What size main?

[robertmicp 0]

Looking for my first rig. Im 5-10, 180#. Been flying 225s on student status. My instructors say I have very good canopy skills. Im really not into "swooping", but into landing where I want to :) I have talked with a lot of people and get advise all over the place on wing loading. Everything from .8 to 1.1 for a first rig. I want a good main to get me up to say 100 - 200 jumps. I like the 225 I have been jumping, but I already want a little more performance. Whats everyone think? a 190 or 225 for a first rig?

Thanks

[Nightingale 0]

ask your istructors. we haven't seen you fly or land, so we can't give you appropriate advice.

[Fast 0]

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ask your istructors. we haven't seen you fly or land, so we can't give you appropriate advice.

Thats the essential of how these threads go on DZ.com. There will be people who post suggesting one or the other but I am sure others will flame them for making that decision. Only people who has seen you fly and know you can help guide you in that decision.

All that your gonna get on here is: "Stay at or below 1:1"

If you do a quick search for first rig or first main or first there will be a plethora of threads asking this same exact question.

There is so much that goes into that equation that most people just don't think about. Your instructors at your DZ know the answers to this question much much better than most of the people who would consider hitting reply and making a suggestion. Those who are qualified to help you make that decision won't do it over the net because they know better. (Following my point here)


Good luck, stay safe, and enjoy your first rig!

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

190 is an incredibly popular size for a first rig, especially at your size. The beauty of buying a nice ZP canopy in that range is that most people who jump alot will put one good season on one and then be able to sell it with little or no loss to some other person fresh off student status. There are many, many options to choose from and you might even be able to find what you are looking for (used) here in the classifieds on this site.

Chuck

[chutem 0]

What she said. I can tell you about my recent purchase just off student status. I was on a navigator 220 and just purchased a sillouhette 210. I have been told that it is a very similar canopy to the nav. I have 8 jumps on it now and it seems faster than the nav for sure. The nav did not have a collapsible pilot chute and the sill. does. I have it loaded approx .9 to 1. I'm useing the better safe than sorry plan for now. I will tell you that a few people have told me I should have gone smaller. I figure there is plenty of time to downsize later. 50 jumps from now I might feel different but I'll worry about that later. Remember I only have 36 jumps so I should not be trusted, I give you not advice just relate my opinion.

Have fun

James

[MarkM 0]

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ask your istructors. we haven't seen you fly or land, so we can't give you appropriate advice.

Thats the essential of how these threads go on DZ.com. There will be people who post suggesting one or the other but I am sure others will flame them for making that decision.

Yeah, I've noticed that and it's a bit of a shame. Sometimes the advice you get from the locals at a DZ isn't always the best. I've gotten the "you'll get bored with xxx" speech more than once at a DZ, but had opinions on this board(this was 4 years back) to balance it against.

At least with the experienced jumping there's the jump numbers / 100 + 1 WL rule that gets quoted, which is a nice hard limit guideline to go off of. But for noobs the response is a lot more hands off. This seems like a more recent trend, but I don't know.

[MJH 0]

[Whats everyone think? a 190 or 225 for a first rig?]

I'm almost exactly your height and weight (assuming 180 refers to your natural weight, not door weight), and I have been happy with the Sabre 2 190 I bought right off of student status. I could not imagine having bought a 170 or 210. Loaded at about 1:1, my 190 was just right for my skill level. (It still is, for that matter.)

As others have said, you should talk with your instructors before you buy. Only they can tailor advice to your precise circumstances. For what it's worth, however, my experience with a 190 has been very positive.

[mattjw916 2]

I currently fly a Sabre2 190 for the moment... since the disclaimers have been covered already I will interject that I like the 190 a lot better than the 210 since the toggle pressure was lower and the canopy carried more speed on final and planed out better for me when loaded at ~1.07

I did not like the way the Sabre2 210 flew and felt when loaded lightly since I am about 205 out the door. Like most people say, if you keep you first canopy between 1 & 1.1 w/l you should/could/would be okay.

According to some people I should be dead already (of course they have never actually seen me under canopy) and others say I could go down to a 170 loaded at ~1.2 since I fly my canopy well and exercise good judgement. There is no right answer to this question so listen most carefully to the people who have actually seen you fly and have instructor ratings or specialize in canopy piloting.

Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions... but don't be surprised if you get answers that are all over the place like you mentioned earlier.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080