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I started skydiving in march and currently have 51 jumps. Since the very beginning I have wanted to get into BASE jumping it is what attracted me to skydiving in the first place. I am wondering if I should drop a few grand on a skydiving rig or keep on paying the rental fee until I have my 150 skydives and can sign up for a FJC?

I need 99 more jumps it breaks down like this:

with my own rig 99 jumps: ~$3000 rig + $18*99=$4782

without my own rig 99 jumps: $40 * 99 = $3960

Just remember 150 is a general minimum for FJC's... if you don't have the skills some places won't deal with you till you have learned the skills.

Get a BASE canopy, an old reserve, and old container. Given you will need a BASE canopy anyway--seems the most logical thing to do, and you'll be dialing in your canopy.

So for only $822 extra you would have your own rig after 150 jumps? Seems like a bargain to me. Anyway how do you know you won't want to carry on skydiving after 150 jumps, in which case you'd want your own rig anyway.

Did you pick 150 jumps simply because that is the absolute minimum required by any FJC?

Why not get some more skydives in, wait until you've had to deal with some shit in skydiving and then see how you feel about pushing your envelope? Pesonally I was happy with the amount of skydives I had before my FJC (470 inc. 1 cutaway) however it was the type of skydives that I should've done differently. A big advantage to waiting a bit longer is that the longer you skydive beforehand the more contacts you will have when you do start BASE. Somebody with 150 skydives and a couple of jumps on a FJC is probably not going to know all that many skydivers let alone BASE jumpers.

From my personal experience the dropzone is a good place to meet BASE jumpers. This could lead to anything from watching them pack their BASE rigs, watching their personal BASE movies to perhaps even doing some ground crew for them.

Will

good advise Skreamer.

I had 500+ skydives(yes my profile is updated) 4 cutaways when i entered this sport.I dont advise any to start below that as its my hard deck.but its personal,but woudnt count at 150 just becours someone says thats minimum..(it dont mean that more are bad)

I also dont see any reason to plan to skip skydiving from start. i personaly still like to skydive,but i dont do it as often as i did before.Its also a safe place to practice track birdman and so on..

Buy your own Skydiving gear and then buy a proper BASE gear. You can always sell the skydiving thing later.

Skydiving is lots of fun and who knows you might discover that eventually if u give it a chance. Do'in BASE doesn't require quitting skydive, u know.

In some cases skydiving is a necessity to become a safe BASE-jumper (other than qualifying to a FJC).

Take care

percy

maybe you want to fly Wingsuits later on too in a base environment? Might be good to have your own rig to perfect skills like this in the skydiving environment before you take it to base. just my opinion, im around the same jump numbers youre at, in the same situation youre in. drop me a PM if youre looking for a rig real cheap (800 bones im selling complete system).

peac

1. You know where you are going.



2. Now develop a plan to get there.

Dropping a "few" grand on any parachuting gear, skydiving or BASE gear is not a question of should I, but WHEN will I.

I would say unless you have the luxury of getting(financially) what ever gear you want, skydive or BASE, in which case get both and now. Otherwise, plan for what ever it is you are ultimately shooting for.

Knowing what I know now, which ain't much, If I could start fresh again as a new skydiver with aspirations of one day defecting to BASE, I would not have sank several grand into brand new skydive gear that I'm still trying to pay off.

If all you are planning on doing is skydiving occassionaly, buying used gear might be the best way to go. But even still, used gear can sometimes be just as expensive.

Get you a good used fairly large container from a friend who recently downsized from a parachute to a table cloth. If you can afford it, buy a new large seven cell f111 canopy for your wing load that will fit in that container with reserve. A good example main would be a Raven.
I bet you could put this example rig together(with the help of a rigger of course), with a new f111 canopy for 2grand. Jump this rig on every skydive, in the mean time start saving up for the new BASE gear and the FJC.

If you're gonna compromise on gear, do it with the skydive gear. Get good gear, but be reasonable.

Buy the best, the newest, and most expensive BASE gear you can.

And have fun.

Rod

Not really.

It REALLY breaks down like this:
You want to BASE jump, but you need to get the proper experience first.

The proper experience is skydiving as a start.

You must have gear to skydive.

Therefore you must acquire gear so that you can skydive, which will in turn give you the basic, rudimentary skills you will need to learn to BASE jump.

Buy skydive gear today, buy BASE gear tomorrow. BASE gear is relatively cheap in comparison.

You have a good start in "doing it right," don't start making the wrong choices by getting ahead of yourself.
Enjoy skydiving for awhile--it's actually pretty fun!

Everyone here has good advice. But I want to echo what Faber says about skydiving numbers.

I've been in BASE freefall situations where I needed to react instnctually to weird body position issues (like being spun 180 degrees until I was facing the object, or over-rotating onto my back). I am 100% convinced that what got me out of those situations in one piece is the body awareness that one can only acquire through doing several hundred skydives. I had 400-ish skydives before I made my first BASE jump and I really think if I were going to recommend a minimum number of skydives, it would be closer to 350-400. You'd be amazed at the weird things you have to deal with quickly & instinctually in the skydiving environment (especially freeflying, where things can go to s#17 incredibly fast). I think these experiences will sharpen your mind and hone your overall awareness and reaction times.

Plus, like many others here note, skydiving is fun! I love BASE, but I also love skydiving. They scratch two different itches. Just this weekend I got my first taste of Birdman flying, did a couple of fun freefly jumps and a really cool tracking dive.

It's ALL fun!

Thanks for all the advice! I definately do plan on eventually getting skydiving gear but I dont have very much disposable income and more credit purchases are not an option. To clarify my earlier post I was wondering what would be the most cost efficient method to get into BASE while still maintaining safety as a priority.

In my opinion, the words "economical" and "BASE" should not exist together in the same sentence. If you're not buying the best gear available, then you're that much closer to getting all busted up or killed.

Good luck. You'll love the sport.

I can't make any sort of comment on BASE, but to just analyze your numbers:

With rental rig:
Spent $3960
Equity $0
Total Cost: $3960

With purchased gear:
Spent $4782
Equity $2500 (conservatively)
Total Cost: $2282

If you find a complete rig to purchase for $3000 and take good care of it, I have a hard time believe you couldn't sell it 100 jumps later for $2500. In any case it would only cost you the difference between what you pay for it and what you can sell it for, and from what I've seen while shopping for my own used gear is that in general rigs hold their value pretty well.