Satisfied with your PD Pulse?

[Olmed 0]

Does it truly make you stress free on openings and landings? (not only compared to other more HP canopies)

Would you recommend it as a novice/in transition main canopy for the conservative yet fun looking jumper?

[tenbux_rpn 0]

I got a Pulse 170 (WL ~1.0) as my first canopy off student status and have put about 30 jumps on it since then. Only having flown larger student canopies before this I don't have much to compare it to, but I'm really happy with it.

Very smooth openings, even when I tuck the slider into the tail, and on heading. No problems landing it - crosswind, no wind, higher winds.

Jumping is the most stress free part of my week

[PiLFy 0]

FWIW, I've about 50-60 jumps on a Pulse @.95 WLing. They open nice, pack nice, & land nice. I'm told the trim has them fly level & fast. I don't feel that much of a difference. The shallow glide does make timing the landing flare easier. The flare isn't as strong as a Sabre2, but more than enough. They're fun to spend the day jumping.

Disclaimer: But, @99 jumps, what do I know?

[theplummeter 14]

I jumped one before my current canopy. The openings were fast, but soft and on heading, by far the best of the handful of canopies I have jumped. The canopy turned fast and was fun in the air. Packing was simple and easy compared to everything else I've tried.

My only gripe is with the landing, it never really planed out for me, it just stopped. From first to last landing I never fell or took a step, it just stopped and I was on the ground. For many that's probably another plus, but I like the plane out portion on the landing.

[Olmed 0]

Hei, thanks for the comments so far, they were all great!
So far I have only flown larger student canopies. So there are some expectations when in a few weeks I plan to safely fly my new Pulse 210 (WL 1,081..).

[rrmtopo 1]

I demo'd the Sabre2, Safire2, Pilot & Pulse. I just received my new Pilot today.

Made a little less than six-hundred jumps in the 80s & been back in the sport since October. I was looking for a conservatively fun canopy with a flat glide (willing to trade swoop-factor for flat glide) & on heading consistent openings. I jumped them in this order loaded 1.2:

1) Sabre2 - fun, openings not as consistent as I'd like, a little more ground hungry than I was looking for, great landing
2) Pilot - fun, great openings, great glide, great landing
3) Pulse - mushy, great openings, medium flat glide (between pilot & sabre), ok landing
4) Safire2 - fun, 700 - 1300' openings, a little better glide than pulse but not quite pilot good, great landing

Pulse was last in "my" evaluation between these 4 canopies for the flying qualities "I" was looking for.

[Olmed 0]

My immediate choice would be a Silhouette. After research (not demo) the Silhouette seemed to have the conservative qualities I originally was looking for (consistent openings, forgiving yet fun and easy pack). So time will show if the Pulse will be comfortable to jump (i.e. it seem to be used by more experienced pilots, be more sensitive to bodyposition and also sligthly less forgiving when compared to the Silhouette).

Pilot seem great as well and I like how the lines are marked, but I considered it not as the best canopy for a beginner. It was interesting to read that it has a flatter glide when compared to the Pulse.

Mushy??

[Bip 0]

I have > 400 jumps on my Pulse 170 loaded at 1.3 - 1.4. My next canopy will probably be a pulse. I think PD could fix a few colors for the bottom skin by now.

[Born2Late 0]

"I think PD could fix a few color$ for the bottom $kin by now."

FIFY. PD is saving money on manufacturing costs, & (not) passing the savings along to you.

[NWFlyer 2]

I have about 350 jumps on Pulses now. I put about 300 jumps on my first one, and when I was looking to put together a second rig, I bought a second Pulse. So, clearly, I like 'em.

I've had occasional off-headers, but never too bad, and they're pretty rare. For the most part, the Pulse likes to open soft (but not snively) and on heading. The one truly bad opening I had was due to a pilot chute issue, not a canopy issue.

I had about 500 jumps when I got one, but if it had been available when I was a new jumper, I probably would have gotten one then, too, and been happy with it. I am not looking for high performance now, and I wasn't then. I jump conservative canopies at moderate-to-low wingloading.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Austintxflight 0]

I got a pulse right after getting my A. I've put about 60 jumps on it since then. The flare is almost impossible to mess up.

As everyone seems to say it opens very smooth, you don't lose lots of altitude but don't open hard.

Its a great canopy to get and learn on for a few hundred jumps. From what I've heard they start to lose flare after they are loaded over 1.4 or so.

[bodypilot90 0]

yea ez to pack as well and great flair, nice glide. Have heard over 1.3-1.4 range loses flare.

[Joellercoaster 6]

Quote

Pilot seem great as well and I like how the lines are marked, but I considered it not as the best canopy for a beginner.

IMO, Pilots are a great canopy for a beginner - certainly more forgiving than a Sabre2, which are also popular first canopies.

Try both Pilot and Pulse (and the Silhouette for that matter), they definitely have differences that will come down to personal taste.You can't really go wrong with any of them - whichever one you like the most will serve you well.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[Olmed 0]

Thanks for all the comments!

[GobbleGobble 0]

I started flying a Pulse 190 (1:1/.9:1) when I had ~35-40 jumps. I'm now on a Pulse 170 (1.2:1/1.18:1) total jumps now at around 195. Usually quick openings and on heading. The plane out is there it's just different than a Sabre 2 and significantly different than a Pilot (from my limited experience on them). I usually just count to myself a one and as I'm pulling down the toggles to plane and I get a reasonable good surf out of it especially on no wind days.

Packing is definitely different depending on humidity. I have two closing loops one a little shorter for more humid days one a little longer for dry days. Just makes closing the container easier.

[DaVinciflies 0]

Quote

IMO, Pilots are a great canopy for a beginner - certainly more forgiving than a Sabre2, which are also popular first canopies.

Can you expand on what you mean by "more forgiving"?

Thanks!

(genuine question BTW)

[hillson 0]

Quote

My immediate choice would be a Silhouette. After research (not demo) the Silhouette seemed to have the conservative qualities I originally was looking for (consistent openings, forgiving yet fun and easy pack). So time will show if the Pulse will be comfortable to jump (i.e. it seem to be used by more experienced pilots, be more sensitive to bodyposition and also sligthly less forgiving when compared to the Silhouette).

Pilot seem great as well and I like how the lines are marked, but I considered it not as the best canopy for a beginner. It was interesting to read that it has a flatter glide when compared to the Pulse.

Mushy??

In the past few weeks I've put 10 jumps on a Pulse 210, 5 on a Nav/Silhouette 200 (close enough for gov't work) and 8 on a Storm 190. Gonna try the Pulse 190 this weekend (was gonna get a Pulse but the Storm was in the container and saved me a hookup and pack job).


Liked the Pulse openings...quick but not harsh. Positive opening feel, at least to me. Forgiving of poor body position . 5 terminal and 5 h&p. Long-spot killer...the thing just glides forever. Took a bit to figure out the landing glide.

If you've jumped a Navigator you've basically jumped the Sihlouette from what I've been told by my Is.

The various 7-cell-ish stuff applies with the Storm. Liked the openings, handled a bit snappier than the Pulse. Want to direct-compare the two at the same size.

TBH, I didn't find the difference between the Pulse / Nav/Sihl to be all that great. It turns better, opened a bit quicker (but not hard) etc. WL was a bit under 1.

190 puts me at ~1.03-04 depending on the beer weight that week.

I would happily purchase either the Storm or Pulse and put a bunch of jumps on them...slight preference for the Storm but will be better informed by Monday.

[Joellercoaster 6]

By "more forgiving" I guess I could have been more useful, sure :P

(I've jumped both canopies in a range of similar sizes, but will admit I have far fewer S2 jumps, so take this for what it's worth.)

The Pilot rolls into turns faster - it feels more responsive on toggles around the roll axis - but it also rolls out of them faster. If you stop pulling down on a toggle (or, as I have had to do occasionally, counter with opposite toggle in a hurry ) it returns to straight flight (you underneath the canopy) quicker as well.

The same is also true of straight front riser dives.

So I guess by "more forgiving" I mean "quicker to come out of situations where you might find yourself heading at the ground, both when you're applying input and when you're not".

It's also a bit harder to get into those configurations in the first place (witness people like me, whining they find their Pilots hard to swoop), but obviously you still can, and people have crashed Pilots plenty hard too.

One other thing I'd say, and maybe this is just me, but I've found Pilots to be much more predictable on opening. This doesn't really address my "forgiving" thing though, it's just an observation.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?