One careful owner

Parachutes are like cars.

There are different brands, and these are perceived to have certain characteristics - sporty, safe, old fashioned, budget. Everybody in the group has one, and there's a large amount of arguing the pros and cons  of various types.

The biggest similarity is the way you own them. You usually learn with one that isn't yours. Your first will be something slow, safe and well used. From there you progress to something that goes faster and costs more. If you have even a mild interest you spend a lot of time looking online and in magazines at the latest, best models you can't possible afford. And no matter how good yours is, someone always has a better one.

I'm currently looking for my first rig. The reason I only do a couple of jumps a month is that I've been saving money for it. Renting gear from the club doubles the cost of each jump, and in an already expensive sport this is a outlay I don't need. I have a budget, I'm looking for something used but in decent condition, not quite at the bottom of the pile. A rig's condition is also measured in jumps, and I want something in the hundreds, not thousands.

The trouble is the size of the market. Skydiving has a small community, so used rigs don't come up very often. I spend an unhealthy amount of time scouring UK Skydiver but it's a difficult process. If you discount everything too old, too expensive, too big or too small (both harness and canopy size) then there are only a couple of rigs on sale that would suit me. Still, I'll be buying something that will be the physical representation of the sport I love, something that will save my life every time I leave the aircraft. It's not a process I plan on rushing.