Purchasing a parachute

[MattMazzocco 0]

Hey guys, i am getting ready to buy a rig from my home dzo, but the rig only has a reserve, no main. The container will fit a 210 for the main, and i am looking for a little input about the different types of beginer canopies. I do not know much about diff parachute manufacturers, so any advice on diff flight characteristics, flares, controlabitility, etc. would be very helpful. I am not looking for high performance, I only have 45 jumps and want to keep it conservative. The chute i have been jumping is a 210 Sabre 2 i believe. Thanks in advance.

Matt

[kenneth21441 0]

My best advice would be to talk to your local rigger and/ or to the instructional staff as the local DZ. Due to they may be actually able to show you more then jsut tell you as they will also be able to give you some additional input based on them knowing you...

Hope that this helps... good luck...

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[MattMazzocco 0]

did i mention my exit weight is 240? That oughta get you guys posting. Anyways, I am looking for differences between manufacturers and cant make it out to the DZ till sunday, so i was looking for some early advice. At least maybe someone could point me towards some parachute info?

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

Hey guys, i am getting ready to buy a rig from my home dzo, but the rig only has a reserve, no main. The container will fit a 210 for the main, and i am looking for a little input about the different types of beginer canopies. I do not know much about diff parachute manufacturers, so any advice on diff flight characteristics, flares, controlabitility, etc. would be very helpful. I am not looking for high performance, I only have 45 jumps and want to keep it conservative. The chute i have been jumping is a 210 Sabre 2 i believe. Thanks in advance.

Conservative people (Brian Germain, 10000 skydives, teaches canopy flight) would recommend at least a 230 at your weight. Since you have a lot more kinetic energy than a small guy and your bones aren't correspondingly stronger you might do well to respect the limit.

You'll probably want a smaller main within your first year, but however many you go through (three sizes often fit well in containers that have the closing loop on the bottom of the reserve container or floor of the main container) you should only be spending $1/jump on depreciation.

[DHolland 0]

do you really want to jump your first main loaded at 1.14? It is not horribly aggresive but I got my first rig three weeks ago and it is loaded at .9 and it is perfect for me at my skill and knowledge level, it is docile and allows me to make mistakes without hurting myself. I still managed to come in pretty Fing fast on a day with no wind and a bad two stage flare.

[erdnarob 1]

I know 2 persons who had respectively 23 and 40 jumps who recently bought a SABRE 2-170. Those people (weight 175 and 185 lbs) changed from huge student canopies (270) to downsize gradually by making a dozen of jumps or so with borrowed canopies ranging between 250 and 210. Those 2 guys are happy to have bought a Sabre 2-170 since they have the intention to keep it for a while. What you need is the advice of a realistic instructor who will judge if you can handle the same kind of progression. However, you have to know that for lift capacity purpose, a SABRE 2-170 will support you as much as a non zero porosity 210 or 220 and even more and with a better flare.

The support or lift from your canopy is one thing but the handling is another story. Of course the Sabre 2-170 will react more rapidely to any toggle input than a bigger size canopy. Get a good briefing and please, if you decide to go for a 170 zero porosity canopy like the SABRE 2, always remember that you have to behave like an airplane pilot especially at landing. Have a lot of clearance ahead of you, keep toggles symetrical (absolutely no last second turn) stay straight forward even if you realize that you are not perfectly into the wind line and against the wind. Get briefed thoroughly for the flare.

If you weight between 165 and 195 lbs the zero porosity 170 should be a good choice. A 210 with F111 material is OK too but a 210 zero porosity is too big for you and as soon as you will have to jump with a good wind, you will have less penetration and will be limited on your choice of landing areas.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[erdnarob 1]

Sorry I have just read about your exit weight of 240. Well, what about a Sabre 2-190, or a Pilot 190, the Safire 2-190. Those are almost equivalent canopies and will provide you with a powerful flare. My preference is for Performance Designs products which are from my point of view the best tested canopies.
If you have jumped a Sabre 2- 210 and want to be conservative a zero porosity 190 would do it.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[billvon 3,094]

>However, you have to know that for lift capacity purpose, a SABRE 2-170
>will support you as much as a non zero porosity 210 or 220 and even more
>and with a better flare.

True. But then again, a 69 square foot parachute will generate as much lift as a 220 as well - it just has much smaller margins of error. The trick is not getting a parachute that can land you without injury, because every parachute out there will land you safely if you handle it correctly. The trick is getting one that will land you safely even when you make the errors common at 40 jumps. The 210 recommendation is a good one; local instructors will likely have better advice.

[MattMazzocco 0]

Fortunatly i screwed up 3 landings through the AFF course which quickly opened my eyes to the fact that i could very easily kill myself. I had a bad downwind landing on jump 7, jump 8 did a low 180 leaving myself with only a few seconds before flaring, and to avoid a mid air collision with another jumper i landed way off, but had i not read about the dangers of low turns, and experienced one myself i would most likely be dead right now. I know i am nowhere near experienced, which is why i choose to stick with a 210. While it is a "Semi" aggressive wingloading, i have been flying it for the last 25 jumps or so and i have gotten comfortable with the way it flys. i have done 2 14k hop and pops to become more familiar with the way the canopy works, and i am really glad to have done so. When i get my rig i am scheduled to start a canopy control course to learn more about flying, and the capabilities of my canopy. I am fortunate to have made the mistakes i made in the begining because i have been in a few spots where i may have reacted differently, had it not been for my prior screw ups, and the wealth of knowledge in the incidents forum. I can honestly say the information i have gained here, combined with the efforts of the amazing staff at Skydive San Marcos have saved my life.

I just dont know enough about parachutes to understand the differences in flight between diff brands. I thank anyone who would be willing to skewl this newb on diff parachutes.

Matt

[erdnarob 1]

Your comparison is quite so so. I was comparing a 170 ZP lift with a F111 210 or 220. Choosing a 69 SF canopy as an exemple is quite extreme. I was telling that student that some people with same experience are successful at downsizing provided they are well briefed. I am reluctant to listen to a doctor telling me I need 4 months to recover from a broken ankle when 6 weeks is enough. For sure it all depends on the student. And a 190 ZP is not a napkin.
On the other hand it is good that you have reacted to my post, that way the student will make his mind with more than one advice.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.