay the same price for your student jumps using your gear or not. As a student you are going to downsize canopies literally in less than 10-15 jumps. When you're done with AFF you can settle into a size for a while.

[promise5 17]

I never thought of that!!
Dang I'll do the laundry!! I don't mind that at all,I'll even pay for it myself. Thanks.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[mattjw916 2]

You don't need to spend $7000 to achieve the same results though... and there's no way you're going to convince anyone who knows better that a brand new canopy that's made of slippery soarcoat type ZP, which is most of them, is "easy" to pack when new.

I've got a crispy new canopy in the closet and a split d-bag that would make all but the most experienced packers curse profusely.

Something made from Gelvenor like an older Nitro or low-bulk like the Pulse, sure... but soarcoat GTFO.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[DcloudZ 0]

It's only 8,000$, I don't understand why everyone makes such a big deal about it! Just buy your own rig for AFF, don't listen to everyone else... They're just jealous that they didn't buy a Nav240 as their first canopy.

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way." -Alan Watts

[promise5 17]

Thanks again for the responses, answers and patience.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[RiggerLee 61]

If you're female their patience with you will be endless. Some times I'm tempted to open a false account.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[promise5 17]

You must not have read the whole thread. I think I've tried a few people's patience on here.

let alone in Bon fire and SC.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[MacV 0]

Thank you very much for this post. I am thinking a

[cocheese 0]

Spend more time at the dz than this website. You have way too many posts for an unlicensed jumper. Don't even waste time replying to me.

[ChrisD 0]

I'm out at KRHV at the moment, and we have a student who's parents are funding his flight training, so they bought him a twin. Just to rack up hours in. In actuality, if he doesn't ding it, which is highly unlikely, they will sell this thing, after 500 hours or so for close to what they paid for it. This brings the per hour cost to well below rental cost.

Now I know that this may or may not have any bearing regarding new skydiving equipment, but if you have the cash...go for it!


Not only do you have total control over your equipment, god knows who or what happens to student gear when it's left on a strange rack overnight, and with the antics some pull at boogieees...????

You get to chose what you want for yor gear!

The peace of mind is worth it.


And as you progress I can help with your new gear selections as well....The color computer programs are great to play with.

C


and no I'm not calling you "Francis" I think if you have the cash go for it, the rest of them are just jelous....


As you can see if you remove "money" from this discussion, everyones arguments and comments...wEll they just fall apart....


Your supporting skydiving and your supporting me by purchasing new or used if that floats your boat. I thank you for that! just remember to start planning for the best by thinking somewhat ahead cause some suppliers take time to manufacture stuff...

Now if everyone could revisit this thread and just leave the cash word out, why shouldn't he / she purchase what they want????

I see more benefits than negative's....

But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

[DrDom 0]

Admittedly nothing is a "waste" of money if it is important to you. But ask yourself if you want to spend the money buying student ready gear (and still paying someone else to pack it) and then later transitioning to something different is ideal. What you buy now is money you wont have later. That few thousand bucks could be saved for what you want when you graduate (Which I hear is often not the same thing you trained on... even though right now I love my Nav260 student canopy. so pretty up there all red white and blue...).

I am not experienced enough to provide real skydive advice, but from a financial side, I feel like your SHWAGG (W = whistle. Required here as student) first and a suit is a better investment. But thats opinion only. If you're independantly wealthy and a few grand doesnt matter... then why even ask our opinion ;)

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[billvon 2,881]

>Say you buy your own student rig... Who are you going to sell it to when you are done with it?

Put it on a shelf?

>Note you yourself will not want a student rig any more in just 10-20 jumps...

Then she can buy another one.

If she has the money - I say go for it. She will keep a few gear companies making money and she'll have a shiny new rig.

[DrDom 0]

billvon

>Say you buy your own student rig... Who are you going to sell it to when you are done with it?

Put it on a shelf?

>Note you yourself will not want a student rig any more in just 10-20 jumps...

Then she can buy another one.

If she has the money - I say go for it. She will keep a few gear companies making money and she'll have a shiny new rig.

aaaaaaand when sold there are other newbies like me who may want some of the "barely used" merchandise in near new condition which helps everyone! Being a "full sized male" means it would probably be a downsize for me

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[gianquittia 0]

Interestingly enough I kind of agree with Chris D. It's a complete waste of money to buy a rig. Your going to downsize out of it pretty fast and want something new. Also it has to include all of the AFF stuff/safety requirements (not 100 percent sure what they all are, I did IAD.) That being said, if you're super rich and you feel like blowing money and want your own stuff, then buy it, as long as your instructors okay it. Chris D is right. If you take money out of the argument, then why not have your own stuff. You can just keep buying more stuff when you need it, because you are infinitely wealthy.

Be Happy!

[wasatchrider 0]

i got my own rig before aff a 210 or 220 or somthing used it for 10 or 15 jumps sold it to a bigger dude and made a couple hundred buck put it toward my 170 I still jump now. It can work out never had to rent a rig.

BASE 1519