Flee 0 #1 January 22, 2002 Okay here goes, I'm a newbie, 27, weighing 180lbs without gear, (200 w/gear). I have over 110 jumps all of which were various military freefall jumps, i.e. HAHO, HALO, Night, Equipment, Water, O2...ect... I'm considering the purchase of my first rig and I am settled on buying a Triathlon, however I would like your opinion on a resonable wing loading. I was considering the 175 (1.14) until talking with some of my buddies who are more experienced in sport jumping who recommend a 160 (1.25). I am soliciting your personal opinions based on your various experiences...also to go ahead and set this aside... all of your suggestions such as: "try before you buy", "ask somebody from your local DZ", "trust your friends who are more experienced than you and are better able to asses your level", have been noted in advance so no need to post.I just feel that by asking you that I will be getting a less "ego" based reason than the ones I may be getting from my buddies, to be quite frank I work with a bunch of egomaniacs and although their hearts are in the right place I feel that a second opinion couldn't hurt.Thanks in advance, best regards,Flee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kirils 1 #2 January 22, 2002 My fiance' has about 60 jumps and started jumping a Tri loaded at about 1.1. I have jumped her chute loading it at about 1.5. If you have T-10 experience, I wouldn't worry about it...Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #3 January 22, 2002 The triathlon is a great canopy, but it was never designed to be highly loaded. All of the jumpers I know that highly load their triathlons hate it, and admit buying one at that wing loading was a mistake.As you add weight to the triathlon you notice it sinks badly, so get used to landing out. My personal opinion is you probably don't want to load a triathlon much over 1.1 It's perfectly safe to load a triathlon, I just don't think you want to. It's just not that much fun.I did over 300 jumps on a triathlon loaded a 1.1 and loved it. It was a great first canopy. I bought it when I had about 50 jumps.The whole point of upping the wingloading is to get more performance out of the canopy. If YOU want to opt for a bit more performance in your first rig, then I would suggest you maybe consider the Sabre 2 by PD, or the Icarus Saphire. Both are called moderately eliptical, or sometimes tapered. Both are becoming popular as student canopies at some of the more advanced dropzones. Both fly great at light wing loadings. If you're looking for a canopy that's a bit more fun to fly, then you might try one of these. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #4 January 22, 2002 What are you looking for in the canopy? Something to get you on the ground with no fuss or something that its going to let you start to enter the mid-high proformance phase of canopy flight? (Note the word flight and not ride) Thats whats going to determine canopy size since you have the model and are down to just 2 sizes. IMHO either size is a great choice with your experience. You are way ahead of most other people ~100 jumps so the learning curve is'nt near like what thiers is. I'm a total canopy nazi and I'd say as long as you don't get an ego or shit under the canopy, either is great. Now if I see your name in an incident report.... we are going to have to talk.........I want to touch the sky, I want to fly so high ~ Sonique Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alan 1 #5 January 22, 2002 It seems as if you are already familiar with the rules of thumb for wing loading. With that in mind, it is a little unfair/unrealistic for anyone to give you much more advice without actully being knowledgeable of your skills as a canopy pilot. Your best bet is still to get to someone you can trust who is skilled/capable enough to give you solid advice after observing your skills over time and under a variety of conditions.alan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybytch 259 #6 January 22, 2002 Even though you said don't post "try before you buy", I gotta say it. If there is any way you can get ahold of a 175 and put 5-10 jumps on it then do the same with a 160 that's going to tell you way more about which one you will prefer than anything any of us or any of your buddies can tell you. If all your jumps so far have been on rounds or big squares, if you aren't into the swoopy landing right now and/or if you're not going to be able to stay real current (10+ jumps per month) the 175 might be the "safer" choice for starters imho. pull and flare,lisa-- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cloud9 0 #7 January 22, 2002 I put about 50 jumps on a triathlon loaded at about 1.25 I really liked it. I had nice soft standup landings most of the time. I could sink it in in breaks and still land it fairly soft. I started with that canopy at about 100 jumps. I found it fairly easy to fly and control. I found it fairly docile at that wing loading. However I jumped a 150 triathlon loaded at over 1.35 and really didn't like it as much at that loading. I found it didn't land as well. So I went to a Hornet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prost 0 #8 January 22, 2002 If you have good basic skills you can land either canopy without a doubt. That said, just remember that there are going to be times when not everything will go right. You should always jump 1 to 2 sizes up from the smallest canopy you think you should jump. This gives you some room for error. There is obviously already a huge difference in size of a Halo rig and a 175. Look at it this way. If you buy the 175, you run a little higher chance of wanting to downsize in the near future. If you buy the 160, you run a little higher chance of putting yourself in the hospital. William Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albatross 0 #9 January 22, 2002 I know that you said that you were kind of set on buying the Triathalon but I am going to suggest that you might want to consider a Spectre loaded at the same range. I bought mine (loaded at 1.15) at about 45 jumps and loved it. Now 200+ jumps later I am just begining to play with the higher end preformance of the canopy. I have flown the Triathalon and never liked its handling. But concider the larger canopy if you have any doubts because the canopy will retain a lot of value and it is much better to be in the air wishing that you had a hotter wing than be there stressing if you can land in that back yard with the cross breeze with the piggish loaded canopy.God bless us and God Bless AmericaAlbatross Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flee 0 #10 January 22, 2002 Albatross-- Not to open up a whole new can of worms on myself but now that you mention it... I had originally considered the Sabre2 in a 190...You see the triathlon appealed to me because of its versatility, but somewhere in the back of my mind is "hey later on I'm going to want to do some turf surfing". So I guess I was trying to be cautious... Truth is I'm stuck over here in the ole sandbox of the Middle East doing "God's Work" and sadly to say I'm not around any "friendly" dropzones if you know what I mean... So now that I have a little free time I've decided to narrow the search on my main canopy until I can get back to the good ole U.S of A. and do some proper demo'ing if you follow my drift. But anywho I'd love to hear what you have to say about the Sabre2 in a 190 or maybe 170....Bring it,Flee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #11 January 23, 2002 Jesse...What the fuck are you doin on here?How's the new job goin since you left Bragg? Have you talked to Frankie Reilly lately? Damn....the world is getting smaller all the time!"I got some beers....Let's Drink em!!!"Clay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
