Your canopy choices and downsize history

[daremrc 0]

Manta 280-Falcon 230 -- 30 jumps
Pd 7-cell 218 -- 31-60
Pilot 210 -- 60-180
Trathlon 190 & Sabre1 190 - 180-220
Pilot 168 -- 220-current.

I think I will be on this canopy for a very long time, currently at around 1.2-1.3 .

Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

[Scrumpot 1]

Quote

...if you've known me for more then a few years, you've seen a change in attitude from wanting to push too far too fast to one of conservative canopy flight for learning and gradual progression.

I'll attest to that! Although I've only known Dave from these boards (Sorry we missed each other when I was down in TX for the POPS event last week, Dave - although I did ask Wendy to give you a hardy Scrumpot hello) - you can believe in whence he speaks!!

P.S. Dave - I still jump "only" a 170 (primarilly), and still find it amazing how many "punks" I can "outswoop" with it - as almost no-one it seems anymore, has the patience and dedication to much more fully learn, and TRULY PILOT their present canopies, before just "downsizing" as their primary method to gain "speed", and supposed swoop.

Glad to hear/see that you have now (even if in only hindsight) yourself seemed to learn this - and more importantly, are imparting that WISDOM now onto others! Like Wendy - I find myself now recently saying about you, and some of your posts in here too, that is what I wanna be when I "grow up". Although I doubt I ever will!

Thought I'd take this opportunity to say "hello".
Blues,
-Grant

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[wildWilly 0]

Student gear( Manta) 1- 25
Lazer 210 1:1, 26-175
Sabre 150 1.3: 1, 175- 500
Samurai 136 1.5: 1, 501- 1100

I don''t feel I was too aggressive ( haven't hurt myself yet)
Wouldn't do anything differently.
I took Brian Germains canopy course and would recommend his course
or any other course.
I found that after getting my licence I was basically on my own and
in order to further my skills and knowledge it was up to me to ask questions, watch other, take a canopy course.
Know your canopy well and fully before you consider downsizing.
Keep your ego in check, it could kill you.

Fly safe,

Willy

growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

[millertimeunc 0]

Student jumps: an assortment of Mantas, Navigators, Skymasters, and Sharpchuters from 240-290 square feet.

25-35: Spectre 230

36-150: Spectre 210 loaded 1:1, and an assortment of 190's and 170's

150-present: Nitron 170 loaded 1.26

I took 2 canopy control courses and demo'd a LOT of canopies before downsizing.

The best things in life are dangerous.

[grue 1]

Jumps 0-44: Mostly Raven IV, 282sqft @ .9 or so.


Jumps 45-113: Fusion 210 @ 1.2ish. In retrospect, downsizing 70sqft, going from F-111 to ZP, and square to tapered all on the same jump wasn't brilliant, but turned out fine.

Jumps 114- onward, Fusion 190 @ 1.35ish.

cavete terrae.

[skybytch 259]

1-11 - Manta/ManOWar student canopies
12-200 - Fury 220
200-500 - Fury 220, PD 190, PD 170
500-650 - Vector 421's and 500's
650-700-ish - PD170
700-ish-800 - Sabre 150, Safire 149, Silhouette 150
800-1100 - Spectre 170

Currently have a Spectre 150 that I load at about 1.1. It's a good choice for my (lack of) ability and (major lack of) currency - slow enough that I can mistime the flare a bit and still land safely, fast enough that I can have fun with it in the air.

[Superfletch 1]

0001 - 0009 Triathlon 260 (Student gear)
0010 - 0013 Triathlon 220 (Student gear)
0014 - 0023 Triathlon 210 (Student gear)
0024 - 0041 Triathlon 190 (Student gear & Dad's gear)
0042 - 0051 Falcon 215 (My first used gear)
0052 - 0130 PD210/Triathlon 190 (190 was in my dad's rig)
0131 - 0169 Triathlon 160/Triathlon 190
0170 - 0434 Stiletto 150 (traded the Triathlon 160 for it)
0435 - 0583 Stiletto 135
0584 - 1367 Stiletto 120
1368 - 1375 Velocity 103 (demo'd at a boogie)
1376 - 1770 Stiletto 120
1771 - 1790 Velocity 96

I currently weight about 190 lbs and have for quite some time give or take 10 lbs here and there since my student progression.

I've got about 20 jumps on my Velo 96 now and I love it. My second rig has one of my Stiletto 120's in it.

I've still got the Falcon 215, PD210 and a Stiletto 120 sitting in the bottom of a closet.

Gary "Superfletch" Fletcher
D-26145; USPA Coach, IAD/I, AFF/I
Videographer/Photographer

[kj126 0]

Raider 220 student
Raider 220 personel
Turbo ZX 205
Sabre 190-
SAbre 170- snivel,snivel,SLAM!
Batwing 170- what a piece
Safire 149- no more twitchy headings yea!
Safire 139- faster and nice opening
Katana 107- ground hungry
Velo 96 - much better distance
Velo 90- whoops fat boy to much
Velo 96 currently 2.45 W/L

I Am Sofa King We Todd Did!!

[the_sarge 0]

0-40: Student canopies, 220-300 sqf.
41-151: Sabre 170 (WL: 1.2)
152-350: Sabre2 150 (WL: 1.4)
351-540: Sabre2 135 (WL: 1.6)
541-700+: Katana 120 (WL: 1.8)

Next canopy: Velocity 103?

[dalemeyer 0]

SkyMaster 280 - 0-50
Skymaster 230 - 50-90
Skymaster (i think) 200 - 90-100
Pilot 188 - 100-present
loading at 1.45 and not planning on going any further down the rung for atleast 500 more jumps...
Injuries = 1 on the 230... clipped a concealed rock with foot and partially tore some ligaments in left knee (had previous L knee injury)

Take it easy... and if you get it easy, take it TWICE!

[CazmoDee 3]

1-7 PD Navigator 260 (.826)
8-17 PD Navigator 240 (.896)
18-45 Areodyne Solo 230 (.935)
46-49 PD Sabre 210 (1.023)
50-79 Sabre 109, Sabre 2 190, Spectre 190, Safire 2 189 (1.131)
80-111+ Sabre 2 170 (1.26)

I'm behind the bar at Sloppy Joe's....See ya in the Keys!

Muff 4313

[dharma1976 0]

Quote

0-40: Student canopies, 220-300 sqf.
41-151: Sabre 170 (WL: 1.2)
152-350: Sabre2 150 (WL: 1.4)
351-540: Sabre2 135 (WL: 1.6)
541-700+: Katana 120 (WL: 1.8)

Next canopy: Velocity 103?

I would go 107 katana demo first... then demo 103 and then decide

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[Couloirman 0]

1-10: random student AFF gear down to a 220 Spectre.
11-20: sabre 2 190
20-40ish: spectre 170
40-present: sabre 2 150 at 1.33

Not going down in size for another 2-300 jumps at least.

[brenthutch 383]

Manta
Startrack 265
Triathalon 190
Spectre 150
FX99
Xaos 21 98
Xaos 28 98

[superwoman8433 0]

Sabre2 190 @ .71- 1-28 jump
Sabre2 170 @ .94- 28-210 jump
Sabre2 150 @ 1.2- 210 to now

I am probably the slowest downsizer in history. I believe that to "earn the right to downsize" your canopy has to be holding you back and I have a very overprotective boyfriend!!!

[Chrisky 0]

Quote

Student gear 240 0-20
Student gear 210 20-30
Rental gear PD 190 30-50
Borrowed gear Sabre 170 50-60
First owned gear Spark 150 60-250ish
Demo gear Faqtor 135 250-350
Own new Faqtor 120 350(WL:1.55)-now (750ish, WL 1.67)

Now recently switched to a Crossfire2 119 (1.7), but a change in planform. Feel the WL is a sweet spot for me for the time being.

The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

[NealFitz 0]

1-14 (S/L) Manta 280
15-27 (AFF) Navigator 260
28-35 Navigator 240
35-40- Maverone 240
41-43- PD218
44-46- PD190
47- Triathlon 175 and Electra 170 Mainly electra though as i own it

Dudeist Skydiver #170
You do not need a parachute to skydive, you only need one to skydive again

[danielcroft 2]

Please excuse my noob question.

Is everyone reporting their weight & therefore WL as exit weight?

I weigh 162 but I'm not sure what my exit weight is with my current rig. In fact, I'm not even sure what my exit weight was (for sure) on my student gear. My guess would be ~30lbs because it's pretty darn heavy (based on discussion with AFFI).

If we just assume (only for the moment) that my rig (infinity + PD 160 reserve) weighs 20 - 25 lbs (again, based on discussions with people at my DZ). That puts my WL on my current canopy at about .97.

Progression:
1 - 10 Navigator 280 (.67) & Navigator 260 (.73)
11 - 25 Navigator 240 (.79), 220 (.86) & 200 (.97) (Cutaway on 200 jump 12 - self induced line twists & spin )
26 - 30 Spectre 190 (~.97)

I'm not ready right now to go something more aggressive, I'm thinking that'll I'll need to be landing very well and accurately for several more jumps. I am however interested in the seemingly common path of going to slightly over 1 WL at around 45/50 jumps.

[poe62 0]

1-4 Sabre 190 (student gear)
5-7 Sabre 170 (student gear)
8-82 Sabre 150 (rental gear)
83-91 Sabre2 135 (new canopy: sent back to PD for test jumping) 0.98
92-105 Spectre 135 (borrowed canopy) 0.98
106-present Sabre2 135 (new/remade canopy) 0.98

~Nikki
http://www.facebook.com/poe62

Irgity Dirgity

[ruudwas 0]

1-30 manta/drakkar/fury...200/280 (student gear)
30-100 Sabre 190 (student/rental gear)
100-400 Quadra V-Tec 170 @1.3
400-present Lotus 150 @1.5

[DanG 1]

Student stuff at well under 1:1 (40 jumps)
Fury 220 @ 0.95 (45 jumps)
Sabre1 170 @ 1.24 (300 jumps)
Spectre 150 @ 1.4 (400 jumps)
Stiletto 135 @ 1.63 (600 jumps)

(Arm blown off)

Sabre2 190 @ 1.1 (100 jumps)
Stiletto 190 @ 1.1 (250 jumps)

Will probably go to a Sabre2 170 next season.

- Dan G

[agent_lead 0]

0-40 was various student canopies
41-120 spectre 210
121-465 safire 189
465-present katana 170


plan on going to a 150 katana next season

--------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com/agentlead

[TAXIWAY 0]

0-30 student canopys
30-60 220 f111
60-100 190 f111
100-900 sabre 170
900-2800 stilleto 135 loaded 2.1
2800-guess of 3800 sameri 105 loaded 2.1(lost some weight)

I have no plans to downsize anytime soon. Maybe a velo 103 or 96 if I go back to doing 400 or more jumps a year.

[TMPattersonJr 0]

OK I'm nowhere near my logbook, but I do know what the progression was, just approximate jump numbers.

Sharpchuter 245 - 2 Jumps
Navigator 220 - 20 Jumps
Firbolt 200 - 10 Jumps
Firebolt 182 - 25 Jumps
Firebolt 164 - 100 Jumps
Firebolt 146 - 75 Jumps
Firebolt 128 - 50 Jumps
Katana 135 - 75 Jumps
Firebolt 119 - 20 Jumps
Katana 120 - 150 Jumps
Katana 107 - 150 Jumps
Katana 97 - 20 Jumps
Velo 111 - 5 Jumps
Velo 96 - 5 Jumps
Others uknown: 25 Jumps

I loaded all at around an exit weight of 180, have loaded some up to an exit weight of 220... Most sould say that my progression is definately fast, But the majority of my progression I was making Hop - N - Pops, lots of them at 13,000' Tandem videos pulling around 4,000' and around 150 other various other jumps (wingsuit, freefly, rw)

I'm not an official canopy coach but I do like doing high hop - n - pops with younger jumpers and working on various canopy skills.

Blue SkiesBlack DeathFacebook
www.PLabsInc.com
www.SkydiveDeLand.com
www.FlyteSkool.ws

[swoopgaz 0]

Student 240 20 jumps
Sabre 1 150- 150 jumps
Spectre 135- 100 jumps
Heatwave 120- 700 jumps
Extreme FX 99- 400 jumps
Extreme FX89- 1200 jumps
JVX89- 40 jumps