Kalrigan

Hetfield is a god.

Good news, good luck friend. :) Keep us updated.

No, no, no no no no NOOO ! I don't even get on the plane unless everything is the way it's supposed to be, and I have checked 28934923842 times. Even then, on the ride up I'm still checking. I can't even picture myself or anyone, undoing their chest strap for comfort.

Yes that's pretty much what I was wondering. Just how bad if it to have both the main and reserve fall under tight, which is still ok in the manufacturer's chart. Is it ok for both to fall under tight or is it only allowed for one of them to be?

You're going about this the wrong way. Step 1: choose a reserve size appropriate for you Step 2: choose a main canopy size appropriate for you Step 3: choose a container that fits both these canopies + your body. Aside from packing issues, overstuffing a container can lead to opening issues both of the main and of the reserve (!!) and can lead to damage to your containers. Been there, done that, bad idea all round (and expensive having to replace bags and flaps). Oh no you misunderstood me, I'm not going that way. I'm just learning and trying to understand how these things work and what's the better way to approach things. I'm shopping for rigs and this was something that caught my attention that I realized I don't completely understand so I figured I would ask.

So in a situation like this, you're better off going with a smaller main or reserve correct? Like let's say a PD143 for example?

I'm not asking about the really tight ones, you know the ones that manufacturers don't even recommend. Here is an example: Aerodyne says on their sizing chart that an I4 will fit a 150 main but it's tight, and a 150 reserve with an AAD but it's tight. They do mention that it's Aerodyne canopies so let's say a Pilot and a Smart. This got me curious, would having both fall under the "tight" category be a bad thing?

Well shit, I want that offer.

Here I thought I was the only one who didn't get one... Don't feel too bad, I've NEVER gotten one of these letters to help some poor African heiress with her millions. I got two of them. Would you like me to forward one to you? I'll be happy with only 4.5 mill. 9 mill would be too much for me, I would had more rigs than I would know what to do with.

OMG I just checked and she sent me the same message, TWICE!!! Does that mean I get 9 mill? :D:D:D Let's combine that money and open a Super Mega Sofia Johnson Dropzone.

The more I see people talking about hips rings the more I want them. :(

I would honestly love to get something articulated, hip rings and what not even for a first rig, magnets and stainless steel I can pass on. To be frank, I don't think I'm ready for a 150. I mean I'm very comfortable on a 170, but there is a lot for me to learn still. I don't know how comfortable I would be dropping to a 150 right now. I don't wanna rush things, especially when it comes to my safety. I appreciate the offer, if I change my mind I'll let you know.

That's great to know, thanks a lot for the informative post. I'll definitely try and find used, but my time is running out. A lot of Canadians hit up Z-hills in Feb, and if I get a rig I would be able to go. Hence I'm trying to find one ASAP.

Try this too. Seems to have a good rotation of new listings. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SkydivingGear/ Oh sweet, that will help.

Well I'm 5'10 and 155 lbs. I'm looking for a container that would hold a 150-170, if comes with a main hoping for a Pilot 168. For some reason everything I've found is either bigger or smaller, nothing that would have worked. Well except this one mirage but the guy wanted $5400.

So I've been trying to find a used rig for a while and so far no luck. I'm still looking but just in case I can't find anything that will work, I've started thinking about getting a new container with used main and reserve. I know what main I want, and reserve etc... except container. Preferably something tha would be read in less than 2 months. I've been looking at different container and many of them have different options. I have a few questions: are magnetic riser covers important? What about articulated hip rings? Wtf is that anyway, how do they help I mean? Cut in laterals? Is stainless steel important to have? Kill line options, and what not? What I'm trying to ask is, what options would you say are a necessity and which ones would fall under luxury? I'm just looking for stuff I need rather than simply luxurious needs.

That will happen. I haven't seen my non skydiving friends in months. I haven't been to a bar, or a club, or whatever else in god knows how long. All I've done this summer is spend it at the DZ. Jumping or not, weather hold or not, that's all I've done. Zero regrets.

I don't have one myself just yet, I'm waiting to get properly measured up so I can order one, but a few of my friends have these suits and they're freaking awesome. Hell, I tried one of theirs and it's really great. They feel great, they fly great, they look awesome, and they're tough as hell. When I started looking into suits, I was shopping around basically, until I saw and tried one of these suits on and totally fell in love with them. Can't wait to get measured up and get my order sent in.

That loud, eh? Yeah, they're pretty loud hah.

First things I bought were: Helmet. Altimeter. Goggles. Gloves. Got rid of helmet, and got a full face instead. Jumpsuit is going to be custom made, so until it's done one my instructors was kind enough to lend me his RW suit so I can start getting used to booties, the DZ ones are crap and have no booties. Then now I'm starting to look for rigs.

I never had the honor to meet him, but I hear he was a good man. He has helped me quite a few times when I contacted CSPA, he was always a pleasure to deal with. BSBD sir.

The more you think about it, the worse it gets. What you need to do is just go through with it. I was scared shitless on my way to solo. There were days where I would be driving to the DZ, and all the way there I kept telling myself: What the fuck am I doing? Why the hell am I doing this crazy stuff? This isn't normal, I shouldn't be jumping OUT of planes, that's just not right. Or sit in the parking lot, chain smoke, and hope for someone to come out, drag me out of the car, strap me to a rig, and throw me out of a plane. It's normal, the fact that you feel that makes you human. It is foreign ground for us to be flying, it's not our normal place to be in. What helped me was hanging out at the DZ, for a bit before every jump. Talk to people, meet people, watch people land, see how happy they are on the way back to the hanger. That got me excited, and I would eventually go up. The fear would come back on the climb, up until the door. The second I leave the door, it all went away. Everything I was scared of went away and I was just freefalling. I wish I could show you the video of my first 2-3 PFF (AFF equivalent here in Canada), you can see how fucking terrified I was. I was watching my first jump the other day with one of my instructors and we were laughing our asses off. He goes look how things have changed, look at you now. Here is the thing, that feeling didn't really go away until I decided after getting my solo to simply go on some fun jumps. No stress of having to repeat a jump, nothing. Just me, and the sky just playing around. That calmed me down so much. After that I have had no more fear whatsoever. I realized I was stressing myself way too much, and thankfully my instructors were fucking awesome and kept me clam through every jump during progression, as much as they humanly could at least. You just have to muscle through these early stages, and once it clicks, it just works and you'll start feeling so great that you'll start getting withdrawals when you're not jumping. Embrace that fear, fight it, and beat it. It's so freaking worth it.

So went up today, for more 170 practice, it was a bit sketchy wind wise today, I tried some good stuff following Brian Germain's checklist. Definitely sticking to the 170, like 100%, for at least 200 jumps. Gonna start looking at 170s for sale, or piece a rig together, we'll see how it goes. Thanks friends, blue skies. It was very informative and eye opening reading your replies.

That's some great info, I appreciate your honest reply. I will take every bit of this into consideration and I will be sticking with the 170. I miss you Ozzie, get better dude. :( Since you're grounded now, wanna help me find a nice 170? Haha. Thank you chuckakers, I appreciate your feedback big time and I will take it close to heart. Don't worry, people like NeonLights seem like they have nothing better to do, I'm not too concerned about what they say. Well, time to find a rig with a 170. Thank you all, I appreciate all of your replies, information, sharing your experience, links etc... I'll still be speaking to my instructors, they've seen me fly my canopies while most of you haven't. Not going smaller than 170 though, if anything, might consider going back up to 190. We'll see.

Your equipment very likely weighs more than you're estimating. It won't make a huge difference, but you might as well get it right. 20 pounds was always the rough estimate I was told to use for the equipment. I should weigh myself one day with all my stuff on just to be exactly sure.