Optimum Reserve as Main for Wingsuiting

[chrisgray 0]

I have had the pleasure of flying a PD OPTIMUM 143 Reserve as a main. I have put about 20 jumps on it and wanted to share my thoughts. My normal canopy is a Triathlon 160 and occasionally a Sabre2 135.

It was rigged with my normal 10' bridle with 28" Collapsable PC in my Infinity container with dynamic corners. The slider was the normal reserve configuration with a 4" square hole in the center. It was packed nose open, tail just barely rolled closed, & D-bag packed grommet down. All deployments were full flight in a SM1 wingsuit.

Things I liked:
Great on-heading openings every single time.
Opened within 300 feet every single time.
Soft but quick openings.
Packs small and very easy to pack.
Flys great for a 7 cell square. It is Swoopable with a good front riser dive. Deep but powerful flare.
It flys better than my Triathlon.

Things I didn't like:
Steep/fast decent...due to permeable fabric.
Poor upwind penetration.
Lands like reserve with slow forward speed. (Lands great with more airspeed....swooped.)
Fabric may wear more quickly.
I got asked "Hey man, did you have a cutaway?" alot.

I would probably own one particularly since it is alot cheaper than most mains. I imagine this may be similar to using a BASE canopy for wingsuit skydiving.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.

WSI-6 / PFI-55
The Brothers Gray Wingsuit Academy
http://www.myspace.com/cgwingsuitpilot
http://www.myspace.com/thebrothersgray

[jakee 1,280]

Just wondering, what's the point?

Is it just the openings? There are so, so many low, medium and even quite high performance mains out there that open perfectly fine for wingsuiting that using a reserve for a main just seems like massive overkill to me, unless you're planning at opening well under 2000ft every jump.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[bdrake529 0]

The PD factory team was using Optimums for wingsuit jumps the first day of Chicks Rock this year. At one point, they did an incredible, 4-way swoop. Everyone was shocked to see they were using reserves, and getting such distance with them.

Brian Drake

[pilotdave 0]

I thought it landed GREAT, and I don't swoop. Landings were a lot more like my Sabre2 than my PD150. Openings were way better than the PD150 too. The regular PDr 143 lands fine, but like you'd expect a good 7-cell reserve to land. The optimum landed much more like you'd expect a decent 9-cell main to land.

Dave

[peggs82 0]

I guess a quick question to those who know...

What is the life expectancy of a reserve being flown as a main? Typically how long does PD or others leave these Reserve demos in their fleet?

I don't immagine they would wear any differently, but just curious since it wasn't designed as a cannopy to be used everyday/every jump...

[chrisgray 0]

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Just wondering, what's the point?

Is it just the openings? There are so, so many low, medium and even quite high performance mains out there that open perfectly fine for wingsuiting that using a reserve for a main just seems like massive overkill to me, unless you're planning at opening well under 2000ft every jump.

The point is that it will open fast and on heading every single time without ripping your head off.

So, if the pilot wished to deploy quite low they would be confident of the opening with out any doubt.

WSI-6 / PFI-55
The Brothers Gray Wingsuit Academy
http://www.myspace.com/cgwingsuitpilot
http://www.myspace.com/thebrothersgray

[chrisgray 0]

Quote

I guess a quick question to those who know...

What is the life expectancy of a reserve being flown as a main? Typically how long does PD or others leave these Reserve demos in their fleet?

I don't immagine they would wear any differently, but just curious since it wasn't designed as a cannopy to be used everyday/every jump...

The lines and line attachments on a reserve are quite heavy duty for obvious reasons. I think these items would wear as well if not better than a main.

The durability of the fabric itself is what I would wonder about. The Optimum has a very unique fabric which makes it pack smaller but may not wear as well.

I am not sure of the estimated lifespan of this model but I would guess it would exceed 500 jumps and perhaps beyond 1000 jumps.

WSI-6 / PFI-55
The Brothers Gray Wingsuit Academy
http://www.myspace.com/cgwingsuitpilot
http://www.myspace.com/thebrothersgray

[mccordia 73]

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The point is that it will open fast and on heading every single time without ripping your head off.

Isnt part of the reason reserves open fast/on heading the time and care taken when they are being packed?

If you get a suitable 7 cell canopy, and take 30 minutes to an hour to pack it every time, no doubt your openings will also be a lot better..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[chrisgray 0]

Jarno, I am sure that has some truth to it.

Although, I found that it was so easy to pack that it took about 6 minutes start to finish and it was not picky about how it was packed either.

I think it opens fast because it is super light/ permeable fabric and the slider is cut in the middle. I am sure that the platform design has an impact on opening speed too.

WSI-6 / PFI-55
The Brothers Gray Wingsuit Academy
http://www.myspace.com/cgwingsuitpilot
http://www.myspace.com/thebrothersgray

[mccordia 73]

Besides a bit of sketchy opening past weekend with a loose toggle, combined with a few twist and my canopy diving (even took a nice picture of that, due to accidental biting on my tongue-switch) Im usually pretty happy with the openings (Spectre 150).

I think a normal, sensible canopy-choice (in terms of model and size), and good to incredibly shitty (as long as its symetrical) packing are all you need for good openings on wingsuit jumps.
So far Ive had less then a handfull of twist, and never anything that came close to having to chop it. Though my ego thinks its just due to me being damn good..

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I think it opens fast because it is super light/ permeable fabric and the slider is cut in the middle.

But I did wonder if there are people jumping sliders with holes/mesh so their canopy opens faster on WS jumps?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[bodypilot1 0]

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So, if the pilot wished to deploy quite low they would be confident of the opening with out any doubt.

So your trying to tell people reserves never malfuction?


Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[mccordia 73]

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So, if the pilot wished to deploy quite low they would be confident of the opening with out any doubt.

So your trying to tell people reserves never malfuction?


Ed

Put in other words...dont you think, if reserves had features that would also make them much better in use as a main, dont you think everyone would be jumping reserves, and all the manufacturers would start making mains with reserve-technology?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[pilotdave 0]

I guess I wouldn't be at all surprised if PD used some of that optimum technology on future mains. It opens fast, but soft. Maybe people are getting tired of 800+ foot openings on a lot of mains. Some people jump more docile mains with wingsuits... I know one that uses a PD 7-cell for wingsuit jumps. I'd choose an optimum reserve over a PD 7-cell (or 9-cell for that matter) any day. But only if they wear well of course and the price was right.

Dave

[chrisgray 0]

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So, if the pilot wished to deploy quite low they would be confident of the opening with out any doubt.

So your trying to tell people reserves never malfuction?


Ed

Put in other words...dont you think, if reserves had features that would also make them much better in use as a main, dont you think everyone would be jumping reserves, and all the manufacturers would start making mains with reserve-technology?

Reserves generally don't malfunction when deployed from a stable body position. The nasty ones are when you pull your reserve on your back/head/side.

Jarno, I don't think there is a huge demand for mains built with reserve technology because people aren't asking for it. There simply aren't enough people looking for a main that can be deployed through a huge wingsuit burble at low altitudes and open like a dream every time. It would be an incredibly small market for the manufacturers to accommodate.

WSI-6 / PFI-55
The Brothers Gray Wingsuit Academy
http://www.myspace.com/cgwingsuitpilot
http://www.myspace.com/thebrothersgray

[diablopilot 2]

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Just wondering, what's the point?

Is it just the openings? There are so, so many low, medium and even quite high performance mains out there that open perfectly fine for wingsuiting that using a reserve for a main just seems like massive overkill to me, unless you're planning at opening well under 2000ft every jump.

The point is that it will open fast and on heading every single time without ripping your head off.

So, if the pilot wished to deploy quite low they would be confident of the opening with out any doubt.

So does my Xaos or Stiletto.

You think they are cheaper? Let me know how that goes when you have to replace it every 300 to 500 jumps.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[jdatc 0]

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The point is that it will open fast and on heading every single time without ripping your head off.

So, if the pilot wished to deploy quite low they would be confident of the opening with out any doubt.

So does my Xaos or Stiletto.

You think they are cheaper? Let me know how that goes when you have to replace it every 300 to 500 jumps.

So you'd rather take your Xaos / Stiletto to 2000' in a wingsuit deployment than an optimum?

Seems fine to me to use a reserve-like canopy if what you like to do is deploy a little 'lower'....

Seems like a personal choice in terms of canopy longevity, reliability and pull altitudes... It's definetly not the approach for everyone.

Then again, I have a Flik 182 ordered for my wingsuit rig.

_justin