How many... (jumps/gear) - post student

[fcajump 164]

Not talking about the gear you've "tried", but how many main canopies / harness-containers have you actively jumped on a regular basis.

I keep hearing about how many the "average" jumper goes through, and I am curious as to whether or not the "average" jumper agrees.

JW

PS -
My mains (3):
PD-260 (from new)
Star Trak II (from "Ralph")
Spectre-230 (from new)

Harness/containers (2):
Vector II (from new)
Vector I (from used)

Not counting numerous student/borrowed gear and other antiques I have tried once or twice.

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[Peej 0]

Not including all the student gear i've jumped, i currently own:

Containers:

Mirage G3 - Velo 103, Tempo 150
Javelin - Looking for a second Velo, Tempo 120

Canopies i have owned:

Hornet 170
Sabre 150
Safire 129
Hurricane 120

edited to add: i bought my Mirage with the Hornet 170 in it at 48 jumps, i still jump it as my main container

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[jheadley 0]

I bought a used Javelin Odyssey at 80 jumps and it's still my only container. The canopies I've had are Sabre 2 170 (Jump #80-250), and Sabre 2 150 (#250-).

[PhreeZone 20]

I bought my Javelin at about 38 jumps and still have it as my only container 1300 jumps later. Same reserve in it too. I've owned a Spectre 170, Cobalt 150, Jedei 136 and now my Samauri 136. I can't even remember everything I've demoed but its approaching 25+ canopies now if not more.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[dragon2 2]

After student status and renting stuff, and not counting borrowed gear with a few jumps:

spectre 150
spectre 135
safire 135
lightning 126
vengeance 135
diablo 120
sabre 120
safire 119

+ lots of jumps on borrowed
springo 120
vengeance 120

rigs:
owns/owned:
atom 00
vulcan
atom 0
atom 000

borrow a lot:
mirage
javelin

My current rig is atom 000 + safire 119, and the canopies currently in my closet are vengeance 135, sabre 120, diablo 120.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

Original setup (at 50 jumps):

Vector III
PD 9-Cell 170
Micro-Raven 150
Cypres

At 100 jumps:

swapped main for a Sabre 135

At 650 jumps:

swapped main for a Sabre2 120
swapped reserve for PDR-126
added skyhook to Vector III

No reason to swap out any of my current gear anytime soon, although I'd like to build a 2nd rig.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[pchapman 279]

Fun to check the logbooks. Not exactly a typical progression for me:

-- jump 41 first set of own gear:
used Racer & Titan 265

-- circa jump 600, 11 years later:
different used Racer & Sabre 135
(hey, the Racer was cheap and as a rigger I could make some changes)

-- circa jump 770, 1 1/2 years later:
same Racer & Icarus FX 88
(But due to doing a lot of accuracy on another rig, I only had 32 jumps on the 135 before going to the 88)

Currently 1950 jumps.
(I have accumulated some other odds and ends but the above has been my main gear.)

[pilotdave 0]

Bought my first rig (all in individual pieces) when I had around 40-50 jumps:

PD150
Reflex

At maybe 150 jumps I replaced the main with a Sabre2 135 and put the PD150 in the closet.

At ~200 jumps I bought a Vector3. Moved the Sabre2 135 into it and still jump it, almost 1000 jumps later. Put the PD150 back into the reflex and still jump it as a backup rig.

That's it... 2 mains, 2 containers, ~1200 jumps. No plans to downsize.

Dave

[skybytch 273]

Harness/containers -
Racer SST (used)
Racer Elite
Javelin (Racer Elite and Javelin belonged to my s/o at the time; we alternated. He bought both new)
Vector I (very used)
Reflex (first new rig)
Infinity

Mains -
Fury 220
PD170
PD190
Safire 149 (first new main)
Spectre 170
Spectre 150

[Cantoral 1]

My first rig was
Vector II- PD 9cell 170 - Rascal 202
Second Rig
Javelin J1 - Turbo ZX 145 - Micro raven 135, then I changed the Turbo for a Tri 135.
Aprox 60 jumps ago, I changed the Javelin for an Odessey with a Tempo 120 and maintained the tri 135.
Recently I put a Heatwave 120 on the same Odessey.

[monkycndo 0]

Student/rental gear until jump 37.
Started with used Talon/Sabre 170. (+/-400 jumps) Still use it for WS or install a borrowed lightning for CReW.
New Infinity/S2 150 as my Primary rig.(175 jumps)

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[klingeme 1]

Not counting my student progression and "rental rigs"

Spectre 135 - Jumps 50-350
Stiletto 120 - Jumps 351-1100
Katana 107 - 1101 to present

Containers - 2 separate Vector 3's

[AllisonH 0]

Jumps 38-~100: Hornet 170
Jumps ~100-250: Hornet 150
Jumps ~250-now: Pilot 132

All in the same Wings with PD160R.

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

Question... How are you defining "average" jumper?


A way I've heard an "average" jumper defined is someone that is in the sport for 5 - 6 years. Given that, those of us posting here with 7+ years in the sport are "above average".


A few more thoughts...

Take two "average" jumpers who are in the sport 5 - 6 years and then get out of it. Even in that time, one could have the same rig he or she bought after getting off student status when at the end of it while the second could have had two or three systems in that same time period before deciding to hang it up.

Same, similar goes for someone with 20 - 30 years in the sport. One such person could have only gone through a couple of systems or 3 systems in that time period if they only jump a hundred or so times a year. Then take another person that's been jumping for that long and cranks out hundreds and hundreds (or more) jumps a year; no matter how good they care for their shit, they're going to burn through a lot more gear.

You almost need to somehow normalize it by time in the sport and jump numbers? Otherwise I'm not sure how to "read" the data you're getting from your poll??

[KNewman 0]

Jump 53 I bought an Infinity container with a 190 Hornet and a 173 reserve. Jump number 120 bought a fusion 170 (slightly used). Just sold entire rig and bought a slightly used Mirage 3 with a 200 reserve and ordered a brand new 190 Fusion. The older I get the more "built in free fall speed" I accumulate so therefore I need to go up in canopy size to safely downsize

Blue Skies and Stand-up Landings!!!!!!

[Danger 0]

1st rig:
Bullit container
Cruiselite 220
Phantom 26

2nd rig:
Racer (purchased used)
Viper 120 - 1000jumps
Micro Raven 150

3rd rig:
Reflex container - 1300 jumps
Safire 109 - 700 jumps
Micor Raven M 120

Safire 10 swapped out for Katana 107
Katana 107 swapped out for Katana 97

16 other types of canopies including Sabres, Stilletto's, Batwing, Jonathon''s, Jedei's, Perche, 2 experimental PD canopies and others

[stratostar 5]

1. Rod's rebel 3 pin W/r-3's
MK-1 & 26ft. strong lopo. (got it the day of my second jump, traded 10 speed bike for it & still own it)
2. 1977 wonderhog MK-1, 26ft Pioneer lopo
3. 1970 Pioneer para-twin american PAP, 26 ft strong lopo
4. 1979 wonderhog Serria lite 26ft strong lopo
5. 1976 stylemaster,1982 Jumbo PC 26ft navy
6. 1974 mini system 64 MK-1 and 26ft lopo
7. 1977 Pioneer recovery systems B-4, 1964 switlik T-10,24 flat
8. 1975 stylemaster 1974 jumbo PC (Gartf Taggerts) and a 26ft strong lopo
9. 1996 Dolphin with MR-150 & 170 Sabre 170
10. 1998 Javelin 92 firelite 99 sabre 170

Those are are the current ones I own and jump, not counting the many student rigs, test rigs & loners I jumped or rigs I owned and sold.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[mr2mk1g 10]

Bought my first rig before I qualified (S/L and English weather meant I'd been in the game a year and knew at least something of what to look for).

Used Jav and used Sabre 190.

Did about 100 jumps on it and bought a new Wings and stuck a used EXE.ZP 170 in it and at that stage got my first AAD.

Did about 100 jump and it was time for a downsize... by 2 sqaure foot! Bought a Pilot 168 new.

Since that time my first AAD died of old age so I bought a new CYPRES 2.

On that gear to date. So... 2 containers, 3 canopies only 1 real downsize in going on 500 jumps post qual.

I guess looking back what I did was absolutely "text book" in that it's kinda exactly what most people advise new jumpers to do - buy old and big then once's you've a little exp. move onto new gear... except I guess most would advise new jumpers to have an AAD.

[Tonto 1]

According to Paralog, I have owned 32 complete systems. The most jumps on a single configuration (Main, reserve, harness) was 992. The rest, obviously less.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[relyon 0]

I've had a reasonable amount of gear, but only a couple types of each. Different sizes of the same main canopy type are counted separately. Close to 1200 jumps were on PD Lightnings (mostly the 126 and 143 sizes).

Mains (4):

Aerodyne Triathlon 170

PD Lightning 126, 143, 160

Harness-container/reserve (2):

NLE Infinity I2.3/Tempo 170 (2 systems)

NLE Northern Lite III/Tempo 210

[brianfry713 0]

Jumps 1-20 rental/student gear 265-230 size mains

I bought a used Vector 2/Falcon 215/Raven 2/Cypres and used it for most of my next 250 jumps, then sold it.

I bought a new Infinity/Sabre 2 170/PD Reserve 160/Cypres 2 and still use the rig.

I bought a used Crossfire 2 149 at jump #500 and still have it, but around jump #750, I got a new Katana 135 and use it as my main canopy now.

My girlfriend got a new Vector 3, and I bought another PD Reserve 160, and I'm letting her borrow my Cypres 2, and I bought a used Cypres for my rig. She's also jumping my Sabre 2 170. I also use it as a backup and wingsuit rig when she's not jumping it.

[vid666 0]

off student gear :
Infinity + Spectre 230 + Tempo 210
downsized to a Sabre(1) 210 at about 70 jumps

~~ 130 jumps
Infinity + Sabre2-190 + Tempo 170

~~ 200 jumps
Mirage + Cobalt 170 + PDR 160
downsized to a Cobalt 150 later

[fcajump 164]

Quote

Question... How are you defining "average" jumper?


A way I've heard an "average" jumper defined is someone that is in the sport for 5 - 6 years. Given that, those of us posting here with 7+ years in the sport are "above average".


A few more thoughts...

Take two "average" jumpers who are in the sport 5 - 6 years and then get out of it. Even in that time, one could have the same rig he or she bought after getting off student status when at the end of it while the second could have had two or three systems in that same time period before deciding to hang it up.

Same, similar goes for someone with 20 - 30 years in the sport. One such person could have only gone through a couple of systems or 3 systems in that time period if they only jump a hundred or so times a year. Then take another person that's been jumping for that long and cranks out hundreds and hundreds (or more) jumps a year; no matter how good they care for their shit, they're going to burn through a lot more gear.

You almost need to somehow normalize it by time in the sport and jump numbers? Otherwise I'm not sure how to "read" the data you're getting from your poll??

I am specifically trying not to define "average", but let the responders do that for me... I was going after here is a "big picture" result.

What I am even more interested in is something along the line of "how many jumps do you put on your canopy(s) before trading them in for something else..."

This stems from repeatedly hearing discussions of "you don't want that canopy, you'll get bored with it too quick"... I heard that when I bought my first canopy (pd-260/f-111), and only retired it when I had ~500 jumps on it and found the new SET-400 more fun to jump

It seems to me that those who jump the most number of different canopies often lead the rest of us to believe that you can only have fun by changing your gear (usually downsize). Yet, it is my contention that a good all-around canopy provides more than enough challenge to the "average" jumper who uses it in many varying conditions (hot/cold, windy/calm, day/night, high pull and low(er) ).

Just my $.02

Thanks for all that replied.


JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...