How long does a Wingsuit last?

[Tonto 1]

Assuming you land on your feet.

I'd imagine that leaving the suit on one rig would help - but that packing may cause more damage than anything else?

Well?

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[kevin922 0]

I am pretty sure I heard Jari say he had some suits with over 1000 jumps on them when I asked the same question early on in my WS career.


Just like anything else, you take care of it & it'll last a long time.

Kevin

[ManBird 0]

My GTi has about 400 flights on it (about 200 by me). It's been landed every fucked up way imaginable. The booties need replacement soon, as several people who are too tall for the suit have borrowed it (a lot). My S3 has a couple little pinholes due to two different landings (one was a dead-bird-man -- with my legs still zipped up, the other was buttsliding a landing in hard dirt). It has about 250 jumps on it, between me and borrowers.

Long story short, they seem to last a long time. If there is a defective one, you'll know it in less than ten jumps.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[Courteney 0]

Just hope that's not the one that I'VE ordered!!!

...drags me down like some sweet gravity!!!

[LouDiamond 1]

To give you an idea of how long they can last, one of the 1st suits Jari wore was still being used as a demo suit at last years WFFC where it was sold to a happy customer. If you take reasonable care of it, it will last a long time.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[pbla4024 0]

But it's all about BM suits. Anybody with experience with monoblocs (X-bow or S-fly)?

Fido

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Tonto,
assuming you land on your feet every time (with your feet OUT of the bootie and properly snapped or otherwise secured up), the only things you are likely to have to keep an eye on are the lacing tabs and the zippers. My original GTi (which I got in 2000) is still hanging in there, but has so many patches and new zippers on it that I am going to have to start calling it "Frankenstein." I can promise you it has over 1000 jumps on it as it was in the demo fleet for a year before I got it, then I jumped it, then sold it to Scott Campos, then traded it back, then started using it in my personal demo fleet.

So long as you don't ass-surf your suit (or let anyone else do so) you will be alright. Tearing up the leg wing is really bad and incredibly hard to fix in some cases.

Chuck

[Tonto 1]

Quote

Tearing up the leg wing is really bad and incredibly hard to fix in some cases.

Hi Chuck,

I land on my feet, and stay on them too. I'm hardly cranking my landings on my Stilleto 107, and my wingsuit rig has a Safire 135 in it.

I posted this thread since I'm 3 weeks away from my S3 getting here. Judging from the feedback - my S3 will be outdated long before it's worn out.

This weekend, one of the guys using my Classic decieded to combine one of his PRO rating jumps with his 5th wingsuit dive. Crosswinded it, fucked it up and tore the ass out of the leg wing.

The suit is only a Classic - only worth maybe $350, but was here and available for others to fly. I'm thinking it may be worth dumping and putting the cash into a new demo suit instead of trying to repair it.

Why is it that some people with 500 jumps can't yet land their canopies? (No need to answer that one..)

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

All I can say is that I hope your mate ponied up the cash to fix your Classic. Seriously, if you tear up a leg wing, you have to open the entire bottom seam and have a drop-foot machine to get up in there and sew patches. Another option is to simply "sticky tape the hole and hand tack it around the edges. This, of course, assuming he didn't tear any ribs free on the inside.

[Tonto 1]

He took it very seriously. I had to talk him out of committing ritual suicide.

He's driving over 100 miles tomorrow to get the suit to a Master rigger, and will do the drive again to fetch it before the weekend and will pay for the repair. If they feel it's not worth repairing - he's offered to pay in $150 towards a new demo suit, which I think is more than fair.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[VectorBoy 0]

Why is it that some people with 500 jumps can't yet land their canopies? (No need to answer that one..)

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Quote

In the case of the boys who let you play with their spare toys.... they just won't.

True. Even if a buddy hooks you up with free first flight instruction, please try to remember that he more than likely has spent a GREAT deal of money on that suit. Don't get pissed if he/she starts expecting something in return.

[ManBird 0]

I've always tried to look at the track of a new student before taking them up when they have less than 500 jumps (especially the ones that just hit that 200 mark). I should look at their landings, as well. I've had a couple people eat shit in my GTi, but fortunately did not damage the suit.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click