Re: [jdatc] Skydiving rig for my BASE canopy
There are a lot of great points by MUCH more experienced people than myself in another thread in this forum. You can find at:
http://www.dropzone.com/...rum.cgi?post=2109154 I am not an experienced BASE jumper or a professional but would like to share some thoughts from my limited experience.
Consider the option of getting a smaller 7 cell F-111 that will fit into your Mirage. Depending on how big or small you go, you might not be able to take it to terminal, but it will help familiarize you with the way those types of canopy designs fly and flare. You could use that rental for a couple jumps on your BASE canopy, but you'll probably end up not wanting to put too much airtime & wear on your RockDragon, however that could vary depending on a lot of factors, your dedication, local scene and personal desires/habits. If you invest in extra risers it will be very quick to swap canopies if needed.
I am in the same position and just bought a Cruiselight 220 for $100. I coincidently have a Mirage M5 and yours is probably an M5 or M6, right? Well, the cruiselight fits in there fine, and I will be jumping it with my wingsuit shortly.
That was my decision, for my own personal situation, but read the other thread and come to your own conclusion.
Extra costs:
1. Keep in mind the repack you will have to pay for every 4 months. Or maybe less, whenever you feel like pulling out this puppy.
2. A rigger will have the final say on the air-worthiness, they could say the reserve canopy is too old to repack, it is their call.
3. It could possibly be difficult or more expensive (locale dependant) to have a round repacked because they are less common maybe? (ask your rigger, I have no idea, just a thought)
4. If you have to use this reserve once, the components could wear past the point where the rigger will agree to repack, potentially costing a lot of money in extra parts.
Price:
1. This rig is already a BOC=good.
2. The Manta alone could be worth +/- $200 depending on it's condition, I was recently in the market and that seemed average.
3. I believe the Sweethogs are pretty popular and you still see them, they are tough and sturdy and will last. be careful with the B-12 snaps though.
4. The AAD is probably not worth much if anything, in my personal and probably soon to be flamed opinion.
5. Notice in one pic, the closing flap grommets do not come close to lining up no less touching each other. The Manta
might be too big for this rig to take terminal in my opinion, but if you are only going to do BASE canopy hopnpops, that's not an issue. Plus your Base canopy is smaller than this Manta so it might pack smaller. The Manta is 9 cells anyway, so not much use for you to jump, 9 cell dimensions are diff. and fly and land differently than 7 cells.
6. The system pictured isn't the exact one you will be getting, so ensure you get the right pics before you buy.
If you do end up wanting to buy an extra rig, as far as this particular one goes,
it seems like a fair deal, as long as you don't mind having an extra rig hanging around the house. I think it's a good thing, you never know when you might need it.
Collecting extra gear can develop into a habit though, and I was up to 4 rigs, 10 canopies and 3 wingsuits at one point, but thankfully sold a few recently.
My related exerience FYI - I had a Talon back when I was new to skydiving and I spent a lot of money on converting it to BOC from ROL and made it "modern" AAD-compatible. I was not a license holder and was required to have an AAD.
On my 28th jump, before I was packing regularly, a local dz bum(no mo Mo!) was helping the packers and his 50 jump wonder self knotted up the pc and bridle and shoved the whole mess into the brand-spankin' new tight spandex resulting in a hard pull. Three tries and I went silver, resulting in a very expensive jump.
I was told the RSV PV needed replacement and that was about $300 due to its age and some other factors I don't recall at the moment. Sorry for being so long-winded
) 