Why are rigs so damn expensive?

[Tomcat933 0]

I understand that parachutes and an entire gear package are precision devices that have to save your life on a daily basis, but 5000 dollars? I can buy a really nice small fishing boat with a four stroke motor for that. I mean my scuba gear keeps me alive in a foreign environment; its probably more technologically advanced than skydiving equipment, but i don't think all of my dive gear added up(and i have everything) is more than 2500 or 3 grand. I feel like companies might be ripping us off because we have to pay it, and there's not a big enough market to create price erosion. Opinions?

[GaryRay 0]

the reason is simple, it is such a niche market and there is so much R&D that goes into the products that if they were to charge less they wouldnt be able to make any money or to do more R&D for better products.

JewBag.
www.jewbag.wordpress.com

[cocheese 0]

Go buy a boat until you get your priorities figured out. Guys with your attitude don't last very long in this sport. I'm serious. I don't think you're gonna make it kid.

[pontiacgtp00 0]

Everything is expensive once you leave the ground.

[Tomcat933 0]

Give me a break cocheese i wanted someone to explain why the price is what it is and GaryRay did just that. I couldn't see it and now i can. I think i'll make it in this sport just fine and apparently my instructors do too because they just passed me for my A license.

[likestojump 3]

The amount of R&D that goes into designing parachute gear is enormous. Think of the stress the gear goes through on every jump. Unlike SCUBA, a skydiving gear malfunction is very likely to kill you.

Since you are comparing SCUBA gear, think of how pretty much all parts used in SCUBA are cross manufactured for many other industrial uses :

Cylinders - gas storage
HP hoses - I cannot even name all the uses that come to mind
regulators - same as above
BC - well, I doubt it's anywhere as complex as a skydiving Harness/Container system
Fins/Mask/Snorkel... all pretty basic and fairly easy to produce via machinery.

Skydiving gear has a lot of manual labor involved. While machines do cut pieces, all the sewing is still done by hand (well, with sewing machines, but you know what I mean)

hope this helps. But like posters above said, if it involves being above the ground, it's damn expensive.

[Tomcat933 0]

Thanks man, thats a legit answer and it makes sense.

[SKYgoonie 0]

you sure like to whine alot about the cost of things dont you???
You need to slow down and understand that because yes its a realitivly small community things arnt mass produce and made in china. things are typicaly hand made and custom order. Yes you may argue thats it only nylon above your head but there is a ton of R & D that whent into that design especialy because it is your life on the line every time you jump out that door.
You heard it once and i wont be the last to tell you but this is a expensive sport. collge kid or not, heck i spend my unemployment check every weekend to go jump,
buy used when you can do your research ask around people are nice and will generaly try to work with you on getting the new jumpers set up with gear.

i only pretend to know what im doing
D.S.#619

[thedude325 0]

Quote

Give me a break cocheese i wanted someone to explain why the price is what it is and GaryRay did just that. I couldn't see it and now i can. I think i'll make it in this sport just fine and apparently my instructors do too because they just passed me for my A license.

What do you mean "I couldn't see it?" You stated in your first post that the market is so small and there isn't enough price erosion...

[Tomcat933 0]

Thanks, I'm not usually a whiner but I'm freaking in love with this sport already and paying for it is tough.

[Tomcat933 0]

I hadn't thought about the R&D part. More money now means better gear in the future.

[lost_n_confuzd 0]

Quote

What do you mean "I couldn't see it?" You stated in your first post that the market is so small and there isn't enough price erosion...

So what? Like him, I always knew that but never really considered the R&D to be a factor. Quit arguing small points with someone's post.

[ficus 0]

Another thing you may not be considering: I highly doubt your SCUBA rig and wetsuit were measured and cut for your body like that $5K skydiving rig would be.

Price out a bespoke suit sometime. (This goes for everyone -- paying a few hundred dollars for a custom made jumpsuit will not seem so bad.)

[airgord 1]

Every rig is hand built. Not much automation.

[trigger 0]

Random friend asks: How much does it cost you to jump?
Me: £20
Friend: Thats cheap.
Me: But i may jump 5x in a day.
Point is skydiving isn't a cheap sport but i sure feel privileged to be able to be a part of it

.CHOP WOOD COLLECT WATER.

[dorbie 0]

There is competion, you can get a custom Dolphin container for $1225 all the way up to a custom Javelin Odyssey for more than an extra grand above that, and everything in between. The wait is half a year on the Odyssey and 1 week on the Dolphin, so it does not appear that jumpers are beating a path to the cheaper product.

Of course you need a few more items to complete your rig.

Since you're such a big fan of competition and are so price conscious let us know if you get the Dolphn and if not please post to this thread why not.

[countzero 7]

Quote

I understand that parachutes and an entire gear package are precision devices that have to save your life on a daily basis, but 5000 dollars? Opinions?

i beg to differ. Rigs and Things has 17 container/ main/ reserve package deals that are less than 5k with 10 of them being less than 4k.

diamonds are a dawgs best friend

[cocheese 0]

You're the one that bashed the gear companies. And in another post you whine about the USPA. And before that you thought this sport was safe. Try to get the big picture before you post. I predict your next thread will be..."Why is the dropzone charging so much for rental gear and hop n pops." or "Why should i have to pay for a cutaway on rental gear?"

You sound like a taker, not a giver. Entitlement generation theory i guess.

Congratulations on your A license

[normiss 851]

Same reason divorces are so damn expensive.
Because they're worth it.
Suck it up cupcake!

[davelepka 4]

Here's a couple of other points-

First off, $5k is one price, there are others. You can spend less than that and come out with a safe, airworthy rig.

Next, take a good look at the gear. It's all VERY well built, and given proper care, will last a long, long time. I have personally put 2000+ jumps on one harness/container with no repairs needed. I have also put 1000+ jumps on a couple of canopies, with no other maintenence than a line change (which is common), the fabric an stiching were solid when I sold the canopy.

All of the other points made are good ones too - custom made rigs, lots of time and money in R&D, but the biggest point is the size of the market.

There are only a 30,000 members in the USPA. Of that, I'm sure a percentage of them are not active jumpers. Of those that still jump, how many do you think are buying new gear at any one time?

When you figure that a guy can buy a rig and jump it for a decade, that's going to hurt your sales. Additionally, there's a big turnover in skydiving, and when people stop jumping, the used gear market just gets more inventory. Again, not good for the manufacturers.

All that said, don't spend your money on new gear until you have gone through a few used rigs and canopies. Your money is better spent on jumps, and your tastes and needs will change after you have a few years in the sport. Once you're ready to make an informed, smart decision, THEN spend your $5k or $6k on some brand new stuff you'll get years of use out of.

[wildcard451 0]

Good points Dave.

I'm almost 7 years and 1000 jumps in and, withthe exception of jumpsuits/altimiters/goggles/and the new Katana I bought this year, I have never owned a piece of brand new gear.
My first rig was $1900 at 27 jumps. Jumped it for 200 jumps. The container is now in the hands of a newer jumper, the main as well, and I think even the cypres has a year left on it.
I'm just about to sell my second rig and buy, guess what, someone else's hand me down.

Well maintained gear lasts a damned long time in this sport.

[Andy9o8 2]

One more market dynamic to mention - a generation ago, there was a lot of older, and downright cheap, but still very serviceable, military surplus gear available to civilian sport skydivers. That not only gave jumpers a cheaper gear option (if they so chose), it probably also helped keep the prices of some of the (then-)newer sport gear down. Today, truly cheap mil-surp gear really isn't part of the sport scene anymore, so the closest thing you might have to that is, say, 15 to 20-ish year old sport gear that is probably showing its wear and might not be freefly-friendly (and thus many might consider it to be obsolete).

GaryRay's post was probably the best nutshell that answered your question, and I'm glad it was posted early in the thread, before the others started jumping your shit for .... well, really for no good (enough) reason at all. But hey, that's the Internet for you.

[jsaxton 0]

Why the heck are you pricing out NEW gear at your experience level? You should probably be looking for a nice USED rig as your first rig. ;)

[riggerrob 643]

Military-surplus parachutes were barely practical when I started jumping 32 years ago.
They were already fading from fashion when I was a student (see scar in my moustach dating back to 1979).
Because, circa 1980, (Canadian) Crown Assets Disposal quit selling military-surplus intact parachutes. They started cutting off lines for fear that civilians would jump them, hurt themselves and try to sue the Crown (a laughable concept for a lawyer!!!!!).
Since the labour to re-line round canopies was as much as the cost of a new (civilian) canopy, cutting off lines "grounded" military-surplus round canopies.
The United States military followed suit around 1980.

Military-surplus parachutes faded completely (from civilian skydiving) by the end of the 1980s.

[Tomcat933 0]

I would buy used if i could, I'm not shopping for new gear, just wondering about the cost. I can't afford to buy any rig, new or used, at this point.