Canopy Choice Advice needed!

[bigG 0]

Hi,

I did first BM jump last weekend at Sebastian with Asaf. Once again thanks a lot Asaf & Chuck for letting me use one of his demo suits.

I need to get a main canopy soon (long story!). I am debating weather to get a Stiletto 135 or Sabre (original) 135. My wind loading would be 1.4 on both of these canopys.

I have heard about the "spin-letto" effect on the Stiletto and at the same time im aware about the odd spanker of an opening on the Sabre.

I plan on mainly doing BM jumps & FF with camera. As far as the landings are concerned I am not too keen on hooking but enjoy the odd swoop for time to time.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Blue Skies,

G.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Given the choice between those two for BM flight, I would choose the Sabre. I have never had a spinning problem with a Stiletto (I jumped them for six years), so if it's going to be your only main, that Stiletto is the one I would chose. A 135 is PLENTY big for a guy your size, so I wouldn't sweat it. Just make sure the canopy is in trim.

Peace,
Chuck

[bigG 0]

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I have never had a spinning problem with a Stiletto (I jumped them for six years), so if it's going to be your only main, that Stiletto is the one I would chose.

I can't afford two mains at the moment, so will have to stick with one of them. I like the Stiletto and the only reason I am considering a Sabre at this point is cause of the possibility of a spinning mal on the stiletto.

Apart from good body position on deployment (with a BM suit), what else can minimize the chances of line twists on a Stiletto?

Should I get the extra long bridle p/chute, will that help?

G.

[TomAiello 25]

I've made all of my wingsuit skydives on a Stilletto 135. The only problems I had were on my first ten flights, before I figured out how to stay stable through the pull sequence.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[bigG 0]

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I've made all of my wingsuit skydives on a Stilletto 135. The only problems I had were on my first ten flights, before I figured out how to stay stable through the pull sequence.

Did you get any serious line twists or a spanning mal on any of those first 10 jumps?...

Just curious to know..

G.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Yes, a long bridle, packing "pin to grommet", and having dynamic corners will GREATLY reduce your chances of spinning openings while jumping a Stilleto with a wingsuit. Can you get away without doing any of that? Yes, but it's only a matter of time before you experience that first spinner in a wingsuit, no matter what canopy you are jumping.

Chuck

[TomAiello 25]

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Did you get any serious line twists or a spanning mal on any of those first 10 jumps?...

I had several sets of line twists. The worst I had was probably five or six twists.

I've never had a spinner on my Stiletto (suit or not). In fact, I've never had line twists on it without the suit. It's been very good to me.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[bigG 0]

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Yes, a long bridle, packing "pin to grommet", and having dynamic corners will GREATLY reduce your chances of spinning....

Just one more quick question, can any rigger do the dynamic corners mods ? If not, do you know of anyone near Sebastian who can?

G.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

As I recall, you jump a Superfly, right? The bottom of that container is very similar to a Vector 3 or a Wings, so yes, a rigger can modify your corners like mine are. Morpheus does it, as do many other riggers in Florida.

Chuck

[maretus 0]

As chuck already mentioned, Sabre would be the choice between those when focusing on BM-flights. If you decide to go with the Stiletto since you only can afford one main one good advice might be to try to get a demo or borrow a Sabre (or equvivalent canopy) for your first couple of wingsuit flights. That way you can get comfortable with the deployment and sort out most of the instability issues with a canopy which is not so prone to spinning under linetwists. I used this method myself (since I was jumping a stiletto 120 then), I borrowed a sabre 120 for my first five or such flights and after that, I jumped over 40 flights with my stiletto with no problems before chancing to my FX.

http://www.ufufreefly.com

[leroydb 0]

Totally agreed, I went, what, about 100 BM till I had a Spinner...

THe BM mod on my javelin seems to make the openings noticibly cleaner.

That and I pay attn to making sure the lines are as straight and neat as possible

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[crawford 0]

Hey bigG, I just posted about my Mal I had Sunday, November 9th. It was a spinner on a Stiletto 97. I am thinking that it was the lack of "Dynamic Corners" as Chuck put it. Going to do some Mods and see if that solves anything. But I AM thinking seriously of switching to Sabre for B-manin'... I never did have a problem out of the Sabre aside from a hard opening every now and then.

"Sure, those Golf Carts may look all warm and fuzzy, but they WILL take a chunk out of your ass!"

[billvon 2,400]

> I am debating weather to get a Stiletto 135 or Sabre (original) 135.
>My wind loading would be 1.4 on both of these canopys.

You might want to consider something like a Sabre 2. Much less spin prone than the Stiletto, but considerably higher performance than the original Sabre.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

I think he has a choice of those two used canopies, Bill.

[RevJim 0]

I have an option to buy a VooDoo with a Stiletto 120. I have no problem whatsoever jumping this canopy, and it was also a smoking deal.

Then, I jumped a Bird Man. Things, and ways of thinking for that matter, change rapidly after that hit of Nylon Crack.

I'm not buying the rig, and I'm not changing my main. I'll stay with my Sabre 150 and Javelin. I get smooth deployments, and it's still quite fun to fly.

I see no reason whatsoever to change a good thing. Sabre it is. Just my 2 cents, but it works for me.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

If you are planning of doing a lot of it, get that dynamic corners kit from Morpheus and have a rigger install it for you on your Jav. It will make for much less instances of hesitation in your future winged endeavours. The kit is like fifty bucks or something.

[RevJim 0]

Alot qualifies as a serious understatement at this point. I'm keeping my main and reserve, but this spring opting for a new container. I need a bit bigger yoke. The Rack(tm) has threatened me with bodily harm for buying both my new camera helmet and Neptune from the flatlanders up here, so I think I know who's getting my container order this winter/early spring.

She's looking pretty good for the next suit too, but that is a bit farther off.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[bigG 0]

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But I AM thinking seriously of switching to Sabre for B-mani'... I never did have a problem out of the Sabre aside from a hard opening every now and then.

Right..I have also got an offer on a used Specter 135 in good condition. Anyone have any experience with these during a BM flight.

G.

Edited to add: What I am thinking of is to get some more BM experience on this main and say within a year or so change over to a more aggressive canopy.

Any feed-back would be much appreciated.

[dragon2 0]

I jump my spectre 135 for bm. My wl is only 1.15 tho. It spun up the first couple jumps, it hasn't after that so far (knock on wood). Except for my one matter wingsuit jump but then I wasn't really lying still at deployment time. I have had to kick out of the twists (2 left) just ONCE, the rest had already sorted itself out in the time it took me to unzip my arms. Great canopy for this type of stuff, I'd say!

BTW got about 25 wingsuit jumps so far.

ciel bleu,
Saskia