soft opening canopy

[hikeat 0]

I am recovering from an injury from a preme/hard opening, had shoulder surgery. My doc said that bc of the extensive damage to the carteledge in my shoulder, if I injure it again I will almost certainly need a should replacement. I want some feedback on what canopys consistently have the softest openings. My first canopy was a saphire 2, which always opened really soft. It is an option I am considering, but I would like to have an eliptical canopy. My last canopy was a Nitron, had to cut it away, and lost it to the trees.

[spindlee 0]

My canopy isn't elliptical but has very soft consistant openings. Spectre 150. They are deffinatley amongst the softest i've had. If your profile is correct i wouldn't have thought getting an elliptical canopy with only 135 jumps is a very wise idea?
Triathlons are good canopies too but again, they are 7 cell but will keep you from injuring yourself

If in doubt, whip it out...

[hikeat 0]

thanks for the info. My profile is off, I have 251 jumps and about a hundred of those were on a Nitron 190.

[Morrison79 0]

I have a Pilot and have had consistent soft and on heading openings with it. They have a good rep but any canopy can smack you. They are only a semi eliptical though.

[spindlee 0]

cool beans

If in doubt, whip it out...

[MikeForsythe 0]

FireBolt!!!

Incredibly soft openings and very light toggle pressure (less stress on your shoulder).

nuf said!

Time and pressure will always show you who a person really is!

[JohnnyZ 0]

Safire 2 and Crossfire 2 (if you're ready for it) are about the nicest opening canopies out there, IMO.

[tbrown 26]

Spectres, Pilots, Safire2s, Crossfire2s all have excellent reputations for soft openings. and for occasional gut slammer openings. I had a 210 Pilot that opened beautifully until the day it slammed me so hard the canopy actually blew up and I had to chop it. Since then, my 188 Pilot has given me nothing but gorgeous openings, but I am damn careful about making sure the slider is all the way up against the stops. I even reach up inside one last time to be sure before I finish bagging it. But the bottom line is that any canopy can beat the crap out of you on any jump.

With an injury like yours, you need to have a long talk with your doctor, your family, and yourself about what kind of risk you're willing to take for the future. You may be able to reasonably prevent another injury, but you cannot ever be completely sure, except that if it does happen again, it will not only be bad, but worse. We have one friend who actually crushed the ball joint in his femur during a slammer opening. That leg is now an inch shorter than the other leg and he wears a shoe with an inch ticker sole. Although his doctor cleared him to jump again, he reached his own decision to retire from the sport (he's made a couple thousand jumps). That's his choice and we respect him for it.

This is one of those personal decisions you need to make for yourself after considering all the factors.

You might also want to consider Bill Booth's contention that plastic tuck tabs may be causing slammer openings. You might want to buy a Vector system with the magnetic riser covers in addition to a new canopy. Not a cheap solution, but then again neither is surgery.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[erdnarob 1]

Katana's have soft openings all the time. Mine uses 600 feet to be deployed (average on 10 jumps).

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[Bertt 0]

Two words - dacron lines

You don't have to outrun the bear.

[hyper172 0]

YES to DACRON LINES

[skybytch 259]

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I want some feedback on what canopys consistently have the softest openings.

Lots of mains open softly. Few reserves do - they're not supposed to. If you don't think you can handle a slammer on a main, do you think you will be able to handle a terminal reserve opening?

[skydiverek 55]

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I want some feedback on what canopys consistently have the softest openings.

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Lots of mains open softly. Few reserves do - they're not supposed to. If you don't think you can handle a slammer on a main, do you think you will be able to handle a terminal reserve opening?

Have you MAIN and RESERVE lined with Dacron. Here is what BILL BOOTH has said on dropzone.com about DACRON LINES. Great source of info!:

"My tests show up to a 300% increase in opening shock felt by the jumper using Spectra vs. Dacron suspension lines. It is not always that much different. It depends on how quickly the force is applied...and canopy makers have done a good job of designing canopies that open slowly enough to allow the routine use of Spectra. However, when a rare hard (quick) opening happens, Spectra lines will definitely make it hurt more."

"Tandem canopies are public transportation. Little old ladies and parapelgics jump tandem. Dacron lines give lower opening shocks. It's that simple. This might not matter much on a "normal" opening, but if someone make a small mistake packing which results in a super fast opening, the Dacron lines could save somebody's grandmothers life. I know Dacron is bulkier, but I've seen no evidence that Dacron lined canopies have more malfunctions. In fact, I believe the opposite may be true."

"Anyone who doubts that suspension line stretch is a factor in reducing the opening shock felt by a jumper, should make a bungee jump...only replace the normal stretchy bungee cord with a stainless steel cable. What's going to happen when you hit the end of that steel cable? Your leg is going to be torn off, that's what. Now remember, Spectra line stretches about as much a steel cable."

"If you are not using Dacron lines, they would help. They stretch a little, and also slow the slider down due to surface friction. Spectra (micro) line does not. If you are already using Dacron lines, and still having hard openings, get a canopy that opens slower."

"The best way to avoid injuries from that occasional super hard opening (as well as the hard openings themselves), is not to jump no-stretch lines. Ask yourself, "Do I really need the (slight) advantages no-stretch lines offer?" If not, get Dacron. Your body will thank you, because even if you are not ever seriously injured on any single jump, each even slightly hard opening on no-stretch lines is damaging your body...and it all adds up."

"Spectra (micro line), Vectran, Kevlar, and HMA are "no-stretch" lines. They do not "absorb" opening shock the way Dacron does. This means that the same "hard" opening can hurt you a lot more. It's like doing a bungee jump with steel cable. The same force is applied...but a hell of a lot more shock is felt by the jumper. All the opening shock caused broken harnesses (two PDF tandem harnesses recently broke), injuries (a guy just broke both femurs), and fatalities (4 in the last two years that I know of) have all been on "no-stretch" line canopies, and could probably been prevented if Dacron line had been used. No stretch line is used because it is thinner, lighter, and has less drag than the same strength Dacron. While this is an "advantage" in a high speed swoop, it has no place in tandem. 85 year old grandmothers jump tandem. They, and many other tandem students, need the softest opening shock possible. This is why we only use Dacron line on our tandem products. Not to mention that our tandem equipment was NOT drop tested with no-stretch lined canopies.
I don't care if you have 1,000 jumps on a particular canopy with no-stretch lines with no problems. Ever canopy opens hard eventually. When that happens, I want some "bungee cord" between that canopy and the tandem passenger."

"One thing is for sure, if you jump "no-stretch" lines, especially Spectra (because it's so slippery, and reduces slider drag) your chance of being injured or killed by a hard opening shock is much greater than if you jump Dacron line, which stretches just enough to absorb some of that shock before it hits you."

"Spectra (or micro-line) is strong and tiny, so it reduces both pack volume and drag , which means you get a smaller rig and a faster canopy. Unfortunately, It has a couple of "design characteristics" (this is manufacturer talk for "problems") It is very slippery (less friction to slow the slider), and stretches less than stainless steel. This is why it hurt people and broke so many mini risers when it was first introduced. Now, I must say that the canopy manufacturers did a wonderful job handling these "characteristics" by designing new canopies that opened much slower than their predecessors. However, the fact still remains, that if you do have a rare fast opening on a microlined canopy, Spectra (or Vectran) will transmit that force to you (and your rig) much, much faster, resulting in an opening shock up to 300% higher than if you have Dacron lines. (It's sort of like doing a bungee jump with a stainless steel cable. At the bottom of your fall, your body applies the same force to the steel cable as it would to a rubber bungee cord, but because steel doesn't stretch, your legs tears off.)."

"Reinforced type-17 webbing risers rarely break. They have a new breaking strength of around 3,500 lbs. This is not that much less than type-8 risers breaking strength of 4,000 lbs. The real difference is whether you have mini rings or large rings...and the difference here is in cutaway forces, not breaking strength. While properly designed mini-ring risers can easily release even a 250 lb. jumper in a 3 or 4 "G" spin, the problem is that it is harder to manufacture mini-ring risers correctly. What causes any riser to break is usually a combination of a heavy jumper, a hard opening canopy, and no stretch (Spectra, Vectran, or HTML) line. Broken risers on Dacron lined canopies are very rare indeed."

"Single rear riser break is very rare. Risers usually break where they go around the large harness ring. It is obvious that since the "reinforcement" in type 17 risers is below the confluence, it does nothing to prevent this kind of damage. When this riser broke, it "released" a lot of energy, thus preventing much more serious injury of the jumper. Which is a good thing. The only way I know of to prevent "killer" opening shocks, is not to jump Spectra (Microline) or Vectran. They don't stretch at all, and therefore do nothing to help absorb the energy of a really hard opening. As long as we insist on jumping non-stretch lines, incidents like this are bound to happen. (Canopies with Dacron lines can still open hard, but much less shock is actually felt by the jumper.)."

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