egons 0 #26 December 9, 2004 Not a single one of our Sponsored Jumpers is contractually bound to sell or push our product. To give you an idea of sponsorships... our athletes are not head hunted, but approach us! They feel our product will suite their needs and saftey concerns. RWS has not got a very extensive sponsorship program, and rather chooses to go with athletes who believe in our products - they sign no contract as I am not going to force anyone to jump a Micron because he signed a document. In fact the majority of our sponsored athletes do not compete. A good portion of them are world class coaches who believe in our product and are extremely knowledgable in gear safety! This is and has become extremely important when coming to all the disciplines availible especially like freeflying - I have sat in on many of our sponsored athletes couching clinics and they provide an invaluable service to the skydiving community. I will back any one of our sponsored athletes 100% unless they prove me wrong with misrepresenting themselves. I see plenty people in these forums offering advice who seldom have the experience to be giving it. As for Dave - he is taking it personally and he feels he needs to spread the word - thats good, but that is his opinion on gear. One thing for sure and that is that many individuals on dz.com seem to have the perception that we are not approachable - this is so wrong. People are so entitled and welcomed to call manufacturers with questions they have. If you feel that there is someone who is sponsored and is misrepresenting a product then take it up with that manufacturer - its the least you could do. Just keep in mind that most sponsored jumpers are extremely passionate about their gear, and always working with the manufacturers to improve product - they are an extremely important part of engineering. As for flagging people - hell I am all for it. But don't do it in such a way to warn people against their advice, but so that people take extra note when they mention something... I do think this thread has brought up some important issues - but lets look after our sponsored athletes... they are taking and pushing this sport to newer limits, so lets rather applaud them, as apposed to bashing them! Just a thought! Egon "Start doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
egons 0 #27 December 9, 2004 One thing we must not forget - this from a sponsored jumper who does a lot more for this sport than most people I know! "Most sponsored jumpers spent tens of thousands of $$ to even get to the level where they might be considered for sponsorship! People seem to forget that fact." That statement is so true! Think about that. Cheers Egon "Start doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob.dino 0 #28 December 9, 2004 QuoteAs for flagging people - hell I am all for it. But don't do it in such a way to warn people against their advice, but so that people take extra note when they mention something... I think this nicely sums up my aim in this thread - you've just phrased it better than I've so far managed . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob.dino 0 #29 December 9, 2004 Quote"Most sponsored jumpers spent tens of thousands of $$ to even get to the level where they might be considered for sponsorship! People seem to forget that fact." Indeed. And I don't begrudge them the free/discounted gear for a minute. More power to them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaGimp 0 #30 December 10, 2004 You know, all this talk about "how would you know if your sponsered"......you know if your sponsered and dave put it right out there....... "every sponsered jumper entered in either a contractal or verbal agreement, weather its 1/2 off by "spreading the word" or pushing the product." I myself am sponsered by wings and icarus....do i push a crossfire 99 (what i jump) obto a lower number jumper......no....i tell them about icarus and what type canopy they sell which would suit them best. I agree with dave....sponsered jumpers will have a sort of biased opinion because thats the agreement they entered into......get stuff reduced price/free....push our product. But in turn i dont think they will give bad information, or push a canopy/container onto someone who isnt "qualified" for it."Professor of Pimpology"~~~Bolas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightingale 0 #31 December 26, 2004 I think that marking sponsored jumpers is a nice feature, but not really necessary. I jump at Perris, so, while I'm not sponsored myself, I know several sponsored jumpers. What I've gathered from them is that the majority of them are sponsored by companies that they'd purchase gear from anyway, so it doesn't seem like they're any more biased than any other jumper who likes their gear. They seem to jump what they like, and getting it for cheaper is a nice bonus. A friend (who was not trying to get me to buy gear) put it this way..."I'm sponsored by *company*, but even if I wasn't, I'd buy one, because I think they're the best out there, and they're what I feel most comfortable using." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyana3 0 #32 January 3, 2005 hey how 'bout this? instead of finding a way to mark sponsored jumpers (people that actually help the sport) let's find a way to mark people that are on canopies that are too much for them and find a way to say ,"No, actually you ARE NOT jumping that here." now that would be worth a little effort... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
