friflaj

If you jump camera you're really going to appreciate the openings on the Safire. With the Stiletto I had before, I'd always 'brace for impact' during opening when I'm wearing my topmount. Since the Safire, I've totally forgotten about the weight of the cam during the opening.

A stiletto is a pretty aggressive, fully elliptical canopy. The Safire and the Pilot are intermediary canopies. The Safire and the Pilot are *not* in the same category as the Stiletto. No offence (specifically since you have nearly 3 times as many jumps as me), but what have you flown so far? It seems weird to me that you'd gather nearly 2000 jumps and would compare the Safire to the Stiletto.

Have several experienced jumpers jump it, preferably in their own harness. I had a canopy with a built-in turn once, the first experienced jumper I handed my gear to didn't notice it. Lucky me, one of the designers from my canopy manufacturers did.

Except the openings don't suck. The flare of the Safire2 is deep, not weak. As for the original question, I load mine at 1.42 and love it, but I fully agree with diablopilot that it's by no means intermediate at this WL. Intermediate would be 1.1-ish. Just because it's not a Velocisplat doesn't mean it's docile at any WL.

I busted my leg pretty nasty and fractured L5 in 2002. I was lucky enough that I had an orthopedic that was also a very experienced jumper. He subscribed me some braces and I was good to go in 9 months. Was I nervous? Hell yeah! I promised myself I'd make at least 10 jumps before even considering quitting. Took me the full 10 jumps to bleed off the nerves. Oh, and I upsized (stiletto 135 -> Spectre 150) for about 4 months to ease myself in. I can heartily recommend doing that.

If it makes you feel any better, I have over 700 jumps and I still don't like opening the door, or closing it after a mid-run. Doesn't matter at what altitude . The jitters are over the second the door is fully open, though.

I have demoed a Sabre2 for some 10 jumps while I flew a Stiletto at the time. I found the Stiletto openings more reliable than the Sabre2 openings. Search for 'Sabre2 openings' in the forums and you'll get lots of hits. this one made me smile :) Purchase a Safire?

Hey, if it works for NASA... and a 12 year old design doesn't neceasrily mean 12 year old components

Man, this pretty much exactly describes my dealings with Wyat. I luuurve my spiffy new Safire but I wouldn't deal directly with Wyat again unless he's in nose-punching range.

I'll go along with that. In the end, I still love the Safire2 I got, and in the balance, the canopy more than balances out the experience of getting it. And no, I don't own stock

I get to deal with Icarus Europe now, who are a great deal better.

Let's just say that my experience in dealing with Wyat stands in stark contrast with yours.

Right. Set him up for more frustration, why don't you. Go ahead and call Skydive San Diego, but ask for Simon Powell. He's an Icarus dealer and he'll help you out.

I demoed both the Safire2 and the Sabre2. The Sabre2 flew great, but those openings were consistently uber-crappy (wildly offheading, angle, direction and dive steepness totally unpredictable), and with a kilo of camera on your head that distinctly sucks. I now fly the Safire2, and I love it.

In the Netherlands you cannot jump a set of 25 years or over. Not sure it it goes for all parts of the rig, though.