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I'm looking to purchase gear and take a FJC in the near future and would appreciate recommendations, reviews, opinions, etc... (Yes, I've read the various articles.)

I plan on primarily jumping bridges and cliffs of at least 300 feet. I've been looking into the Apex FLiK (242 or 266) or Rock Dragon (244 or 266) w/ Vtec.

I have no plans to do aerials but I do plan on eventually doing wingsuiting. I've been looking into the Apex DP. Does anyone have any opinions regarding harness articulation? I'm wondering whether it is worth purchasing harness articulation for added maneuverability on cliffs if I have no plans on doing aerials?

At this point I'm thinking about purchasing the gear mentioned and then taking the Apex FJC (although I'm open to other suggestions regarding gear and FJC). I will also be looking for a mentor in my area and begging, pleading, buying beer, carrying gear, and anything else I need to do for them to take me on. I would greatly appreciate any recommendations, reviews, opinions, etc...

articulation is over rated and unnessessary. My first rig had everything, all the bells and whistles.

NOW- I have no articulation. NO three ring system. NO L Bar either.

Just tell Todd S. you want him too exagerate your size alittle in the harness department--that way you be comfortable and fit a thin backpack on your back with the rig on over for those "long hikes". That's what I did and my minimal stripped down rig fits better than my ariticulated and foam stuffed first "pretty" when packed rig.
As a side note dont get the foam, when your in a hurry and have to cram you container in your stash bag , your container fits better without all the foam, it's just doesn't look as pretty when packed.
LESS FOAM less bulk!

Also between the FLiK and the Rock Dragon. you have to decide wether you want something that has better forward speed -the FLiK vs. slower and more sluggish-The Rock Dragon (but possibly safer ).

I prefer the FLiK overall and if i had a choice for a slower canopy I'd probably get the FOX over the Rock Dragon. And I'd get the ZP leading edge as well for better glide etc.

But Tom Aiello will tell you not to get it (ZP leading edge) for packing concerens, trust me its not hard, if I can do it , anybody can!

All I can say is since i've gotten ZP leading edge now on my latest 2 canopies i wouldn't have it any other way.

Also Jimmy P. and Marta E. are great instructors. I had a great time learning from them and have had nothing but great experiences with all my BASE gear purchase throught them as well.

Feel free to PM me with any questions as well Mr. Butters


later

Helium /Troll DW without articulation is what I would get.

Jimmy and Marta rock ! You won't find nicer people or better instructors.

I appreciate your opinion and will take it into consideration regarding articulation and foam.

hip rings make a difference.

anyrig will work fine. look for the best deal.

3k for a base rig? insane.

I am still debating the articulation and appreciate having more opinions. Why do you think 3k is to much? I ask because it appears as though the package I want will be ~3k.

Thanks for bringing this up Butters. Another question in this thread of discussion - how does the addition of body armour affect the fit of the harness? I spoke to Apex and they said to measure yourself wearing everything you expect to be wearing for the jump - but this will vary depending on the local conditions. Would body armour fit underneath a container measured for someone without armour? Is there a bit of give in the measurements?

because you havent even taken your fjc yet.

f you have tons of disposable income then fine, but you may decide afterwards that base isnt for you...
ask greenmachine about his similar situation...

my first (and only) baserig cost less than a thousand dollars. its a warlok, with a fox265 and has served me well from 200ft b's to 2000foot a's and all kinds of madness inbetween...

so i could theoretically buy 3 rigs for the cost of your one...

Ok. I understand your concerns about purchasing gear before even participating in a FJC. So would you recommend purchasing used gear or attempting to borrow gear for the FJC?

youre an adult, and its your money... do what right for you

Thanks for the advice but I'll probably pump some money back into the economy ...

Why don't you just buy gear, do a handful of jumps on it (or zero), and then sell it to me for half of what you paid for it?

if you buy it from him that would be great. here's the plan. you buy it and it'll be like both of ours. we'll keep it at my house and maybe one day i'll allow you to use it. sound about right?

bigg dogg is coming home next month! are you ready to go big? talk to charlie...it's all planned.

talk to the people running the course. what do they recommend? (Tom runs a course and has posted about the wide variety of gear he loans his students to jump.)

after BD, lots of virtually new equipment hits the market.

most people find BASE different than expected. it makes it hard to be an informed consumer. you will know much more AFTER the course. so why be in a rush to drop $3k?

also, one vendor built my buddy a sweet rig. it took over a year to get... my rig took the best part of 6 months to receive. (I have NO clue about current lead times.)

what works for you?

I did a FJC and ordered gear, it was good to jump my own gear. When you look at which gear to get you should factor in where you live and what type of objects you will likely be jumping. i.e the rig you buy if you live in Norway is likely to be different to the rig you jump in Australia. Although most rigs will be fine in both places.

I do have slight reservations about buying gear due to the fact that numerous people have told me that it may be different than I expect. The problem is that I would feel more comfortable having my own gear prior to taking a FJC so that I can practice packing and do some H&P to practice canopy control and when it comes to B.A.S.E. jumping I want to be as comfortable as possible.


If I purchase gear now, the risk is that I won't enjoy B.A.S.E. jumping and will take a significant loss on the gear. If I purchase gear later, the risk is that I will enjoy B.A.S.E. jumping and will have to wait a significant amount of time for the gear. From past experience, I'm leaning towards purchasing gear sooner than later. However, I'll continue to think about this and will try to talk to some FJC Instructors to get their personal opinions ...

I think the chance of you not enjoying yourself is pretty minimal. I would take a FJC and then decide on gear.

there is also the risk that you might purchase inappropriate gear. your opinion about what is right can change radically over the course of a FJC.

but, BASE is personal. if you FEEL better with new gear, you will probably perform better.

Very true. I believe the risk of spending more money is worth the reward of being able to continue jumping after my FJC compared to the reward of saving money at the risk of not being able to continue jumping after my FJC because you have to wait for gear. Personal choice.

I weigh ~150lbs. w/out gear and primarily plan on jumping +300ft. bridges and cliffs. I was thinking about an Apex DP and an Apex FLiK 242 w/ VTec.

I'm going on reviews and articles. I'm taking the risk that this might be inappropriate gear. Any opinions?

I limit myself to general advice. I leave specific advice to your FJC instructor. (Apex makes fine gear, and should provide fine advice - as would Asylum, Morpheus, and a few others.)

stay inquisitive. it will help your career.

If you're that torn about gear, take Tom's course, jump the who knows how many rigs he's got now that will give you a good idea of which canopies you'll like or not, which rigs you'll like or not and decide on gear at that point.

If I am not mistaken, he'll rent you gear for the course then if you buy from him later on, he'll take the rental cost out of the price of your new rig.. so you don't actually lose money if you stay in the sport.... Don't take my word for that though, he may not... Ask him directly...

Although I have not taken anybody else's course, I was quite happy with what I learned from Tom and believe it was worth the $ paid.

Here's my thoughts: I had no problem JUMPING any of the rigs I have jumped... which is approximately 10 different rigs and 10 different canopies. What I did and didn't like about the rigs was packing... Some were easier than others, some were neater than others... I'd say all fit comfortably... all seemed ok.

Canopies are a different story. You're going to find more differences between them.....

Either way, there really isn't anything more valuable than flying each type of canopy and wearing each type of rig to determine which combination is what you will want to jump for X number of jumps... as far as i'm concerned, if I am not comfortable in my rig or under my canopy, I won't be comfortable at the exit point.... and then I have to climb down.. which isn't nearly as fun as jumping off!!!

Buy a new rig. Learn to pack with it. Skydive the canopy. Use it for your FJC. Then when you have 20 jumps and find yourself solo on something in the dark, you won't have gear fear.

If by chance you don't like BASE, the $1000 in depreciation will be a drop in the bucket compared to how much of your life you have wasted on this board.

And asking for canopy opinions is a waste of time. Most people don't have enough experience with various canopies to make an educated opinion...and an uneducated opinion is like an asshole, everyone has one.

The people who do actually have experience on a broad range of canopies will PM you...because they don't want to make one manufacturer butt hurt by recommending another. Maybe you've already realized this.

Good points.


Yeah, I've realized this and I appreciate all the different opinions and reviews.