Doug_Davis

Right now? I'm looking at this one. Great price. http://www.dropzone.com/classifieds/Detailed/Containers/Vector_V3_in_excellent_condition_95_jumps__155419.html

Yep forgot Mirage and Infinity. Seeing lots of recommendations for both of them. So add those two to the list as well.

As I'm in the market to buy my first rig Ive been looking at containers both new and used. I'm trying to learn the differences between the major container manufacturers and their models. ie Curv, Vector3, Wings, Icon and Javelin. (Edit- forgot Mirage and Infinity as well.) Which brings the total to 7!! Other then finding out Curv doesn't offer magnetic riser covers (how important is that anyway?) what are the major differences if any? Out of these I do want something FF friendly. I'm a new belly flier now but would want to play around with FF in the future. Not really asking for which one you "like" more but the actual technical or design differences if any. Any help appreciated.

Dont be nervous. Hop and pops are easy. In static line progression, which is what I did, you do them on like jump 5. Poised exit. Face into the relative wind. Arch. Pull.

Ok I will try calling him tomorrow. I did notice that his website has shut down as of today as well. Thought maybe he went out of business.

Anybody know this guy Ralph Hatley? He advertises in all the magazines as having the best prices. But his website doesnt actually list any available gear or prices, so I emailed asking about it. I got a couple of replies asking what I was looking for, what size I am, how many jumps I have and where I jump. I sent a reply back with all the info. I havent heard squat since then despite emailing back a few times. What gives?

1989 Airborne School, Ft Benning, GA Took it up again as a civilian last summer, as I missed it. Plus I wasnt having as much fun kayaking anymore since I do that for a living now.

I assume you are being sarcastic? In case you werent, my reference to OSHA was for explanatory reasons or as an example of how the legal definition of "contributing factor" actually works. Not because OSHA has anything to do with skydiving. Im not wrong. See what I said above. Again my point wasnt about OSHA having anything to do with skydiving. It was explaining what the legal system in the US actually defines as a factor. Mitigating, aggravating or otherwise. Whether something is considered a factor or not is determined by the court system, not people arguing on an internet forum. Edited to add for clarity... Hypothetical: You run a DZ and school. Customer comes out to jump there. However your rental rigs arent equipped with RSL's. Customer cuts away during a malfunction and burns in with partially deployed reserve. Their spouse or family is going to be contacted by a lawyer. That lawyer is going to haul 10 other DZ owners or instructors in front of the jury all of whom use and recommend RSL's. He is going to ask them if use of the RSL is a recognized "industry best practice." And they will say yes. Your lack of use of RSL's will then be argued by the attorney for the plaintiffs as a contributing factor in the death of the spouse. The jury will decide (most likely in the plaintiffs favor as everyone else is using RSL's for their rentals). And your liability insurance company will pay out. The reason I know this is while Im a newbie skydiver, Im familiar with the law and liability because Im a former cop who now runs a whitewater kayaking and river rescue school. Im very familiar with industry best practices and liability, and what I must do to keep myself from getting sued or at least keep them from winning.

Have you looked at prices on 2-4 year old stuff lately? Lots of people in the classifieds and the facebook groups are charging such high prices it doesnt make sense not to just buy new instead. At least that has been my experience thus far as I try to put together my gear. Only big savings I am seeing is on used AAD's with only a year or two of life left.

I cant speak to advancement or not within the USPA formally but I do know Flight 1 has put together a real nice program they are teaching. Ive taken the 101 and 102 course. There was so much amazing material to try and absorb Im considering going down and taking the whole thing again in Feb.

I dont miss Capewells. But do think more civilian rigs harnesses should have quick release leg snaps, as others have indicated for safety reasons. It was one of the weirdest things transitioning from military to civilian and not seeing them on rigs.

Just FYI he doesnt actually need a plane or pilot. You can run a drone from an app on your smartphone. Look at the Navy's MQ-8B, or the Army's Hummingbird (Boeing A160). In fact SOCOM has already deployed the A160 which has a payload capacity of greater than 300lbs and a ceiling of 30k AGL so could handle your spy jumping from it. Might as well use the cool toys the real boys are using.

This is where I really get annoyed. The lack of an RSL is not a contributing factor. An RSL may have saved them (we don't know), but the fact that they didn't have one certainly did not CONTRIBUTE to the accident / fatality. You would be wrong. Definition: contributing - tending to bring about; being partly responsible for; Under OSHA if a business fails to update their production system to the latest safety equipment and a death results, which might have been prevented by the newer gear they are liable. Legally you could look at it in terms of failure to follow industry best practices as the "contributing factor." Same holds true here. Their failure to update their rig with an RSL was a contributing factor in the same way. Agreed. In fact Im surprised by the lack of investigations. In today's litigious society you would think most families would investigate the cause simply to see if there were grounds for a wrongful death suit.

Im in the same boat you are. 35 jump A lic holder, trying to acquire all my own gear. One word of advice/warning. Before buying anything used check with the manufacturer for how much a stock new equivalent piece of gear would cost. Im finding in a lot of cases you can get stock items for the same or in many cases less than what people want for their 2-4 year old used gear. People paid premium for their custom colors (that you probably dont even like), and they hope they can pass that cost on to you. One example..you can get a stock Wings container for 40% off the base rig price (options not included).

1. Yee...Haw 2. Trust...Me 3. Watch...This! 4. Bloody...Hell I'd go with Bloody Hell.

Well you should have seen someone doing it at some point if you've ever hung around students, as its required part of the training for an A license. At least it was when I went through this past summer. Not I. No green lights at my DZ.

Its the internet. You can pretend to be whatever you want to be. But this is a sport that (like the sport I do for a living, whitewater kayaking) can kill you if you dont know what you are doing. You remind me of this old guy at our local DZ, runs around talking about his jump experience and wearing Special Forces and Ranger tabs on his jeans jacket. Yet I cant find a soul whose ever seen him jump. As a retiree myself could or should I call him out or dig deeper? Maybe, but his claims about his former military status arent going to get anyone killed so I just ignore him. However, as a potential one jump chump if you are handing out information and making yourself seem to be an expert you arent, then you are potentially putting people's lives at risk and should be banned. Im frankly surprised at the admins you havent been banned already, but then again I just joined yesterday to find some deals on gear so what do I know.

NWFlyer thanks for the tip on the Facebook group. I hadnt heard about them previously! Southern_Man thanks for the links. I will check them out. Is jumping non-custom colored stock gear allowed though? I thought according to the SIM I was restricted to either custom colors (which its seems in the entire skydiving world is red/black) or jumping early 90's pink, purple and green?

I wish this happened, or happened more frequently in the US, unfortunately at many smaller DZ's they are too busy running tandems up to be able to run thorough comprehensive training programs or weekend refresher courses as you describe. Do they run SL or AFF programs? Sure but you arent getting a lot of structured supervised instructor time. Agreed. But for safety it should be done that way. If the program (USPA curriculum) says you should cover the skills then they should be covered no matter how long it takes or how much attention needs to be given to the skill so that it can be adequately conveyed. If your (general you, not you specifically Nigel) DZ is to busy to do that then you should stick to running up tandem tourists and not run a licensing program. Some of these "Get Licensed in 7 Days!" programs are even worse. Do they have 25 jumps? Sure. Do they have any idea of how to do the math to calculate offset and spot based on winds aloft and fall rate? Nope.

Well I'm retired from military now so no idea if they will still offer any kind of discount but can always ask I guess. What about the various retailers? Any big annual demo or other sales? I assumed buying a complete rig from them would be cheaper than having to buy all the individual pieces and pay a rigger to put it all together. Right or wrong?

So I just got back into skydiving this summer after an eight or so year break (all previous 200+ jumps were military) and got my A license, did a canopy course with Maxine Tate, and as soon as we can shake this bitterly cold weather Im looking forward to jumping a lot come spring. Ive got my own suit, helmet, Altimeter, etc. But I need a rig. I'd been looking at buying some thing in the 190 range used (possibly a Storm), but man people keep prices pretty high on used gear in this sport. So was thinking about ordering a new full rig from someone. Do any of the retailers do after Christmas sales? Any discounts or demo sales I should be keeping my eye out for that are common in skydiving? Any tips on scoring a good deal?

Meso, Just curious as a new jumper and new forum member...what are the scammers hoping to accomplish? Are they trying to get peoples' bank information? Or email addresses or what? I just dont get what they hope to accomplish with either fake ads or even stranger fake offers to buy.