Pulse 260

[Bobbytransue 0]

By the time my rig and pulse 260 gets delivered I will have my A license. Out of the door I weigh 210 I was advised not to mess with ordering the 230 and so I went 260. Has anyone jumped this canopy? Will it be the same as a student canopy or will it be more fun. I really know it's kind of a stupid question but still would like some feed back. I also went. With a custom javelin odyssey

[jrjny 0]

that should be a pretty easy ride at .80 - why didn't you go with the 230, just short of a 1:1

[thrillstalker 0]

or a 210 that would be 1:1

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[Bobbytransue 0]

Because I went with dzo opinion. I was set for the 230 but he said I'd have to wait a year to jump the 230.

[jrjny 0]

It's safer for sure, but I don't know if you'll get enough penetration on a breezy day -- probably all good though. Enjoy it.

[Bobbytransue 0]

Yeah I trust his opinion pretty well. I plan on using it for a season and try and sell it and go with a 230 or 210 after that. From all I've read it seems like a fun canopy. Thanks for your help

[Hellis 0]

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or a 210 that would be 1:1

No.
Hint: use the wingload calculator

EDIT: Oops. Missed that the OP said his exitweight 210. I read it as his weight was 210

[DocPop 1]

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Yeah I trust his opinion pretty well. I plan on using it for a season and try and sell it and go with a 230 or 210 after that. From all I've read it seems like a fun canopy. Thanks for your help

Good thinking!

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[thrillstalker 0]

Quote

Because I went with dzo opinion. I was set for the 230 but he said I'd have to wait a year to jump the 230.

then you did the right thing

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[fluffyduckie 6]

I'm not sure what your student canopy was, but I demoed a Pulse 230, and maybe I can give you a little insight.

You are going to be floaty, and please be cautious jumping in wind, you may very well be going backwards if the winds are strong enough. I decided not to go with the Pulse, but here are a few of things I noticed with it.

I was loaded just about 1:1 on it. It covered a lot of ground distance, without losing as much altitude. Keep this in mind for your landing pattern, especially if you have a small landing area. The canopy bottom skin is F-111, and for me felt a little "squishier" once it opened than a full ZP canopy. Upside is it is much easier to pack and packs to a smaller volume.

You may progress quickly and find that you want a little more penetration into the wind than you will be getting. Keep in mind that all of the manufacturers have Demo programs, and you should seriously consider trying a wide range of canopies before purchasing a new one. If you go to boogies, or have one at your DZ, manufacturers that attend will let you demo for free, and it is a great way to learn about different flight characteristics is a short time.

Good Luck!

"I love when humans fly,"

[abyzet 0]

I jump a Pulse 260. It's surprisingly sporty for its size. As mentioned previously, use caution jumping a larger canopy in higher winds. If you decide to downsize in the future, it will def sell.

[Bobbytransue 0]

How was the flare on the 260

[Bobbytransue 0]

My biggest problem is I'm at a small dz. The guy from pd did saybhe would arrange a demo. But the dzo sad the 230 he wouldn't let me jump it all. Thankscfor the info I appreciate it very much

[JohnMitchell 14]

Whew! I thought this was about your heart rate on jumprun.

[Andy9o8 0]

You seem to have put the cart before the horse.

[guppykf 0]

Bobby- since you are still on student status the DZO could only recommend you to buy based on your current skill level; you got a few more jumps to complete, right? Plus so far your jumps have been sporatic, so there may be a concern that you may not stay current. - not sure if the DZO actually considered this, but I would have taken these into consideration when providing you recommendations.
Pulse WL chart states 260 for 195 lb student or 230 lb novice; 230 states 172 lb student or 210 novice, which currently you are a student.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you have been jumping a manta 288. So you are going from F111 to a great novice rig (IMO), but a 230 would be a fairly significant WL increase. Going straight from a 288 to a 230 is not in anyones best interest. I admit the reduction choices at that DZ to jump is limited because it is small, but there are ways to demo mains and also other DZ's you can pay a visit to that has a larger selection to help you downsize safely.

Its not disloyal to your current DZ to visit other DZ's to demo other canopies in order to make sure you purchase what you will enjoy. In the long run it will make more money for your home DZ if you buy what you enjoy and not break any major bones in the process, plus selfishly I will have ppl to jump with if you stay

What size javelin did you get? What is its max and min mains it can fit? More importantly, What size reserve did you order?

Hindsight being 20/20 if you insisted on buying a new rig verus a used one I would have recommended go ahead but to buy rig with reserve etc. that could fit the 230 / 210 as well, but only buy a used main, since you will most likely want to downsize to a 230 / 210 later.

Note: if you just placed the order last week, you may have options to change things, maybe remove the main from your purchase and look for a used main in order to save you some dollars for your ready for that main you plan on jumping for a long time.

Again, I recommend you downsize slowly, you want to be able to jump for a long time.

PM me if you want to talk more about it. Just for the record I have over 100 jumps and I jump a WL of .98. I want to be under all types of conditions under my current canopy and know how to handle my canopy accordingly before I even consider going down to a 1:1.

THRIVING IN MY DASH!!

[Bobbytransue 0]

Actually, there are a lot of incorrect details here. The DZO downsized me to a 250 Zero-P, 2-handled, 7-cell after my 12th jump as a student, so I wouldn't have been going from a Manta 288 to a 230. Yes, I have 4 jumps until my license, but 2 ruptured disks in my neck grounded me at the end of the season. Sounds like some DZ gossip has gotten out of hand.

The rig I'm designing and purchasing is for my licensed jumps. I"m planning ahead for this season now since the lead times for a new rig are so far out. I'm not even going to get it until 3 months into the season because finalizing details have been so difficult with decision makers being unavailable.

LIke I said, I took the DZO's advice after thinking about it and doing more research. Since I've only been there with you once, I find your knowledge of my progression interesting (especially with all the inaccuracies). The concern over my dedication is honestly the most hurtful.

I'm not debating getting a 230 or 260 here. I was asking for thoughts from those who have jumped Pulse 260 since that's what I ordered.

There are a few regular jumpers there who have jumped with me and my wife several times and we also asked their advice on downsizing to the 230 from my current 250. Their exact response was to do it and "they wouldn't put me in anything unsafe".

Another fun fact that no one but the DZO knows since I thought our conversations were between us - is that I've lost 30 pounds since the last time I was at the DZ, so the weight I was jumping in November on the 250 is not the weight I will be jumping this season. That's neither here nor there, since I've already said that discussion is over.

I'm well aware that I am still a student. Like I said, I'm buying this rig for my future. Seems like there are a lot of people with a lot of judgement on my choice to buy new. We've worked really hard with Javelin, Paragear and the DZO and since the Pulse 260 packs to the same size as a 230, they are going to build the rig so that downsizing later won't be a problem.

Regardless, thanks for the perspective. I only wish there hadn't been quite so much incorrect information regarding my own personal progress. Maybe next time we can get the facts straight and concentrate on the purpose of my post which was to get some insight and information on the canopy I ordered - the Pulse 260.

I love this sport and intend to be in it for a long time (for instance, I just confirmed attending one of Brian Germain's Canopy classes this year). There are such great people who jump there - we are especially thankfully to have been mentored by a few people with +6000 jumps.

[liftedtitan 0]

Are there other DZ's near you? It sounds like you don't like the way youre handled/treated there.

Just asking....

Moriuntur omnes, sed non omnes vixerunt.

[Bobbytransue 0]

i originally loved the place. but seems like everyone knows my stuff. and it could only come from certain people. me and my wife have spent thousands of dollars there and we like some of the people well most. but i dont like people in my affairs. so i guess we finish our license there and maybe branch out and look for others. we have been mentored by a guy and girl who have helped us so much. thats the reason we go now. im not being over sensitive but i just want to have fun and at this point we dont seem to be wanted. took almost two months to place a order for my rig and now im getting hassled by people for buying a brand new rig.i guess there are alot of politics and cliques just like i hear about from other posts. we did find another dz in indiana that said they would have no problem letting us finish our last three or four jumps there. so theres a option. thanks for your reply any other advice is greatly appreciated

[guppykf 0]

you asked for advice on a public forum, so i responded with what I thought would be helpful advice based on not only the DZ gossip, but MY opinion of the date of your first jump and to the date of now. Unfortunately injuries do happen, but based on the above fact I said I would take that into consideration when making recommendations. I have no idea what your and the DZO's conversation was nor his opinion regarding any of these posts; I have not spoken to him about your abilities etc. Thats between you and he.

I also said "correct me if I am wrong" regarding the canopy which you did; therefore, if you have been jumping the 250 then I change my opinion that jumping from a 250 to a 230 is easily done and from a 250 to a 210 still should still be downsized slowly and appropriately, even with weight loss. With you losing the weight you will fly a little differently, not saying you will be unstable just your body imputs will vary slightly.

You are right no one knows you lost 30lbs; that should have came into play when talking to Jim regarding canopy size. but if you were uncomfortable with his recommendation then why did you purchase before asking this question? I assume you both discussed WL etc. What did he give you as the reasoning he wouldnt let you jump a 230 for at least a year? With losing this weight, I would assume you should be good with a 230. did he give you any reasoning?

I bought new as well, not trying to talk you out of a new rig by any stretch of the imagination, cause I know how that student gear feels and it sux. I was just saying that if you know for sure you want to be on a lower main earlier than maybe a used main would have been a good idea, just trying to save ya some money.

I may be a little anal on the conservative side, but unfortunately I have seen some awful things happen the past couple years of people being gung ho before they are ready and I dont want to observe any more than absolutely necessary.

Lastly, you are right there are some really experienced skydivers there with a lot more experience than me; what did they say regarding the 230?

THRIVING IN MY DASH!!

[Bobbytransue 0]

He knew all about my weight loss. He completely shut me down and wouldn't give me answers or return phone calls or emails from me and my wife.

[guppykf 0]

that's not cool at all! Hmm, I would talk to Greg, see what he thinks. Are you now 210 with gear now or even lighter?

If you look at Germain's website he has a WL chart there as well in order to make you feel more comfortable with your decision; even if you are 210 out the door now (roughly your weight + 35 lbs for gear stuff) a 230 should be okay. there's a chart on page 151 in the SIM's too that looks like 230 would be acceptable

I know different manufacturers measure differently but in looking at the pulse's recommendation chart it also shows a 210 exit weight to be the maximum weight to jump a 230 for a "novice", so this is on the bubble.

Call Greg get another opinion, but it looks like you may want to change your order. Depending on what day you ordered or if you ordered a stock canopy and or custom colors you should be able to change this at no charge. If you want to change and you can't get a call back from him, I would just call the company you ordered it from. Whichever, you do you need to decide quickly so you dont get locked in further than you are now.

http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf

Good luck!

THRIVING IN MY DASH!!

[fluffyduckie 6]

You didn't say where you are doing your training, but if you are in Indiana, check out Plymouth Sky Sports. They are a new DZ opening in March. The owners both worked at Skydive Chicago. One was the GM and the other was the lead AFF instructor. Their student program is a little more progressive than some, but they are solid guys who take safety above everything else, and will never turn down a phone call or email. They are on FB or www.plymouthskysports.com/

Check them out.

I can't speak to the politics or motivations at your DZ or others. Didi you only speak to the DZO or did you talk to your instructors? You want someone familiar with your skill to give you advice, not just personal preference of the owner.

Ultimately, take everyone's suggestion in stride, do your research and make the choice that is right for you.

You should call Alex at the Demo program at PD. He can talk you through the flight and flare of your canopy and give you a comparison to your student gear. You should also consider a canopy course. Brian Germain is great, but others are just as solid.

"I love when humans fly,"

[Bobbytransue 0]

thanks for your reply. i live in louisville so i will check that link you sent. and yes i checked with one of the instructors who has 6000 plus jumps. him and his girlfriend who is very experienced have mentored me and my wife he has every rating there is and his suggestion was the 230. i called pd and they suggested the same thing. again i dont want a hot rod and the pulse 230 at my weight wasnt. i gave in and got the 260. as i said before the guy with 6000 jumps i trust with my life and his exact words were the 230 is fine for you and i would never put you under something that wasnt safe. its just been a hassle all around. i started the order in early december and deposited the first three thousand i couldnt ever get a hold of them at my dz phone calls emails facebook i almost started sending smoke signals.thanks again