Main canopy maximum exit weight manufacturer limitations

[Maksimsf 0]

I'm jumping Spectre 230 that is deferentially a keeper for a couple of hundred jumps till I will downsize to 210 Storm/Spectre or 209 Safire2 (MEW 300 LBS).

210 Storm/Spectre Maximum exit weight listed is 273 Lbs, I'm about 280-285 Lbs out the door. How dangerous is to go beyond manufacturer maximum weight limit? I do understand that according to PD my exit weight with my 230 is recommended for an expert, but our DZ is pretty much at sea level.

[BigMark 1]

Are your no wind landings easy?

[Maksimsf 0]

BigMark

Are your no wind landings easy?

Damn good question... Nope - I'm still learning to properly land it in no wind especially when its 90 degrees outside during a summer. But I hope i will be able to nail it withing 50-100 jumps.

[davelepka 4]

You're in a touch spot being a dude of your size. On the one hand, there are a limited number of non-student canopies big enough for you to keep your WL down in a 'reasonable' range given your experience.

On the other hand the bigger you and your canopy are, the higher you can generally bump your WL and sill be considered 'safe'. It's not something to go crazy with, but if you were on the borderline between two canopies, and they were both north of 220 sq ft, you could probably be OK with the smaller of the two.

Just like a 100lb girl should not choose a 120 sq ft canopy for her first rig, even though it would be at 1 to 1 WL, bigger guys can fudge in the other direction. The longer lines and increased drag of a huge canopy mean you can 'push' the WL a little.

In terms of no-wind, it's common for new jumpers to have trouble with those, regardless of their WL. The increased ground speed can be intimidating, and that will mentally effect your performance. If you're scared of the speed, you're not going to be at your best. It just takes time, and practice.

One thing to keep in mind is that the wind will not effect your descent rate or your ability to stop it with the toggles. In any wind, when you hit the 'sweet spot' in your toggle stroke, the canopy will level out and fly with zero descent rate. When you have a 10 mph wind, you also end up with little forward speed, well within what you can walk/run. When you have no wind, you're going faster forward, but you'll still have no descent rate. Hitting the ground with some descent rate is scary and might hurt. Gently setting down and sliding out some forward speed is generally not that bad. Keep that in mind, and work on your descent rate more than your forward speed, and things will improve in short order.

As far as jumping a 210, if your skills are up to par, I wouldn't sweat the weight issue. The canopy will not blow up or snap lines at your weight. I would, however, not jump mini-risers at your weight, as those have been known to break on hard openings.

[riggerrob 558]

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davelepka

... As far as jumping a 210, if your skills are up to par, I wouldn't sweat the weight issue. The canopy will not blow up or snap lines at your weight. I would, however, not jump mini-risers at your weight, as those have been known to break on hard openings.

"

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Trivial point: we solved the problem with broken mini-risers twenty years ago.
Mini-risers started breaking around 1990. Broken mini-risers were the result of a perfect storm. All the variables converged shortly after zero-porosity fabric was introduced (1988 in France), closely followed by wing-loadings starting to exceed one pound per square foot, zero-stretch (Spectra) suspension lines, Tub-Stows, etc.
These variables combines with a dozen new lofts learning how to build mini-risers. Not all of these new lofts copied Para-Flite's (or Parachutes de France's) dimensions exactly. Fewer of them understood how much tighter the tolerances are on mini-risers (compared with RW-1 sized risers). Some of them completely missed basic concepts like butterfly folding the bottom of the risers before wrapping them around the middle ring!
The end result was a bunch of broken mini-risers. The Parachute Industry Association responded by publishing specifications for reinforced mini-risers and 3-Ring Inc. published the definitive production manual in 1998.

Bottom line: if your customers are still at risk of breaking mini-risers, they are either A: jumping faded, frayed and filthy risers that are more than 20 years old, or B: their packing skills are so sloppy that they should not be allowed to pack tomatoes!

In the end: we agree that the original poster is so big - and his canopy is so draggy - that mini-risers will make one percent difference in his glide ratio.

[riggerrob 558]

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Maksimsf

I do understand that according to PD my exit weight with my 230 is recommended for an expert, but our DZ is pretty much at sea level.

"

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Remember that canopy manufacturers recommendations are based on \international Standard Atmosphere; sea level, 15 degrees Celcius (about 50 degrees Fahrenheit), etc.
As soon as the temperature or humidity rise, so does your density altitude. By the time the temperature rises to 30 degrees Celcius (a hot summer day), your density altitude has risen by 1500 feet above sea level!