Are Pantz by Birdman good for FF?

[skymiles 3]

I’ve read that Pantz can be used for FF, but are they better than regular FF pants or a FF suit. After 400 or so RW jumps, I’m now taking on FF. My sit is pretty solid but I haven’t attempted HD yet. In my mind, Pantz seem a logical choice for FF, in that they collapse (reduced drag) in a heads-up position and inflate (increased drag) in a HD. Please enlighten me.

Philip

[ianmdrennan 2]

never seen 'em so I can't say. But your description makes me think of the old "Training wheels" Tony Sit suit.

Had converstations with the Gliderz and Alchemy and both feel freefly suits are going for tighter with less drag, much like RW did years ago.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Please keep in mind that I only have about 12 jumps on my Birdman freeflyz pantz, so the jury is still undecided as to their true effectiveness as well as my ability to fly (or not fly) my body.

I bought the pantz in the hope that they would slow me down while doing a freefly headdown jump. But after the first 1/2 dozen jumps, they didn't seem to slow me down as much as I would have hoped. I am able to sit fly as well as go headdown with them and since I also recently added a XXXL sweatshirt to my jump clothing (yes my Team Canada jersey I was jumping with is now semi-retired), my headdown fall rate was slowed enough where I was able to jump headdown with a similar sized guy who was in a sit. But was it more of the sweatshirt, not the pantz which slowed me down (maybe both helped). It sucks having to fly all that extra fabric, but if it means I can go headdown and not go low, it's worth it.

So what's your motivation for using these pantz? Some call them cheater pants, but when you fall fast, you need to do what you can do to slow yourself down.

On a side note, while I have yet to make a dedicated tracking dive with the new pantz, I feel more confident in my tracking abilities (I have noticed an improvement in my tracking away from other jumpers).

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Zennie 0]

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they collapse (reduced drag) in a heads-up position and inflate (increased drag) in a HD

Actually, I've never found them to inflate in a HD, and I've flown them extensively in freefly jumps. I like them as freefly pants, but they really don't offer any special performance features from a freefly perspective.

But yeah you can track like a MOFO in them. It takes a bit of practice to get the pantz dialed in, because you tend to tip head down when you drive with the legs. It's a fine balancing act.

I recently went back to my firefly freefly pants, believe it or not, because they have more drag for head down flying.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[ramon 0]

you mofo tracker you

"Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.", Ambrose Bierce.

[Zennie 0]

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you mofo tracker you

Just plain "mofo" to most people.

I still need to work on the pantz a bit. My low average fall rate is 90MPH for a pantz tracking dive.

TB99 was giving me some tips that I may try to put to use this weekend.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[LouDiamond 1]

Check out the video manbird posted on the bird-man.com web site under the video section titled S3 vs Pantz I believe. It shows a guy flying Pantz in a track with a Birdman in a SF3. It is quite impressive and since a ppicture is worth a 1000 words, video speaks volumes right?

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[The111 0]

Depends how many frames/sec...

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[mr2mk1g 10]

Has anyone ever thought of putting the Pantz on backwards and being the Hare on a tracking dive??

[skymedic 0]

you dont have to put them on backwards...as the regular pants have vents inthe back...the base ones only have forward vents. just more of them.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[mr2mk1g 10]

ahhhh - the ones I've seen then must be base ones... they were billed as tracking pants and only had vents in the front so the legs inflated when tracking. Vents in the back would therefore screw up the design as all the air would escape outa them when tracking.

[LouDiamond 1]

I think you may be a bit confused. The FF version have vents on the front and the back of the leg and they inflate in either orientation(on back, on stomach) The BASE version have a substantially bigger vent in the front of the leg and vents in the inside thigh area. They BASE version have no vents on the back since no one plans on doing back tracking in BASE.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[goose491 0]

So what's the consensus?

How do the Birdman Pantz affect FreeFlyin? I have heard that they slow down your HD... but I have also heard that they have little or no affect... If I could get the additional forward speed benefit in a track, without affecting my HD performance, then these are the pants for me!

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Zennie 0]

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They BASE version have no vents on the back since no one plans on doing back tracking in BASE.

Wonder which BASE jumpers they talked to.

But yes, you are correct about the vents. I have a pair of BASE pantz and they have vents at the ankles and on the front side inner thighs.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[Zennie 0]

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I have also heard that they have little or no affect..

In my experience they DO have an effect, just not in the way you would think.

The vents haven't affected my HD flight, but the fact that there isn't so much loose fabric down by the ankles, as is the case with regular freefly pants, makes a difference.

But that's just me. YMMV.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[andy2 0]

[QUOTE]Wonder which BASE jumpers they talked to. [/QUOTE]

probably not the ones that burned in while back tracking to get good camera shots...

---------------------------------------------
let my inspiration flow,
in token rhyme suggesting rhythm...

[hookitt 0]

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probably not the ones that burned in while back tracking to get good camera shots...

andy.. wtf are you thinking?

Any way, lots of BASE jumpers back track. There is countless video from that perspective as well.

I haven't jumped the Pantz yet but really want to. I've seen them but haven't compared the 2 versions side by side. Currently I don't jump enough objects high enough to warrent them for BASE but there are some that could very well warrant either version.

edit: oh yeah, this was a question about freefly. I'd suspect but will reserve comment untill I try it, that just your plain ole baggy suit would be better.

I jump in what ever I have on. Mostly just in a long sleeve t-shirt and FF pants. My suit is actually fairly speedy so if I need to go real slow on my head, I borrow a big ass jump suit.

That said, I'm going to the NorCal Freefly fest this weekend, if some pantz are available I'll try em out.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[goose491 0]

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I have also heard that they have little or no affect..

In my experience they DO have an effect, just not in the way you would think.

The vents haven't affected my HD flight, but the fact that there isn't so much loose fabric down by the ankles, as is the case with regular freefly pants, makes a difference.

But that's just me. YMMV.

Thusly would you say that they are generally faster than your average ff pants in HD?... that perhaps you need more leg input to get the desires flight reactions in Birdman pantz then in average FF pants?

The Birdman pantz really intrigue me.. they sound bomb but I was picturing them slowing me up in HD... If they are faster, I can compensate a little.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Zennie 0]

For a while, I was thinking they were slower. But after flying them a while I think they are faster. I really had trouble slowing down via daffy in them.

I did find they were much better for sitflying than my regular FF pants though.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[goose491 0]

right on! I've got to find someone with a pair that I can demo a bit.

sounds nice though.... why better in sit? They collapse a little more?

I'm currently flying a fox shirt and a pair of 'Food', nylon/polyester pants which I've converted to FF pants... I'm a lightweight so it's working pretty nice as there is very little 'extra' fabric in the legs... perhaps, it wouldn't be much of a tradeoff for me.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Zennie 0]

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why better in sit? They collapse a little more?

The fabric distribution is more even, so you don't have a bunch of fabric catching air at the ankles and trying to rotate you backward.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[VectorBoy 0]

The pantz, well the FF pantz have vents in front and back. But they are set up like an airlock, so air goes in and not out.
I have yet to free fly in them so I cannot say how they work in HD or sit.
I have done some tracking where I was very impressed with them, again very. And some back tracking where I suck at and the pantz didn't shine one way or the other. On the back side they are made of ripstop and slick. On the front there is a goodly amount of area covered in courdura and is stiff. This "knee pad" area contributes much to the Pantz tracking ability, I believe, as does courdura on a "big boy" RW suit provides a bit of float.
I can't wait to take the Pantz into a FF HD come flocking ( not as in Bid-man but FF ) go to tracking jump and see how they compare to what I normaly get.
Some people claim their best track is in an RW suit with booties, some a slightly baggy FF suit. Try the Pantz test and see what you get.