Recommending gear to new jumpers

[PhreeZone 14]

Its a common thing on these fourms when a new jumper is asking about getting gear to "ask your instructor", but how up to date are instructors in gear choices?

The current school of thought seems to be to put students on canopies at 1:1 or about at ~25 jumps and as long as its a Semi-elliptical they should be fine. But when is the last time that any of the people reccommending that canopy actually tried a canopy similar to that to see how it actually flies and lands? Since the new jumpers are going to be coming to their instructors on advice on how to fly and land the canopy is it fair to expect that the instructors have at least had some experience on something similar to assist?

I see instructors flying Velocitys, and Stilettos that are heavly loaded but have never jumped a Sabre2 or its been so many years since they last jumped under a 1.5:1 loading that they can't remember what its like anymore. Also I see instuctors jumping Vector 2's, old school velcro Racer's and I see this as a disconnect problem since the instructor has completely lost the frame of refrence on how input's respond to a canopy at that loading. I'm not saying that instructors should not jump Velocitys' but I think that jumping a student canopy a few times a year might help instructors to connect with students that are having canopy control issues. I had completly forgot how heavy of front riser pressure Manta's had until I went and jumped one again last summer. It suddenly made sense to me on why the girls were saying they could'nt do front riser turns at all up high.

Along similar lines of thought are how much attention do you pay to a person that comes to you asking for gear advice? Is watching a single landing good enough to make the decision on if a 170 or a 190 would be a better choice for them? Do you spend more time working with them? How many landings do you want to see before making a reccommendation? Or do you just direct them to their rigger instead?

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Parachutemanuals.com

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If I'm jumping where there is a manufacturer or their rep providing a wide range of canopies to demo, I try out the bigger ones so I have some idea what it would be like for someone with less experience.

The 4 different canopies I normally fly are so diverse anyway, and I don't plan to buy anything new soon, so this seems to be a good use of a demo opportunity.

I heartily recommend this to any experienced jumper.

[diablopilot 2]

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. But when is the last time that any of the people reccommending that canopy actually tried a canopy similar to that to see how it actually flies and lands?

Last week.

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Since the new jumpers are going to be coming to their instructors on advice on how to fly and land the canopy is it fair to expect that the instructors have at least had some experience on something similar to assist?

Yep. Very important. Too many times an "instructor" simply spouts out what ever parrot party line they are favoring that week.

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The current school of thought seems to be to put students on canopies at 1:1 or about at ~25 jumps and as long as its a Semi-elliptical they should be fine.

Dangerous thinking. Not "everyone" fits the stereotype. Some really need to be on a .8 loaded 7 cell, some better on a 9 cell, no one under a hundred jumps should ever need to be on a 107 even if they load it at 1.0 or less (line lengths are too short).

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Along similar lines of thought are how much attention do you pay to a person that comes to you asking for gear advice?

If they are really willing to listen, as much as they want.

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Is watching a single landing good enough to make the decision on if a 170 or a 190 would be a better choice for them?

Depends. Probably not.

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Or do you just direct them to their rigger instead?

Sometimes they know even less or are poorer sources of information than instructors. How many riggers have you known that make 50 or less jumps a year? Or maybe they jump alot, but not alot of gear.

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