chriscchristoph

Haha, What Vader said. Or engineer a machine that packs for us. DZ packers will hate you, but you will have plenty of money to put on your account.

I can only speak from personal experience, but if I were in your shoes I would get that suit fitted to you now and jump it when youre licensed. The debate about using it through student jumps is beyond me, and honestly it may be best to know that you can get licensed without it. But once youre fun jumping you need to put it on. To put my entire reasoning in a short explanation... I began using a suit with booties around jump #95 and my first thought was "DAMN why didnt I use these earlier!".

Thanks for the input. Yeah I definitely am going to talk to someone at my home DZ with experience about it in more depth. But what you said makes sense. I didnt know the pilot and sabre 2 were as similar as you consider them I know little to nothing about canopies and their performance though.

The other day at the DZ I was chatting with some people about what I would like to downsize to when the time comes, and it wont be soon so dont worry. But the topic came up that if I downsize from a pilot 168 to say a Sabre 2 150 it would be a drastic change because of how flat the pilot is. So my plan is to change my canopy from the pilot I currently fly at 1.19 to a Storm 170. I know the 7 cell will be a little bit different as well. More than anything I just want to hear what yall think about this mindset of changing canopy types at the same size to better prepare for when I do downsize down the road. Im definitely planning on talking to my rigger along with other people I know that are qualified to give me advice. So im not going to rely solely on this forum to make my decision, but I am curious to see what yall think. Thanks in advance, Chris

And oddly Cookie's M1 Freefly, carbon fiber, is the cheapest cookie on chutingstar for $190

Haha yeah.. I noticed I did that moments after posting it but I didnt want to delete and repost the poll after people had voted. (cant edit polls)

I noticed the same thing on the cookie website, im looking into getting a G3 myself. But its odd to me that its nearly impossible to find a used G3 for sale, especially size XL, when the market is so flooded with them. Maybe they're so good no one wants to sell them. Anyways interesting observation, but I would assume Cookie is going to come out with an entire new line of helmets soon seeing that Chutingstar is dumping the 'old stuff' for sale and Cookie is only marketing a few current helmets. My .002

Theres a 20 way competition at Skydive Spaceland this weekend and im stoked to go down there and watch these guys. Made me wonder how many jumps the average skydiver had on their first 20 way. I have 95 jumps and my biggest way is a 10 way.

Like everyone said, its difficult to give advice when we dont know the entire story. But regardless if you dont have thick skin you may not make it in the sport. Odds are that either before graduating AFF and/or within your first few hundred jumps youre going to make a handful of beginner mistakes. And people ARE going to confront you about it, and likely those people are not going to sugar coat shit because its not just your safety that is in trouble but everyone else in the sky. So if this one experience of someone giving you a tone that was less than friendly is making you question skydiving I would possibly advise cutting your loses. I have been called out once or twice for stupid landed patterns etc. but I took it with a grain of salt and realized that it was to better me not to belittle me. Just my .02

I had a similar conflict in choices when I bought my rig early on. I know little to nothing about gear so what im posting isnt coming from me, but is coming from a dealer that helped me pick what I needed that I trust very much. He said simply, like another poster has already mentioned, that one of the primary things to make sure is right is that the container harness fits you correctly. I ended up buying all new except for my cypress. But he suggested that I buy my container new and the canopies used. If you are concerned with downsizing soon after you can get a container set for the size canopy below what you jump now and buy a pilot zpx or a pulse, they can typically fit in a d bag made for the size down. I know alot of people are against that but it is an option. Hope everything works out and youre in the sky with your own gear soon!

Most definitely will, I talked to a knowledgeable guy at my home DZ as well and he had some good stuff to say. I kind of assumed that there wasnt any great benefit to these stows because I have never seen anyone use them, but I was more curious as to why they werent as good. The posts helped alot, thanks for the replys guys!

Ok im completely green when it comes to packing, actually just made my first full pack job yesterday on my rig so take it easy on me. (I was able to do everything besides bagging it until then). I really just wanted to know what yall thought of these: http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/silibands-stow-bands http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/silirings-stow-bands-3389 http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/tube-stoes compared to the conventional rubber bands. Ive never seen anyone use these so I guess its safe to assume they are no better but I had to ask anyway. And my other two short questions are what is the advantage/disadvantage to double stows v.s. single stows, and whats the deal with the "stowless bag" do they make them fit custom to your rig or are they 'universal'? Thanks in advance yall.

Haha, "lets just hug and never let go". Some of the most fun ive had so far in the sport as been from my 'mishaps'.

http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/chroma-visual-altitude-indicator A visual altimeter, seems pretty rad. I have never used an audible before but I would imagine me liking this more. Just curious if anyone has used this or somthing like it and like/disliked it.

Seems there is a pretty large consensus that my jump numbers are nowhere near where they need to be. I appreciate all the advice. I kinda knew that would be too aggressive of a move for now but that chart I posted earlier made it seem like I wasnt too far off, http://www.parachuteshop.com/wing_loading.htm . But as ive read there is obviously more than that chart to consider.

I purchased the rig to be tight at 170, 168 for those who it bothers lol, intentionally so I wouldnt have to purchase another container later on after downsizing possibly twice. With that being said its difficult to get in the bag especially with the dbag mirage has, its a little narrow at the mouth. I guess I said 170 to put a general number for what i assumed was a general question, Idk but those 2 square feet are far aside from the question at hand. The packers at my DZ would testify that its far from an easy pack and that it would take some serious time to learn to get it in bag, my only issue is gettin that bastard in the bag everything else im able to do. Alot of good advice, alot of stuff I didnt consider. Like I said before though, no need to be worried about me downsizing immediately, I just wanted to know about how many jumps people had at 1.3 and that was answered pretty well.

No, you don't. http://www.flyaerodyne.com/pilot.asp 168, calm down.

I feel confident with all of those skills on my current canopy besides the flat turns at 50ft, never tried them. Im taking the canopy course next month and will definitely let the instructor know. I know for certain I wouldnt down size right this instant, just more curious as to what jump number people typically downsize to a 1.3 WL at. And yes, the packing isnt the best reasoning but damn I hate paying $6 every jump. appreciate the reply mcstain

So I want to ask for your advise here. I have a 170 pilot right now and I move between 170-180 lbs so my wingloading is around 1.2 at 85 jumps. I know that this answer is going to be different for everyone because learning curves and capabilities are different with every jumper, but when do you think the time would be appropriate for me to downsize to a 150 leaving me around a 1.3 wingloading? Reasoning is that a 150 would be much easier to fit in my container (which is TIGHT at 170) as far as me packing would go, and I personally feel fairly confident with the downsize. But I know my knowledge or "feeling" isnt reliable enough to make the move. http://www.parachuteshop.com/wing_loading.htm This link suggests 101-200 jumps for 1.3 WL, but I wanted to hear what yall think as well. Thanks in advance guys!