By jump 15 I had all my gear. Some of it was purchased off DZ classifieds. I got my dolphin for 400 bucks. For my main, I jump a Raven 7 cell. This was packed as a reserve and only had one ride, nice white lines and no patches. I did buy a brand new Cypres and reserve. Dolphin 400 Raven 400 Fury 900 Cypres2 1200 Less than 3k in my rig. My DZO gave me a break on my student jumps because I was using my own gear. I am going jump this rig for another year, and then buy a new container. I'll keep my reserve and cypres, and sell my raven and dolphin on DZ classifieds.
