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BlenderPilot

Hard Opening NEW SPECTRE

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Hello Guys and Gals . . . I have a new SPECTRE 150 that is giving me frequent hard openings.

- My exit weight gives me a loading of about 1.57, I wonder if this could be the problem.

- I have been adivised to try a larger slider size, do you think this could help?

- I have had about 3 or 4 really hard openings, is it likely to have damage to the equipment, should I have it inspected?

- Do you have any tips for me to try this weekend?

Thank you!

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- I have had about 3 or 4 really hard openings, is it likely to have damage to the equipment, should I have it inspected?



If your openings were really hard you can see it on your 3 rings. Look at the front side of the middle ring where it contacts the harness ring. It is the back side if the set is assembled. Hard openings are indicated by the denting or "Brunnelling" of the middle ring where it contacts the harness ring. These dents can be measured to tell the extent of the opening.
I would look to the line stow system on my d-bag for relief.

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- I have had about 3 or 4 really hard openings, is it likely to have damage to the equipment, should I have it inspected?



sure, why not



Well, it MIGHT be okay, and it's better to be sorry than safe, right? So why waste time inspecting it?

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We had a jumper who had an issue with his Spectre with hard openings like you are talking about. He had 5 cutaways in 50 jumps because of retarded openings with this canopy. On his last 3 jumps he had a cutaway, slammer and on the 3rd the canopy opened so hard it ripped the right riser in half. He was black and blue from the hard opening for a year. We blamed the guys for bad body position and all the stuff you would tell a guy from all the hard openings and cutaways. He sent the canopy back to PD for inspection and they did a bunch of test jumps on it for him. After 3 months of testing he told me they called him and told him to pick out a new canopy at no cost but would not tell him what was wrong with the old one. Ive been told wrong size sliders and stuff like that from others. I was not the jumper but know the guy very well and thats what he told me. I am not saying this is the problem but if it where me, I would send it in for a check out.
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Hello Guys and Gals . . . I have a new SPECTRE 150 that is giving me frequent hard openings.

- My exit weight gives me a loading of about 1.57, I wonder if this could be the problem.

- I have been adivised to try a larger slider size, do you think this could help?

- I have had about 3 or 4 really hard openings, is it likely to have damage to the equipment, should I have it inspected?

- Do you have any tips for me to try this weekend?

Thank you!


HELLFISH 429
POPS 11113

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- I have had about 3 or 4 really hard openings, is it likely to have damage to the equipment, should I have it inspected?



sure, why not


Well, it MIGHT be okay, and it's better to be sorry than safe, right? So why waste time inspecting it?


Yup...long at the 'top knot' is secure...good to go! ;)










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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Hello Guys and Gals . . . I have a new SPECTRE 150 that is giving me frequent hard openings.

- My exit weight gives me a loading of about 1.57, I wonder if this could be the problem.

- I have been adivised to try a larger slider size, do you think this could help?

- I have had about 3 or 4 really hard openings, is it likely to have damage to the equipment, should I have it inspected?

- Do you have any tips for me to try this weekend?

Thank you!



Do you have much experience packing? Perhaps you are doing something wrong with the packing process. Maybe go through a packjob with a rigger or experienced packer to let them see if you are doing anything wrong with the packjob, stows, etc.

That said I have heard many times of spectres giving hard as shit openings and nobody having any substantive reason to give for that happening...I think they just open like shit sometimes.[:/]

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3 or 4 out of how many?you did say brand new, so it stands to reason that it is more difficult for you to pack.if losing a little bit of control as you stuff it into the bag causes the slider to come down even a little bit, you will experience very hard openings.
My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

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I know a guy who's a quadrapelegic after breaking his neck jumping from a hard opening on a Spectre 150. Whatever is wrong, get it fixed. I'd say contact the manufacturer.



Balls. I've been thinking of semi-retiring my Pilot and getting a Spectre (although larger than a 150) because my spine is roughly as old as you are. I'm reading this thread with considerable interest.

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If you get Dacron lines on whatever canopy it reduces the likelihood of damage on rogue openings.

I had a Pilot that opened nice and softly; you could get a ZPX Pilot with Dacron lines and still put it into the same container probably.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I know a guy who's a quadrapelegic after breaking his neck jumping from a hard opening on a Spectre 150. Whatever is wrong, get it fixed. I'd say contact the manufacturer.



Balls. I've been thinking of semi-retiring my Pilot and getting a Spectre (although larger than a 150) because my spine is roughly as old as you are. I'm reading this thread with considerable interest.



Never had a hard opening with my Storm. Only one hard opening with my Pulse, and that was due to a packing issue identified before the jump. Pulse is a super soft opening, some call it the "old man's canopy."

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Balls. I've been thinking of semi-retiring my Pilot and getting a Spectre (although larger than a 150) because my spine is roughly as old as you are. I'm reading this thread with considerable interest.



I'm hesitant to give advice to someone with much more time and experience than myself, but your comment caught my attention, so I will just tell you my experience.

When I was a newer jumper, I bought a spectre based on it's reputation of soft openings after many hard openings on a triathlon. While it never opened really hard, I couldn't believe the difference when I switched to the pilot after 300 jumps on it. The pilot has the softest openings and IMO far superior openings to the spectre. I guess my point being, I'm surprised to hear you want to switch from a pilot to get softer openings....

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I'm no expert, but perhaps you are having "line dump". I took my Lightning to terminal many times, so I know what a hard opening is.(This is definitely NOT recommended, by me or PD!) But the hardest opening I ever had was on my Pilot; pulled at 3500, opened after a couple of seconds with an explosion. Didn't wake up until 1700. Expert packers told me to use large rubber bands and double stow them. No problems since.

Other things to check are body position (never pitch with your head down), slider all the way up, and loose leg straps.
If all those things are OK, I'd be inclined to send it back.
"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

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What the fuck???


Stop jerking us around...

Some of you out there will immediatly understand my response, some of you may even take the time to check the PD chart after checking the published wing loading the op has given...
But what do I know, "I only have one tandem jump."

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check the PD chart after checking the published wing loading the op has given...



Wing loading is for landing info not openings. You will find this hard to believe but: if you double the wing load you will only increase the opening force by 10%.
This guy has a line dump problem.
If a canopy opens soft once all one needs to do is control the variables and it will open soft every time.

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OP is 235lb exit weight, PDs published max exit weight for a 150 is 240. A Spectre loaded at the max isn't going to perform like a Spectre of a larger size. Same name but will handle like a different canopy.

Have you jumped another SP150 and had better results? (just asking).
We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

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I know a guy who's a quadrapelegic after breaking his neck jumping from a hard opening on a Spectre 150. Whatever is wrong, get it fixed. I'd say contact the manufacturer.



Balls. I've been thinking of semi-retiring my Pilot and getting a Spectre (although larger than a 150) because my spine is roughly as old as you are. I'm reading this thread with considerable interest.



Never had a hard opening with my Storm. Only one hard opening with my Pulse, and that was due to a packing issue identified before the jump. Pulse is a super soft opening, some call it the "old man's canopy."



Had a Spectre 230 which had a hard opening late in 2010. Cracked 2 ribs, bruised my lung, suffered whiplash and screwed up my hip. That opening was so hard it wedged a steering handle into the ring "see pix". By the way, this was a hop & pop.

This jump kept me out of the sport for 3 months. Meanwhile I sent it to the factory where they evaluated it and didn't find anything wrong. I followed someones advise and had it converted to dacron lines but I never did trust the canopy again so I ordered another one. I just can't afford to be wacked again like that

I have over 450 jumps on the newer spectre which is a 190 with dacron lines. Though I never experienced a hard opening, I'm expecting one since they do happen on occasion to many different models. Could be out of sequence deployment or any number of reasons, but I think the dacron will keep me out of the hospital should I encounter one like that.
You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

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I've got 50-60 jumps on a spectre 150 and it does tend to open brisker than the triathlons I normally jump. That being said, I had a crazy fast opening today on a triathlon 120. This triathlon was just recently relined with Dacron lines, and normally takes 1000 plus feet to open. It opens beautiful. Today, I threw out, sat up, and was instantly open. This was with double-stowed Dacron lines like I always jump. I wish I could blame my packer but it was me :). No clue what caused it, but rogue hard openings do happen. I was just thankful that I got sat up first because my neck ( and camera helmet) were in line with my spine and so I didn't get any kind of whiplash. That's why you will never see me watching my canopy on opening.

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