Absolut 0 #26 June 1, 2015 I'll try to be at least a little constructive given your facts (although you should seriously jump something else first): I've been jumping a Katana 120 first for about 100-150 jumps, now about 50 jumps on a Katana 107 flying it at around 1.92. Trust me, with the right body position and good packing it really opens like a charm! In all those jumps i maybe had 2 or 3 twist, like one twist in the lines, which always cleared itself. The openings are the best i ever had on any canopy! Just relax, keep your body symmetrical through the whole process and don't try to steer the opening, just go with it, because of the delay of input you will only make things worse and counter motion results in line twists. While packing just keep everything 100% symmetrical and don't fuck around with the nose. I usually look up at the opening, if that doesn't affect your overall body position you can go with it, works perfectly with me. Good luck, you'll need it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helmut 0 #27 June 1, 2015 I had a katana 107 for about 100 jumps was one of the worst opening canopies I ever owned never chopped it. Bought a velo 103 and it opened 100 times better than the Kat. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stayhigh 2 #28 June 1, 2015 shane4If you have turned to dz.com for skydiving advice, its time to hang it up. DING DING DING. we have a winner!!!! You win the answer of the month. as far as opening goes my KA opens far better than anything that I've jumped.Bernie Sanders for President 2016 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danielcroft 2 #29 June 2, 2015 stayhighYou win the answer of the month. Answer of the month? This is an eternal truism. I suppose I'll offer suggestions on the issue at hand. Pack carefully. Make sure your gear's in order. If you have microline on your KA (which was a thing at one point), make sure it's in trim or, better yet, get it replaced. Good body position means a lot but so does not putting unintentional inputs as your parachute opens. This is a practice thing which the ST should have prepared you for at least somewhat. Main bullet point is to go with the wing, don't fight it too much. There's a fine line between flying your apparently awkward openings and fighting them. One will likely result in twists, the other in an off heading opening. I personally never had issues with the way the KA opens, along with a lot of peeps here so, it's either you or the wing. Given your lack of experience, it's likely you but worth making sure the wing is in order. If you can, have someone else with more experience jump it to see what they think about the openings. Also, https://www.facebook.com/groups/sofpidarf. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
decompresion 2 #30 June 2, 2015 shane4If you have turned to dz.com for skydiving advice, its time to hang it up. Shameless self promotionThere are no dangerous dives Only dangerous divers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shveddy 0 #31 June 5, 2015 zsombi2 of the jumps were high pulls. My coach said I have to push my shoulder towards the 3ring, other swoopers say, just stay relaxed, and keep my feet together symmetrically. I'm curious about your opinions. PS.: Thanks the GIFs, and thanks Brenan for putting me on SoFPiDaRF Facebook. I jumping with my coach since my 1st jump (same as my instructor) the 80% of my jumps were canopy piloting, in 225 jumps I haven't even touched the front risers under 1000ft , and I won't downsize for a while, I just wanted to start swooping on a "safer" canopy for this. (I mean Katana has longer recovery, if you make the turn in a safe altitude you have more time to recover or accurate the flight.) Don't eat me because of this non-conservative way of downsizing. Yo. Canopies with longer recovery arcs eat up more altitude when you're trying to stab out of a dive. Therefore you will have to recognize that you have fucked up at a higher altitude or else you will have a much smaller window of time to fix things WHEN you make a mistake and find yourself low after a turn. Recognizing that you're in a bad situation early on is something that only comes with experience, and you don't have that experience. End of story. The longer recovery arc only gives you time to perfect a swoop that is already pretty good. It'll just kick your ass with a lot more vigor when you make mistakes. And since your ass is connected to your spine, which protects your spinal cord I'd suggest you pay attention. Trust me on this - I'm an incomplete paraplegic and I'm lucky to be that. On the plus side, I'd wager that there is a 95% chance that you're gonna get away with it and you'll look back on this thread thinking you were right. But that's not the point. The point is that if you take advantage of all the lessons that other people learned then you can probably learn this stuff with a 99.9% chance that you'll walk away unscathed. Swooping is remarkably simple and easy, but unfortunately the negative consequences are very sudden and very destructive. You're an idiot if you don't take advantage of every resource available to better your odds. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JumpRu 14 #32 June 7, 2015 i think you are on the right path to success, but katana135 is way too big. get 107 or even 98 and enjoy fast turns, long dives and nice openings. that is right i think your katana opens bad because it is clearly underloaded. u have to load those high performance canopies above 2 to 1 that is what they are designed for. high wing loading also makes tham more stable in turbulent air and greatly impreve flare power. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kurbe105 1 #33 January 1, 2016 Since you didn't ask what not to do here's a few quick notes... 1) I was taught to thrash the shit out of what I have before downsizing. Meaning, if you don't want to be one of those ass hats landing your hp canopy straight in with 1000+ skydives learn to fly something bigger until you're nailing 270s for at least 200-300 jumps. You should have been taught acceleration cycles and front riser turns under your Saphire 149 before going any smaller. If your coach doesn't know what acceleration and deceleration cycles are I would find a new coach. We've all been there and if you're gonna swoop, it's not "if you pound in but when and how hard." Trust me you want all the wing you can get over your head with the shortest recovery arc possible when it happens! 2) As far as the openings, focus on free flying for your next few hundred jumps or so. It will build your kinesthesia better than anything and you will answer your own question. Until then, I would shelf the katana and go back to the saphire. No need going smaller and faster if you're too scared to make what you have go fast. 3) Learn to carve under a bigger wing before downsizing. When you do find yourself ultra low(notice I said when not if), carve hard before you stab deep. I admit it's saved my femurs more than once. 4) Embrace your haters every true badass has them. I know a world champion canopy pilot who was doing front riser turns with 200 jumps on a Spinletto around 1.5 wing loading. We came from the same DZ and we both got yelled at a lot. He turned into an ace on that thing before going to a xbrace around 800 jumps. It's not impossible you just have to beat the odds with natural talent and proper technique. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ridebmxbikes 0 #34 January 1, 2016 I dump my katana in a full track everytime. Openings work fine for me. If the openings still give you trouble try pulling the silver handle first next time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matt3sa 0 #35 January 4, 2016 Zsombi, First and foremost, the best thing you can do is sift through the information and identify what pertains to your question. No one here can truly tell you if you're qualified to jump the canopy you are on. The only people that are qualified to do that are experienced HP canopy pilots that you are (hopefully) surrounded with at your DZ. I'm not going to lie, a Katana is not a typical canopy that we see people on with your jump numbers. That being said, I was flying Velo's around 250-300 jumps. Also, over the years I have known a small handful of people that I too thought were making overly aggressive canopy choices given their jump numbers (even though they were doing quite well on those HP canopies). I am certainly not here to encourage or support your choice to fly that canopy given your experience and my total lack of knowledge with regard to your skill level. One of my chops was on a Katana. The Katana I was jumping was loaded at 1.54. At the time I was jumping a Velo 96, but borrowed my buddies Katana 120 to turn a load. Same deal, line twists. Personally, my experience with both Katana's and Velo's is that you can definitely influence the opening to be better, but that they all have a mind of their own at times. I've had Velo's of various sizes where some were awesome and some seemed to just be terrible. One of my 90's just absolutely would not consistently open on heading and/or without line twists. I jumped that particular Katana 3 to 5 times and I had line twists on it twice. One was a chop. In fact my buddy had a chop on that canopy shortly after that same year and then almost again and I believe he sold that canopy shortly after. I guess what I'm saying is welcome to the world of HP canopies. These things happen. Packing and body position on opening are very important and it only takes one deviation from perfect in either process to create a chop. The best advice I can give you is to keep your feet and knees together on opening and relax. On the Katana you are going to have longer snivels and you'll probably feel a pulsing in your leg pads. Relax your legs and only provide minimal harness correction if the canopy starts to take a turn in a certain direction. Another important question you may ask yourself is if you noticed if the twists were there immediately as you looked up? Or did the canopy start to inflate and then twist up after? The first might indicate a packing issue. The second may indicate poor body positioning, too aggressive harness/riser input during opening, or a canopy with a mind of it's own ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hodges 4 #36 January 7, 2016 Quotecarve hard before you stab deep Am I missing something here? When you're in the corner, get the wing above your head. How does carving help? When you're about to hit the ground, stop diving at it... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpsalot-2 2 #37 January 8, 2016 When you're about to hit the ground, stop diving at it...Quote Words to live by ..............Life is short ... jump often. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites justme12001 0 #38 January 11, 2016 I think the thought process here is that by carving, you get out to the side of the canopy vs being under it. If you are deep in the corner digging out could slam you into the ground, where as a carve and dig will give you a couple extra feet. Think wingover. I will admit that I accidentally did this ONCE. This was several years and many jumps ago, shortly after i started jumping a x braced canopy. Got target fixation and was trying to make the gates. when I realized I was low and thought I was going to hit the ground, I brought my right leg up to brace for impact and flared. The next thing I know I'm sliding the whole right side of my body across the ground and looking "up" at my canopy which is also on the ground (still flying mind you). Stood it up and walked away with nothing more than a good scare and grass burn on my pants. I think the carve is what actually saved my femurs, that and the fact that I kept flying the wing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites hodges 4 #39 January 12, 2016 Interesting. Thanks for the explanation! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites TommyBotten 0 #40 January 12, 2016 Do note that having the wing anywhere else than above your head limits the wings lift capabilities away from the ground. Think the lift vector of a tilted canopy vs. a straight flying. I see your point regarding the extra feet gained, but I fail to see how this can make up for for the lack of lift. I reckon that having "dig and carve" as a solution in the corner to be less efficient and more complex and dangerous. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites justme12001 0 #41 January 13, 2016 I didn't say it is something I would plan on doing (I advise staying out the corner ;) ) I was just giving an explanation to what I thought Kurbie meant when he said to "learn to carve hard before you dig" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Snowcrash 0 #42 February 5, 2016 Wow, here I was thinking I was pushing it jumping a Sabre2 at 1.5 after only 400 jumps... Does anyone know what happened to our SoFPiDaRF candidate? Did his femurs make it through 2015? Is he sub-100 yet or is he too busy doing gainers from the bridge? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Alexg3265 0 #43 February 5, 2016 in my experience on 3 diff sizes of katanas from a 150 @1.6 to a 120 @ 2:1, the openings at subterminal are very touchy. Sit your ass still and go with the wing. Dont fight it. With the 150 and the 135 i could grab rears and steer the openings fairly well. With the 120, just small harness adjustments are all thats needed. I like to watch it open. If it does spin up, make sure you have altitude, and make sure your risers are even first and foremost. If theyre not, you better make them even, or get rid of it. heres a video of one subterminal spinner... ish and a few terminal openings and one simple 90 to give you an idea of a long recovery arc... https://youtu.be/7cNFsfFJ720I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites zsombi 1 #44 February 14, 2016 Our SoFPiDaRF candidate figured it out how he messed up his openings by trying to steer the opening with the rears. Now he is steering with harness only instead, and he has 150 fine openings so far. He's practicing some turns a bit bigger than 90° (about 110-120°) and happy with it. Never had any low turn and he could abort the turn every time when the conditions wasn't perfect. Sorry for the disappointing fact what does not include any blood, death, broken bones, base jumping and xbraced canopies :( 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 2 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
justme12001 0 #38 January 11, 2016 I think the thought process here is that by carving, you get out to the side of the canopy vs being under it. If you are deep in the corner digging out could slam you into the ground, where as a carve and dig will give you a couple extra feet. Think wingover. I will admit that I accidentally did this ONCE. This was several years and many jumps ago, shortly after i started jumping a x braced canopy. Got target fixation and was trying to make the gates. when I realized I was low and thought I was going to hit the ground, I brought my right leg up to brace for impact and flared. The next thing I know I'm sliding the whole right side of my body across the ground and looking "up" at my canopy which is also on the ground (still flying mind you). Stood it up and walked away with nothing more than a good scare and grass burn on my pants. I think the carve is what actually saved my femurs, that and the fact that I kept flying the wing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hodges 4 #39 January 12, 2016 Interesting. Thanks for the explanation! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TommyBotten 0 #40 January 12, 2016 Do note that having the wing anywhere else than above your head limits the wings lift capabilities away from the ground. Think the lift vector of a tilted canopy vs. a straight flying. I see your point regarding the extra feet gained, but I fail to see how this can make up for for the lack of lift. I reckon that having "dig and carve" as a solution in the corner to be less efficient and more complex and dangerous. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justme12001 0 #41 January 13, 2016 I didn't say it is something I would plan on doing (I advise staying out the corner ;) ) I was just giving an explanation to what I thought Kurbie meant when he said to "learn to carve hard before you dig" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowcrash 0 #42 February 5, 2016 Wow, here I was thinking I was pushing it jumping a Sabre2 at 1.5 after only 400 jumps... Does anyone know what happened to our SoFPiDaRF candidate? Did his femurs make it through 2015? Is he sub-100 yet or is he too busy doing gainers from the bridge? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alexg3265 0 #43 February 5, 2016 in my experience on 3 diff sizes of katanas from a 150 @1.6 to a 120 @ 2:1, the openings at subterminal are very touchy. Sit your ass still and go with the wing. Dont fight it. With the 150 and the 135 i could grab rears and steer the openings fairly well. With the 120, just small harness adjustments are all thats needed. I like to watch it open. If it does spin up, make sure you have altitude, and make sure your risers are even first and foremost. If theyre not, you better make them even, or get rid of it. heres a video of one subterminal spinner... ish and a few terminal openings and one simple 90 to give you an idea of a long recovery arc... https://youtu.be/7cNFsfFJ720I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zsombi 1 #44 February 14, 2016 Our SoFPiDaRF candidate figured it out how he messed up his openings by trying to steer the opening with the rears. Now he is steering with harness only instead, and he has 150 fine openings so far. He's practicing some turns a bit bigger than 90° (about 110-120°) and happy with it. Never had any low turn and he could abort the turn every time when the conditions wasn't perfect. Sorry for the disappointing fact what does not include any blood, death, broken bones, base jumping and xbraced canopies :( 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
