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MattMazzocco

Saphire 209

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I just purchased this canopy and love the way it flys. It is semi elliptical and im digging everything about it except for the openings... I have had a few hard openings but the 3 that i put on this canopy were unforgiving.. People on the ground thought i went unconcious on my second jump on this canopy and i dumped at 6k....

This thing just absolutely beats the piss out of me and i was wondering if there are any packing techniques used on this specific canopy to make openings a little easier on me. I jumped it on sunday and my neck is still hurting today. It has a massive slider on it.

Any ideas would help... I love flying this thing but i wont be able to keep it if it keeps beating me up...

Thanks....
Matt

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I did some research on the orginal Safire and from my understanding there are generally two types of Safire's ones that open great and have a ton of flare and then some that open terrible and do not have a ton of flare. There is a mod that someone came up for the Safire's that open hard and do not have a ton of flare. If you contact Icarus, they can put you in contact with their service center and they do know about the mod. The mod helps them open softer and have more flare.

Here is a link to an old post about Safire Opennings and this mod Safire opennings & mod
Kirk
He's dead Jim

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It is time for the canopy to be relined so that was one thought, another might be the pilot chute might be a little too big as well. This thing flys like a dream, has TONS of flare and is everything i wanted in a canopy at this stage outside of feeling like im in a head on collision on opening.

I will contact icarus and see what they have to say.

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Fire your packer.

If you are packing make sure you line stows are nice neat and tight. According to the PD rep I was talking to how your lines are stowed across your dbag is more important than the type of canopy you are flying.

The premis is that when the canopy opens and you start to slow down if there is excess slack in the lines all the slack will be taken up and that is usually followed by the skydiver in this case you shouting, "Ouch Fuck!"
Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

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its a little more colorful than that, although it takes a few seconds to get oriented... The canopy was packed by 3 different people with the same results. All 3 of them have different packing techniques and all 3 beat my ass. I tried contacting icarus but they have not returned my calls.. The rep i talked to at their rigging center said this is unheard of but he is not a rigger so one should be calling me soon hopefully....

I hope i can resolve this issue because i love the way this thing flys and dont really have the money for a new canopy as i need an aad even more.

Any packing tips?

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the slider on this canopy is twice the size of the slider on the triathalon 220 that i was jumping prior to this canopy. I have watched the last 2 pack jobs and slider was in the right position.. Funny thing is the slider sticks for about 7 seconds or so at the top of the line set before making its way down...

I cant even imagine what it would be like if the slider was smaller or came down quicker.. And when i say this thing is big, im not joking, you could jump the damn slider safely, maybe even swoop it.

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Try psycho-pack, from Icarus website.
It work very well for me. But I pack pro-pack as well.
I had only 2 hard openings. 1 of them I was trying some thinks with slider:/
I have jumped around 20 different canopies, and nothing can match sweeeet openings of my Safire2 169...
Blue skys and soft landings to all!

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Hey I've got over a thousand jumps on my (unmodified) safire, never a hard opening. Quarter the slider, roll the nose tight, and roll the tail tight to stage the opening. Mine opens soft and slow and on heading every time.
Good luck.

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