Downsizing?

[Calvin19 0]

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I can see lots of guys around who are talking about downsizing all the time. To me it seems like one should be as cool as possible - the smallest your rig is the better.
Now I'm planning to buy a new rig with a new main canopy and a little downsizing. At present I am using a 190 square-feet canopy with a wing loading of 0.8. Considering my exit weight and experience (180 jumps) I could jump a 150 or even a 140. In spite of this I'd like to buy a 170. The reason is that I do like to stay in the sky as long as possible - but everybody smiles at me. They say I should choose a smaller canopy. I know it would penetrate better into the wind and I could make more spectacular landings. The rig could be smaller which would look great.
Do you also find my choice ridiculous?

I like that attitude. I think you are a paraglider at heart.

A few things you can do that maximize your airtime under canopy, as well as increase safety, is instead of downsizing, buy something like a stiletto 150 or a moderate 'swooping' canopy. I had a TON of fun for a hundred or so jumps on a stiletto 150 loaded at 1.1. this will make you a smoother pilot. Plus the wing is more efficient, meaning you can stay up longer if you want, penetrate better, and go really fast if you want or it is needed.

[ufk22 32]

In Reply To
I can see lots of guys around who are talking about downsizing all the time. To me it seems like one should be as cool as possible - the smallest your rig is the better.
Now I'm planning to buy a new rig with a new main canopy and a little downsizing. At present I am using a 190 square-feet canopy with a wing loading of 0.8. Considering my exit weight and experience (180 jumps) I could jump a 150 or even a 140. In spite of this I'd like to buy a 170. The reason is that I do like to stay in the sky as long as possible - but everybody smiles at me. They say I should choose a smaller canopy. I know it would penetrate better into the wind and I could make more spectacular landings. The rig could be smaller which would look great.
Do you also find my choice ridiculous?

I like that attitude. I think you are a paraglider at heart.

A few things you can do that maximize your airtime under canopy, as well as increase safety, is instead of downsizing, buy something like a stiletto 150 or a moderate 'swooping' canopy. I had a TON of fun for a hundred or so jumps on a stiletto 150 loaded at 1.1. this will make you a smoother pilot. Plus the wing is more efficient, meaning you can stay up longer if you want, penetrate better, and go really fast if you want or it is needed.

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The world is full of this kind of advice....
1st, this is about more than just size. You don't say what 190 you're currently jumping, but 180 jumps does not mean you can safely jump a 150 or smaller, no matter the wing loading, and going to something like a Stiletto make even less sense. If you're currently jumping a 7 cell, downsizing 20' and changing to a 9 cell will be a huge difference.
I would definitely stay with the 170 reserve, then go slow, downisizing at a rate that allows you to "live to jump another day"

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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