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muz

What's new in the canopy world (soft openings)

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Looking for a canopy for the new season.

I currently have a Spectre 135, which I love the openings of, but not the handling or the landings particularly.

Before that I was on a Stiletto 150 for many years and I loved it, but I moved to the Spectre for the openings as my neck couldn't take the occasional spanker from the Stiletto (which i kept in trim).

Question is: any recommendation for a fun 9 cell that reliably opens soft? I don't care about speed. Will load at 1.3 / 1.4.

I haven't been deep in the forums in the last couple years so new canopies might have escaped my attention.

Fanks!!

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6 hours ago, muz said:

Looking for a canopy for the new season.

I currently have a Spectre 135, which I love the openings of, but not the handling or the landings particularly.

Before that I was on a Stiletto 150 for many years and I loved it, but I moved to the Spectre for the openings as my neck couldn't take the occasional spanker from the Stiletto (which i kept in trim).

Question is: any recommendation for a fun 9 cell that reliably opens soft? I don't care about speed. Will load at 1.3 / 1.4.

I haven't been deep in the forums in the last couple years so new canopies might have escaped my attention.

Fanks!!

Pilots and Saf's (NZA) have always been kind to me on openings.

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(edited)

I've had several Crossfire2s, all of which have opened like butter (except that one time I rushed through literally the first pack job on one of them - that one was literally the hardest opening I've ever had. Still no ice-pack needed). Worth noting that they are not the most on-heading openings I've ever had, but in about a thousand jumps on them, I could count the jumps on which I've had line-twists on the fingers of one hand

Edited by betzilla
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10 minutes ago, 3331 said:

Firebolt main from Parachute Labs in DeLand Florida.  It's the softest opening canopy I've ever jumped.  Call them (386)734-JUMP (5867).

I'm not even that old and I like my Firebolt Openings.  Better openings than a Pilot of Sabre2, but I can't speak for the Icarus products..

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23 hours ago, NewGuy2005 said:

How long is the snivel? Much altitude lost?

 For me, I get a nice 800-1000 snivel, similar to a Stiletto, although not nearly as twitchy on the heading. Very smooth through all stages of the opening sequence.  When I pull right at 3500, by 2200 I have finished stowing my slider and ready to enter the pattern. 

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3 minutes ago, NewGuy2005 said:

Is that average for a modern canopy?  Long?  It's been 11 years since I've jumped, so I've forgotten what is typical.

That might be slightly longer than average, but in the ball park. There are several reasons people tend to open higher than they used to. This is one of them.

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On 5/5/2020 at 2:27 PM, skydiverek said:

I jump Pilot 168, with Dacron lines, and a larger slider (from Pilot 230). Veeeery soft openings.

I'm also interested in this. Did you check with Aerodyne for this one (is it something they consider okay) or you just tried it yourself? Any chance it could become a streamer because of that?

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