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I'm looking to put a BASE canopy into a skydiving container to start getting comfortable with the characteristics of something I would jump in a BASE environment.

I see from previous posts that most people say any skydiving container large enough to fit the BASE canopy will work, however, how do I know what exactly is big enough?

When I go onto the manufacturer website's for skydiving containers, they list skydiving canopies that will fit, but no mention of BASE canopies. Any suggestions?
Ie If I have a 240 ACE, how do I know which containers this will fit into?

Thanks a lot!

Just go to your dropzone and rent a student rig that has a Nav 240 and have your rigger swap it with your 240. Pack it slider up pro-pack and done. Easier if you have your own set of risers and toggles already set up in the 240 canopy you want to jump.

My skydive canopy is a 170 if fit my 240 blackjack in it with no bag

That's a VERY wise decision.

When I first got my BASE rig the owner of my DZ allowed me to stick it in one of his student rigs (mesh slider, no d-dag, 36in PC).

I did about 10 hop 'n pops with it and I can tell you, it made a big difference before I headed out to the Perrine for my first BASE jump.

My advice would be to speak to your mentor and your DZO and see if you can work something out for a day if they're not too busy with students.

You can find pack volumes for CR canopies here:

http://media.wix.com/...9bf0645c98e86f8f.pdf

I am getting about to get a container for my BJ 260. I have heard you can get an old accuracy rig for very cheap. Your best bet (from what I'm told) is to pack a wanted ad on DZ.com. Additionally, what everyone said about student gear is super good too. However if you want more extensive training, you might want your own.

 
I got a Dolphin off DZ classifieds for $500, used it for a season to practice with my BASE setup and then sold it on again for $500.

My Troll 260 fit in a 190 container. It was tight but worked fine.

I jumped my freepacked BJ 260 for a lot of jumps in my M1 (135-150)

Did you have to lengthen the closing loops? Or do any other modification?

mirage M8 container. good luck finding one, especially if you are not a big dude. or borrow a student container. remember you ride will be vastly different with a skydiving PC than with a slider down base PC.

def worth it though

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.
That link to pack volumes is exactly what I needed!

I'm currently in the market for my first skydiving rig, but as I said, I want to pretty much exclusively work on base skills. Not really looking to just practice for a day or two, so borrowing student gear at the DZ won't work. I'm looking for my own container that would fit either a Blackjack or Ace 240 that I would also be able to swap out for a skydiving canopy in the future if I wanted to (around the 190 size.).

Ideally I'd like to find a used container that fits them both.

Asking for the moon?

oh yeah. Closing loop was 6" long and blackjack leaked out all the seams. Worked great for wing suiting and belly though. Just ugly.

I have a Vector 353, sized for a 190 (will fit 170 - 210) and with an extra long closing loop was able to get my Fox 315 into it for hop and pops.

Very highly recommended. :)

Not asking for the moon, but it depends on how big you are. I'm 5'6'' 150 Lbs and I had trouble finding one. I'm getting a Wings with a 40% discount and no options ($1200). I plan on hanging onto it for a while to jump BASE canopies, so I feel like it's kind of worth it for me.


How did you do the freepack? Did you pro-stack or flat pack or...? I assume you used the tailpocket, so did you just put it into the container and fold it over onto itself a couple of times?

Do you have any idea what size your Fox packs to?
Just trying to find a comparison from what was posted earlier.

I have an old 1988 Vector that has a Raven 220 reserve, and Raven 240 main in it. I regularly free pack my Seven 280, and Blackjack 280 in it and they fit perfectly. I paid 600 buck for the whole rig. I ended up putting a tail pocket on the Raven 240 and use it for wing suiting.

If you can find an accuracy rig, they're great for this purpose. I have a Classic Pro from Rigging Innovations (CP-4S) and it fits a Troll 265 easily. The reserve is only a PD143, so you can skydive your BASE canopy without carrying around a huge reserve.

Not really, but it's fully vented, so would be close to the largest volume canopy you could have.

I put mine in the D-bag too before packing it. Freepacking would have resulted in a fair amount spilling out between the flaps, which the bag contained.

Thats pretty impressive, I have a wings that is built for a 190, I have not tried to get my Troll 285 in there yet but going off thoss figures i reckon i could, especially freepack with some crap hanging out the sides, CReW style.

To the OP, i bought a Mirage M8 for the exact thing you are referring to and made a few hop and pops on it prior to taking off objects. That Mirage is huge! It had loads of room to spare. I pro-packed, rolled the nose, put it into the d-bag that came with the rig, and used the PC that was on the rig, i had no problems at all.

IMO unless you have loads of money and can afford two rigs, I don't think it is necessary to buy a rig especially for this, you will get pretty bored jumping a huge ass base canopy all day long.

It is better to just switch it up into a student rig, takes 5 mins, then do a few hop and pops and switch it back.

It is well worth hop and popping the canopy though.

There is a cheap and easy way to do
this without buying a second SKY rig:

What I did to practice jump with my Mojo 280
was cutaway my SKY main, hook up the BASE
wing using risers to my existing harness and
reserve system, pack the canopy BASE style,
then insert in a grocery bag, do a Hop & Pop
exit on your back, pull bag off, and chuck the
wad away from you. Works well just make
sure to pull the slider all the way up

Note-1: do Not use a bridle or PC

Note-2: you will likely need to be a known
element at your DZ to board the plane like
this, still expect people to freak a bit

I bought a Raven IV that I had a tail pocket sewn on. With the help of my mentor, I was able to free pack it into my Mirage G3 M5 (Holds 190-170 mains per the website). I pro-packed and flat packed(BASE Pack job) and found the flat pack to be a more comfortable opening. I was doing hop n pops using a standard bridle with no kill line and a 38" pilot chute. My openings were very fast. I have done 10 or so jumps with this configuration. As mentioned it will be much easier to have your base canopy on a separate set of risers with toggles. I did not have this luxury so I swapped everything over, minus the bridle, d-bag and PC .

If there's a local balloon operation he could always just hook the BASE canopy up to his normal sky rig and do an unpacked jump off the balloon.

Haha. Don't suppose you have video of this?

Why not just do a game over?

i've been doing that for years to test repairs and shitty old canopies...

a tiny clip of it in this old edit at 2:58ish...

http://vimeo.com/37809250

I'm 5'8", 155lb. rig built for me. Freepacked standard, lines in tail pocket. flat pack. (not that it matters) tail pocket on the back plate and s-foleded until it fit. I know it's rocket science, but it worked fine. Still does.

Anyone ever manage to get an ACE 240 into a Mirage M5?
Or am I out to lunch?

.

Se7en 300 and BJ 310, both would propack into my Mirage G4-M6.
Into the d-bag, set up like any other skydive canopy.
You just have to really work to flatten the canopy down, and put in a long closing loop, but the flaps do close completely so tracking & wingsuiting was no issue.