vortex II, advice needed

[StevieBoy 0]

i'm looking to buy a new vortex II complete rig with cypress for £2,950 from DZ sports advertised in SKYDIVE the mag.

Im a newbie, 35 jumps but really want to get into f/f, started already & really addicted, is this a good idea, I don't mind second hand BUT I've got the money & I want to get right rig for me & the job in hand.

any help here would be great.

P.S. I live in France so buying s/h kit is really hard for me

it deosn't mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.

[Sonic 0]

The price seems very high for that rig. My firend got the same rig when he was in south africa for 1400 without cypress, so it would be about £2100

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It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

[puffdaddy 0]

Contact Manny at Icarus. manny@icarus.co.za. The price is a bit steep , you will get it from him at $2100 without the cypress.

" You have never lived until you've almost died, and for those who has experienced it, life has a flavour the protected would never understand"

[Sonic 0]

Oh, and get a hornet instead of the zp.exe

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It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

[bobsoutar 0]

Price is high because of import duty/taxes in the UK. Can you not buy a new rig in France or Spain?

[Remster 30]

would main land europe really be cheaper?

Remster

[bobsoutar 0]

Yes. Most EU countries have a lower rate of vat than we have in the UK - within the EU we pay whatever rate applies in the country of purchase.

[skreamer 1]

You have 35 jumps now, what if you want a different rig in 200 jumps time? Vortexes do not have very good resale value (possibly because a lot of people do buy them cheaper in South Africa). If you put 50 jumps on that rig you would only be able to sell it for about £2100.

I bought from Rigs n Things in Florida. Flew out to collect rig myself, it worked out cheaper than buying locally.

[riggerrob 643]

A pair of Vortex !! rigs showed up at Pitt Meadows yesterday. Quality looked high. My only criticism would be the less-than-perfect fit of main riser covers, but they were half as bad as early Javelin riser covers. Oh, and I preferr the main pin cover on Vortex.
So I suspect that half the Vortex bashing comes from brand-name snobs who have a "friends don't let friends drive Fords" mentality.

[weid14 0]

Quote

A pair of Vortex !! rigs showed up at Pitt Meadows yesterday. Quality looked high. My only criticism would be the less-than-perfect fit of main riser covers, but they were half as bad as early Javelin riser covers. Oh, and I preferr the main pin cover on Vortex.
So I suspect that half the Vortex bashing comes from brand-name snobs who have a "friends don't let friends drive Fords" mentality.

there was one at DeLand yesterday, and happened to be in front of me in the Van, looked to be a pretty solid rig to me.

[skreamer 1]

Quote

So I suspect that half the Vortex bashing comes from brand-name snobs who have a "friends don't let friends drive Fords" mentality.

I advised him that IMHO Vortexes bought new do not have good resale value. A major reason for that is that a lot of people buy Vortexes in South Africa at a much cheaper price than he got quoted locally in pounds. Obviously this does affect the resale value of the rig if you have bought it locally in the UK. If he can find a way of buying that rig at SA prices and then getting it shipped (cheaply) to him then fine.

You can suspect whatever you like about Vortex bashing, but IMHO somebody with 35 jumps who intends buying new locally would be better off buying a rig with better resale value (or buy it directly from SA).

[riggerrob 643]

Sorry skreamer,
I was not questioning your logic vis a vis prices.

[puffdaddy 0]

There are times that even with the best quality control you do have problems with equipment. This has happened to almost all the manufacturers, and sometimes it is just a misfit of canopy, reserve and container. What strikes me ass odd is that a number of people comment on gear that they have never even seen in their life. Both Chute Shop and PISA have been in the gear manufacturing for longer than 20 years and in my book put them up there with the likes of PD, Sunpath etc.

" You have never lived until you've almost died, and for those who has experienced it, life has a flavour the protected would never understand"

[skreamer 1]

What has this got to do with what I posted? I mentioned in my post that Vortexes bought new do not have good resale value because possibly people buy them cheaper from South Africa. The guy I was giving advice to was considering buying a complete rig for £2950, how much did your Vortex cost you?

Here's an example you might understand : I recently bought a new Heatwave '135. My sister brought it over for me (as a gift of course), so I didn't pay shipping or customs. I paid under £400 ($600US) for my new custom-coloured Heatwave. How much do you think I would have paid for that canopy if I bought it in the UK? I know lots of skydivers (either South African or with connections) who are doing the same. Knowing this, don't you think it would have a negative effect on the resale value if you should pay the UK price?

Would you pay £2500 for a VortexII that had 50 jumps on it? (considering the guy paid £2 950 when he bought it new) You obviously would not pay that price because we both know you could buy that rig brand new, custom made for yourself for a lot less in South Africa.

Will

PS FWIW I am South African, own PISA canopies and have jumped a Vortex II, so your observation about people commenting on gear they have never even seen in their life was extremely half-assed (especially considering my comment was re. price and resale value and I never once mentioned quality control.

[puffdaddy 0]

Hey Screamer. I agree with your comments. My comment was intended as a general comment and not to attck your content. I am not allowed to say how much I have paid for my Vortex. But I do agree with you that purchasing in SA is the only option.

I constantly monitor the forums and sometimes get a bit fed-up with comments about quality and re-sale value of SA products. So, I made the comment about knowing the product and the manufacturers as a general statement.

FWIW Iam a SA or ex-Sa boy too. So excuse my patriotism.

" You have never lived until you've almost died, and for those who has experienced it, life has a flavour the protected would never understand"

[skreamer 1]

Ag man, thats fine. I got just as defensive about my Hornet when people who'd never even flown one slagged them off. Sorry if I came across a bit strong.
(btw I kinda guessed you were SA when I saw your name was Tallies Taljaard. )

[R00tj00se 0]

As someone has already pointed out it is a cheap rig with good main pin protection but I've lost count of the number of times I've had to close someones riser cover for them during a flight line check. And then close it on the way to the aircraft, then again in the plane. Admittedly these people are still alive and haven't had problems in freefall (although I have seen these riser covers open in FF).

As for comparing it to an old style Javelin - well, that's not a great comparison as Sunpath have moved on and developed their product to give better riser protection.

When considering a new container go for what you consider the best in every respect - not just price. If that means you get a Vortex II then at least you can say to yourself that you've considered the pro's and cons.

P.S. My first rig was an old 2 pin teardrop because I couldn't afford anything else but I only ever did flat flying in it. I was happy that it was good enough for that. Think about what type of flying you'll be doing and how the rig is suited to that style of flying.

[ernokaikkonen 0]

>I've lost count of the number of times I've had to close
>someones riser cover for them during a flight line check

That can happen with any rig if the rigger distributes the bulk of the reserve incorrectly. All brands have their own charasteristics, and if the rigger has little experience of the rig in question, it's easy to cause something like that. I haven't noticed Vortexes to have the riser covers open prematurely.

[Sonic 0]

There's a Vortex II at my DZ, and the riser covers (and everything for that matter) seem solid as a rock. I've jumped it as well, and didn't have any problems at all.

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It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

[riggerrob 643]

Vis-a-vis riser covers opening too soon.
On many rigs, if you pack too much bulk too high in the reserve container, your riser covers are guaranteed to open pre-maturely.
Note that I said "many" but not all. For example, if you don't pack enough bulk in the top of a Reflex, it will develop ugly wrinkles.
If you buy too big a reserve for your container size, it will require god's gift to rigging to make it look pretty, much less keep the riser covers closed.
To make a rig look pretty and keep the riser covers closed, you really need a rigger who is familiar with all the subtle tricks of packing that particular brand of reserve container.