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MADPROPS

What size canopy to get the GF

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#1 she needs the student gear so she can make a few mistakes and lessen the chance of a major oops. (your not getting sex when shes in a body cast!)
#2 you should not be buying her gear, but spend the money more wisely on beer for the dz (eventually she will get her OWN gear and owe beer again!)
#3 you should break up with her BEFORE you go on the skydive trip. (that makes it less awkward for both of you when she leaves you for the hot lesbian instructor)
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

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billvon

Whatever you do, do NOT buy her gear until she is off student status! There's nothing worse than buying a new student gear to put all kinds of pressure on them. Pressure to stay in the sport if they don't like it. Pressure to jump the gear even if they're not ready for it. Pressure to avoid their home DZ with all those busybodies who say they are not ready for the gear. Pressure to not disappoint you.

Save the money and buy her gear when she's ready for it and knows what she wants.



Also, if you plan on getting married soon, remember to account for the wedding cake effect on wingloadingB|:o:)
Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

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I was just asking if a 150 was ok for a first wing cause that would put her at the same wing loading I was at when I got gear.




Unless you weigh 140, it's not the same. A smaller canopy at the same WL will fly and turn faster than a larger one. A 190 at 1.0wl is much different than a 150 at 1.0wl.

Even if you weigh 140, you are two different people. You might be a far more talented canopy pilot than your GF turns out to be.

The best advice for this whole situation is to step back and just let it progress naturally. She needs to start jumping and keep jumping on her own terms, and at her own pace. You can be there to support her, and share in her experiences, but always from one step behind letting her take the lead on all of 'her' decisions.

It's a tough spot for you as her 'experienced' skydiver BF, and it will take a deliberate effort to keep yourself one step behind the process, but it is up to you to realize the influence that you could (and probably do) have over her, and especially her jumping, and make the effort to let her 'find her own way' (which is not to say she's going to be alone, she'll have the same oversight from instructors that everyone else has, but it just needs to be limited to them and her when it comes to the why and how she's going to become a jumper).

Just make sure she knows that she can quit jumping at any time and that it's 100% OK with you. Lot's people tell me that they could 'never' jump, even a tandem, and the reply I've used for years with these people is simply, 'I understand, skydiving isn't for everyone'. They're not bad or inferior people, they're just not 'wired' for skydiving, and that's OK.

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F-111 canopies are of a different design with less performance and the performance degrades over time. When modern F-111 canopies appeared the smallest available was 170-180 and these were not for newbies.

I busted up a leg years ago. I needed a lot of canopy for awhile. I had a Manta 280 F-111 9 cell and a Sabre 190 zp. When I wanted a guaranteed soft landing I grabbed the sabre.

Even though F-111 reserves are available much smaller (way too small in my opinion) people get away with them because they are essentially brand new canopies when jumped.
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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MADPROPS

Hey my Girlfriend is just about to start jumping and I have a chance to pick up some good gear for a great price. I was just wondering what would be safe. The rig I'm looking at is a Sabre 1 150. She weighs 140 lbs and is 5'8 1/2. She has picked up a lot of sports I do like kayaking, Free diving and some others plus she used to play fast pitch (like softball but crazy fast pitching) at a really high level. I would just like to get your thoughts on that wing loading (1/1.03) with that canopy. I will have her out on a small hill doing some ground handling and what not with one of my bigger speed wings so she could do 50 landings and 3 or 4 hours

Any advise would be really great. I down sized really fast so I want to get a scope of how you guys started out and what worked



Hold your horses and wait until she is done with the AFF. Don't spoil your girlfriend with gear as it will be your headache when she leaves you for the local sky-god, taking her on for some "coaching" ;)

On a more serious note... I wouldn't put a PD-sabre I, PDF-merit or any other canopy with a hard opening reputation in any rig no matter if someone gave it to me. Go for something like a spectre 170sqf instead for soft consistent openings and low probability of slammers.

Let her do some rental jumps this year, and if all goes well you can spend the winter looking for gear together for the next season. This way she will have some rental jumps up her sleeve and you know if she is an ass landing queen who should be equipped with a huge navigator 280, FLiK 308 dropped in zero wind on a grassy field or.. if she might handle a spectre 170/150 ;)

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Take a look at the PD Sabre 2 sizing chart here: http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/Sabre2-Flight.PDF

As you can see, they do not recommend any of the sizes for a student (**see the note at the bottom). For a student/novice of 140 lb (and let's face it, add 5-10 lbs to the weight any woman claims to be) and you will see a 150 is most certainly NOT a suitable size for your girlfriend. (You will notice their weights are EXIT WEIGHTS - ie: with gear.)

I've said it before and I will keep saying it. Small girl DOES NOT MEAN 1:1 loading is perfectly safe... I still jump the canopy I bought when I had 20-ish jumps... It's a Sabre 1, 135. I can attest to the fact that I was VERY lucky not to get injured on my first 100 jumps on it. Smaller canopy = shorter lines (among other things) = more responsive = unsuitable for beginner. Period. Again, cannot stress enough what a BAD idea it is for you to get her anything near a 150. Have a look at PD's recommendations. They are a very good guide.

Besides... Personally, speaking as a girl, shopping around for my very first rig was a joy. Not only did I ask a lot of questions to figure out what I wanted, but I learned A LOT in the process and was soooooooo delighted when I finally found what I wanted. Shame I got bad advice about the size - wish someone had pointed me to the sizing charts but this was over 10 years ago, so information was a little less available. Don't rob her of this process - it's good for her to buy her first gear. Just my two cents.
"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

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This thread mentions main canopies a whole lot. I don't see any mention of RESERVE canopies in here... Just something to think about since you're not going to buy the rig now (right?): if a 150 main is too small, what size of reserve canopy was in that rig?

ciel bleu,
Saskia

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>you may take my word if you want that I want no pressure to be put on her.

I believe you - but just getting her the gear will put pressure on her to jump it. You jump what you have, not what you want.

>when she is ready for gear ill most likely pick up a reserve and a container and then go
>main shopping with her. I have a friend her size that jumps so she can help.

Sounds like a much better plan. I'd also suggest that you go container shopping with her; small women especially face a lot of challenges in finding gear that fits well. And poorly fitting gear is definitely a problem.

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billvon

>you may take my word if you want that I want no pressure to be put on her.

I believe you - but just getting her the gear will put pressure on her to jump it. You jump what you have, not what you want.

>when she is ready for gear ill most likely pick up a reserve and a container and then go
>main shopping with her. I have a friend her size that jumps so she can help.

Sounds like a much better plan. I'd also suggest that you go container shopping with her; small women especially face a lot of challenges in finding gear that fits well. And poorly fitting gear is definitely a problem.



I have a twin to use for sizing lol
live and let live

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I just wanted to have a gift for her B-day when we got back.



In that case then, creating a congratulatory/birthday card, with a "good for your 1st full kit/gear purchase" certificate within it (for when she is ready ...as others have already covered well enough in here for you, without me also jumping on that bandwagon) - will do the trick.

Hopefully, she will even still be your active GF and all too, at that time/when that time comes! :P

Good luck with the whole - got me a gf, and now I'm bringing her into this schtick... schtick!!!
coitus non circum - Moab Stone

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MADPROPS

Hey my Girlfriend is just about to start jumping and I have a chance to pick up some good gear for a great price. I was just wondering what would be safe. The rig I'm looking at is a Sabre 1 150. She weighs 140 lbs and is 5'8 1/2. She has picked up a lot of sports I do like kayaking, Free diving and some others plus she used to play fast pitch (like softball but crazy fast pitching) at a really high level. I would just like to get your thoughts on that wing loading (1/1.03) with that canopy. I will have her out on a small hill doing some ground handling and what not with one of my bigger speed wings so she could do 50 landings and 3 or 4 hours

Any advise would be really great. I down sized really fast so I want to get a scope of how you guys started out and what worked



I got my rig when I had 20 jumps. My WL is about 0.93. With almost 300 jumps I can still land it fairly well. Get her something larger, not something with more risk because it is a good deal.

Broken bones are more expensive in the long run.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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Nataly

Personally, speaking as a girl, shopping around for my very first rig was a joy. Not only did I ask a lot of questions to figure out what I wanted, but I learned A LOT in the process and was soooooooo delighted when I finally found what I wanted.



Listen to Nataly. She knows what she's talking about. Ladies especially enjoy picking out the color scheme. For this year's birthday gift, get your SO some tunnel time or a badass freefall computer or digital alti. If things work out, you can spring for a new rig next year.

And please don't be one of those boyfriends that pressures their lady into doing stuff she's not ready for. I've seen it too many times...hell, I've been guilty of it. Remember that every skydiver has a different progression and learning curve. It's all part of the process. B|B|B|

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