Is it cheaper once you get your own gear?

[b_dog 0]

Getting into skydiving is expensive, no doubt with all the training jumps and renting gear and perhaps finally saving up to buy your own gear.

But once you're certified/licensed and can jump on your own without supervision, and once you have saved up and purchased your own skydiving equipment, does it become cheaper?

Then all you need to pay for at the DZ is a spot on the plane. No?

[kelpdiver 2]

Of course.

Instead of $150-200 for an AFF jump, or even 35-50 for a jump ticket plus rental, it's 15-22$. So long as you only do forward accounting, it's damn cheap. A nice day of 5 jumps, gas, lunch and drinks is still less than one AFF jump.

The catch is I spent over 7000 to get to that point.

[RossDagley 0]

Kelps hit it right on.

Pass your AFF, lump up for gear (good used gear from $1500 up through to all new at $7k+) and the price plummets - just like you Only pay for the jump ticket.

[airdweller 0]

But once you're certified/licensed and can jump on your own without supervision, and once you have saved up and purchased your own skydiving equipment, does it become cheaper?
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Yes

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"From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant,
who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" C. Montgomery Burns

[dan_iv 0]

i'll go against the grain a little bit here...

after you get your license and buy your own gear you'll need to then save up for a jumpsuit, and / or maybe a freefly suit, when you can afford that you'll be thinking about starting to save up for your next canopy. Then by then you might want to demo a wingsuit or maybe do some CRW in which case you might want to look into a 7 cell lightning main or something similar to that, then it will be about time to send your cypress off for maintance or maybe it's time for a new cypress or vigil by then? all the time your jumping and paying for reserve repacks and buying lunch, gas, etc...

oh yeah, don't forget about all the beer your going to owe too!

[iwasinkheson68 0]

yep. jumps are alot cheaper, but there is always a neww bit of kit to buy, i need an ff suit, camera helmet *plus cameras), then maybe a new reserve, repacks, a funky new alti or audible, maybe a birdman suit, trip to the states, some tracking pants.....the list is endless. sure you stop paying 500 bucks a weekend for jumps, but there is always something else you need to buy. but, it's worth every penny dude.

[b_dog 0]

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after you get your license and buy your own gear you'll need to then save up for a jumpsuit, and / or maybe a freefly suit, when you can afford that you'll be thinking about starting to save up for your next canopy. Then by then you might want to demo a wingsuit or maybe do some CRW in which case you might want to look into a 7 cell lightning main or something similar to that, then it will be about time to send your cypress off for maintance or maybe it's time for a new cypress or vigil by then? all the time your jumping and paying for reserve repacks and buying lunch, gas, etc...[/QUOTE]

Someone always has to shoot the hope down.

Ah well, I guess I just won't go for the bells 'n whistles then.

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[b_dog 0]

[QUOTE]but, it's worth every penny dude.[/QUOTE]

Of course. The problem is that you need every penny to begin with.

[f1shlips 2]

Yes... but you just end up jumping more. I guess, in the end, you get more jumps for your buck, but you end up just as broke. ;P

--
drop zone (drop'zone) n. An incestuous sesspool of broken people. -- Attributed to a whuffo girlfriend.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Nope - it gets worse. You start looking for more jumps in a weekend, new gear, new toys, etc.....its a money/time sink. But, if you enjoy it you will never notice.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Skydiving will never be "cheap", but yes, once you get your own gear and are done with training the twenty bucks it costs to make a jump doesn't hurt that bad.

[b_dog 0]

I know it won't ever be *cheap* but at least if it's cheaper (than it is at the outset) then maybe I won't have to live off of a sole diet of top ramien to afford it.

[labrys 0]

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I know it won't ever be *cheap* but at least if it's cheaper (than it is at the outset) then maybe I won't have to live off of a sole diet of top ramien to afford it.

Don't you know that Top Ramen is expensive? If you mass produce your own from scratch it's cheaper and healthier

Owned by Remi #?

[jsaxton 0]

No.
As the old saying goes:
"Your next 2 paychecks, and half of every paycheck after that."

[cocheese 0]

What's the first rule in EMT ?
"You're going to be ok "
Don't think of it as cheaper, think of it as more comfortable/safer/fun/way of life/living.
$20 to be superman or an astronaut for a minute ?
I'm in.

[cave_nate 0]

it is really nice t o have your own gear. eliminates many hassles. so buy new , buy used . take care of it and it will take care of you. i never regretted getting my rig.

[mdrejhon 8]

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Of course.

Instead of $150-200 for an AFF jump, or even 35-50 for a jump ticket plus rental, it's 15-22$. So long as you only do forward accounting, it's damn cheap. A nice day of 5 jumps, gas, lunch and drinks is still less than one AFF jump.

The catch is I spent over 7000 to get to that point.

Bingo.

I'm already past this point (painful ouch!).

Own my own gear. Now I can jump 10 times in one weekend for the same price as one tandem. Whoo!

I got used gear. It's not too bad if you budget future purhcases well. I expect about $500 average per year for minimum maintenance/membership/reserve repack/cypres costs. It'll be more than that when I feel like doing something new (i.e. freefly next year, or travelling to a dropzone in USA, rig upgrade in maybe 5 years), but I can rest safe that I know that if I'm poor, I can scrape about 50 full altitude freefall jumps (or 100 hop-n-pops) per year on less than $2000 to stay current. That's under $200 per month. Reality will be, I'll probably spend more than that in the near term.

[thegreekone 0]

Then all you need to pay for at the DZ is a spot on the plane. No?

[GravityGirl 0]

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Kelps hit it right on.

Pass your AFF, lump up for gear (good used gear from $1500 up through to all new at $7k+) and the price plummets - just like you Only pay for the jump ticket.

Pray tell? Where do you find good used gear for $1,500.00? This information could be very usefull to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[RossDagley 0]

lol. I was thinking "acceptable" when I said "good"

Cypres with only a few years left on it, rig that doesn't have to be freefly friendly etc due to your low experience, that kind of thing. Something you can pass on to the next guy when your done and not loose a stack of cash on, in an everyone benefits kinda way

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[ntrprnr 0]

Yeah, not necesarilly including gas lately. :-)

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[ntrprnr 0]

That's my biggest fear - I can totally see myself already - "Well, my gear comes in around November... I suppose I could take a weekend in Miami, or perhaps one in Arizona... Hmm... Continental flies there...."

As my 96-year-old grandma says... "Oy. V-Osh-k'vuffin f'gelt." Yiddush for "You! You throw your money away!"

Hee. :)

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Then all you need to pay for at the DZ is a spot on the plane. No?

You think you have the bug NOW? Wait till you really start to fly. One day your getting pinned, the next you are deciding the best time of year to make a trip to Perris, Eloy, Deland, Z-hills...etc.

enjoy....you can always make more money

[StevePhelps 0]

I doubt if it is "cheaper" per se. Most people have a set amount of money to spend on skydiving. I bet you spend the same amount, but make more jumps.

It like people in their homes. Most people live in the most expensive home they can afford. They refinince or ge a raise? They move up in the size of the home.

So if you have $400 o spend for skydiving I bet you spend that. Mayber not 2-3 jumps ate $150 a piece, but in 10-20 jumps at $20 a piece, plus throw in what you spend in altimeres, helmets, rigs, reserve repacks, jumpsuits, etc. and I doubt you'll find skydivng "cheaper" as you progress.

[StevePhelps 0]

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Pray tell? Where do you find good used gear for $1,500.00? This information could be very usefull to me.

When I started back jumping 5 years ago I bought a VEctor container and Raven 3 reserve for $500. I then bought a Sabre 230 for $500. Mos through dropzone.com clasifieds. They served their purpose for a few months or so.

[goose491 0]

Yes and No.

The price of a jump may get cheaper... but then you just do more!

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!