Instructor suits

[h83 0]

hi..

we are planing to buy new suits on our dropzone (Austria) for the tandem instructors...

does anyone have a good tip for a good suit at a fair price?

Thanks...

[riggerrob 643]

Start with two-piece suits, because pants wear out waaaaay faster than jackets.
Pants-only is also far more comfortable when packing, dressing students, etc. on hot days.

Also order them with Cordura butts and knees, because those parts always wear out first. A layer of neoprene will make knee caps last longer.

For the last couple of years I have been wearing a two-piece suit custom-made for me by Veritcal Suits, in Pitt Meadows, Canada. Vladi thought I was being silly when I specified 1000 denier Cordura on the knees and but, but it has held up great for the last two seasons and 500 tandem jumps.
Tell Vladi that you don't want the standard stirrups, and would prefer old-school Velcro cuffs on bototm of the pants.

[matthewcline 0]

I concur with Rob on two piece suits.
You can get the set up he mentioned with most Suit builders, I happen to have a set up 90% of what he describes from Bev Suits, as does most of the staff at the DZ I jump at the most.

Loose fitted two piece suits seem to work the best for most of the year.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[riggerrob 643]

"

Quote

...

Loose fitted two piece suits seem to work the best for most of the year.

Matt

"

......................................................................

Agreed!
Tandem Instructor suits should be loose-fitting so that you can easily don a sweater when the weather turns cold, but not so loose - in the arm-pits - that they might interfer with handles.

The lower legs and fore-arms should be baggy, because they are the primary control surfaces for TIs.

An AFF Instructor would describe this sort of suit as his "slow falling suit" for when he jumps with slow-falling, light weight students.

[matthewcline 0]

Which is how I use mine! (but I need to re-lose the weight I lost from the last winter for it to be real effective again)

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

does anyone have a good tip for a good suit at a fair price?..

as always, worry about the suit features, not the actual vendor

decide what you want and then shop the different vendors

advice on cordura and going with two piece suits is really good advice for instructors (though not for sport jumping otherwise). I don't have anything extra to add there.

Maybe more pockets - as an instructor, it would be nice to carry an additional goggle set, cleaning cloth, packing stuff (pull up, rubber bands) to pack fast, a place for cards to carry the curriculum and flows, etc.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[TheCaptain 2]

Just a quick note about Cordura knees, you may want to add a measurement of where the cordura knee should begin (measured from the inseem). Maybe just my experience but I have had some that were too far up and were of no use, you need them more on the shin side and remember the leg straps will generally pull the pant legs up just a little too.

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[jimjumper 25]

Also think about pocket locations. My suit has a front leg pocket for breath mints, or my favorite, LifeSavers. I also have a arm pocket for a puke bag, although I may change to a hanker chief after my student had a spontaneous nose bleed on Sunday.

[captain1976 0]

Lots of great suggestions here and I'm not a Tandem Master, but from what I see triple material on the ass would probably be a good idea.

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Quote

Just a quick note about Cordura knees, you may want to add a measurement of where the cordura knee should begin (measured from the inseem). Maybe just my experience but I have had some that were too far up and were of no use, you need them more on the shin side and remember the leg straps will generally pull the pant legs up just a little too.

What he said. My tandem pants are shredded just below the cordura knees. My next pair will have booties as well.

[tandemwench 0]

My knees are padded (people call them my goalie pads) and considerably lower than where you think they should be!! They've held up perfect and the pad finds perfect placement once I have a rig on.

2nd that on booties - next pair will have booties, I love doing tandems in my belly suit - :)

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I am a very-strong supporter for booties for tandems. My "regular" tandem suit is my oldest RW comp bootie suit. Let power is MUCH more important than arm flap in my very-experienced opinion.

[matthewcline 0]

+1

Never hurts to go "Armed" with a more powerful weapon than the Student!

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[douwanto 22]

Quote

Let power is MUCH more important than arm flap in my very-experienced opinion.

+1

especially if you are jumping handycam lose arms will block the cam.

Uncle/GrandPapa Whit
Unico Rodriguez # 245
Muff Brother # 2421

[brenthutch 441]

Long sleave t and military pants reinforced with cordura. If you want you add knee pads in the slots that are allready there.

[theonlyski 8]

Quote

Long sleave t and military pants reinforced with cordura. If you want you add knee pads in the slots that are allready there.

Hell, that would be a good use for those knee pads they gave us for the pockets... I think that I still have some in the bag they gave em to me in...

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message