Keithor

I have been jumping a 150 Storm for about 300 jumps and put almost 200 on a 170 before that. I recently ordered a 139 Kraken and had some questions for anyone who has flown both. How is the glide between them? Are the openings comparable? Flare? I probably still have the option of going with a 149 if I decide to, but that window of opportunity is closing quickly. Thats probably about it. I don't swoop and even if I was going to start getting into it I would get a different canopy to start that progression. I've always love the range and glide from a storm and almost always made it back from a long spot. I am a little (not much) worried about the glide with a slightly smaller canopy as I am starting to WS much more and hate the idea of landing off (I know watch where I am going and there is no worry of it). Thanks

Black and Red! I opted not to go Green as I couldn't handle that much power according to the dealer Thanks everyone for their input. The Funk I own doesn't really fit properly and I've had my reserve handle slide inside the suit twice. The first time I chalked it up to not having the zippers done properly or just some sort of rigging fuck up. After the second time I determined the suit didn't fit me properly and have been borrowing a friends Funk2. Ultimately I decided on the Carve 20. I don't have the ability and time to go and properly figure out how to go open exits, or for that matter even the desire to go after some short starts etc. IF I can get myself to a point where I can start thinking about doing something other than Brento and some "easier" exits in the Valley or Norway I may think about something else. Before any of the above happen I want to go get comfortable and have some fun. Seems like the Carve is my best choice for now. Thanks again.

I was very seriously considering an ATC2 for my WS purchase this winter. I seem to have a bit more time on my hands these days which has had me do more looking, reading, sleeping and even household chores. Not that anyone cares about the other shit.... Squirrels site has the ATC2 as a pretty good all around canopy that includes some good range to fly with big suits, and a good BASE suit as well. PF site it seems like the Strix may be a bit better than the Carve 20, however I don't have enough WS jumps for the Strix yet and not sure if I will take either into the BASE environment anytime soon. I am flying a Funk/2 at the moment and have been focusing on doing coach jumps to get my skills up so I feel more comfortable flying with other people. I had plans of every other weekend travelling to different DZ's in the north north/east to get coaching and spending the other weekends jumping to practice what I had learned. My chances of any WS BASE in general are slim as there just arent objects close by for this to happen and I need some more overall big wall experience and many more WS skydives before I consider it. XRW is something that is probably more realistic and inline with the shorter/mid term goals. So I think the first question really is can both the ATC2 and Carve20 be used for this? If the Strix is a better option should I just wait a few months (depending of course when we can start to get back to normal) and keep jumping the Funk, or is the Carve 20 or ATC2 going to be a better option. EDITED: I forgot to mention I am not opposed to going to the tunnel once travelling is a realistic option again. Obviously given current conditions I am not in any huge rush but would like to get the suit ordered in the next few weeks. Thanks for any input into this.

From the moment we arrived until the moment we left we felt like we had always jumped there. Made almost every load I wanted to be on, and had plenty of talented jumpers to learn from. We showed up randomly (on our way to another DZ) and couldn't have been happier that we did. We camped for the weekend and left with many new friends. I would recommend this DZ to anyone. Can't wait to go back.

Dropout at parachute Montreal. It's mid August I think 11-14 this year. Sky an, otter and possibly a Caravan to add to it this year. They have a huge dinner and fireworks display. And discounted jump tickets (2 years ago $29)

I've actually got another thought for you, we'll maybe more of a suggestion. I noticed a very big difference between a Storm 170 and the 1 jump i put on a Sabre2 170. Do you have the opportunity to borrow a sabre 2 170? Satire 1/2/3? Or any of those canopies in a 150? Maybe trying one of those out before making the step to a Xfire could really help to show you the difference between a spectre and a less dicle canopy. When did go from a 170 to a 150 i stayed with a Storm (i also lost weight before i downsized) there was a difference for sure in speed and riser pressure but not the same sort of overall performance difference that i noticed between the storm and sabre2

yes Peter. Jump 35. So i think what Peter was trying to do here is what i was trying to do. Just to tell you that my situation was similar to yours in terms of rapid downsizing. I did not make the move to elliptical though. I was also fine. For 49 jumps. I started skydiving when i was older, married, a little more settled in life etc. I knew I'd kill myself if i started when i was 18.

i put nearly 50 jumps on a Storm 170 oaded at about 1.1 maybe just a bit more. I was landing where i wanted, standing up impressing myself how well i was doing actually. I had done a flight 1 course as well. The FIRST time i didnt land in the landing area i made 2 bad decisions close to the ground. I crashed into a parking lot, broke a femur close enough to the hip that it required 2 rods instead of 1 with screws. I also needed to have 1 of the 4 broken bones in my foot rebuilt and much to the surprise of the doctors, my physiotherapist AND many of my friends i was able to walk again. 18 months limping, and almost 3 years later i still go to physio. 53 weeks after the crash i upsides back to a 230, re took a first jump course and have taken multiple canopy courses, and a few 1:1 canopy coaching days. Shit happens fast on almost any canopy. But it can happen faster. I'm not saying don't do it, just saying that in my case if i would have put more time on bigger canopies, and taken the coaching before i downsized as well as had some more experience. I surely would not have had a $40043 hospital Bill (for 54 hours of being in there), nor would i be able to predict weather, and i wouldn't have needed more than a year off of skydiving.

Amad, The best way to start this process is to talk to your instructors at your DZ. At best you get 25 opinions from a message board here and you ttry and figure out who is full of shit, who is looking after their own interests and who is genuinely trying to help out. Having said that the first few things you need to think about is 1) what are your short term goals in the sport. 2) what are your long term goals ie: wingsuiting, freeflying etcm I personally purchased new. I couldn't wait and by 30 jumps had brand new gear. The worst part for me was I bought a stock rig and it didn't fit perfectly sio when freeflying started the rig would slip off my shoulder a bit. Getting it custom would have saved me from purchasing a custom container later. So many questions need to be answered before someone "should" be advising you about what gear to look for.

Thanks and will do.

N/A

I'm going in December to travel around for a month. Thinking about making a jump or few. I'd prefer not to bring my own gear, wondering if anyone has been and can say anything about their rental gear or if it's even worth jumping there. Thanks

Peter you wrote that not too long after my opening. To thestarter of this thread, I could also stand to lose a few pounds, but I don't think my 185lb body on a 270 Solo was what did it. I had an opening that caused whiplash and had me doing physio for months. Put me out for 30 days and like someone else said my body tensed like crazy for the next 50 jumps expecting a hard opening. This one opening was a big determining factor on purchasing a storm due to its very soft openings. A search resulted in this, which might be helpful: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4531247#4531247 Oh, that was my thread from a year back. Not much has changed -- Here's a pic of another student's Solo opening this year. Sucked to be him. Lots of canopy out while only slightly above his instructors, plus twists and a broken line.

I just really needed to quote the first line. On April 27 I femur'd in NY. I was on a 1 week trip with my wife. She took a class for photography and I took the opportunity to jump at a larger dz. After getting caught upwind, I landed in a parking lot behind the hanger. I had a $1091 ambulance ride, and then a 3 day stay in thr hospital that included titanium in my leg to put it back together. $40043 (which included food). Get the insurance! I had some, we kept our house.

This made me laugh. +1