Stilleto packing

[jumpsracer 5]

I'm jumping a PD demo Stilleto. Are there any special packing tips for it?

[dgw 8]

7 hours ago, jumpsracer said:

I'm jumping a PD demo Stilleto. Are there any special packing tips for it?

Pack it normally. I’ve pro packed and ‘psycho’ packed them.

Pay very close attention to a flat stable deployment.  I don’t have a lot of experience on Stilettos, but the only opening problem was an own goal, deploying on the hill on a hop’n’pop whilst not quite square to the relative wind. On my Safire2 or Sabre2 it wouldn’t have been a problem. On the Stiletto, it was an immediate and serious problem. 

[wmw999 2,122]

I have a few hundred jumps on them; loading 1.3-1.5. Short recovery arc; fun, but a lousy trainer for swooping apparently. I found it predictable, and it opened OK; often with a twist, but I never had a spin. I didn’t have great results with psycho packing it, less predictable openings. But otherwise eminently predictable, which I like

Wendy P. 

[ufk22 32]

I too have hundreds of stiletto jumps.

leave the nose open, just hanging, pay real close attention to squaring the slider and keeping it tight to the stops when you lay it down and fold it.

Don’t look up, watch the horizon and keep your body square through deployment.

That won’t be a side gust, you didn’t keep your hands symmetrical through the flare.

[Joellercoaster 6]

On 9/21/2023 at 2:00 PM, dgw said:

Pack it normally. I’ve pro packed and ‘psycho’ packed them.

Pay very close attention to a flat stable deployment.

Echo this.

I have a 135 that I load at about 1.8, and it has never given me trouble but I am very mindful of deploying flat and stable.

I've always pro packed it and never done anything weird or special compared to other canopies, and I am not a particularly careful packer. I've also used it for training camps with overworked packers getting me onto short calls, real "turn around and don't watch, good now here's your rig" situations.

Body position > packing magic, IMO.

[mikeat10500 9]

On 9/26/2023 at 5:55 AM, Joellercoaster said:

Echo this.

I have a 135 that I load at about 1.8, and it has never given me trouble but I am very mindful of deploying flat and stable.

I've always pro packed it and never done anything weird or special compared to other canopies, and I am not a particularly careful packer. I've also used it for training camps with overworked packers getting me onto short calls, real "turn around and don't watch, good now here's your rig" situations.

Body position > packing magic, IMO.

I did not pack them but even having the leg straps uneven was bad mojo. They still make them?

[Joellercoaster 6]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:53 AM, mikeat10500 said:

I did not pack them but even having the leg straps uneven was bad mojo. They still make them?

Yeah, they still make them, and people still buy them.

Even now, I don't think anything flies as flat, and turns as quickly (at least on toggles). They are probably a terrible swooping platform, but I don't swoop so that's fine. You can dance around, turn super flat to get yourself out of trouble in a crowded pattern, and get yourself back from things that other people don't.

The popular canopy I would compare it to surprises people a lot: I think it's like a more aggressive Pilot, but flares (way) better under load.

The "even uneven leg straps" fear was, I think, a product of the jumping population getting used to twitchy elliptical canopies in general. People have gotten way better at deploying stably and understanding how their body input affects their flight. The wind tunnel probably helped the Stiletto mal rate a lot, ironically. And you need to actively fly the opening, rather than just letting things happen to you, but that's true of a lot of canopies nowadays and it's not the "Spinetto" of stereotype.

[wmw999 2,122]

I have several hundred jumps on Stilettos (135 and 150). I never had it spin up. I find my Pilot flares more predictably when lightly loaded (which is the only loading I fly any more). And the Diablo did turn faster (but it hasn't been made in ages and ages).

Wendy P.

[Greekos 5]

if your buying a used one have the lines checked and replace if out of trim, especially the brake lines