GAjumper84

I just went through the same decision that you are making. I eventually settled on a VigilII because the cost over the life ends up about the same as a M2, but the Vigil has been on the market longer with success. I almost went with the M2, but wanted a proven track record. For what its worth, your opininon that Cypres gouges their customers I believe is true. Good luck whatever you decide.

I second the Aero as a great close face helmet. Great field of vision, comfortable, and they are not everywhere like the G3 is.

Good luck getting back on the horse! SDA is a great DZ, especially since you are from Warner Robins. Maybe we will run into each other some time. I jump out of Monroe for the most part, but intend to at least make it down to SDA for the Halloween boogie this year.

Maybe it could help in the event of a low turn or swooping accident? Not going to keep your legs from breaking but it could help prevent injuries that would result in death (ie spine, internal injuries, etc). The main issue would probably be cost as the device does not sound cheap. We pay $1250 for a device that detects two different things (speed and altitude) and signals a small cutter. The airbag itself would cost quite a bit not to mention the computer controlling it. Just my 2 cents

Hopefully I'll see you out there on the 22nd. But if you go through aff I'll see you eventually. As far as working on the wife the death stats worked well on my mother. You basically can honestly tell them the risk of death is somewhere around .005% (been a while since i did the math). Some on here will tell you it's a deceptive statistic and it is for people who jump more than once, but it is true at the same time. In truth risk of injury is much higher, but what your wife is worried about is your death. Most people won't ask about injury rate. My wife was on board day one. I asked why and she told me she knew she married someone crazy and so she was mentally prepared for situations like me skydiving, lol. Good luck getting your wife in your corner!

My recommendation? Come back and enjoy the ride. You will love going through AFF and it only gets better from there. Just know that you are at a crossroads where most people don't start jumping solo and the others become addicts like the rest of us. If you need any help or advice I jump at Monroe and I would be willing to help you out or point you in the right direction for any questions I can't help you with. There is a great group of people at Monroe so I'm sure you will get what you need. Welcome to the first step of the sport and I look forward to meeting you!

Welcome to the sport! As for gear, wait until you get your A license before buying anything in my opinion. The reason I say that is a lot of people decide skydiving isn't for them in that time period. When you do buy gear, clear goggles, helmet (something like a benny or protec to keep cost down), and something like a galaxy 2 altimeter is what I would suggest. Also an inexpensive suit like a bevsuit would be a good start. But if cost is an issue always remember that most of these items come free with rental, so there is no rush as long as you rent. When you get ready to get a rig, used is a sure thing, just get it inspected by a rigger before buying. Otherwise you eat a lot of depreciation on the gear if you buy new. AAD is highly suggested. Hopefully you value your life enough to invest in one.

Just a heads up about the Pigeon Forge tunnel. I haven't been, but I heard it is not like the more modern tunnels. It is supposed to not have wall to wall wind, more like a bubble you can fall off of. Not a problem for just flying neutral to learn stability, but to do turns and flips I would imagine it could be an issue. There is a tunnel not too far away in Raeford NC (Paraclete) that is supposed to be much better. But if the TN tunnel is where you will be I am sure it is better than nothing. Good luck with whatever you do!

I am in a similar situation with jump numbers. To give you a little background, I am the sole provider in a family of four, so my money and time are budgeted. I am a year and a half in, and 81 jumps. I go every other weekend ( or 3rd) on average and do two jumps. I did that so I could save up money to buy gear. I just got my rig put together two weeks ago (YAY!) and now I can jump twice as much. Now to my advice from what my experiences have been: 1) If you haven't already, try to get your own gear, even if it is mostly older stuff. Paying for rentals every jump costs a lot of money and limits your jumps. I have a 1997 Talon T6 container, Tempo 170 1998 reserve, 2006 Sabre2 190, and a brand new Vigil 2 (only because I couldn't find a used one). It is a one time investment to help bring the cost of jumps down. 2) As a person that doesn't jump much, the social aspect goes a long way towards making the jumping more fun. When I do go out, I stay for the beer afterwords, and have bought plenty. That is the time that things slow down and everyone just hangs out and gets to know each other. I went to a boogie last year at my DZ and spent three days there. I only jumped one day because of money, but got to hang out with everyone. 3) As people who have more money and time to devote to the sport have surpassed my jump numbers and skill, I have had to let them go jump with people with similar skill levels. One person that I started with has almost 500 jumps now. He mainly freeflys and wingsuits. I'm not going to be the guy begging him to go on a RW 3 way jump when that isn't even what he is interested in anymore. We hang out all the time on the ground, but very rarely get on a sunset tracking dive together. What I have done to keep people jumping with me is to jump with people that have similar jump numbers. They may be less current like myself, or be newer jumpers. But we are close in experience level and so it works out. Like others have said, if you get on jumps that are way above your skill level and at best mess up the dive, at worst become a safety risk, no one will want to jump with you. 4) Lastly, I would suggest you go to one of your original instructers if none of this helps and ask why no one wants to jump with you. Because if none of the other helps, I would have to lean towards people considering you a safety hazard for some reason. There is one guy at my DZ that no one wants to jump with for that reason. He is downright scary in the sky and has been grounded for stupid stuff he has done. I am not saying you are a safety risk, but if you can't work it out to where people will jump with you then asking directly may be the best way to find out what is going on. Hopefully this helps you get the results that you want. If not there are hopefully other DZs around that you can switch to and hit the reset button on the social aspect of the sport. Good luck!

I was sad when I heard this news as well being from Georgia.

Also make sure you aren't jumping with sunglasses made out of glass. Wouldn't want them to shatter with a small impact in your face. Most glasses are made of polycarbonate, but there are some high end glasses made of real glass, not made for impacts.

My first jump was IAD (basically the new way to do static line). I like many others did not wish to be strapped to someone else. I thought it would be the only jump I ever did and figured I might as well do it under my own control. Of course that led to many more jumps. Looking back on it, I think one tandem might be good for most people to get used to the sensation of jumping out of the plane, but after that I would suggest AFF (or IAD) progression if you think you want to get licensed. I would also second whoever it was that recommended Clewiston as a DZ. It is a top notch program from what I've seen, and the aircraft and equipment are great down there.

3 jump tickets a year for the same exact product should be taken into consideration on a device that does the same job. That may not be a factor in your decision on what AAD to buy, but for many it is. I just shelled out over $3000 for equipment and the AAD was a significant portion of that. Your argument is like saying you should not compare the economics of new gear vs used gear because new gear is obviously better. Although your case is actually worse as you can not demonstrate that cypres2 performs any better than vigil or mars. If you read my earlier posts, I started clearly I was mainly comparing economics as in my opinion they have all proved to function correctly in the field (with mars 2 at a disadvantage due to time in the market)

Thanks for the math on the total cost of ownership. It demonstrates how much more expensive it is to own a Cypres over the other two viable options on the market. I knew this to be the case, with Mars being the cheapest at initial purchase and over the total life, but you laid it out in black and white.

Here is the response from mars themselves about warranty, battery life, and optional inspection of the equipment. Hello, I send you answer on your question: 1) All the parts used in the m2 device, and its total correct function as per the specified limits, are covered by the manufacturer’s 24-month warranty, valid from the date of purchase. The warranty does not cover damages occuring from common use of the m2 device, incorrect installation, or non-standard and rough handling. The manufacturer reserves the right to decide wheter to repair or replace the unit. 2) The m2 device is designed to last its total lifetime without the need for battery replacement. It for any reason the battery fails during the device’s lifetime, it must be replaced by the manufacturer. The total lifetime of the aad m2 is 15 years or total of 5,000 flight hours, which is approximately 15,000 jumps (a jump is considered to be a maximum of 20 minutes from start-landing). 3) The m2’s main advantages is: 15-year lifetime without servicing required by the manufacturer. But if you want send it to inspection, it is possible. It will be free ( you will pay only postage – there and back) So in other words if someone else above was correct, all three manufacturers have a two year official warranty with both cypres and vigil showing willingness in the past to offer some help outside the confines of the warranty. Mars is still young so we will have to see their customer service record unfold. The battery is designed to last based on only hashing the aad on when you jump. If you jump alot and leave the aad on all day, with their numbers I would expect to replace the battery once, which does require it to be sent back. Optional inspection being offered for free sounds great, but at how many are they going to cut you off? That remains to be seen, but at least they are saying they will inspect it for you. So for anyone not wanting to go fifteen years without it being looked at, you should be able to get it checked out for free (at least once). Overall I was happy with their response, unfortunately I am impatient and came across a good deal on the vigil 2 which is a great deal for the money as well. I wanted something that was reliable and had a good cost of ownership. Ultimately with my limited experience with aads I went with the one my rigger suggested. I trust him as he has been a great source of knowledge on equipment. In his defense, he did not say anything bad about cypres, and only said he didn't like the m2 interface. In asking around, people seem to be very passionate about the fact that whatever aad choice they made is the best. I was glad to get an opinion from my rigger that was not "mine is the best! " I figured I might as well lay out my findings for all three aads as I see them based off the hours of research I've done. This is intended only to help new jumpers that are looking to purchase their first aad, not to help people already in the know. Also be aware that I am no expert so I am not saying this is perfect. I do not feel however that I posted any facts that are incorrect. I did list opinions that one might disagree with however. Between the three, the cypres2 seems to be at a distinct disadvantage on the economics. Mandatory inspections drive the cost of ownership way up, along with the inconvenience of not having your aad while it is out for service. They do have the best track record for proven reliability in operation which seems to directly correlate with the fact they have been in service the longest Vigil has the best of both worlds from my research with the longest service life and a proven track record (in the vast majority of time it has been around) of reliability. keep in mind they have had some recorded misfires (firing when they shouldn't, not the other way around) in the past, but I was unable to find anything recent, so I believe that issue had been dealt with. Mars has the best up front price and a low cost of ownership, but is unproven since they have only had the m2 on the market for three years. In the relatively short time however, they have had no failures I could find. I really can't say I would have any issue with putting a mars m2 in my rig, but it is a risk buying one. I'm not saying it's a major risk, but the situation with Argus is scary. Keep in mind that I am speaking only from an opinion that I formed based on my own unbiased research and mainly focused on the economics of ownership. Reliability wise, cypres2 and vigil 2 have a proven track record of reliability in operation, and mars is doing well so far at establishing their own record.

AFF solo status means you can self supervise your freefall, but still have many restrictions on what you can do. A license means that you can jump mostly unrestricted at any DZ. Cost for AFF does vary, but usually ranges from $900-$1100 USD plus between $150-$200 for any jumps you have to do twice.

That two year statement concerned me, so I have asked mars directly about that as well as asking them about services offered if you voluntarily send it in for inspection. I will post their response.

I know this had been discussed before, but it's been a while and there is not much info. Has anyone heard anything positive or negative about the mars m2? Haven't heard anything bad about it yet, considering getting one to complete my rig.

Thanks for all the good advice! Cant wait to try out some of these methods for training on fall rate.

Good point. I do feel like I relax once docked.

I'm having an issue with matching fall rate with other jumpers on RW jumps. Anyone have any tips on how to gauge matching your fall rate while docked up to where when you let go to turn a point that you don't drop out or shoot up? It always seems like we are relative when docked, but I always seem to be off one way or another when I let go. Maybe its just a matter of practice flying my body until I get it, but it sure is frustrating for the time being. I have no issue diving down to a formation for a dock, or slow falling if I get low, just can't seem to find a method to gauge fall rate while docked.

As a person who went through some of the issues you are going through now not too long ago, here is my take: First off, as has been mentioned before, when you are a student you have to understand that you are not seeing how these people will be towards you even 10 jumps from now. They have seen many students come and go, and are leery to spend any real amount of time getting to know you as this may be the last time they ever see you. When I was at 6 jumps, I almost quit because I thought everyone was a bunch of jerks that had their click and wouldn't bother with anyone else. But my instructor had told me in the beginning that once people realize you will be around for a while, they will open up. And it is true. At jump 9 or 10, it began. Once I got my A license, it was like a flood. Everyone started coming up to me asking about my day, jumps, job, other interests, etc. Give it time and more people will gravitate towards you. The second thing that helped greatly is staying after the beer light came on, and I always bring a 12 pack with me (or at least 6). I share a beer and talk it up. Usually I stay at the DZ hanging out for 4+hrs after jumping. Then you really get to know people. You will find people at any DZ who think they are better than everyone else, but I have found that to be the vast minority of people. I have heard that some DZs are very clickish, although I haven't experienced that yet. So maybe your experience will vary from mine, but I have found that the people are half the reason that I skydive. Welcome to the sport!

I had the same problem. The more I skydived, the longer before it would open up. The last time it took 2 1/2 weeks to open back up, and I went back to my doctor. He said it was middle ear barotrauma caused by my ears not equalizing correctly. I had to take a month off skydiving to let the swelling go completely back to normal. Even after it opens up, there can still be swelling/irritation. He also prescribed me a nasal spray and told me to fire it straight down my nasal passage (back, not up) and suck in deeply to have it reach the back of my eustacian tube. The spray is supposed to dialate the passages to allow air to freely pass through. I do that before I jump for the day and have had no more problems. Of course if your case is not so severe, equalizing after your canopy opens (after checking traffic) seems to work well for most people. I only told my story to hopefully help anyone that reads this having major problems with equalization.

My first jump was an IAD jump. Chose it over a tandem because I figured if I was only going to skydive once, might as well do it myself. Second jump was a few hours later...

After AFF you should be jumping a 170sq ft canopy. A 133 is smaller than anyone would recommend for a beginner. You should sell the setup and hope to make your money back. Also any rig you buy you should have a rigger check it out before you purchase it to make sure it is even safe to take up in the air.