DaveO 0 #1 November 6, 2005 Been thinking about getting a 300+ canopy. Was wanting a little feed back from those jumpers who have the larger canopies. I'm looking into either a FOX 315, Troll 305, Black Jack 310, or a Rock Dragon 313. (I've only jumped FOX, Flik, and Trolls) My body weight is 205 lbs. This is for slider off only. Vents are a must. My concern is that these large canopies are on the outer edge of the original design as far as size is concerned. How big can you make a parachute that might have been designed as a 245 before it needs to be put back on the drawing board."When it comes to BASE, I'll never give advice, only my opinion" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anvilbrother 0 #2 November 6, 2005 Base864 jumps a Flik 322. Vents are a must he says. There is a recent discussion on it. He also has a video on SDM.com about a jump he did on them before and after he had the vents installed. IIRC he wont Free Fall anything under 250' Postes r made from an iPad or iPhone. Spelling and gramhair mistakes guaranteed move along, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
audacium 0 #3 November 6, 2005 Stane himself regularly jumps a Troll MDV DW 305 (aside from a 285), so I reckon he has some confidence in it . And Stane being a pretty meticulous person I am absolutely confident he has dialed in all scaling issues that come with upsizing. We talked about bigger vs smaller canopies (e.g. also in terms of opening speed) a while ago and he told me he had made various calculations as well as tests for the really big canopies. As mentioned, he himself is using a 305 (and he is not as heavy as you). -- Eduard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SabreDave 0 #4 November 6, 2005 I have only had the chance to fly one big BASE canopy and that's mine(insert grain if salt HERE). Everyone else around here are narrow assed people with small canopies so I can only tell you what I think of my Troll 305 MDV(my loading is .81). I have zero complaints about this canopy. I bought it new and have put about 41 jumps on it. Once I learned some packing techniques (thanks Douggs) I got the openings to be very acceptable at terminal. At first I was getting spanked when I went to NOrway. I have done static lines from 165 feet and a few slider down jumps in the 1-2 second range. Again, no complaints. Pressurizes fast, have had great heading performance to date and I love the way it flies! If I am dropping straight down in deep brakes all the way, the landing can be a bit hard but I think any BASE canopy loaded that much will be similar!?!? The flare is great and I have on occasion got some sweet surf out of it when landing conditions and area permit. I have also found that it flies quite well and is very controllable when stalling and flying backwards on risers. So, that is my newbie experience with the TROLL. I LIKE IT!SabreDave Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tfelber 0 #5 November 6, 2005 I've flown the Fox285 and the Flik293 both with vTec and Multi. I was considering a 322, but ended up with the 293 because I felt it would give me somewhere to go up or down in size after I learn a little more. I weighed 210, but am now down to 190. I've gone SL from 170', PCA from the potato, handheld from 1 to 3 sec delays, and stowed from 2 sec delay. I've also taken it out of a plane, a ballon, and a helicopter using a sail and a small mesh slider. It is a great canopy, I wouldn't change a thing. I've never done a slider up BASE jump with it. It's big to pack, but I flat pack for BASE anyway. I did pro-pack it for skydiving and it's touching the floor when it's hanging over my shoulder. My openings have been on-heading everytime so far. The inflation is fast, probably due to the vents. I've got quite a bit of video and some photos of openings if you are interested. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites