starting skydiving in the USA compared to FRANCE

[frenchcloud 0]

i regularly read posts from beginners who have the issue of spending so much money on rentals after they are done with AFF. so much money that could be used for more jumps...it leads them to either consider putting an end to it or buying used rigs too fast with too little experience.
i come from france and i went through AFF in the south of france (CAHORS http://www.parachutisme.com)
there, when students are done with AFF, gear rental costs 5 euros per jump... sometimes 8 euros but that s it.
when i first got here, i was really surprised to see that gear rental ranged from 20 to 40 bucks per jump!
then i realized that there are so many used rigs for sale. there are so many more skydivers here. in France, only a small percentage of skydivers own their personal rig. it s like a dream hardly attainable to own one. rigs are so expensive but here, there are so many used rigs to buy that as soon as i arrived here, thanks to an awsome retailer i met at the WFFC named bonnie ,i made the best deal in the world buying my first rig ever! (i had over 200 jumps).
i just wonder how come rentals are so expensive here compared to france.i wonder if it doesn t make people stop skydiving once they realize the costs of it. if rentals were way cheaper, i m sure beginner would spend even more money on jumps. i am no longer concerned by the problem of renting but just still think about those starting to skydive.

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The tongue is NOT only a tool for speech!

[chopchop 0]

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thanks to an awsome retailer i met at the WFFC named bonnie ,i made the best deal in the world buying my first rig ever! (i had over 200 jumps).

SSSshhhhhh... you're gonna make gravitygirl's head swell..

and based on a conversation I had with Matthias the other day, he wouldn't like that..

chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

[JohnRich 4]

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in France, only a small percentage of skydivers own their personal rig. it s like a dream hardly attainable to own one...

Capitalism versus socialism?

[piisfish 140]

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in France, only a small percentage of skydivers own their personal rig. it s like a dream hardly attainable to own one...

Capitalism versus socialism?

No, they're just cheap...

And they don't have so many 2nd hand rigs because people tend to keep them long time, and also the market is very closed due to their regulations. Most of the market is (was) held by Parachutes de France, a couple of other manufacturers are rising. Whereas in the US (and the rest f the world), the market is MUCH more diverse, specially for the rigs.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Fab 0]

well...Bonnie's (extented) family gets bigger by the minute

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[kelpdiver 2]

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there, when students are done with AFF, gear rental costs 5 euros per jump... sometimes 8 euros but that s it.
when i first got here, i was really surprised to see that gear rental ranged from 20 to 40 bucks per jump!

Your jump tickets are a bit steeper, though, right? Does it end up being about the same (35-45$) per jump?

(Of course, if we let the dollar slide much further, 5E will be the same as our rental costs!)

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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in France, only a small percentage of skydivers own their personal rig. it s like a dream hardly attainable to own one...

Capitalism versus socialism?

Oh Christ, how jingoistic can you get? The french tariff barriers on US gear are no more socialist in nature than the US tariffs on European steel or Canadian lumber.

[JohnRich 4]

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Capitalism versus socialism?

Oh Christ, how jingoistic can you get? The french tariff barriers on US gear are no more socialist in nature than the US tariffs on European steel or Canadian lumber.

I wasn't thinking of international trade, but rather the economics of what goes on *within* each country.

It was also just a hypothetical question, rather than a statement of fact, as I have no experience with France myself.

[riggerrob 643]

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Capitalism versus socialism?

Oh Christ, how jingoistic can you get? The french tariff barriers on US gear are no more socialist in nature than the US tariffs on European steel or Canadian lumber.

I wasn't thinking of international trade, but rather the economics of what goes on *within* each country.

It was also just a hypothetical question, rather than a statement of fact, as I have no experience with France myself.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Despite all their highfalutin propaganda about free trade, capitalism, etc. the Americans are fiercely political about trade barriers.
And make no mistake, many of those trade barriers are related to American pride.
For example, after BOTH Canadian hockey teams whooped BOTH American hockey teams at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, American politicians tried to restrict import of British Columbia's two largest crops. Americans failed miserably at halting the importation of marijuana and had to console themselves by trying to tax softwood lumber as it crosses the border. Hah!
Every time softwood lumber tarrifs reach an international court, the court decides that American tarrifs on Canadian softwood lumber are too high!
Americans may be fiercely jingoistic, they just can't see the forest for the trees!
Heh!
Heh!

[Deuce 1]

My experience in Sweden was that most of the skydiving is done by clubs, where everybody chips in to the overall success of the operation, which cuts costs.

Most DZ's in the US are commercial.

How much does the AFF course cost (an 8 jump equivalent?), do you have to joing the local club to learn?

The AFF course in the US costs about $1300, depending on where you are.

[JohnRich 4]

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Canadian hockey teams whooped BOTH American hockey teams... console themselves by trying to tax softwood lumber...

Good gosh! I thought we were talking about the cost of owning a skydiving rig in France! How the hell did you get from that to Canada, hockey and lumber??? Does the cost of Canadian lumber in America have some affect on the price of French parachute rigs?

[pms07 3]

in France, only a small percentage of skydivers own their personal rig. it s like a dream hardly attainable to own one. rigs are so expensive ***

I've only jumped at 4 drop zones in France and my perception was that most experienced skydivers I knew or jumped with did have their own gear. I never asked to see sales receipts though...
Seemed like PdF and other manufacturers were marketing and selling so I assumed it worked similar to in the US. I priced a Springo, Atom and BT Pros for a couple of folks as well. Prices were not cheap but also not remarkably more expensive than typical US retail prices for gear. Of course I was exempt from VAT in Germany so that saved 18% or so there.

pms

[GTAVercetti 0]

I jump at a club DZ and the rental rigs are still $25.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

What you pay for rent usually reflects the age of the gear. If you are renting a Wonderhog with a clapped out Manta and an FXC, then the DZO paid for this gear a long time ago and is now just covering maintenance. If you get a Vector three with a Sabre 2 or a Spectre and a Cypres then you should expect to pay more. We charge about three times what other DZs in the area charge for rent, but then their gear is usually more than three times as old.

[skykittykat 0]

It is more to do with the dz and their operation as to what rental prices are.

When I first started out, I jumped at a military dz in the UK and the cost of hiring a PD 190 in container with cypres was around 20 GBP per day. If I hired a "sport" rig (ie, not what students used) it was 5 GBP per jump.

Basically the student gear was subsidized, but the sports gear was not. Also, all the containers were new Javelins, etc. I then went to a non-military dz and paid more per jump to hire a rig that was very old and had an FXC (student gear at that).

Here in Eloy, it is $65 a day to hire a full rig and the gear is newish.

I hope this helps!

Liz

[skydivefive 0]

My home DZ rents per day, not per jump. It is $30 a day and includes the last pack job. I thought that was pretty reasonable. Assuming you jump 5 times that day, the rental is $5 a jump and $5 for the pack job. Is this different than most places??

It isn't what it could be, or it what it should be, it is what it is.

[speedformula 0]

So All and All what would you guys estimate to be the cost of a jump ticket with your own gear and also by rentting gear ?

Im asking this because Im moving to Bordeaux this coming july and just wanted to mentally prepared myselt to not be able to jump as often and as much as I do here in the US.

best regards
Paul

Keeping it real 22x7

[tdog 0]

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My home DZ rents per day, not per jump. It is $30 a day and includes the last pack job. I thought that was pretty reasonable. Assuming you jump 5 times that day, the rental is $5 a jump and $5 for the pack job. Is this different than most places??

$25 per jump, includes packing. No day rentals. Likely someone is waiting for it too... And unless you are learning to pack, you can't pack...

I wanna jump where you jump.

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[piisfish 140]

at my DZ gear is free if you did your AFF there till you have your own gear.
If you did your AFF elsewhere, the rental cost is 10 CHF (around 8 US$) per jump.

good deal IMO.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[frenchcloud 0]

if yopu go to bordeaux, GO JUMP at CAHORS!!!
it s very cheap if you rent and it s a family DZ.
everyone is very nice and hospitable. you sleep in a bedroom for free!
it s a little more than an hour to get there but then you can stay a while. if you do, say you came on patrick mercier's advice, they, open their arms to you

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The tongue is NOT only a tool for speech!