PD is once again taking demo requests, and my Pulse demo is scheduled! I might have been the very first person to send them a demo request when they finally put the request form back on their website.
It's not like I've been checking it every freaking day since they announced that canopy... okay I have! I am a huge fan of their Silhouette canopy, and can't wait to jump the new Pulse. I've been waiting, oh so patiently. NOT!
Damn you! Now you want me to jump the Pulse even more than I wanted to already!!!
Hey, don't blame it on me, blame it on PD!!!
I got my Pulse demo in yesterday, and I actually unpacked my current canopy to hook the Pulse up and pack it. I'm lazy, and never do that!
They sent me a new, and I mean zero jump new canopy, which would normally mean that it's gonna suck donkey balls to pack, but not this thing! I laid it out in my living room, and it packed itself!
OK, so it didn't really pack itself, but it was so easy to pack that it was damn close. My container is sized for a 210, and I've jumped a Sabre 2 210 in it, with that canopy being a very comfortable fit. The Pulse 230 is actually smaller in pack volume than the Sabre 2 210 was! It's not horribly loose or anything, but the bag is definitely not as firm with the bigger Pulse in it, and I'll tighten up my closing loop next time I pack it.
I'm heading out to the DZ this afternoon to put some jumps on it, I'll write more about it later.
Sorry, I was so busy getting ready to go skiing and flying in the tunnel this week that I didn't come back and update this... I have some downtime while I wait to leave for another day of skiing though...
I've owned and or demoed everything in the class of canopies that fit my needs. I have at least 15-20 jumps on Sabre 1, Sabre 2, Safire 2, Pilot, Spectre, Silhouette, and Triathlon.
My favorite canopy overall, is still PD's Silhouette. I don't swoop, and I don't like canopies that take forever to open, although if they're consistent enough, I can tolerate them.
I put 9 jumps on the Pulse last weekend, and hope to put that many more on it next weekend before I have to send it back, I really, really liked this canopy!
It opens like I think a parachute should open. It's not fast, it's not slow, it's just nice and controlled. I'd guess about 600-700 feet on average.
It flies very 'crisply', and has a nice tight feel to it. Even in the 'boat' sizes I fly (I demoed a 230), this canopy had a nice, sporty feel to it. Toggle pressure was reasonably light, but typical of big canopies trimmed flat, front riser pressure was monstrous.
Landings were e-e-easy. It's not a 'swoopy' canopy, and has a very minimal plane out phase. Basically, you start the flare, wait to swing under and in front of the canopy, then finish it for a tip toe soft landing. Definitely one of the easiest to land canopies that I've jumped!
I agree with PD, it's nice sporty feeling, stress free parachute. I'd buy one.
Have you jumped the STORM ? If so , how does it compare ? Thanks
I knew I was forgetting a canopy!
I have demoed the Storm, and liked it also, but probably not enough to buy one. It opens a lot like the Spectre, which takes a bit long for my liking. The flare point is very deep on the Storm, and it took me quite a few jumps to dial in the landings, where I had immediate success with the Pulse. The Storm lands fine, it's just a bit different than other stuff I've jumped.
Both canopies are very responsive and fun to fly, but the Pulse wins hands down on ease of packing, and oddly enough, do to the combination of a fabrics, pack volume. I had a miserable time trying to shoehorn a new 230 Storm in my container, while the Pulse 230 practically packed itself.
haven't flown the Pulse, but do have about 100 jumps on the Storm, roughly 1000 jumps on Silhouettes in various sizes, and perhaps 100 on the Spectre. I disagree it opens like a spectre, and it flies nothing like a Spectre. I'm not a Spectre fan. But I surely do love my Storms. First canopy I was happy enough with to jump ship from the Sihouette, which IMO, is a GREAT camera, beginner, and wingsuit canopy. Smooth, easy, sporty but not uber-fast, and ridiculously easy to pack. Looking forward to playing with the Pulse in a couple of weeks...but I'm fairly confident that the Storm will continue to be my main.
Thanks for writing up your impressions on the Pulse. Like you, I do not care for canopies that take a long time to open. Probably from my days of jumping F-111 canopies that opened a whole lot quicker! I sold my Spectre 230 for just that reason.
I currently jump a Sabre2 and Silhouette, both 230's. I really like the way my Silhouette packs, opens (straight ahead), flies and lands. It is the primary canopy I jump.
You stated that your favorite canopy is still your Silhouette. If you do not mind responding; from your standpoint, how much different is there between the Pulse and Silhouette when it comes to opening, flying and landing? I understand the difference in the non-ZP material. I did a quick comparison of the two canopies using the data on the PD site. The Pulse has a slightly higher aspect ratio, and it seems that the lines are about 19" shorter on the Pulse (Pulse 230 vs Silhouette 230). I am not sure how the shorter lines affect the performance.
I will probably take advantage of PD's demo program and try the Pulse 230, but thought I would ask you what your thoughts were on the differences.
(This post was edited by skidyvr2 on Mar 25, 2009, 1:04 PM)
I disagree it opens like a spectre, and it flies nothing like a Spectre.
I wonder if some of our difference of opinion in the openings has to do with the fact that we're not jumping canopies in the same size range. I know they don't all scale linearly, and you're jumping considerably smaller canopies than I am.
While I certainly agree that they fly nothing alike, my experience was that the openings were quite similar between the 230 Spectre that I owned,and the 210 Storm that I demoed. Both took about the same time to open, and had the same 'feel'. Both the Silhouette and the Pulse I've jumped opened quicker than either the Spectre or Storm in the size canopies I jump.
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You stated that your favorite canopy is still your Silhouette.
The Silhouette is still my favorite simply because I have more jumps on it, and it's proven to be the most consistent opening and landing canopy I've jumped.. The Pulse definitely has a chance to become my new favorite, but only of I buy one (and I am seriously considering it) and put enough jumps on it to give it a chance to do that.
The bottom line is that canopy choice is a very personal one, and there's a reason that all the manufactures make a range of canopies... different strokes for different folks!
I was going to wait till I have a chance to get a few more jumps on it - I just got one for this last weekend and due to a combination of needing to help a friend out on the ground on Saturday and high winds on Sunday, I only got two jumps on it.
Impressions so far - I like it. I'm demoing the 210, same size as my Pilot 210. Packing it is slippery since it is almost brand-new, but unlike a new all-ZP canopy, it's pretty controllable, which is a bonus. Since a 210 with normal pack volume is tight in my bag, it's nice to have the extra room that the low-volume fabric provides.
The two openings were both somewhat off-heading, which was a little disappointing, but we'll see if that continues to be the case on subsequent jumps. It's a positive opening, but I wouldn't call it brisk. Rear riser pressure and toggle pressure are moderate - the toggle pressure was probably comparable to the Pilot, and the rear riser pressure was lighter. Haven't tried fronts yet.
Because of the way the patterns were going on Saturday, my landings were a moderate crosswind and a light-to-moderate downwind, and I found the canopy easy to control and shut down even in less than "perfect" conditions.
I'll share more once I have some more jumps on it.
(This post was edited by NWFlyer on Mar 30, 2009, 9:26 AM)
Yup - jumped serial #34, a 135sqft Pulse this weekend. Loading it at 1.52:1.
Opening: Openings very good, on-heading and nicely timed, no long snivel or sudden inflation - just smooth and controlled, beautiful.
Ghdiver jumped it too and opened from normal freefall, a full track and a subterminal with fine openings. I expect he will be posting here soon with more info...
Flight: Forgiving and fun. Very quick turn initiation for an 'intermediate' canopy and instant roll-out on heading, builds speed surprisingly quickly in turns too. Front riser pressure was, I thought, relatively high (others might disagree but perhaps they get to the gym more than I do...) and riser turns were easy with quick recovery.
Landings: Could it get easier? This thing is a breeze to land. I took a straight-in approach and it was great - slow descent rate and very linear toggle response meant a perfect touchdown from the get-go. Ghdiver, who is rather good, swooped it dramatically and even carved 90 degrees through his swoop to a touchdown with a few trotting steps to finish-off, not bad at all for something which could, more lightly loaded, be flown by almost anyone.
Packing: I could not be more positive here - this is THE BEST canopy to pack ever. It was a zero-jump canopy when I got it from PD's demo program and yet it practically packed itself, try that with most other new canopies... Pack volume is tiny. If I buy one, and I probably will, I'll need a smalller rig. Think about it though - say you're a new jumper: You could get one of these in a bigger size with a container cut to make it a tight fit and you could probably downsize 2-3 times on the same container. The 135 fitted perfectly into a container sized for a Stiletto 120.
Overall: Buy one, now.
(This post was edited by bellyboy on Mar 30, 2009, 8:37 AM)
Despite less than ideal weather last weekend, I managed to make 5 more jumps on the demo Pulse.
First jump of the day was in way less wind than I've had so far (2-5 knots), and despite my best efforts to sabotage the landing by starting my flare too high, I still had no problem holding the canopy off long enough to land it, with pretty minimal run out.
Winds picked up progressively the rest of the afternoon, so landings just got easier and easier. This is probably the easiest to land canopy that I've ever jumped. I managed to make it go back up a foot on one landing, so it seems like it's got plenty of flare power too...
Had a couple of line twists on one jump (bag spun, they were below the slider and there at line stretch), and it was very ho-hum. Canopy flew straight as an arrow while I grabbed the risers and worked the twists out.
Normally I'd be happy with the number of jumps I put on the Pulse demo (14 so far ) and just send it back, but I used the fact that I lost days to the weather (hey, I did!) to sucker, oops, I mean talk the kind folks at PD into extending my demo one more weekend.
Really, I just didn't want to give it back. Do you think they'd notice if I hooked up my old canopy to their risers and sent it back instead.
I tried the Storm last summer. Something was wonky about the trim on the demo I received so it had a built-in turn and noticeably heavier toggle pressure on one side (I think the left). There weren't any obvious differences between the brake lines (like massive twists), but I did report it to PD when I returned the canopy so they could inspect it.
Only put three jumps on it given those conditions (and IIRC, weather was a factor, too). I don't feel like I got a fair shot at really knowing how the canopy flies, but I do recall great openings - "positive" is really the best word. Not snively, not snappy, just "there, quickly."
Packing is obviously more challenging since it's all-ZP and was still quite new.
(This post was edited by NWFlyer on Mar 31, 2009, 10:39 AM)
Was that the Storm demo, or the Pulse? I asked specifically about this, and the Pulse is only offered in Vectran. Apparently, the shape of the airfoil (look at it from the front, it's crazy flat across the middle cells of the canopy then droops off) is critical enough that they're only using Vectran on it, so that it stays in trim during the life of the lines.
Was that the Storm demo, or the Pulse? I asked specifically about this, and the Pulse is only offered in Vectran. Apparently, the shape of the airfoil (look at it from the front, it's crazy flat across the middle cells of the canopy then droops off) is critical enough that they're only using Vectran on it, so that it stays in trim during the life of the lines.
That was the Pulse. No wonder the lines looked/felt different. We figured it was some sort of weird new Spectra coating.
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