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gump1119

Birdman Pantz, too big? Suggestions?

By gump1119, in Wing Suit Flying

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gump1119    0

gump1119
Figured this would be the best forum to post my Q in.

Bought a pair of used Birdman Pantz that I thought would fit me well. They came in today and they are a bit long in the legs. Waist and everything is fine but I put them on as high as I can and theres quite a bit extra length. Just to give you an idea, if I velcro the bottom of the leg closed with my foot inside, I can extend my leg and point my toe and it just barely touches the bottom.

Is this too long? It seems like there would be a lot of excess material flapping. I haven't jumped them yet, probably tomorrow or Saturday.

What should I do about the material? I would have called Birdman but they have no US phone numbers that I know of. Should I just try rolling the velcro "colar" on the bottom 3 or 4 times to get rid of some excess (even 4 rolls leaves some excess), or should I see if a rigger or a tailor can hem them a little? Let me know. I know they should be a little baggy but this is definitely excessive. I'll take a pic later.

Otherwise, these look like loads of fun!

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LouDiamond    1

LouDiamond
It sounds like your Pantz are too long for you. If there is a lot of excess material dragging on the ground your going to damage the Pantz pretty quickly. The freefly version of the Pantz will have a bit of a blouse or drape to them but the material should not cover your foot or drag on the ground. Also, the vents on the front of the lower leg should be roughly in the middle of the shin area, if it is closer to your ankle the Pantz are definitely too long for you and they may not inflate properly or consistently. If they are too long, tailoring them may not move the vents to a higher position on the shin. A picture would be most helpful.
"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

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gump1119    0

gump1119
Best pics I could get with my video camera (had to use the mirror too :-P)

If I could find someone that could take about 4 inches of material off between the cargo pocket and the crouch then they will fit, otherwise they are huge. And the inlet at the bottom is definitely all over my ankle and floppy and collapsed. You can see in the last pic I lifted the top of them to stretch the bottom out to look like it should.

Worst case, I'll sell them to my tall friend and get a new pair :-P, but I'd rather fix these and save myself some cash. I wanted to jump them this weekend but that doesnt look likely :-(.

Any ideas? Anyone wanna sell me some small Pantz (30", 30")

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LouDiamond    1

LouDiamond
Those are way too big on you. It also looks like you have the BASE version with air inlets in the inner thigh area. Is that correct? Save yourself the hassle of trying to alter them. Sell those and get a pair that fit you right.
"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

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gump1119    0

gump1119
Yeah they are the BASE version. I was already talking to my friend who seems interested in them.

I was originally going to buy a pair off the classifieds but the seller sent me the measurements and I thought they would be too small. After comparing those measurements with the Pantz I have now, I think they would be just about perfect.

See the attached pic. Are these the freefly version? Gonna try to pick them up tonight if they are still for sale. That means regular old tracking jumps this weekend [:/] but I'll just be that much better for next weekend.

Kind of an off topic question, but I am going to Florida in a few weeks for break and will be hitting up Z-Hills during the same time period as Z-Flock. I am not near being ready for a wingsuit but is there any chance anyone would want to do a small flock with me in Pantz, possibly a jacket if I demo one? Just thought that would be fun.

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Zoter    0

Zoter
Quote

I guess its a good thing that its a picture of the original owner who is a girl...

Thanks for your constructive concern though.



Perhaps that was the inspiration for your last shot then ?....the Michael Jackson crotch grab is a professional additional manouvre, but executed poorly..:ph34r:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=80694;


Carry on......:D

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gump1119    0

gump1119
*Update*

Flew the oversized pantz this weekend. I wore them under my leg straps, hiked them up high and used my legstraps to hold them up, and rolled the bottoms a bit. There was still a good inch and a half of excess material flared at the bottom but they flew fine, no flapping or anything.

Tons of fun. Don't have a digital altimeter so I didn't get to measure any freefall time. Definitely very powerful. Took a jump or two to get use to the wider arm position to compensate for the legs but I was definitely cruising. I have another pair coming in later this week that should fit me well and I am in the process of selling the oversized ones to my tracking buddy. Hopefully the new ones will fit well enough that I can wear them over my leg straps to feel the full effect.

Also hoping I get good enough with these (and a jacket) to convince some wingsuiters to chase me down in Z-Hills in two weeks :)

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jakee    1,254

jakee
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Also hoping I get good enough with these (and a jacket) to convince some wingsuiters to chase me down in Z-Hills in two weeks



What Jacket is it that you want to use with BM Pantz?
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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jakee    1,254

jakee
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PF Tracking jacket, or an Impact Jacket if I can find either.



Hmm, mixing and matching components might not be the best way to go. I can't speak for the Impact but certainly the PF jacket was designed to work with PF Pants which are way bigger than the BM Pantz.

The combination of big surface area up front and small area on the legs probably isn't that conducive to getting the best glide.
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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jakee    1,254

jakee
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Any other ideas then for a compatible top?



Heh, 'fraid not, I really don't have a huge amount of experience with tracking suits. I'm sure using a Jacket with the Pantz would help (with fallrate if nothing else) but I'm thinking that it wouldn't give you the feeling or glide of the full PF suit. But anyway, if you find someone with the jacket to demo no doubt they'll have the pants as well. Have fun, you might need to give the P+J a little respect on the first jump or two (can feel a bit twitchy) but their potential is huge:)
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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SkymonkeyONE    3

SkymonkeyONE
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Any other ideas then for a compatible top?

If I can, I will demo a full PF suit in Florida.



You will definitely be able to demo a full PF suit if you come to Z-hills. Still, I really don't see what the problem is with putting some other top with BirdMan Pantz (if you think you must). Speculation that mixing in another top might not be compatible is just that, so if you personally don't have any experience with such compatibility/incompatibility then you ought to refrain from such conjecture. Personally, though, I think a windbreaker or some other hoodie-type top with some flap gives you plenty of torso lift in those pants.

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