Simple advice please about main chute.

[jay7227021 0]

I am putting together my first rig and just wanted peoples opinions if I'm making a wise choice on a main. Yes I am new and I know I do not want to get hurt at all so please to smart remarks. I have 30 jumps now, am licensed and my jumps have been on nav 260, nav 240 sabre1 230, and nav 220. I have a 218 Reserve in my rig now and I have a sabre2 210 lined up to buy. I will have an exit weight of about 225-230 beginning next season (Boston area). Any advice on if Im making a good choice or what do you recommend? I stand my landings and have been able to correct my landing due to wind gusts still standing so I belive I'll be good with that. Thanks for the info.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Well, sabre2 210 would fly better than nav 220.
Its not a big step. Go for it!

[jay7227021 0]

awesome thanks for the info.

[petejones45 0]

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I am putting together my first rig and just wanted peoples opinions if I'm making a wise choice on a main. Yes I am new and I know I do not want to get hurt at all so please to smart remarks. I have 30 jumps now, am licensed and my jumps have been on nav 260, nav 240 sabre1 230, and nav 220. I have a 218 Reserve in my rig now and I have a sabre2 210 lined up to buy. I will have an exit weight of about 225-230 beginning next season (Boston area). Any advice on if Im making a good choice or what do you recommend? I stand my landings and have been able to correct my landing due to wind gusts still standing so I belive I'll be good with that. Thanks for the info.

that would be a good choice, or you could get a 190 and save a little money its not a huge jump and i think you would be happier in the long run

Look out for the freefly team, Smelly Peppers. Once we get a couple years more experience we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future! BLUES!

[likestojump 3]

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I am putting together my first rig and just wanted peoples opinions if I'm making a wise choice on a main. Yes I am new and I know I do not want to get hurt at all so please to smart remarks. I have 30 jumps now, am licensed and my jumps have been on nav 260, nav 240 sabre1 230, and nav 220. I have a 218 Reserve in my rig now and I have a sabre2 210 lined up to buy. I will have an exit weight of about 225-230 beginning next season (Boston area). Any advice on if Im making a good choice or what do you recommend? I stand my landings and have been able to correct my landing due to wind gusts still standing so I belive I'll be good with that. Thanks for the info.

that would be a good choice, or you could get a 190 and save a little money its not a huge jump and i think you would be happier in the long run

I am not an instructor (but neither are you :)... but he PLANS to have an exit weight of 225-230, AFTER the winter (read: uncurrent). Surely a 190 canopy which he would load at 1.2 at 30 jumps sounds like a bad idea.

[petejones45 0]

good point, he could also rent a chute beforehand and see how it fits him then proceed accordingly

Look out for the freefly team, Smelly Peppers. Once we get a couple years more experience we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future! BLUES!

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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I am putting together my first rig and just wanted peoples opinions if I'm making a wise choice on a main. Yes I am new and I know I do not want to get hurt at all so please to smart remarks. I have 30 jumps now, am licensed and my jumps have been on nav 260, nav 240 sabre1 230, and nav 220. I have a 218 Reserve in my rig now and I have a sabre2 210 lined up to buy. I will have an exit weight of about 225-230 beginning next season (Boston area). Any advice on if Im making a good choice or what do you recommend?

Accepted practice is 1.0 + .1/100 jumps.

You're trying for 1.1 at 30 jumps.

There are more prudent things to do.

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I stand my landings and have been able to correct my landing due to wind gusts still standing so I belive I'll be good with that. Thanks for the info.

It's really easy to land parachutes straight ahead into a wide open field, even small ones but that's not the right way to judge things.

You need to be choosing your canopy for what happens when cute girls flash the pilot on sunset load so you have extra altitude, your climbout is delayed because your buddy got hypoxic and got his foot stuck on a seat belt, you have a bad spot, land out, don't see an obstacle in the low light until the last instant, and turn 90 degrees at 50 feet for a down-wind landing on an asphalt road.

Some people point out that canopy piloting skills vary; although unless you've made a habit out of out landings in bad conditions (in which case you should not be down-sizing due to poor judgement) no one can know whether you have mad skillz.

Being able to land up-hill, down-hill, cross-wind, and down-wind would be a start. Being able to make turns from 50 feet off the ground are important. Being able to land on hard pavement is important. Being able to land with some induced speed from front risers is important (you might unintentionally add speed because a flat turn isn't flat enough).

You're not ready to down-size until you're comfortable doing all that.

[Beatnik 2]

The best advice I could give you as an instructor is go talk to your instructors, they know you and your skill set best, and see what they say. Getting advice from people you don't know and don't know you isn't the best.

That said, if you were one of my students and going on an assumption that you are switched on and are competent, I would say it is a good choice. But I don't know you so take this for what it is worth.

[wmw999 2,446]

That might be a good choice in the spring after you're current, if you've done a 220. So, for the first few jumps, use student gear that's a size up from your last jump, until you're really comfortable. You'd be surprised at how rusty you can get over the winter.

Wendy P.

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)

[727_Jumper 0]

like I was telling someone else in another thread, ...

you have your own rig, you can demo any canopy that PD makes, check their website.

[davelepka 4]

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I have a sabre2 210 lined up to buy. I will have an exit weight of about 225-230 beginning next season

The rule of thumb with skydiving equipment, only buy what fits you and what you are qualified to jump at the time of purchase.

You may hope to have an exit weight of 225-230 by the beginning of next season, but you may also not reach that goal.

Even if you do have an exit weight of 230 lbs, that's on the high side for a 210 when you only have 30 jumps, all of them on student canopies. You can expect the Sabre2 to be higher performance than the Navs you have been jumping, even in the same size. Add in a downsize, and it's a double whammy. Add in to that an exit weight that might be north of 230 lbs, you can see where the problem lies.

Any deal you can find on a canopy now, you can find the same deal next April/May. Start the next season on a canopy you are familiar with, and get current. You can demo PD canopies for not much cash for two weeks at a time. Take advantage of this, and work your way down slowly, one step at a time. Find out what you are comfortable and qualified to jump at that time, and then buy one of those.

[heavydude 0]

I dont know if you have jumped one but the Aerodyne Triathlon is a good beginner chute also, its a 7 but packs nice opens great.

[TSISK 0]

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like I was telling someone else in another thread, ...

you have your own rig, you can demo any canopy that PD makes, check their website.

I just set up a demo with PD today, What a great company to deal with, They really made it easy and I cant wait to receive the Storm and Jump it

[JohnnyMarko 1]

Id shoot for more of a Katana-ish canopy if I were you

[flipper 0]

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Id shoot for more of a Katana-ish canopy if I were you

Really helpful comment

[thrillstalker 0]

thats the exact same progression i took except i skipped the 220.

i love my sabre2 and havent had any problems with it. make sure you fly through your flare and dont just use the student stab.

i would also open a little higher to get used to the canopy.

good luck and blue skies

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."