AFF Graduate harness/canopy

[Dreadswooper 0]

Not me, but my girlfriend is about to graduate from her AFF. She is flying a 210 nav. I believe. She is a smalll girl and barely makes it to the ground under a 210. How should she go about finding a harness that will fit her ( 5'4, 115 pounds) and a canopy that will fit her rig??? Should she still step down from 210,200,190,170... etc.. Im sure she can demo canopys from PD.. Questions Questions...??

[Stuntbabex 0]

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Should she still step down from 210,200,190,170... etc..

Yup. I think buying gear right off AFF is probably not the wisest decision. Right when I got off AFF I rented gear until I could downsize to the canopy I wanted to buy (loaded at .94). As for harnesses, you could check out all the container manufacturers size charts and make note of what harness would fit her and then decide if you wanna buy used or new.

note: Im not a rigger or an instructor and so this is all just my opinion. For a better opinion she should be asking her instructors what they think is best for her.

[SPAWNmaster 0]

yes but also bear in mind the wait times for the manufacturing process.

i waited till A license to get my gear...I don't regret it because i had a vast amount more knowledge and comprehension than when i was AFF...HOWEVER

I was renting gear for 14+ weeks which came out very expensive.

if she's ordering new, by the time she gets the rig she'll have downsized to what she needs/wants to be at already.

I also second stuntbabex's opinion that she should be talking to her instructor(s) about it.

[wmw999 2,446]

There are a whole set of articles in the Gear part of the Safety tab of dz.com. They're a great place to start.

That said, I'm a huge proponent of used gear for a first rig. Start looking now, when she's still downsizing on student gear, and she has time to look for a really good fit and deal, rather than when she's in a hurry. Do have her talk to her instructor about a good progression and target. And if she finds a good rig at a good price but the harness is too big, it might be sizeable for a couple hundred dollars. Talk to a local master rigger first, or talk to the factory, before buying something.

And don't, for pete's sake, get a rig sized for a 150 expecting to put a 170 into it. Yes, it'll go. But she'll end up having a packer most of the time because of the pain-in-the-assness, and she'll learn a lot less about her gear that way. Knowing about your gear decreases your risk in my opinion.

Buying used gear means that she won't worry about its being perfect, she won't rush to downsize to it because it was so expensive, and she won't worry about falling down if the landing isn't perfect. Those are all increased safety in her pocket.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[JerryBaumchen 1,363]

Hi wmw999,

***And if she finds a good rig at a good price but the harness is too big, it might be sizeable for a couple hundred dollars. ***

And I think this is where a lot of newer jumpers, who are looking for used gear, come to the conclusion that they cannot find anything that fits them.

If you find a used rig that you might want but the harness is too big/small then contact the mfr and see what it would cost to upsize/downsize the harness. A prudent shopper might do this before they actually go shopping.

From personal experience, I once had (quite few years ago now) an entire new harness put on a Vector Tandem for ~$150 or so.

JerryBaumchen

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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yes but also bear in mind the wait times for the manufacturing process.

I had my first rig in time to jump for the weekend, even though the seller sent it UPS ground COD.

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i waited till A license to get my gear...I don't regret it because i had a vast amount more knowledge and comprehension than when i was AFF...HOWEVER

I could have thrown my first rig in the dumpster after 70 jumps and come out ahead financially over renting gear. As it was I got most of what I paid back selling the main and container+reserve.