Odyssey EVO vs Katana

[hapon 0]

Hi all,

I'm looking to downsize from my Katana 135 to smaller size, first idea was to go Katana again, but after noticed that this platform wasn't improve for years , I found Odyssey EVO as an alternative , I'm looking for your opinions about Odyssey EVO compare to Katana, strictly for improving swooping skills.

[Deimian 43]

I haven't flew the Odyssey EVO, and I have just a few jumps on Katanas, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Just judging by planform design, top-skin smoothness and miniribs, I would say that the Odyssey is a much better/modern/efficient design. It will probably carry you longer on your swoop, for a given airspeed. It will also probably behave better on rears and have better slow flight characteristics. Openings, judging on videos, are also good.

But there is more to a canopy than that. I really have no idea what is its behaviour in turbulence, its "ground-hungriness", recovery arc, etc. Also the resale value.

[Greekos 5]

@hapon what did you end up in choosing, the Katana is a great wing still to this day if your focus is on swooping and canopy piloting but demands a lot of respect.

also, from what i have been told, moving from a Katana 135 to a 120 is quite step up in performance.

[bsrodeo540 26]

Need more info to answer. “Swooping” is a broad term these days. Short answer is Ody EVO. The wing loves to be loaded though, I’m flying 1.8 and it’s arguably it’s starting range. Katana will dive more (probably) due to steeper trim, but EVO is a another generation, dives are super consistent and (again, an assumption) will carry the energy better and longer due to a number of innovative design elements. 

[Bamboozzzle 0]

Katana is an old engineering. There are number of modern canopies: Crossfire3, Czech Raptor, USA Fluid Wings Gangter, Russian Rave, Ukranian Odyssey Evo. I think Evo has a number of advantages if we take into account price and proximity of production. Performance and flying characteristics are outstanding compared to competitors.

[nwt 131]

1 hour ago, Bamboozzzle said:

Katana is an old engineering. There are number of modern canopies: Crossfire3, Czech Raptor, USA Fluid Wings Gangter, Russian Rave, Ukranian Odyssey Evo. I think Evo has a number of advantages if we take into account price and proximity of production. Performance and flying characteristics are outstanding compared to competitors.

I love my Katana. I'm looking at FW Gangster but according to FW's infographic they recommend loading at least 1.5 psf, so I guess have another Katana or two before then.

[Sobakin 1]

Flying Ody EVO-70 loaded 2.55 and it flies and controls excellent, openings also good soft but not too long (I am cameraflyer), awesome speed building capability. Before made 200 jumps on 75 loaded 2.3 and it was very good too. Don't even want to try to load Katana the same. You may find my post about this canopy with video included.

[Unity2 0]

Guys,.

 I been looking at the Odyssey EVO but not sure what will be the pack volume compare to PD products.

Been looking to the 105 or 115 and would like to know about what size PD canopy they will compare in pack volume. As I never seen the canopy I have not idea about the fabric. I have two canopies that i think will be the same fabric. One is the Blade-120 that packs more like a 135 Saber; The other is the Nitro-150 and  it pack volume is closer to the 170 Saber.  I jump the 150 nitro as my wingsuit canopy and the 120 for any other jumps. I jumped the the Neo-99 and the VX-90 on the pass and loved the VX90.

Any one has any idea about the pack volume?? 

[bsrodeo540 26]

On 9/9/2023 at 2:34 AM, Unity2 said:

Been looking to the 105 or 115 and would like to know about what size PD canopy they will compare in pack volume.

I have an Odyssey EVO 105 with only 100 jumps on it (99 to be exact) if you’re interested, it’s a great canopy! Recently downsized but didn’t have time to post it, I find Skylark are not that popular in North America so was thinking to post it on European pages. In terms of pack volume, it supposed to be “one size up”. While I have not jumped standard PD canopies, before EVO 105 I jumped a standard Odyssey (not EVO) 120 and it felt like they packed the same, maybe EVO a bit smaller (so maybe like 110-115 “standard”). 

PS, mine comes with both standard and a removable slider /full RDS. It’s actually packed in a separate dbag right now, so probably can measure it somehow for you.

[Veis 18]

All  evo-ody's that were addressed to me, differed in "console" openings (i  asked to send a video, many examples, not an isolated case). Consoles tend to fill up before the central cells. And often it was a problem for users, including cutaways. And this "feature" is not completely solved by the performance of the slider (we experimented with "domed" a lot of), only the front  design and cross ports correction, i think.

A similar problem was recently encountered on an "ordinary" ody, DOM 2009 (openings are not like a many of our ody's).

[bsrodeo540 26]

24 minutes ago, Veis said:

Consoles tend to fill up before the central cells.

I remember that happening on the original Odyssey, although not often and mostly when I relied on packers, but never had that happen on EVO.

[Veis 18]

8 hours ago, bsrodeo540 said:

I remember that happening on the original Odyssey, although not often and mostly when I relied on packers, but never had that happen on EVO.

The openings are soft, so not so impressive. But its "console". This does not negate the merits of the product, but openings is not its strong argument.

[bsrodeo540 26]

I have had random off-heading here and there on EVO once in a while, mostly attributed to packing and in line with any other opening, but have never experienced anything like that photo shows. In general my impressions from EVO openings is exactly as somebody above mentioned - they are actually not 'slow', I would call them fairly quick - as in not loosing too much altitude but absolutely not 'hard'. Out of all canopies I have jumped before, EVO had the most consistent and drama-free openings, including the original Odyssey. In fact I have a habit of rolling both my nose cells and tail when packing and, subjectively, feel like some of my off-headings are due to that as well. A buddy of mine jumped a similar EVO in Russia and never bothered with this kind of stuff, from what I saw his openings are smoother than mine. Below is a link to a short video that shows a few openings. Although most are sub-terminal, one or two are terminal, and from my experience the only difference I noticed between the two is the speed of the opening sequence, while the overall opening staging is the same regardless.

I am not questioning your experience by any means, just sharing mine. One thing to note here is EVO likes heavier WL. I was jumping it at around 1.8 and it is the lowest you should put on it, ideally it loves 2.0+ and you should really get all it's juices and performance at 2.5. Not sure what kind of WL is coming from those reports you are mentioning, but it possibly could be due to underloaded canopy.

Now, why I am mentioning all that is that because I did in fact experienced exactly the console openings you are mentioning on the original Odyssey loaded at around 1.6. Although again, over a 100 jumps I made on it, I probably had 2 or 3 total but I know what you are talking about. One of them was a very hard opening with end cells inflated fast and center cells refusing to inflate at all. Thought about chopping for a second until I popped the toggles and center cells finally inflated. I wasn't the one who packed it for that jump, so attributed it to a sloppy pack job.

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by bsrodeo540
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