RopeaDope

Right now I'm in Syracuse, NY. I found a nice looking Singer 201 in a mahogany table for $100. It isn't local, but I'll be passing through their area in two weeks and they are going to hold it for me. There is a Singer 20u73 listed for $500 but I can't get the person to respond. A Singer 301a for $175 and a Pfaff 260 for $260. I'm looking for something that I can do great patches with at my intermediate skill level.

How about a Singer Spartan? $75. They say it runs and the desk alone looks like it's worth the $75.

Someone has a LOT that he is willing to split up. He has a Pfaff 130 and a Necchi Supernova Ultra and a few different Singers but he isn't responding with individual price quotes. He is that same guy with the Pfaff 360 but has it listed separately.

Scope out the most talkative skygod at the DZ and just stare blatantly at him until he cracks. When he comes up to greet you, put your index finger up to his lips and shhh him. Hen calmly hand him your logbook and pen. Let him tell you how awesome he is as he signs it. When he hands it back, ask if he thinks you could ever become as awesome as him. He will sign your book every day from now on.

Hmmm. Yeah I have crappy options. I'm looking at craigslist, eBay, discount stores, and our local yard sale website. Not finding any gems. *Best so far is a Pfaff 360 for $200 and $50 for a good table for it

How about a dedicated straight stitcher (Juki DDL 8700) vs a zig-zag / straight stitcher (Consew CN2033R-1)?

I haven't seen a Bernina anywhere. There is a Pfaff 230 locally for $400, a Singer 301a for $350, and a Singer 201 for $325

Singer 25u73, clean looking with table and motor. Worth $600? *Correction, price is $500 now

I don't know if I am "addicted". When I started it was something I just had to do. I watched people jumping and tried to imagine what it would be like to fly the canopy. I pretty much obsessed over what it would be like until I could finally afford to do it. I was scared of heights, and I'm a bigger guy so the opening shock bruised my thighs and the landings hurt like hell. I had to learn to s and them up fast or it would have broken me. I kept going because the freedom of flight was everything I had hoped it would be. The weekends at the DZ are fun, but the best part is the rest of the week, when I daydream about every little aspect of a jump. Just the thought of my next jump can carry me through weeks worth of BS and bad days. Then again, I do have an addictive personality and go balls deep at everything I do. It kind of became a slippery slope where the more money I had invest in it, the more committed I am to it.

Won't work. Actually it does the opposite of that. The longer people are in the sport the more mental they become.

That's the same phase all men go through after their first divorce

I thought skydiving was meditation.

Perfectly normal adrenaline cycle. You should be affected less and less with each jump and it doesn't take long before you completely "out grow" it.

The good news is you are going to be a natural at belly flying. Bad news is you are going to have to learn to fly your body wide open so others can keep up with you. You can get some random pair of coveralls and trim the pockets like others have said, and have your rigger give it a look over before you jump it just to make sure you don't have any surprises in the air. If you have the money to spend and really want to get a new jumpsuit right away, do it through your rigger, pro shop or DZO. They can match you to the proper suit type and fabric to help you slow down. I don't know what gets your rocks off, but if you are just out to have fun, take it slow and learn, you could use your disadvantage as an advantage and get in with the RW crowd at your DZ and you'll learn a lot from them and have a better time than tumbling around by yourself.

The MSW on a Main canopy is simply a recommendation. The manufacturers post the weights they have found to provide optimal performance on a particular canopy design. You may exceed that weight is you so choose, however, as the weight increase beyond those recommendations, the performance of the wing begins to degrade. The MSW on a Reserve canopy is an actual legal limit. The manufacturers mention that those canopies are tested at much higher weights, however, the TSO is approving more than just the strength of a canopy. They are certifying a reserve based on things like opening shock at max speed and poor body position and landing without the ability to flare in case of injury or unconsciousness.

Take it to he DZ with a $5 bill, and ask a packer to pack it for you.

Just be mindful that "doable" doesn't always mean "safe" or "a good idea".

I'm dying to see the beginner rig which has all the right components and can house all the appropriately sized canopies, but somehow has a Katana installed in it. It was an exaggerated example, but it would be possible for someone to have a Mirage G4 M5 with Katana 170 and Optimum 193. The same container could hold up to a 210 on some LPV or hybrid canopies.

All I can think of off the top of my head that isn't on that list is a Smart LPV 175, which has the same pack volume as the Smart 160. Edit to add - you can most likely even go up to a Smart LPV 190, but I don't have experience trying it so I would check with UPT directly before spending money.

Talk to your rigger and/or instructors about canopy size and style. Have your rigger help you measure for harness sizing. I'll take a minute to promote Chutingstar. I bought my first rig new. That isn't recommended, but I'm a big boy and wasn't finding anything my size in the used market, and Chutingstar advocated on my behalf with the manufacturers I was looking at to help me get some awesome discounts. I ended up paying barely more what a good used rig would have cost me. Their sales rep, Laura Bales is an A+ person. She handled everything with the manufacturers for me so I had a single point of contact for all my orders and questions and so on. Here is a link to Chutingstar's expert advice article on gear buying. Here are others like this, just google them. http://www.chutingstar.com/blog/skydiving-gear-buying-tips/ You can also email the manufacturers and see if they have any deals, discounts, or sales going on. You mentioned Mirage, hey have a Facebook page with completed harness/containers that are on sale. Wings almost always has some kind of 30-40 percent off deal going on, so shop around and ask questions. Ideally you are average skydiver size and used rigs are a dime a dozen. If you aren't buying new through one of the big companies, go through your rigger. You also don't have to find the perfect rig. If you find something with 3 out of 4 (main, reserve, AAD, harness/container) that is good for you, buy it and swap out components. Example, maybe you find a rig that has all the right sizes but a Katana main and you need something like a Pulse or whatever. Buy he rig and a used Pulse and sell the Katana. Or save the katana for when you start feeling saucy.

If you are really this worried about your chopped main floating off into the sunset, just stick with student/rental gear. If you already have a rig with 9 jumps, good for you. Secure it to the back side of your front riser (main canopy risers) with a couple wraps of duct tape.

Attaching your device is most likely a very simple project consisting of sewing an elastic pocket to the d-bag, or putting it on a main riser with a simple little pocket of sleeve. I personally do not consider myself qualified to mess with it. For me, it is a matter of "if in doubt, pass it up to a master rigger." This subject has popped up several times, usually by someone with no skydiving experience, and occasionally with well known and respected riggers. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in it. There is already a standard operating procedure for cut aways. You deal with you emergency situation, your buddies chase your main and reserve PC and free bag. The pilot spots them on the next load and someone drives out to get you. Then you owe beer beer beer, which is convenient because at the end of the day, everyone wants to get drunk and hear about it.

Let me see if I am following you. You have developed a glorious prototype of a product that is already available in all shapes and sizes and can cost anywhere between $10 and $1200. Now you want to revolutionize the skydiving industry by attaching it to a parachute, which has been done many times with devices of varying complexity and while seeing minimal results. Several people show you example of where this is being or has already been tried, and pointed out all the reasons why it is just no necessary or feasible. You have also witnessed possible conflicts with the legality of modifying equipment for experimental projects. Then your approach was to start a new thread on it and see if they had changed their minds? Or were you just hoping for a different audience this time?

Go ahead and interpret the regulations however you want. Just don't let arrogance compromise someone's safety. I may be overly conservative about it, but if I'm wrong, I will be erring on the side on the side of caution. "I will be sure, always".

They do. Sun Path for example uses two different sizes; standard length (110in) and extended length (129in)