slim_shady 1 #1 August 24, 2009 Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course ). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. Anybody any ideas? thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #2 August 24, 2009 Mesh slider? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites piisfish 135 #3 August 24, 2009 -pull higher -pull faster -pull silverscissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Pendragon 1 #4 August 24, 2009 At 1.35, you're quite lightly loaded on a canopy like that! My Xfire2 109 opens fast enough... but I'm loading it at 1.8+... Personally for a wingsuit, and at that wingloading more generally, I'd go for a soft-opening semi-elliptical such as a Safire2 instead. Far less hassle. There are better options for sub-1.6 wingloading; the Xfire2 really doesn't come into its own until 1.8-2.0 (after which the performance reduces again)... and then some would argue that they're not suitable for wingsuiting at that loading anyway.-- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #5 August 24, 2009 Get a 7-cell, like Triathlon, Spectre, Storm. My last opening was from about 200km/h horizontal speed. It was soft and without any trouble. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Martini 0 #6 August 24, 2009 Putting a hole in the middle of the slider may work. Use a tin can heated with a propane torch to cut and seal the hole. A friend did this using about a three-inch can on a Xaos slider with excellent results. Or, as has been suggested, try a mesh slider. Borrow one (small mesh to start, big mesh if it's still too slow) from a local BASE jumper who likes to drink your beer. Be careful trying this as the slider will be sized for a canopy much larger than yours, maybe start with a hop and pop from a slow plane to minimize opening shock.Sometimes you eat the bear.............. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Ronaldo 0 #7 August 24, 2009 You may ask a rigger to make you a new (identical) slider. Cut a small hole on its center (with a hot knife) and see how it behaves. Make the hole progressively larger until you reach the desired opening speed. Keep the original slider so you don't lose resale value. IMO you'll find annoying to change sliders every weekend (assuming you won't change disciplines in the same day which would be just insane). I really suggest you get a cheap used 7 cell like a Thriatlon and order a new set of risers, main bag and PC.Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites likestojump 3 #8 August 24, 2009 as a sidenote, I got tired of cutting away the crossfire and got a spectre with dacron lines. I still regard it as the best decision of this year. Though, I did cutaway the Spectre a few weeks ago, on a non-wingsuit jump. weird.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites VectorBoy 0 #9 August 24, 2009 The problem with the mesh slider is that it might possibly give you full bottom skin inflation before the cells get pressurized. You will be under a bucking bed sheet until the canopy inflates. It is very hard to find a method that compliments the x-fire inlets at slower deployment speeds that is repeatable and predictable. You may try stuffing the slider in the back of the pack job, or not rolling the tail so tight. All of this is very experimental and repeatability is very hard to achieve. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites swilson 0 #10 August 24, 2009 Tie the slider to the links. Speeds up the openings, and it's simple and fast to reconfigure because you don't have to change sliders. You're going to want to flare your suit to bleed off a bunch of speed before you pull though... Seriously, the simplest and best solution is to buy a second wingsuit-appropriate canopy with its own risers, bag and a proper wingsuit bridle. It only takes an extra 5 minutes to switch canopies if the container's already open. The above suggestions for 7 cells are great, I have a Sabre 135 with probably 1500 jumps that opens great, is dead-stable in linetwists, and cost next to nothing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites birdynamnam 28 #11 August 24, 2009 Don't modify anything! Just smile and relax.Just enjoy the smooth openings from the XF2 and stay alert after the snatchforce in case of twists :) The XF2 does not use that much more altitude unpacking, in reality it just feels like it. If you still are uncomfortable, then open a bit higher. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #12 August 24, 2009 Quote The problem with the mesh slider is that it might possibly give you full bottom skin inflation before the cells get pressurized. You will be under a bucking bed sheet until the canopy inflates. It was a joke. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites LetsGoOutside 0 #13 August 24, 2009 Quote Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course ). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. Anybody any ideas? thanks I've found it best to fly through the opening a bit and stay on heading until you feel the snatch force. From there, keep your knees together and stay symmetrical facing the same heading to prevent turns and twists while you get your arm zippers. That doesn't mean to stay in full flight or burble your PC, but just try to keep enough forward momentum going to promote an on heading opening. You can't control the risers with your hands through the opening, but you can achieve a similar effect with this technique. Heading and symmertry are key. Body position matters far more than packing, but you could try leaving the nose exposed (don't cover with slider or stuff into pack job) and don't roll the tail. But like what was just mentioned on here, results aren't going to be entirely consistent (but should be closer to what you want). It's better to rely a good body position through any duration of opening than it is to hope that you packed a quicker one. In fact, if you read PD's manual (i know you're on CF2), it actually recommends you have forward speed through your opening even without a wingsuit. Makes sense. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Tony-tonysuits 0 #14 August 25, 2009 Quote Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course ). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. Anybody any ideas? thanks how bout... if the opening are slow enough,and if you see line twists while your in a stand up waiting for it to open you could put a foot forward and one back to spin out of the line twists, Life is a series of wonderful opportunities, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. tonysuits.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites monkycndo 0 #15 August 25, 2009 I now jump a Nitron 150 with my WS. It opened too slow for my taste. I'm used to my brisk but not hard Sabre 150 openings. I tried packing with the slider shoved back, tail barely rolled and nose exposed as much as possible. Didn't make any discernable difference in opening speed. I then had my rigger cut a 3"x5" hole in the slider nearer the nose. (sorry, you need to convert to metric ) It has made a difference in opening speed. Still slower than the Sabre, but I no longer have to stare at the canopy and wait for the thing to stop sniveling. Slider still comes down pretty slow. It could still open a little faster, but as I will be adding cameras in the near future, it should work nicely. It does provide for a pretty quick opening if I use the rig for a non-WS jump, but not much more than a brisk Sabre opening. YMMV 50 donations so far. Give it a try. You know you want to spank it Jump an Infinity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites VectorBoy 0 #16 August 25, 2009 Quote Quote The problem with the mesh slider is that it might possibly give you full bottom skin inflation before the cells get pressurized. You will be under a bucking bed sheet until the canopy inflates. It was a joke. I was serious. I tried to make a closed in nose eliptical canopy open quicker for videoing competition crw jumps that I didn't want to fly an overloaded 7 cell with a video set-up. I tried pushing the slider in the back of the pack job, keeping the slider collapsed, partially collapsed and I also tried the mesh slider. Some things worked ok on hop and pops. Just for experience I tried those set-ups with a wingsuit. The mesh slider on hop & pops bed sheeted 50% of the time. 100% of the time on wingsuit deployments followed by a violent buck until the cells inflated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #17 August 25, 2009 How about Cobalt? Have you jumped with wing suit? Any tricks? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites VectorBoy 0 #18 August 25, 2009 Regular cobalts, radicals and alphas are great with a wingsuit depending on wingloading. H-modded or competition cobalts have the exact same issues as the crossfire the nose is closed off and during slower deployments you spend a longer time flying the slider. It seems like an eternity as you are spilling air up around bigger wingsuits. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites slim_shady 1 #19 August 25, 2009 thanks for the ideas guys! i will try these things and see how it goes... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Martini 0 #20 August 25, 2009 I stopped using my Cobalt (120 @ 1.6) after twice spinning up and chopping, I wasn't all that thrilled with the canopy at that low a wingloading anyway so I sold it.Sometimes you eat the bear.............. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #21 August 25, 2009 Quote Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course Wink). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. How about going fast before opening? It that canopy is designed for terminal opening why to throw it into some slow turbulent mess? Get some horizontal speed and open from full flight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites LouDiamond 1 #22 August 25, 2009 QuoteHow about Cobalt? Have you jumped with wing suit? Any tricks? Do a little digging on skydivingmovies.com (when it comes back up), Leroy has POV video of his flights on his Cobalt that will show you why he and MonkeyLip, among others, no longer jump that canopy with a wingsuit."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites slim_shady 1 #23 August 26, 2009 Quote How about going fast before opening? It that canopy is designed for terminal opening why to throw it into some slow turbulent mess? Get some horizontal speed and open from full flight. this looks like a good plan, because i use a different technique now. i start arching, close legs and bend them. maybe my vertical speed isn't big enough... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #24 August 26, 2009 Quotei start arching, close legs and bend them. That's what I did and got 3x knot om my bridle. I open and used to open from full flight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
piisfish 135 #3 August 24, 2009 -pull higher -pull faster -pull silverscissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pendragon 1 #4 August 24, 2009 At 1.35, you're quite lightly loaded on a canopy like that! My Xfire2 109 opens fast enough... but I'm loading it at 1.8+... Personally for a wingsuit, and at that wingloading more generally, I'd go for a soft-opening semi-elliptical such as a Safire2 instead. Far less hassle. There are better options for sub-1.6 wingloading; the Xfire2 really doesn't come into its own until 1.8-2.0 (after which the performance reduces again)... and then some would argue that they're not suitable for wingsuiting at that loading anyway.-- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #5 August 24, 2009 Get a 7-cell, like Triathlon, Spectre, Storm. My last opening was from about 200km/h horizontal speed. It was soft and without any trouble. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martini 0 #6 August 24, 2009 Putting a hole in the middle of the slider may work. Use a tin can heated with a propane torch to cut and seal the hole. A friend did this using about a three-inch can on a Xaos slider with excellent results. Or, as has been suggested, try a mesh slider. Borrow one (small mesh to start, big mesh if it's still too slow) from a local BASE jumper who likes to drink your beer. Be careful trying this as the slider will be sized for a canopy much larger than yours, maybe start with a hop and pop from a slow plane to minimize opening shock.Sometimes you eat the bear.............. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ronaldo 0 #7 August 24, 2009 You may ask a rigger to make you a new (identical) slider. Cut a small hole on its center (with a hot knife) and see how it behaves. Make the hole progressively larger until you reach the desired opening speed. Keep the original slider so you don't lose resale value. IMO you'll find annoying to change sliders every weekend (assuming you won't change disciplines in the same day which would be just insane). I really suggest you get a cheap used 7 cell like a Thriatlon and order a new set of risers, main bag and PC.Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #8 August 24, 2009 as a sidenote, I got tired of cutting away the crossfire and got a spectre with dacron lines. I still regard it as the best decision of this year. Though, I did cutaway the Spectre a few weeks ago, on a non-wingsuit jump. weird.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VectorBoy 0 #9 August 24, 2009 The problem with the mesh slider is that it might possibly give you full bottom skin inflation before the cells get pressurized. You will be under a bucking bed sheet until the canopy inflates. It is very hard to find a method that compliments the x-fire inlets at slower deployment speeds that is repeatable and predictable. You may try stuffing the slider in the back of the pack job, or not rolling the tail so tight. All of this is very experimental and repeatability is very hard to achieve. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swilson 0 #10 August 24, 2009 Tie the slider to the links. Speeds up the openings, and it's simple and fast to reconfigure because you don't have to change sliders. You're going to want to flare your suit to bleed off a bunch of speed before you pull though... Seriously, the simplest and best solution is to buy a second wingsuit-appropriate canopy with its own risers, bag and a proper wingsuit bridle. It only takes an extra 5 minutes to switch canopies if the container's already open. The above suggestions for 7 cells are great, I have a Sabre 135 with probably 1500 jumps that opens great, is dead-stable in linetwists, and cost next to nothing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdynamnam 28 #11 August 24, 2009 Don't modify anything! Just smile and relax.Just enjoy the smooth openings from the XF2 and stay alert after the snatchforce in case of twists :) The XF2 does not use that much more altitude unpacking, in reality it just feels like it. If you still are uncomfortable, then open a bit higher. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #12 August 24, 2009 Quote The problem with the mesh slider is that it might possibly give you full bottom skin inflation before the cells get pressurized. You will be under a bucking bed sheet until the canopy inflates. It was a joke. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LetsGoOutside 0 #13 August 24, 2009 Quote Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course ). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. Anybody any ideas? thanks I've found it best to fly through the opening a bit and stay on heading until you feel the snatch force. From there, keep your knees together and stay symmetrical facing the same heading to prevent turns and twists while you get your arm zippers. That doesn't mean to stay in full flight or burble your PC, but just try to keep enough forward momentum going to promote an on heading opening. You can't control the risers with your hands through the opening, but you can achieve a similar effect with this technique. Heading and symmertry are key. Body position matters far more than packing, but you could try leaving the nose exposed (don't cover with slider or stuff into pack job) and don't roll the tail. But like what was just mentioned on here, results aren't going to be entirely consistent (but should be closer to what you want). It's better to rely a good body position through any duration of opening than it is to hope that you packed a quicker one. In fact, if you read PD's manual (i know you're on CF2), it actually recommends you have forward speed through your opening even without a wingsuit. Makes sense. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tony-tonysuits 0 #14 August 25, 2009 Quote Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course ). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. Anybody any ideas? thanks how bout... if the opening are slow enough,and if you see line twists while your in a stand up waiting for it to open you could put a foot forward and one back to spin out of the line twists, Life is a series of wonderful opportunities, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. tonysuits.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
monkycndo 0 #15 August 25, 2009 I now jump a Nitron 150 with my WS. It opened too slow for my taste. I'm used to my brisk but not hard Sabre 150 openings. I tried packing with the slider shoved back, tail barely rolled and nose exposed as much as possible. Didn't make any discernable difference in opening speed. I then had my rigger cut a 3"x5" hole in the slider nearer the nose. (sorry, you need to convert to metric ) It has made a difference in opening speed. Still slower than the Sabre, but I no longer have to stare at the canopy and wait for the thing to stop sniveling. Slider still comes down pretty slow. It could still open a little faster, but as I will be adding cameras in the near future, it should work nicely. It does provide for a pretty quick opening if I use the rig for a non-WS jump, but not much more than a brisk Sabre opening. YMMV 50 donations so far. Give it a try. You know you want to spank it Jump an Infinity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VectorBoy 0 #16 August 25, 2009 Quote Quote The problem with the mesh slider is that it might possibly give you full bottom skin inflation before the cells get pressurized. You will be under a bucking bed sheet until the canopy inflates. It was a joke. I was serious. I tried to make a closed in nose eliptical canopy open quicker for videoing competition crw jumps that I didn't want to fly an overloaded 7 cell with a video set-up. I tried pushing the slider in the back of the pack job, keeping the slider collapsed, partially collapsed and I also tried the mesh slider. Some things worked ok on hop and pops. Just for experience I tried those set-ups with a wingsuit. The mesh slider on hop & pops bed sheeted 50% of the time. 100% of the time on wingsuit deployments followed by a violent buck until the cells inflated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #17 August 25, 2009 How about Cobalt? Have you jumped with wing suit? Any tricks? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VectorBoy 0 #18 August 25, 2009 Regular cobalts, radicals and alphas are great with a wingsuit depending on wingloading. H-modded or competition cobalts have the exact same issues as the crossfire the nose is closed off and during slower deployments you spend a longer time flying the slider. It seems like an eternity as you are spilling air up around bigger wingsuits. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim_shady 1 #19 August 25, 2009 thanks for the ideas guys! i will try these things and see how it goes... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martini 0 #20 August 25, 2009 I stopped using my Cobalt (120 @ 1.6) after twice spinning up and chopping, I wasn't all that thrilled with the canopy at that low a wingloading anyway so I sold it.Sometimes you eat the bear.............. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #21 August 25, 2009 Quote Hi, does anybody know how to "speed up" an opening with a crossfire2 ? I'm jumping a Xf2 139 sqft with my wingsuit but i want the openings to be a little faster (not too fast of course Wink). In freefly i love the smooth, slow openings of my canopy but with my wingsuit it just takes too long. How about going fast before opening? It that canopy is designed for terminal opening why to throw it into some slow turbulent mess? Get some horizontal speed and open from full flight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #22 August 25, 2009 QuoteHow about Cobalt? Have you jumped with wing suit? Any tricks? Do a little digging on skydivingmovies.com (when it comes back up), Leroy has POV video of his flights on his Cobalt that will show you why he and MonkeyLip, among others, no longer jump that canopy with a wingsuit."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slim_shady 1 #23 August 26, 2009 Quote How about going fast before opening? It that canopy is designed for terminal opening why to throw it into some slow turbulent mess? Get some horizontal speed and open from full flight. this looks like a good plan, because i use a different technique now. i start arching, close legs and bend them. maybe my vertical speed isn't big enough... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #24 August 26, 2009 Quotei start arching, close legs and bend them. That's what I did and got 3x knot om my bridle. I open and used to open from full flight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
