Question about booties

[brock 0]

I,m very new to the sport and just recieved my a license.
I am about to order my first jumpsuit and I was wondering whether booties affect fall rate. I am a very light jumper and need a suit with the fastest fall rate possible, so I don't want anything on the suit that will slow me down. Thanks for the input.

[skybytch 273]

Booties will slow your fall rate a bit. This can be countered by wearing weights though.

Personally I don't like booties for reasons other than fall rate, but I don't do a lot of serious point turning RW so take that for what it's worth (ie not much ). Have you asked your instructors/coaches (or anyone who has jumped with you) for their input on whether booties will slow you down too much or not? What are your goals right now - learning basic RW and having fun or do you hope to pursue "serious" competition RW in the future?

[darkwing 5]

You can add booties later if you want. I'd say don't get them initially.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[rigging65 0]

Quote

You can add booties later if you want. I'd say don't get them initially.

A point of clarification. Not all suits will let you add booties easily. Sometimes they can't be added at all. There are some designs that will let you zip on (or off) booties to your suit as you see fit. By getting an option like this, you're allowing yourself the flexabilty without spending too much to have them put on as an after-market part. Ask your suit Mfg. if they can do this for you!

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

[pilotdave 0]

I bought my jumpsuit when I had maybe 15 jumps (got a 25% off coupon). The dealer I was buying through wouldn't let me order booties because he said they'd be too hard to handle at that number of jumps, but he wrote on the order form that booties would be added later. Supposedly (no clue if it's true or not), Bev stitched the lower legs differently so that they could be easily removed and replaced with booties. I'm only unsure if it was actually done because I later found out that dealer was a compulsive liar (not even kidding).

I was told by one of my AFF instructors that booties were a must for me to get a decent amount of drive in a track since i'm small and the legs are tight. Still haven't gotten booties added but probably should at some point. I don't think I have any problems with tracking or forward movement without them.

Dave

[fudd 0]

Get booties! If you're putting down some money for a RW suit you will regret it later if you leave them out.

There are some differnt types of booties. Get the adjustable string booties.
Some people will say that you don't need booties, because you need to learn to fly your body.
Some people say they are like training wheels.
Don't listen to them!

Unless you still got problems beeing stable on your belly, holding a heading and making 360 turns left and right and stopping, you should be able to handle them fine.

Only danger components I can see is if one of them get loose in freefall. Then you have to compensate some with the other leg.

When you learn to use them right, you'll get much more power from your legs. They greatly improve your track, and they also make you more stable.

Well, that's my opinion anyway.

There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

[SpinDoctor 0]

I agree.

Get them now. You can always tuck them away if you're having problems early on. Once you learn to fly your body and kit - then you can start introducing them back in.

If you start doing serious 4 way (or even fun stuff for that matter) you'll kick yourself for spending all that money on a custom suit and not getting them from the start.

Think about student suits: they don't have booties because at that point
a) you're learning to PULL!
b) you're learning to fly stable and control your body

So you don't need them then.


Look at all the other people (freaks excluded) - and they pretty much all have booties.

-----------------------
Connextion: British 8 Way Team
www.bodyflight.co.uk
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[headoverheels 334]

I mostly agree. I'd tone down that bit about "greatly" improving your track to
"somewhat." There is a big difference in
initial acceleration when you first stick
your feet out, and less difference for
top-end track speed. Optimal body postion
will be different, but you'll figure that out.

Booties are much better for typical 4 to 8 way
sequential formation dives, where you will be
turning yourself or turning pieces.

You'll probably have to wear about 5# more
lead with a bootie suit.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Ive bought my first jumpsuit with detachable booties. It was a good initial choice because of my level at that time. I had some trouble with them when Ive started using them. With booties your ankle position is counts more!