clint 1 #1 December 9, 2004 I am thinking of buying one of their tandem canopies. If you have jumped them, please respond. If you haven't jumped it, please don't post "I heard that it was..." I want it based on Facts. How does it compare to the Sigma, Icuras, Jumpshack and all other tandem canopies! -Clint MacBeth Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iowa 0 #2 December 9, 2004 I jumped one a few times this year. I liked it. Landing characteristics were similar to a PD VS425 and better than the SET 400 that I usually use. I heard others complain of the toggle pressure but I it didn't think it was bad at all. I liked the collapsable slider too. Not everyone may be able to reach it though. I don't know about the others you mentioned, but, all around it's way better than the SET and a little better than the PD 425. Keith ''Always do sober what you said you would do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.'' - Ernest Hemingway Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GravityGirl 0 #3 December 10, 2004 Hey Clint! Bay Area Skydiving has just bought 3 of them. All the TMs are fighting over them. We'll be ordering more in 2005! Great toggle response. Nice openings. Good strong flare. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djmarvin 2 #4 December 10, 2004 I have a few jumps on both the 350 and 389. I really enjoyed flying them. My DZ has had both Icarus and EZ canopies. My personal take (I only have about 600 tandems). The toggle pressure is a bit higher than the Icarus I have jumped (330,365,400) but the it flys great and has a great flare. Our DZ had demos in both sizes. We kept the second one we got and plan on buying more in the future. DJ Marvin AFF I/E, Coach/E, USPA/UPT Tandem I/E http://www.theratingscenter.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #5 December 10, 2004 Do the breaks stow like a Icarus or more like a Sigma/EZ?Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djmarvin 2 #6 December 10, 2004 EZ/Sigma DJ Marvin AFF I/E, Coach/E, USPA/UPT Tandem I/E http://www.theratingscenter.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #7 December 10, 2004 Quote Do the breaks stow like a Icarus HA! What brake stowing with an Icarus tandem?--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog 2 #8 December 10, 2004 I currently jump the 389 and absolutely love it. Have jumped BT80's, EZ, Sets, Hops and Icarus mains and to date it is my personal favourite. The openings are soft and 95% on heading. I cant reach the slider but thats not a biggie. Toggle pressure and response is far lighter than all except for the Hop and Icarus. We have both brake lines to the one toggle and am not exhausted(arm wise) after a dyas jumping. Landing is a breeze no matter the conditions. Loads of bottom end flare especially after a surge/stall approach. Even without the flare is very impressive. I am looking to buy my own tandem mains pretty soon and I know that they will be A2's. BrynJourney not destination..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyinseivLP2 0 #9 December 10, 2004 We just got a 350 at my DZ and I love it. Have been jumping mostly EZ's in the past. The A2 toggle pressure is very light. Openings are very soft and on heading. Has a very good bottom end flare. Great canopy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EAerodyne 0 #10 December 10, 2004 I think one thing that would be great is if people actually went and did the gear reviews, this would save people posting as they can actually go and check out reviews themselves. I know it'd help me answering a lot of PM's and emails More importantly for me however is that it'd help me develop new products or make changes to existing products by your recommendations and feedback. Kind regards Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #11 December 10, 2004 Here is the page to go to if you want to fill out or read a review on the A2 http://www.dropzone.com/gear/Detailed/466.html Currently there are 0 writeen reviews. I wish people would do this with all their gear, it would clarify a lot of things. Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #12 December 10, 2004 I reviewed it. I love the thing and look forward to flying it every weekend. They are new to us at Byron, but we are always fighting over the four that we just purchased. Edit: I ended up writing the review twice. Moderator? If you choose to put my review up, please use this version. A2 tandem canopy I am a faily new tandem master with just over 200 tandems. The canopies we replaced with the A2's were very old and beat, often repaired, with old linesets. Mine is not an apples-to-apples comparison, the A2 is the first new tandem canopy I've jumped. The openings are two-stage, with a short snivel that stands the pair up and slows things down, and then a nice smooth steady on-heading inflation. The majority of my 1200 jumps are camera jumps on Spectre's loaded at 1.6:1. Every opening I've had so far on the A2 has been as good as the very best openings on my Spectre's. The collapsible slider is reachable for TM's that are tall, but stowing the slider actually makes it louder than leaving it open. Once opened, the first thing I noticed is the incredibly light toggle pressure and how quick to respond the canopy is to toggle and rear-riser input. A rear-riser 180 with the brakes still stowed is accomplished very easily, and very quickly. Students of all statures can easily control the canopy without assistance. Every student I have had so far has been able to pull the toggle to full extension without any assistance from me. Toggle pressure at the TM level is lighter than on a student Navigator, and at the student position is probably comparable. The A2 is a tandem canopy that provides the tandem student with canopy flying experience that should be very comparable to what the student will experience when flying solo in the AFF program. Essentially, it flies like a big sport canopy with no oil-tanker-like flying characteristics whatsoever. Toggle response is very sporty, and a quick pull on a toggle to full extension will get the tandem pair nearly parallel to the ground almost immediately. Unlike the slower canopies we replaced, almost every student eventually cries "uncle!" when yanking and banking the A2 hard. In the pattern the canopy is a joy. If tandems are stacking up on final, it is easy to hold the canopy in half-brakes without roasting your shoulders. S-turns are very nearly as easy as on a sport rig. The flare on the A2 is long and deep. There is no need for a precision "stab" at the primary and secondary brakes to get things just right for touchdown. Groundspeed is higher than what I was used to, and I'm still learning how to take advantage of it. There is plenty of time to set your feet down to bleed off speed as you finish the landing flare. The canopies we replaced didn't afford us this luxury. On the old canopies the decision to stand it up or slide had to be a quick one. On the A2 I'm sure I'll figure out how to stand it up every time, but I never planned on learning how to swoop with a tandem until I jumped the A2. If I were considering purchasing a personal-use tandem rig I would be very hard pressed to do better than the A2. It is a very good training tool for students, and it has really recharged my joy in doing tandem skydives. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karlm 0 #13 December 13, 2004 Hi Our TM has been jumping the A2 for a few months now, and I did once ask him and he was very happy with the canopy. Here is his mail addy if you want to contatc him. Chris Grosch [email protected] [email protected] Better never to have met you in my dream than to wake and reach for hands that are not there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #14 December 13, 2004 Alright, put a few jumps on a new A2 (350) this weekend. I have around 500 tandem jumps (plus or minus, gotta update my log) and what I've jumped before (besides the A2): Sigma 370, EZ-384, Icarus (couple different sizes) and Firebolt. Out of all of those, my definate favorite is the Sigma, has the most bottom end and the best openings. Basically the best overall flight characteristics. Now you've got some background for my opinion... The A2 opened fairly well. I have mixed emotions about a collapsable slider, though. Its definately needed, I'm sure Luigi could jump the slider and land it, sans canopy, but the scary thought is the what ifs. What if a packer forgets to uncollapse it? Possible double fatality. Over all, it flew very well. Very much like a Sigma although with lighter toggle pressure (which some people care about). Its not as light as Icarus, but the Icarus' toggle pressure is so light due to the line configuration that I tend to pick up the flare toggles right after opening so I can get the canopy to actually go somewhere quickly. It turns MUCH tighter then a Sigma or Icarus as well and it handles its self well in deep brakes, actually better then the Sigma (Icarus doesn't count, it doesn't do deep brake approaches very well). It has much less oversteer then the Sigma in deep brakes. Flare. It had a good strong flare, nearly like a Sigma, just not quite the bottom end, but still a hell of a lot better then the Icarus tandem main. Conclusion Overall I was very impressed with the canopy and would be happy to jump one for all my tandems. If I had a choice between all the canopies I've jumped, Sigma and A2 would be a toss up, which ever one would be great, followed by EZ-384, followed distantly by Icarus and Firebolt. As a side note, the slider kill lines are very very LONG. Long enough that you catch the movement out of the corner of your eye and it makes you think you have a canopy coming at you. Also long enough that I would be concerned about getting the kill line entangled with the control lines (although unlikely, then unlikely's tend to happen with tandem skydives over time).--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 3 #15 December 13, 2004 Just a quick interjection on Kill Line Sliders. I have one on my Firebolt 350 as well and I LUURRVE them. I despise "slida-flappida" and even my short ass doesn't have any problem reaching them after opening. As to the "what if left in killed configuration" question, I am surprised at you Dave; you are a packer. I would hope that every person you use to pack tandems would be careful enough not to miss such a thing. You could "what if" that one to death I guess, but I am not going to concern myself with such hypothetical problems. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #16 December 13, 2004 Quote am surprised at you Dave; you are a packer. I would hope that every person you use to pack tandems would be careful enough not to miss such a thing. I *was* a packer, hell I barely pack myself anymore. I guess the what-if was a nice way of saying, "if the packers at your DZ aren't worth a shit, then be very careful..." The packers we have packing at my DZ are really squared away, so I'm not worried about it from my standpoint, just tossing something out there for others to consider.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EAerodyne 0 #17 December 14, 2004 Hey Dave, glad you liked it my man, good to hear some good feedback thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed report on it. I think you might get a better bottom end flare from the 389 and that would be more comprable to the Sigma in size ... Regarding the collapsible slider.This is partially due to repeated requests from tandem masters around the world. Of course we'd be happy to accomodate your order or anyone's order for that matter to provide a slider without the collapsible draw strings. Kind regards Bushman Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #18 December 14, 2004 QuoteRegarding the collapsible slider.This is partially due to repeated requests from tandem masters around the world. Of course we'd be happy to accomodate your order or anyone's order for that matter to provide a slider without the collapsible draw strings. Well, the slider is HUGE, I think Luigi landed the slider a couple months ago, right? I flew around with it uncollapsed on the first jump for a while and it was rocking the risers so hard I went ahead and collapsed it... Eitherway, its not my decision since I wouldn't be the one actually buying it, it would be Todd's decision (if he ends up buying an A2). Thank you for getting us the demo, it was definately fun to fly.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropzonefool 0 #19 December 16, 2004 HA! What brake stowing with an Icarus tandem?<<< Just for the record, and am not a T-I. Some Instructors have rubber bands on the D line, attached where the line are connected to the canopy. They make a double stow with the steering lines, about the length you would a line stow on the bag. I have seen from the ground many tandems do a quick 360, but I don't know if it the stowed break lines and maybe compounded by the Instructor using riser inputs to maybe control the spin. 2 cents worth. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites AggieDave 6 #20 December 16, 2004 QuoteInstructors have rubber bands on the D line, attached where the line are connected to the canopy. That's just to control the slack during deployment to help prevent lineovers and the such. It does nothing for an actual "brake setting." Its not strong enough to hold for a true setting.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites riggerrob 562 #21 December 16, 2004 QuoteQuoteInstructors have rubber bands on the D line, attached where the line are connected to the canopy. That's just to control the slack during deployment to help prevent lineovers and the such. It does nothing for an actual "brake setting." Its not strong enough to hold for a true setting. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sounds similar to the extra rubber bands that we put on the tails of SET 400s, to control loose flare line. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skygod7777 0 #22 December 16, 2004 QuoteSounds similar to the extra rubber bands that we put on the tails of SET 400s, to control loose flare line. yea, same exact idea, just like he said they are rubber banded to the D or C lines (i put my dad's icarus tandem 400 on the in side C lines because the D's are too far down to reach). later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites psychoswooper 2 #23 December 17, 2004 QuoteWe just got a 350 at my DZ and I love it. Have been jumping mostly EZ's in the past. The A2 toggle pressure is very light. Openings are very soft and on heading. Has a very good bottom end flare. Great canopy. Hey Jeff, Make that TWO, Just got another....I can't stand you & Balboni & Scott & Charlie & Doug fighting over the One..Oh no I quess I need FIVE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites chopchop 0 #24 December 19, 2004 Here is a pic I took yesterday of a couple of the new ones at Byron that Deuce and GravityGirl are talking about.. Obviously, one landing and there is another identical one way off in the distance.. I know.. I know.. it looks like any other tandem canopy.. but ain't they pretty? chopchop gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking.. Lotsa Pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites clint 1 #25 June 5, 2005 Well, I bought the A2 tandem canopy 389. We put 100 jumps on it now. I just got a demo Sigma 370 and it's fun. Great openings on both canopies. If I had to buy another tandem canopy, it would be the Sigma for sure. It's worth the extra $300. -Clint MacBeth Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 1 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0 Go To Topic Listing
AggieDave 6 #20 December 16, 2004 QuoteInstructors have rubber bands on the D line, attached where the line are connected to the canopy. That's just to control the slack during deployment to help prevent lineovers and the such. It does nothing for an actual "brake setting." Its not strong enough to hold for a true setting.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 562 #21 December 16, 2004 QuoteQuoteInstructors have rubber bands on the D line, attached where the line are connected to the canopy. That's just to control the slack during deployment to help prevent lineovers and the such. It does nothing for an actual "brake setting." Its not strong enough to hold for a true setting. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sounds similar to the extra rubber bands that we put on the tails of SET 400s, to control loose flare line. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #22 December 16, 2004 QuoteSounds similar to the extra rubber bands that we put on the tails of SET 400s, to control loose flare line. yea, same exact idea, just like he said they are rubber banded to the D or C lines (i put my dad's icarus tandem 400 on the in side C lines because the D's are too far down to reach). later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
psychoswooper 2 #23 December 17, 2004 QuoteWe just got a 350 at my DZ and I love it. Have been jumping mostly EZ's in the past. The A2 toggle pressure is very light. Openings are very soft and on heading. Has a very good bottom end flare. Great canopy. Hey Jeff, Make that TWO, Just got another....I can't stand you & Balboni & Scott & Charlie & Doug fighting over the One..Oh no I quess I need FIVE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites chopchop 0 #24 December 19, 2004 Here is a pic I took yesterday of a couple of the new ones at Byron that Deuce and GravityGirl are talking about.. Obviously, one landing and there is another identical one way off in the distance.. I know.. I know.. it looks like any other tandem canopy.. but ain't they pretty? chopchop gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking.. Lotsa Pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites clint 1 #25 June 5, 2005 Well, I bought the A2 tandem canopy 389. We put 100 jumps on it now. I just got a demo Sigma 370 and it's fun. Great openings on both canopies. If I had to buy another tandem canopy, it would be the Sigma for sure. It's worth the extra $300. -Clint MacBeth Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 1 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
chopchop 0 #24 December 19, 2004 Here is a pic I took yesterday of a couple of the new ones at Byron that Deuce and GravityGirl are talking about.. Obviously, one landing and there is another identical one way off in the distance.. I know.. I know.. it looks like any other tandem canopy.. but ain't they pretty? chopchop gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking.. Lotsa Pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clint 1 #25 June 5, 2005 Well, I bought the A2 tandem canopy 389. We put 100 jumps on it now. I just got a demo Sigma 370 and it's fun. Great openings on both canopies. If I had to buy another tandem canopy, it would be the Sigma for sure. It's worth the extra $300. -Clint MacBeth Skydive Moab 435 259 JUMP M.O.A.B. Mother Of All Boogies Sept 19 - 23, 2012 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
