lyosha

Hell yes I would. It's actually what I did. Three years (and two job changes) later I bought a C2rve that was made for me, and it does fly a little better - but outside of the tunnel (which isn't in your future if you're trying to save $$$) you're not going to tell the difference. My wife still flies her original Havoc from like a decade ago, and kicks major ass in it. She actually prefers it to her Magister. Gonna be hard to get her to retire it... and it's in really rough shape. I then passed that Havoc on to the next guy for $400 or so to the next guy. He's having a blast... or was before the COVID. The planform has aged well. If you're strapped for cash, something in the Havoc family for a price you can pay is a good choice, even if that something is the original.

You basically want something that is long. Look for a Vector size that is longer than ~18-20" here: https://uptvector.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Sizing-Chart.pdf Or get an infinity. Aerodyne makes "long" versions of some of their smaller sized icons that look pretty good too. Double check the dimensions of whatever container you end up ordering. Javelin, Wings, Mirage, Glide, short vectors are all not a good fit for your body type.

Shit, I wish I knew the current world record holder of wingsuitting! He is the best one.

If you plan on going to the tunnel for a significant amount of time, it may make sense to get your own carve or magister (depending on body type), as those are the tool of choice. You'll get more out of your money with a proper-fitting pursuit-specific suit. Squirrel suits are great, but the DNA of the company is power and not precision - and in a small enclosed space you need the precision. If you don't think you can handle a Strix, you can't handle an ATC. As far as a wingsuit for DZ goes, given you have the experience, you'll probably want to invest in whatever is popular at your dropzone (or at least that class of suit) as it'll make flying with the other people at your DZ easier.

I've noticed this as well packing a friend's Curv one time. One of the reasons I don't jump a Curv :)

I was told by their reps that the new containers are the ones that end in "-1" on their size chart, indicating they are 1 inch longer than their original forms (which also correlates to their stated sizes). The 34X vectors have been around for ages now...

Spectre does a reasonable job as a canopy. There are, of course, more ideal options, but most cost a lot more money (and a few alternatives in the same ballpark - Sabre1, Triathlon, Pilot9). Certainly plenty of people wingsuitting with spectres out there. The question of size boils down more to wingloading - most don't recommend > 1-1.2ish to start (you can work your way up from there once you get the opening technique down more, or choose to stay there as many professional wingsuitters do). A lot of people are higher wingloaded, many substantially (i.e. me), but for the first couple hundred jumps while you fine tune openings you risk higher probability of spinning line twists if you get too happy with the wingloading.

Not sure if skydiving wings can maintain the energy of the wing well enough - they're made pretty inefficient so they can open well - but other wings can do a pretty good job... Try this at the end of a swoop and you are sure to break yourself...

I don't think there is a reason to use a cypres in student mode. Wingsuit cypres exists. In my opinion, after the introduction of wingsuit cypres, the reasons to use an AAD in 45 MPH mode ("student" on vigil, "intermediate" on mars) is if you a) trust either of those more than cypres, b) you already own one and don't want to sell/buy cypres or c) don't want to pay the 2x as much that cypres charges. If you want to decrease your AAD activation vertical velocity, you should probably do the homework and using a flysight or similar figure out what the maximum vertical velocity in a deep toggle spiral would be. This will tell you how near/far you are from your intended AAD firing threshold. Ever since I suggested the idea on here 4-5 years ago (before WS cypres existed), a few people have reached out to me and said they use vigil in student mode without incident. This having been said, skydiving is a game for all the marbles. Be certain. Make sure you do the legwork. All the hypotheticals about what may or may not happen are not constructive without measurements. You can indeed go below 78 MPH unconscious. Far below. There was a fatality where the horizontal speed of an unconscious wingsuitter hit much less (~50 MPH if I remember correctly). In my opinion, "just increase the activation altitude" is bad advice advice in the age of large highly pressurized wingsuits. Reach out to your local master rigger or canopy coach for more information.

... I think I get > 2'10" on my Shadow...

This is taught in paragliding, where "line overs" (or as they are called, "cravats") result from large collapses with some frequency (unlike skydiving where they happen almost never) and must be cleared during SIV (canopy course). You have to stall out the part of the wing that the line is over for it to slide down, and in general, a full stall is a "reset button" for your paraglider. It will work just as well with a parachute to clear the lineover, but realize that paragliders are MUCH better behaved wings with regards to stall recovery and maneuverability in an impeded state (i.e. the "canopy course" you take as a PG pilot will have you intentionally collapse 50% of your wing by pulling on front risers, and then fly controlled - straight, make turn one direction, turn opposite direction... you just can't do that with a skydiving wing very well...), so unless you are comfortable recovering your wing from a stall and have done it a bunch of times, a line over is not the time to experiment because poor stall recovery can make everything much worse very quickly in all kinds of creative ways.

I don't really keep tabs on what other companies do. I've seen at least one non-Grellfab one that looked like it had a reasonable design... but not sure which mounts you are looking at. I've been using my Grellfab for five years or so (I was an early adopter) and they've worked great for my wife and I. That having been said, among their mounts, those that keep the camera closer to the face seem to work better than the ones that can "change angle" or that work with a number of different cameras.

Depends on the particulars, but in general chin is safer. How many times have lines been caught around someone's neck? The below is specifically in relation to a mount on a Cookie G3 helmet: If the chin mount is a grellfab mount, it's held on by two rubber bands. if anything gets entangled with them, it will cut through them. Furthermore, Grellfab mounts have a cutaway. Most "top of head" mounts do not. Some helmets do though, but some do not. Finally, should anything get caught on the mount, you have the rubber bands to act as a shock absorption, whereas if the mount is screwed onto your helmet, you'll get the full whiplash. I was an early adopter of Grellfab mounts and they are just safer. Kind of common sense when you think about it.

eww C#...

6'5" here. It depends. Ask manufacturers about back length. Currently I jump an infinity I-45 and it's nice and long. Vectors also do well depending on size.

I've grabbed fabric at pull time a couple of jumps in my havoc over the years. Just not paying enough attention to technique at pull time. Both were non events - reset, paid a little more conscious attention to what I was doing, no issues. Chalk it up to complacency. I know a number of experienced people who could not pull at all after switching wingsuits and ended up going to reserve, in at least one case really low due to ego making the candidate try extra hard to avoid embarrassment of going to reserve on the first jump with a brand new extra shiny ATC.

Phoenix Fly shadow or phantom if you're going to buy (recommended). Whatever you can generate your hands on if you're renting. Not sure what a hornet is, but typically beginner and medium sized suits do fine with standard gear setup. If you want to rush to a larger size like an rbird3 or ATC you may consider upgrading your gear. Of all the gear to upgrade, a semi stowless bag should be first. The added benefit of a skysnatch is much less in my experience.

My experience with people flying Swifts is they have a pretty high stall speed for a small suit (so fly it fast or else). I think intro suits from competitors are better. Also never seen anyone in a funk1 have trouble getting into flocks. Just sayin'...

If soft openings are your goal, F111 should not be in consideration. All modern canopies made from F111 all open harder than their pure zp counterparts. That's why people like them for wingsuitting. I have a pilot 9 right now and openings are always great thus far(about 100 jumps on it). Haven't heard of anyone getting slammed by one. I'm not a pilot fanboy by any means, my favorite canopy to date was my sabre2... but it did open uncomfortably on occasion. I'm a guy that switches canopies every 100 or so jumps just to try something new. I've also put a bunch of jumps on a Sabre1 with a pocket slider. I wouldn't put one on a pilot. I already get 1000 foot snivels out of it on occasion. Any more and it will be ridiculous... Both of the instances where a canopy opened hard enough to damage itself, the canopy was a safire2. Haven't come across similar from a pilot yet, but could also be that sample size is too small and events too uncommon. But if you're trying to avoid the tail cases to the point of paranoia... In my jumps on it it behaved fine. Hope this helps.

Really? Because mostly I see the opposite. People saying "I know 75 is recommended but I'm at 30 and am already stable and bored and can't make it into flocks because my rented ibird sucks!"

Questions about canopies really should be asked to your local rigger or canopy coach. However, the generic guidance is a 9 cell semi elliptical loaded at about 1:1 works well. That's your sabre2, safire2/3, pilot type canopies. Get a used one with 500+ jumps for the discount and much easier packing. Get your local rigger to inspect it and possibly to escrow. Basically go talk to your local rigger for advice.

Please do not take this personally, but I sincerely hope no one takes things you write on this forum at face value. I originated the idea of using a vigil in student mode, on here are a brain fart a few years ago when wingsuit cypres didn't exist. Now that WS cypres exists, and if I were to buy an AAD, I'd advise strong consideration for the device. Purpose built components typically perform better than hacks. But beyond that, I would absolutely advise against "just set your AAD to student / intermediate (mars) mode" because that is a recipe for disaster. Two outs are no joke. Lots of people fly gear setups for which an activation speed of 40 mph is safe, but you absolutely need to do the homework to confirm that your particular gear setup will not trigger your AAD. I personally know a number of people for whom this is safe. And a number for whom it is not. If you don't know what to do homework-wise, please consult your local master rigger or canopy coach. Or better yet both. Like all of the rest of skydiving, it is the respect and sytematic mitigation of the risks that drives safely.

Any opinion of the Pilot 7? I agree that pull technique is more important than canopy selection. I had trouble with the technique at first, but feel confident with it now after working with a coach. I can fly the suit straight and symmetrically through the deployment process. Of course there is some argument as to what the best deployment process is as I've been told many different methods to deploy my parachute, but I found something that seems to work fine for me so far. I do plan to get into an ATC once I am ready and so I cant imagine the openings getting any better. If switching to something like a Pilot 7 or WinX is legitimately a waste of money and wont do anything for me, then great, I wont buy one. But I think it's an idea at least worth looking into considering just one cutaway could mean having to replace my canopy where I jump, and the coach that Lyosha said I should get is the one who specifically told me he recommended buying something different (as well as 3-4 other WS guys on the DZ who all told me to get an Epicene).

You shouldn't need a ws specific setup with a swift. Invest in some coaching instead...

My infinity does this...