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megamalfunction

How old is your main canopy?

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My current main is 2010, but replacement shipped this week :)
So brand new.

I got my Packer A (ability to repack reserves) earlier this year and my views on older gear have changed. I never minded before and my harness is 16 years old. I will be replacing it in the next three months for brand new so I know how its been treated.

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

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2-year-old Stiletto and a *mumble*-year-old Pilot.

Everybody likes to point out how old a design the Stiletto is, but we're still buying them.
--
"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?

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Brand new and VERY crispy :D

Was hooked up week before last but weather has been rubbish so haven't jumped it yet, hoping for Friday. Had a go at packing it and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but then I have been packing a 190 into the 170 D-bag for nearly a year, lol.

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

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Joellercoaster

2-year-old Stiletto and a *mumble*-year-old Pilot.

Everybody likes to point out how old a design the Stiletto is, but we're still buying them.



..............................................................Amazing how Stilettos went from being the hottest canopy on the market to the docile canopy mainly jumped by POPS.
Hah!
Hah!
Mind you, Stilettos were the first - or second - elliptical canopy to hit the American market and we had to un-learn a few bad habits .....

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Age doesn't matter. What matters is wear and tear. If it's stored properly in a clean, climate-controlled environment, and jumped only infrequently, then even a really old parachute is perfectly serviceable.

On the other hand, a relatively new two year old parachute that is jumped 1,000 times a year in a hot, dirty desert environment, and stored in the trunk of a car, then it might well be trashed.

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ryoder

Some people have just one?:o



Exactly!

Sabre1-120, DOM Jul-94 (or 95?). Paid $250 cash in 2006 (was told 500ish jumps...paid another $300 30 jumps later since it needed a new lineset anyway).

Crossfire1-99, 2001 (paid $500 cash in...2009 I think, had 1100+ jumps on it and I've put 400+ on it).

Sabre1 works great for wingsuiting (and prefer NOT to use the Crossfire for wingsuiting).

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riggerrob

Amazing how Stilettos went from being the hottest canopy on the market to the docile canopy mainly jumped by POPS.
Hah!



Funny indeed. Canopy handling skill is arguably better now than it has been, but there's nothing docile about it! They've just made canopies that can kill you even dead-er now.
--
"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?

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Until a few months ago my main was a Spectre 120 from '94 with about 2500-3000 jumps on it. Still opened supernice, on wingsuit jumps especially, even with lines that were quite worn out. I found a few small tears in the stabiliser fabric this summer, and after a few months of jumping with ripstop tape on a few places, I decided it's time to get a new (read secondhand) one. Currently jumping another Spectre 120 from the early/mid 2000's.
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane"

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likestojump

***Until a few months ago my main was a Spectre 120 from '94 ..



That's impossible, Spectre came out in 97.

you say that as if you havent seen back to the future! :P
“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

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riggerrob

***2-year-old Stiletto and a *mumble*-year-old Pilot.

Everybody likes to point out how old a design the Stiletto is, but we're still buying them.



..............................................................Amazing how Stilettos went from being the hottest canopy on the market to the docile canopy mainly jumped by POPS.
Hah!
Hah!
Mind you, Stilettos were the first - or second - elliptical canopy to hit the American market and we had to un-learn a few bad habits .....Stiletto is anything but docile. The reason they're considered "conservative" today is that they aren't an aggressive swooping canopy. I've jumped one for many years. At moderate wing loading (1.5 or so) a Stiletto has more range than any other canopy.
But reach a hand out 4" on landing and you'll find out how "un-docile" the canopy can be.
When I talked to PD a couple of years ago about a replacement and told them what I was looking for;
fun to fly
great glide for possible bad spot or low opening on student jumps
stable in deep brakes for low flat turns or tight landings
don't care about incredible swooping
I was told that they still had nothing that would do the job better than the Stiletto
This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

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ufk22

When I talked to PD a couple of years ago about a replacement and told them what I was looking for;
fun to fly
great glide for possible bad spot or low opening on student jumps
stable in deep brakes for low flat turns or tight landings
don't care about incredible swooping
I was told that they still had nothing that would do the job better than the Stiletto

This is what keeps me on mine. As a working AFF instructor, I get my share of long spots. I don't need a weird opening, ground loving crossed brace to complicate my job. ;)

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JohnMitchell

***When I talked to PD a couple of years ago about a replacement and told them what I was looking for;
fun to fly
great glide for possible bad spot or low opening on student jumps
stable in deep brakes for low flat turns or tight landings
don't care about incredible swooping
I was told that they still had nothing that would do the job better than the Stiletto

This is what keeps me on mine. As a working AFF instructor, I get my share of long spots. I don't need a weird opening, ground loving crossed brace to complicate my job. ;) Same here, I have no intention of getting anything else any time soon. 1.5WL on my 135 Stiletto is plenty of fun for me
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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