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i am very keen to try base jumping. At the moment i have done 84 skydives in the past 6 months. i am jumping as much as i can to get around the 200 - 300 skydives before i look for a base mentor which are hard to find here in australia. i currently jump a 9 cell 215 canopy (my exit weight is 225 pounds) my idea was to get a cheap 7 cell and put maybe 100 jumps on it before basing so i can get the hang of flying a 7 cell. i understand that my first base canopy would need to be around the 300 sq feet mark. i have seen a good deal on a 220 7 cell that would allow me to fit it in my current container and was wondering if i should get it. I suspose getting a bigger size one would be better but then i would need to also buy a new container to fit it in.
So is it a good idea to learn to fly on this 220 sq feet 7 cell canopy prior to taking up base? thanks for your help guys.

Wat are you going to do with it Winston?

I believe 7cell 220 will prepare you much better than for example 170sqft 9cell semi-elliptical. There is also a chance you'll get also used to not so soft landings :)

What is the canopy? If it's a Fury or some other 0-3 CFM material commonly referred to as F-111, prepare to hammer in regularly. The good news is you will shine when it comes to PLFs. In the off chance you don't shine, you may just go to the hospital instead :)


If it's a ZP of sorts, it's not a bad canopy for you.

All my prep was done on a F1-11 220sqft fury... I then bought a 266 dagger for my FJC...

I was pretty happy with the practice and then the transition.

How much did you weigh?

mrbiceps

exit weight is 225.

I was asking Mac actually.

Do you know which 220 you were going to use? Depending on the 220, I was somewhat exaggerating but not entirely.

At that time.... around 12 - 12.5 stone (168 - 175lbs) so loaded the 220 at around 0.81 - 0.84 with gear and the 266 around 0.67 - 0.70 with gear........ roughly speaking....

wax on, wax off, grasshopper

I'm just getting into base and I'm practicing on a raven III I believe its a 243sqft and I'm a solid 195 with gear, and i pound my ass regularly In a light wind 5-10. after i get 50 or so more jumps on it I'm going for a blackjack 260 and am hopeful that the landings get a little softer.
any input on my hopefulness?

rule of thumb for canopy size in square feet:

your weight in pounds + 100 = eccommeded all around canopy size. subtract 20 for easy objects with large landing areas (lots of tall antennas meet this condition). Add 20 for hard objects with tight landing areas, like buildings.