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Best canopy for wingsuit

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What are you guys jumping with your wingsuit? What do you feel is the best canopy to be jumping with a wingsuit? Personally, and Im sure everyone would agree, Id like something thats relatively docile, forgiving to bad body position, & something that generally opens on heading most of the time.
Im currently jumping a sabre2-170 at a 1.4wl. Its a fun canopy to fly and a no brainer to land but the openings are off heading at least 60% of the time, I have end-cell closure on almost every jump, & the slider hesitates about 1/4 of the way up the lines every so often. Ive tried different packing techniques as well as having it packed by better packers than myself and the results are basically the same.
Im thinking if I were to jump my sabre2 with a wingsuit, it would make things that much more difficult & unpredictable. Im looking to perhaps switch canopies before I get too much into wingsuiting. Hoping you could give some suggestions. Thanks!

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I have a Sabre II 150 in one rig and a Storm 150 in the other. Both are great. A Storm 170 would most likely fit nicely in your existing rig. How old is your Sabre II?

You've already heard it once...but here it comes again...
I hope you worry more about learning to fly your body before you get *any* further into wingsuiting.
At least 100 more learning jumps flying your body?

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In my opinion, The Pilot from Aerodyne is your best choice. 99 out of 100 of my jumps are in a wingsuit, and probably 98 of those are with all my cameras on. Its performance and the fact my head didnt detach itself even once over the last few years says alot. I would relate it to a corvette. Wonderful opening characteristics, great performance, and you can swoop the snot out of it when you want to. all around, the best thing you can fly in a wingsuit. Theres a few really good reasons I have one~ ive got a 117 that I load around 2.0ish... love it!
Z Flock #11; Muff #1909; PFI #15, USPA Lifer
Commercial Multi-Inst. Airplane/Rotory
www.flyteskool.ws Aerial Photography

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I am currently partial to the Sabre series. Great canopy and can be gotten at a great price. I did not like the Sabre 2 with its searching openings. Never had a "Slammer" on the original Sabre with a WS.. The tapered or semi elliptical canopies have not worked so great for me on consistent openings, not bad but not as tame as the Sabre I have. I am using a Sabre 135 currently and it has been great!

Scott C.
"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

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I had a Sabre2 210 (WL at < 1) that used to spin up like clockwork. (In a lot of my videos, you can hear me saying, "Awwww, this shit again?!?!" as it spins up...).

I ended up getting a Storm 190 (WL slightly > 1) because I heard rave reviews on its opening characteristics. The only time I've had trouble with it was when I had to do an evasive maneuver at pull time...

I’m not 100% sure it was the Sabre2’s fault, but take that for what it’s worth (and from the point of view of a n00b wingsuiter).
Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

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Another original Sabre fan here. Keep the line stows small to avoid spinning up the bag and its the most consistent openings I've gotten from anything I've tried. Been jumping a Sabre 135 for the last couple of years and the openings have been very reliable since I figured out the packjob. Its not a flashy ride but you can't beat the sense of security you get with it after awhile. On-heading 99% of the time, and very tolerant of bad body position on opening which comes in handy when trying new suit variants.
-B
Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

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My vote is working on your body position during deployment. Have some one film you to see what you're up to. If all looks OK, i'd get the canoy checked out :)
+ 2 for getting a heap more experience before putting a wingsuit on ;)

Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE
Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies

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I have jumped sabre2's a lot, with and without a wingsuit. The problem you say you are having with end cell closure and the slider stopping 1/4 of the way up is totally normal with sabre2's. Many people seem to complain about this, but it is fine and won't cause any more of a problem than maybe a slightly off heading opening due to one end cell being closed more so than the other. End cell closure and the slider not coming fully down never caused me any specific problems during wingsuit jumps. In my opinion the sabre2 is one of the better canopies to use for wingsuiting.

Edit to add: I forgot to say that if your slider gets hung up partway up the lines, just pump your rears a little bit and it will come down.

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I love my Pilot!

Soft, on-heading openings (unlike the Sabre2) and honest-to-gawd 9 cell performance and landings (unlike the 7 cell Spectre or Storm). What's not to like?

+3 for getting much more experience before putting on the wingsuit

Scott

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Instead of listing all the different canopies out there it is easier to tell you canopy characteristics which are wingsuit friendly. Being familiar with your canopies characteristics and or tendencies is a must. For starters, you want a canopy that opens consistently, doesn't hunt or seek on deployment or dive. If it can have line twists and still stay square and fly level then it is acceptable. More radical canopies can and are being flown by experienced pilots and varying wing loadings but it is an added risk that has been recognized. It is prefered that no matter what your experience or # of jumps under your canopy, that you use a docile canopy for your first wingsuit jump and subsequent flights untill you have mastered your deployment sequence and can deal with the added steps that a higher performance canopy can add to the mix of things.
"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

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I put about 100 ws jumps on a crossfire 129. It was an awesome swooping canopy, and sniveled like crazy, but would spin up every once in a while, and almost never open on heading. Sabre 1 120 that I got with 150 jumps and brand new lines cost me $400 and opens on heading every time, and allows me to take my wingsuit to 3k and a little below with no worries of line twists, or winding up in the saddle at 1200 ft. On heading, quick, but not too quick opening, and still can swoop it when I want. Thats what I want in a canopy.

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As I understand it, closed end cells, slider up the lines, & slightly off heading openings are normal for the sabre2 esspecially at lower wing loadings. Almost everyone at my dz jumps these things and the openings are all about the same; equally benign & easy to deal with (pumping RR's corrects everything).
With a wingsuit however they are not as benign. Consider this scenario: After a normal wingsuit flight you delpoy your sabre2..it opens off-heading, with end cells collapsed unevenly & the slider hesitating up the lines. Now you are under a canopy that isn't fully inflated, and in a gradual bank to the left from a direction you did not intend to face when you pulled. All of a sudden you see another canopy coming from your right and your paths are about to cross. On a normal jump you would go for your rear risers but you've barely had time to release you wings. You manage to quickly release one fast enough to grab a rear riser and avoid a collision.

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I've had that situation you described with the near miss, but not due to end cell closure/slider issues. On most wingsuits you can at least reach the lower portion of your rear risers without unzipping/cutting away your wing, enough to be able to steer away from a collision. The end cell issue really doesnt cause the canopy to turn that fast anyway, especially when it is loaded fairly light. All I'm saying is that, from my experiences, those quirkey characteristic of the sabre2 don't cause as much issues in the wingsuit environment as it could seem. There are a lot more important/dangerous thing to worry about with regards to a wingsuit deployment than endcell closure. Thankfully, there are many canopies out there that can suit your needs for wingsuiting, such as the pilot, spectre, storm, etc. Personally, if I were you, I would stick with the canopy you have now and spend the money on jumps unless you are dying to downsize or absolutely hate the canopy you currently have. Just my 2 cents.

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Consider this scenario: After a normal wingsuit flight you delpoy your sabre2..it opens off-heading and in a gradual bank to the left from a direction you did not intend to face when you pulled. All of a sudden you see another canopy coming from your right and your paths are about to cross. On a normal jump you would go for your rear risers but you've barely had time to release you wings. You manage to quickly release one fast enough to grab a rear riser and avoid a collision.



The fact you are in a wingsuit gives you the option of more separation for less altitude loss on brake off. Your deployment will ( should) be much further away from any other canopy by a large margin. The fact that lightly loaded docile canopys are recommended for WS which will not surge forward with great speed once open make this scenario even less benign.

As an example on the 71 ways I had more separation than on any standard freefalling 20-way I'd been on.

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Swooping, huh? I love that stuff ... all the flashing lights and wailing sirens ... it's very exciting! :)



best-post-of-the-day!!!

thanks for that, that really had me chuckle.. :)
“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

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