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mfnren

nitron vs sabre2

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I will spend some time next week demoing both, as well as the pilot. My needs are:

-On heading openings (lotsa big ways)
-Not too much altitude eaten during opening (big-ways)
-A good canopy on which to safely learn to swoop (fun)

From previous advise and from what I've read, the nitro is the right canopy for me, but I can't tell you 'till I've jumped and felt them first hand.

In 2 weeks I will post back on this thread with my impressions.

--
Be careful giving advice. Wise men don't need it, and fools won't heed it.

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I demo-ed a nitron 170 about a month ago, it had sweet openings,super soft and on heading. Did eat up quite a bit of altitude compared to what I'm used to(pd190,not much of a guage) and the landings ruled:ph34r:! I am talking about the NITRON, not NITRO, any body know the specifics between them?

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I am talking about the NITRON, not NITRO, any body know the specifics between them?


The N at the end, and the lineset.

Got to jump a Nitron 135 and 120 (loaded 1.38 and 1.55), really liked them canopies. Nice openings, quite long though (around 1000ft), but on heading. Flight is quite fast and very precise on toggles and on risers. Got lots of lift, and the stall speed is VERY low so you can fly it till the end.
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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Hey dude,

In my personal opinion, seriously consider the Sabre 2, it's awesome. I put a few jumps on a demo one and really enjoyed flying it. It opens nice and soft and responds well to riser input. You might also want to demo the Pilot from Aerodyne and the Icarus Safire 2. These are also both tapered canopies and for my money the Safire 2 rocked!

I've jumped the Nitron 150 and 135 and would love to own one someday. I was getting unbelievably soft and on heading openings out of it and the canopy responds really well to riser, toggle and harness input. It was also really stable for wingsuit flight and i loved the way it dived hard and the beginner swoops that i was getting out of it were awesome.

However, the Nitron is fully elliptical and if you're profile is correct you currently jump a PD 190. Bearing in mind that I haven't seen you fly or land i don't reccommend going from a 190 square to a fully elliptical 150 at 100 jumps.

Again, IMO stick with the tapered canopies for a while :)
PJ

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

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what Peej said... Not a very good idea to go from PD 190 to Nitron 150 in my opinion either. Was focused on El Chester's post...

Why wouldn't you give a try at another Precision Aerodynamics canopy which is also very nice : the Fusion. More in the same area as a Sabre2. Also The Safire2 is a beautiful machine (I have one :P)
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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I am talking about the NITRON, not NITRO, anybody know the specifics between them?



The Nitron is a copy of the NITRO. Here are the differences:
1)The NITRO uses Gelvenor ZP fabric, which is preferred over the very slippery fabric the Nitron is built from; the NITRO is much easier to control during packing.
2)The leading edge of the NITRO is attached in a unique way, as a single piece of fabric attached with small tapes to each rib; this leading edge has shown to add stability during the landing flair.
3)The Technora suspension lines on the NITRO are now made with a dramatic improvement over the older HMA still used by the Nitron. The NITRO lines have a much better resistance to UV damage, so the lineset will last considerably longer. As a bonus, this new line used on the NITRO happens to be black(because of the UV protection), which everyone thinks is pretty cool.
4) The spanwise reinforcement tapes used in the NITRO are not used in construction of the Nitron.
5) The NITRO does pack a tiny bit larger than the Nitron, because of the stronger construction materials used in the NITRO.
6) The NITRO has a nice checkerboard pattern on the center cell that isn't available on the Nitron.
7) The retail price of the NITRO is a little less than the Nitron.

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... The NITRO has a nice checkerboard pattern on the center cell that isn't available on the Nitron...



If that's the case, then why do I see that pattern on the pictures of the Nitron on Precision's website and also Para Gear's website?

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Like you know what your talking about Beezy..hehe Hey will you be at the farm this week-end with your demos? If not could you plan on the next boogie. There's a few people interested in demoing. Hey give me a call on my cell
http://www.skydivethefarm.com
don't sweat the small stuff, in fact don't sweat at all,, you get smelly!!

ORFUN #2

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...but I can't tell you 'till I've jumped and felt them first hand.
...I will post back on this thread with my impressions.


I tried a Pilot 140 (7 jumps) and the Nitro 135 (11 jumps), and borrowed a Sabre2 150 (2 jumps).

This is in no way a comprehensive test this is just my observations, since I did few jumps on each canopy, and the sabre is bigger. I actually just experienced what I had read about each of the canopies, with few surprises:

Openings:

Nitro is searchy but always ends up on heading after the search (given that I used my own bag for a 135 which fit tight, I think it's nice that I never had any twists of any sort). Nice staged openings. The openings were soft but did eat a bit more altitude than I expected (600-800ft). I did not have a chance to play with different packing methods to make them faster, which I am sure is possible. (I used a packer most of the times)

The Pilot has great openings. It is also great on headings, without the searching. Opens the fasetst of the three, but never hard. Very very nice.

Sabre2. On both jumps I had very comfortable openings in a reasonable time, but the on-heading was not 100% there. The corrections were small and very easy to handle though. And I do know that 2 jumps is NOTHING, and this cannot be taken as a measure for all Sabre2 openings.

Slow flight:

The Nitro, in my opinion, did better than the other two when flying in deep brakes. It flew very, very stable. I did this on a couple of 20+ ways and even when I opened in the middle of the opening altitude for the group, I could float it easily and safely to be the last one to land. This being said, I floated the Pilot very nicely too in similar conditions, and loved it too once I had gauged what "too slow" was for this canopy. I did not try this on the Sabre2.

Response to fast brakes:

I made a point of doing a 360 front riser turn up high and then "stab" the brakes, to see response. All canopies recovered level flight fast, but it is my impression that the strength needed to pull out was a bit more on the Sabre2. Once again, I am no test pilot, so take that and my sub-400 jumps into consideration when reading.

Front riser turns/riser pressure

I have to study my video (always commented on it what I was doing and how it felt) to be able to remember the things that struck me the most. I do remember that the 150 was a harder pull on the risers, but I suppose (?) that size has to do with this. I am not currently concerned about the best canopy to swoop the fastest, as about one that is safe for the learning process. As I already knew, the Nitro has a longer recovery arc after a diving turn, and as such is a canopy that needs more training and previous experience if you are going to bring your diving turns close to the ground.

Rear risers

I only fooled around with rear risers on the Nitro (up high, obvioubsly), but not enough to bring it close to a stall. However, on a long spot, it was amazing how much glide I got back to the dropzone by spreading rear risers and pulling a bit on them. I had another canopy that flew similar to mine in full glide next to me, and she was using toggles to glide, and I could float just as well with just rear risers, and still in a very stable flight mode. This was a very nice thing, being able to flatten the glide without having to slow down as much as I would have with toggles. And I suppose that hundreds AND hundreds of jumps from now, if I get around to using rear risers during my landings, this must be nice.

Landings:

On all three I did straight in (no input), then double front-riser straight in and then on the Nitro and Pilot I did 90s with front risers.

All canopies had plenty of lift to slow down once level, before putting my feet on the ground. I felt safe on all of them, and would not feel in danger by a tight landing area off the DZ. I was actually surprised that I did notice the extra lift I had heard the Nitro has when flaring. At the very end, it keeps flying when you think ist over, slowing you down more and more. Niiiiice... People say that a Nitro of a given size flies like other canopies of thee same size+1. I have to agree. And this suits me because for big-ways I am looking for an upsize from my current Stiletto 135 which I otherwise love. Also a Nitro 135 fits my rig.

Although you might think I have decided on a Nitro, I haven't made up my mind yet - i want to jump a Sabre2 more times before comitting to a choice. The ubiquity of PD products (and probable better resell value) might tilt many people towards purchasing one of their canopies, but I still encourage demoing like I did - chose the canopy that is right for you. And the Pilot feels like a very good all-around canopy, which is also part of what I am looking for. So now that I can tell them appart from experience, I still have to make a decission about what I really want to buy.

I am probably in no position to give you advise (see my sig-line), but I do suggest that if you are considering a Nitro, jump it and see how much time/altitude it takes to recover level flight on its own - maybe at 100 jumps you are not confortable with a canopy that holds the dive.

--
Be careful giving advice. Wise men don't need it, and fools won't heed it.

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Been flying a nitron 150. have to say i love it:ph34r:. a liitle faster than the 170, but not crazy. The flight characteristics are very wide from fast to slow it's very stable,great glide. And the flare isssss crazy at 1/4 flare it's planes out and a touch more at the end sets it down like a feather... still a lot to learn before I do any riser input close to the ground,so straight in for a while. i highly recommend this canopy:)

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You're welcome dude, glad you're enjoying it! Be safe out there and if possible get some coaching on the new wing, you'll be surprised at what a few jumps under the guidance of an expert will do for your skills.

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

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try demoing a nitro. Just got one from beezy. flys great. Openings are nice and very very nice swoop canopy. I believe precision copied the nitro and called it a nitron. Not to sure ask the manufactures. But hell, its a great canopy and its cheaper than the nitron
http://www.skydivethefarm.com
don't sweat the small stuff, in fact don't sweat at all,, you get smelly!!

ORFUN #2

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try demoing a nitro. Just got one from beezy. flys great. Openings are nice and very very nice swoop canopy. I believe precision copied the nitro and called it a nitron. Not to sure ask the manufactures. But hell, its a great canopy and its cheaper than the nitron



No thanks, I choose Life...:)

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