Spectre for Crew

[Croc 0]

I'm a Crew pup and my main canopy is a Spectre 170. I took one of the Crew camps at Start Skydiving and they were using Spectres set up for Crew. I'm thinking about sending mine in to PD to get Crew lines. But I have a question about getting a retractable pilot chute. Will it still have a d-BAG? Since this is my only canopy, will there be any drawbacks on having a retractable pilot chute for other types of jumping? OK to take it to terminal? Thanks. Dave

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[VectorBoy 0]

Adding retract rings to a canopy can be expensive depending on who does the work. You can deploy a spectre set up for CRw with a standard D-bag no problem.

[Gadget 0]

Retractables do work perfect for every other type of jumping.We use them for crw,wingsuit and freefall.

Only thing is it gets annoying to have to explain for the 328 th time that no that isn't a reserve because people on the ground see no pilot trailing

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
My logbook

[dragon2 0]

Retractable + bag = holes in your topskin if you're not very careful packing. Also a retractable bridle can knot up in interesting (and not always immediately obvious) ways. You can jump a retractable for freefall but it may be a good idea to jump a normal bridle for freefall.

I thought PD didn't put rings on spectres anyway?

You may be better off buying a hybrid triathlon or storm than modifying your spectre.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Croc 0]

Thanks for everyone's input. I've got an e-mail in to Rusty Vest to ask about some of the points raised.

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[andyturner 0]

Duno if I'm being a bonner here but by Spector has Pilot chute that needs cocking. I Pack it into a normal DBag. If this what you mean then yep works fine for me - providing you dont forget the extra packing stage

Did you mean "Tail pocket" - If so then no it doesn't work for normal Skydiving.

Regards
Andy

[stitch 0]

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Did you mean "Tail pocket" - If so then no it doesn't work for normal Skydiving.

Why not ?

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Did you mean "Tail pocket" - If so then no it doesn't work for normal Skydiving.

Having made dozens of skydives with a tail pocket on a free packed main I'd say it works fine.

[stitch 0]

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Did you mean "Tail pocket" - If so then no it doesn't work for normal Skydiving.

Having made dozens of skydives with a tail pocket on a free packed main I'd say it works fine.

Dammit, what's wrong with you. I was waiting for a really good response.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[andyturner 0]

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Did you mean "Tail pocket" - If so then no it doesn't work for normal Skydiving.

Having made dozens of skydives with a tail pocket on a free packed main I'd say it works fine.

Dammit, what's wrong with you. I was waiting for a really good response.

Ooohhps! It seems I stand corrected. I just thought tail pockets were there to speed up deployment for CRW specific rigs.

regards
Andy

[andyturner 0]

Guys,

As I've said I've got a Spectre. I’ve also just done a CF training camp and want to do more CRW. I also know another guy who has just got into CRW and got a Spectre.

Really... Can you deploy a Spectre, using a tail pocket, free packed at Terminal? Because following discussion with the instructors I still believe that "Free packing a rig" and using a "Tail pocket" was reserve of sub terminal openings for CRW or BASE jumping.

PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong because I want to mod my Spectre because finding a second hand Lightning is really hard work.

Cheers
Andy

[indyz 1]

I would not attempt to freepack any canopy that wasn't designed for it, and Spectres certainly aren't.

Why are you so hard up to free pack? It is absolutely not a requirement for doing CRW. Many recreational CRW jumpers use a bag. Especially on fun jumps, you can just adjust your exit spacing and delays to give yourself time to handle off-heading openings. If you are going to modify your canopy, you'd be better off spending your time and money on dacron lines and a retractable pilot chute.

[andyturner 0]

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I would not attempt to freepack any canopy that wasn't designed for it, and Spectres certainly aren't.

1. Is that because you are a girl or because you are ignorant?

2. Dacron & Retractable pilot chute is a given.

3. Its not that I'm not that hard up, but I just don't like being considered an idiot. When I asked the "Rusty" what the Spectre/Storm difference was - he said it was too hard to explain. I’ll post the original email if you like? Given that the tech specs are virtually identical and there is nothing published to discriminate between the two canopies, I find that hard to believe.

Regards
Andy
PS. There are tonnes of used Spectres out there and not many Lightings. If we could convert them then that's an easy way into CF!
PPS. The old school boys all have Lightning’s and do not want to change because of expense and relearning how to fly new canopies.
PPPs. Who said I didn't want to get competitive?

[indyz 1]

1. Is that because you are a girl or because you are ignorant?
A little bit of both, I'm sure. I jump a Lightning with a tail pocket, so I'm not afraid of them or unfamiliar with the concept. And I am aware that tail pocket conversions have been done to various canopies. I'm just not convinced that the possibility of better heading performance and the surety of harder openings are worth being a test jumper. Same goes for using a mesh slider.

2. Dacron & Retractable pilot chute is a given.
That's another thing. If you talk somebody other than the factory into adding retract rings, make sure that they copy a real CRW canopy. Just sewing some rings to the top skin isn't a good idea. But you already knew that.

3. Its not that I'm not that hard up, but I just don't like being considered an idiot. When I asked the "Rusty" what the Spectre/Storm difference was - he said it was too hard to explain. I’ll post the original email if you like? Given that the tech specs are virtually identical and there is nothing published to discriminate between the two canopies, I find that hard to believe.
I can't answer to that one. I have a couple hundred jumps on a Spectre 170 and two on a Storm 170 (set up for CF, with a bag and mesh slider). The problem is there are about 6 years and 1500 jumps between the Spectre and Storm, so any comparison I make would be rough at best.

PPPs. Who said I didn't want to get competitive?
I never said that. Even so, these days, with the 30 second rule, crazy tight exists aren't so necessary.

[andyturner 0]

Excellent. Good informative, intelligent & comprehensive answers. Thank you & sorry about calling you an ignorant girl

[TerminalSteve 0]

I have seen a spectre damaged by too much messing around with CRW. Although it's a good 7 cell and flies well with others when building small straight stacks, the canopy is not designed to support the extra stresses CRW will put on it. This caused the material around the cross-port venting to start 'stretching' and 'shredding'. This particular canopy was saved by early detection and a quick trip to the rigger. Although the owner still plays around with it, you will only find him at the top of 2 stacks on it.