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sub1427

parachute size? help me out please

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alright, very new to skydiving currently working on getting my USPA A license. I am looking around and doing some planning on a rig and was wondering what size chute i should use. I am 6'2" and weigh 190, I am not looking for a fast chute since im not in the sport for swooping or trick flying, I'm in it for the freeflying. Can anyone give me some insight on chute sizes, how that all works etc. All your help is greatly appreciated. blue skies.
Get High, Blue skies.

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Welcome to skydiving, Sub.

If you're working on your A license, then you have instructors. They're the folks who can give you guidance on canopy / equipment choices with the most knowledge of your particular needs. Go ask them what they think you should look at.

In the mean time, there are some nice references here:

http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Gear_and_Equipment/index.shtml
Owned by Remi #?

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There a re a lot of components that go into a parachute. There is the canopy size, the harness fit and the size canopies that the harness/container will hold. The best thing to do is to sit down and talk to your local instructors and riggers to see what they recommend for you. Sionce you weight 190 with out gear you are looking at ~25 pounds for a rig so our out the door weight is around 215.

There is a number called wingloading that you should learn about for your A licence, that is a ratio of your exit weight and your canopy size, for starting you don't want to go over 1:1 so a 210 is going to be about the smallest you should be looking at for canopies. Talk to instructors to see what type of canopy they recommend, some are set up to fly differently and you need to find the one that best matches your flying sytle.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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I'm only a beginner myself so I'm not really in a position to give you advice but I was just wondering how many jumps you have etc? I'm a little over 200lbs - about 240ish out the door - getting heavier ever week - (quit smoking not so long ago) and I have a Sabre 2, 230. People at my dz have asked why such a big canopy but let me tell you that thing feels fast to me! Anyway I'm happy with my big canopy and that's all that matters. It would probably be a good idea to do a search and look around previous posts, research wing loading as well and generally try to educate yourself about things. Anyway good luck with it.

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yeah ive had 5 jumps now, they are using large canopies for training which i like. Like i said before im not in the sport for the parachute ride down, i want something stable and forgiving that i can have a lot of control over. I am a poor college student and have come to the realization that skydiving is going to take over my life (both physically and financially) which is fine, its an awesome rush. so right now im looking for used complete rig for cheap since all my funds at the moment are currently dedicated to the aff course
Get High, Blue skies.

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All good advice but I urge caution, don't buy out of haste (as hard as that is, not to do). Nothing much worse than a white elephant or "boomerang gear"...stuff you can't even throw away. Whatever you're into today, might not be what you'll be into, at the end of the season. Not all gear is as marketable as we're sometimes told and sometimes, ya' just get stuck hangin' onto old gear.

Instructors' advice is prime, as long as they're truly familiar with you....not just quoting general recommendations, from some outdated guidebook or chart. Canopy design has improved, as well as selection and some of the old guidelines, may not exactly apply.
"T'was ever thus."

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Similar to you, I am in the sport for the freefall maneuvers (in my case I like RW), so I don't really care about fast canopys. I am 190 out of the door and I jump a 220 right now, and I was told I can go further down soon with my good landings. But why? I don't want to swoop and a safe landing is more important to me than a fast and "stylish" one.
If you don't go into extremes, I don't think there is something like a "too Big" canopy, same as you can't be "too safe"....:)

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IMO, buying too soon can be a mistake.
Buy used for your first rig, there are a LOT of bigger used rigs.
You'll be surprised at how fast you'll outgrow a canopy. I thought I'd never want to go faster, etc...

Everyone here told me "You'll eventually wanna go faster" and I said "Nah...not me."
I was wrong.:P

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yeah ive had 5 jumps now, they are using large canopies for training which i like. Like i said before im not in the sport for the parachute ride down, i want something stable and forgiving that i can have a lot of control over. I am a poor college student and have come to the realization that skydiving is going to take over my life (both physically and financially) which is fine, its an awesome rush. so right now im looking for used complete rig for cheap since all my funds at the moment are currently dedicated to the aff course



You can have a lot of fun under canopy. And I am not ever talking about swooping. One of my favorite times under canopy is a high pull at sunset load. That is just awesome. Watching the sunset sinking below the horizon as you become part of it. That is what it is all about.

Skydiving doesn't have to take over your life. I manage to keep skydiving as part of my life, but not be all about skydiving. There is a reasion why after the number of years in sport my number are still low.

I live so I can skydive, and I skydive to tell myself I am alive.

A 220 sqft main would be a good conservative main to start with. However I would say that you should wait until you have at least you A before you start to buy your rig.
Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

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alright, very new to skydiving currently working on getting my USPA A license. I am looking around and doing some planning on a rig and was wondering what size chute i should use. I am 6'2" and weigh 190, I am not looking for a fast chute since im not in the sport for swooping or trick flying, I'm in it for the freeflying. Can anyone give me some insight on chute sizes, how that all works etc. All your help is greatly appreciated. blue skies.



hi fellow nylon junky, since you are going for freeflying just buy the smallest canopy you could buy...but steer away from crossbrassed canopies like Velocity,Icarus VX....... they don`t work so well, this one`s tends to rust allot...if i be you id choose a 42"vented pilotchute...they are good ones

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I remember it was all about the free fall for me when I started skydiving. then my friend wanted to do a hope and pop in the Twin otter from 13,000. we did some no contact formation flying. after I landed I think the grin on my face was bigger than the one i had on my first skydive. case and point, don't write off stuff yet, you may like canopy piloting more than you think. wit hthat said, Brian Germain offers a canopy downsizing progression chart on his website: http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf

Generally in the beginning no more than a 1 to 1 wing loading, meaning if you're exit weight is 200 lbs, you should have roughly a 200 Sq foot parachute or bigger, if you get too light though, on the wing loading, you might find yourself having a hard time controlling the canopy (like a .5 to 1). seven cell canopies, like the PD spectre, and icarus Omega tend to be good for beginners, but nine cells like the Performance designs Sabre 2, icarus saffire and aerodyne Pilot are good for beginners at light wing loading also, while at higher wing loading you get get some decent performance out of them. try not to get anything highly elliptical and definately go for ZP (zero porosity). also, if you buy new, unles you're a packer, you might have trouble getting the new material packed (the material is slippery when new) so buying used is not a bad idea for a first canopy. look for something with around 500 jumps and a recent line set. it should be much easier to pack and the price drops quite a bit with number of jumps (average is $1 per jump). if someone put 500 jumps on an $1,800 dollar canopy then it's probably worth $1,300 (though if it needs a line set you might be able to bargain with the seller and get it cheaper) again that's just a rule of thumb. well man, good luck with your search and blue skies

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