How To Choose a Parachute

Monday, May 24th, 2010

What I can help with is some more information about the types of parachutes and their prices.

The most important characteristics of the parachutes are:

• Area. It’s usually given in sqft. The “normal” areas can be from about 100 sqft to 280 sqft. The larger the area is, the higher weight it can serve. The smallest parachutes are appropriate only for people weighting less than 70kg/150 lbs.
• Weight. It’s important because you may need to bring your parachute in a backpack.
• Aspect ratio. Usually it’s 2.6:1 or 2.59:1.
• Price. The prices of the new parachutes usually start from $2,000 and go up.

There are different types of parachutes and most of them can be used for skydiving jumps:

• Military parachutes.
• Main canopies which give flat guide and easy landings.
• Reserve canopies - can be used together with the main ones.
• Tandem parachutes - with wider area and more durable, suitable for tandem jumps.

Good reviews of skydiving parachutes are available here.

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Where and If To Find Cheap Skydive Jumpsuit

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Here’s another of reader’s question that I’ll try to answer.
Jumpsuits are one of the expensive parts of the skydiving equipment. In most cases their price exceeds $100 and goes to $200 and more. There are different types of jumpsuits - for free fly, camera suits, crater suits and more.

As usual one of the possibilities to find cheap skydive jumpsuit is to look for a second hand one. Unlike other sensitive parts of the skydiving gear, the jumpsuit isn’t as strictly related to safety so it’s OK for most people to buy used.

There aren’t much places where to find used jumpsuits online - one is eBay (just now there is only 1 offer, a jumpsuit for $50).

Here is a place which discusses several companies offering used skydiving gear: Skysurvey.com.au.

More links to used gear stores are available at DropZone and Skydive World.

As usual you can simply search the web.

You can consider buying used jumpsuit a better idea than buying very cheap new one (if we assume you find any). The new cheap jumpsuit is likely to be made in China and to have a questionable quality and non-standard size.

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How Old Do You Have To Be To Go Sky-diving?

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

There are various regulations which may vary depending on where you live and the dropzone you have chosen.

In most cases you will need to be 18 years old to start skydiving.

If you are 16-18 years old, your parents may give the agreement for you.

But again, it depends on the dropzone and country. Some countries may have no regulations, but I would advice you to stay away from the drop zones in them.

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Is Indoor Skydiving Safe?

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

As described in the article about indoor skydiving, it’s much safe than the real outdoor skydiving. Only one indoor skydiving fatality has been documented as far as I know.

If you have tried this discipline yourself, please share your experience.

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