SteveSearle

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Gear

  • Main Canopy Size
    150
  • Reserve Canopy Size
    160
  • AAD
    Vigil 2

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    Black Knights
  • License
    C
  • Number of Jumps
    850
  • Years in Sport
    5
  • First Choice Discipline
    Wing Suit Flying
  • First Choice Discipline Jump Total
    500
  1. I picked up my new I4 Next Gen in April, it fits well and build quality looks good. I’m happy with it but have had a couple of issues also, I ordered the Aerodyne oval mini rings but it came with the standard minis, I can live with that. I’ve had the main pin flap pop out in the plane if I slouch or move about occasionally and it’s the recommended size canopy, so not overly stuffed. I’ve also had a few brake fires, maybe 10 or 12 in 150 jumps or so but only when pulling the slider down over the toggles which seems a little tight to me. Usual quickly worn lower brake lines on my Pilot that came with it.
  2. It seems to be suits that use this ‘zip in zip out’ system to cover base and skydiving that can suffer from this if the zips aren’t tied together somehow. I also think this design is meant to offer cleaner airflow (?). I had this problem on my R2B2 as opted for zips rather than the lace up system and lost my reserve D-ring when sat in the plane; I could adjust the suit prior to exit to rectify it but I had that constant niggle during the flight about it. I spoke to Tony about my concerns, we chatted about a suitable fix, I said I just wanted a regular skydive zip system, he’s now making me a new suit with standard ‘zip out’ system to address this at no charge! You can’t say fairer than that.
  3. Hi all, I’ve just put a few jumps on the R2B2 and thought I’d share my initial experience and also wanted to mention the customer service I received, as this topic’s been discussed recently on this forum. Bit of background I’m a very Average Joe wingsuiter with 500 wingsuit jumps and by no means awesome, the majority of flights having been done in an R-Bird. No affiliation to Tony suits but I personally like the way they feel / fly for ‘me’, others will not and I’m not looking to start another brand war. Current back fly jump experience has been 6 jumps on and S-Fly Hawk (which was a bit too big for me) and about 15 jumps on a Phantom 3. I liked flying them both on their back but I didn’t like the way they felt when flying on their belly they just seemed to lack the ‘pop’ / performance of my R-Bird (I appreciate they weren’t designed for performance) they just didn’t feel right for me but I wanted to buy a back fly / acro type suit, so I made a few enquires about the R2B2 and took a gamble on it. I've put 8 jumps on the R2B2 and I love it! It certainly gives me everything I wanted, on its back, its rock solid it feels very powerful and has tons of lift, I flew with a Hawk and an R- Bird (both on their belly) and could out float them on my back. I could also stay with guys in smaller suits and would be happy to use it flying with students. I was worried about the transitions from belly to back and vice versa as it looks a big suit, I thought I may have to wrestle the suit over but it was easy to do and took minimal effort, instantly becoming stable again without any washing about, you do need to keep good shoulder posture to stop it going head low doing this. Personally, I felt like it took less effort to flip it than the Hawk and found the P3 washes about after rolling over but this could be my lack of time/ ability in these other suits. Belly flight, it has loads more range than my R-Bird, I beat my longest flight time in my R by 20 seconds and going for lift / speed against similar size suits it left them standing. I flew the suit both with the internal pressure zips open and closed, open I could feel some arm pressure when on my back and closed the suit was super stable, I did notice a slight difference when rolling the suit over, it was slightly easier with them open but not a big deal either way and I spent most jumps with them half open. Deployment there’s a bit more wing to reach around than my R-bird and the leg wing takes a bit more effort to shut down but more to do with me getting a bit lazy I think as once I sorted my body position it felt better. I opted for the zip system rather than the cables for around the harness (I have the cables on my Scorpion and found them a fiddle if swapping suits during the day). The zips are similar to the Squirrel design and I found I had similar problems when sat in the plane with suit gapping around my reserve handle (I think having a beer belly makes this worse) I fixed the problem on my second jump by tying a larks head knot round the 2 zips this keeps everything in place and I just adjust the suit before exit. Now for the customer service bit; I emailed Tony Suits about the zip issue and explained what had happened, I heard back from Tony himself within the day, asking how he could help. I told him that although there was a suitable fix for the problem it still worried me a bit, so Tony asked me what I would I like to happen. I explained I would never want to use the suit for base and would prefer just a regular zip system just for skydiving harnesses. Tony has now agreed to offer a ‘skydive specific’ zip system similar to the R-bird and I believe this will be an option on all R2B2’s. He is also making me a brand new wingsuit with this zip system in! I was really pleased with his response and I was just expecting to have my suit modified to the cable system, not have a new wingsuit made with the skydive zips. Once I get the new suit back (hopefully it shouldn’t take too long), I’ll feedback on the harness system and the suit once I get some more flights on it but from my experience so far, if you’re looking for a suit that preforms better than an R-bird on its back as well as it does on its belly you can’t go far wrong.
  4. I'm trying to find some info on the differences between cordura and ballistic material on the Icon next gen rigs. Mainly the pros and cons of each and looks etc. Pics of the ballistic would be good if anyone has any. Thanks in advance.
  5. Only Pic of the lace up system I currently have sorry.
  6. Oh, how I wish that were so. Check the attached pics of a brand spanking new S-bird placed over my old S-bird. You'll note it has innie-outie zippers. Maybe some confusion over the names here; (old) S-Bird & (new) S-Bird 2 which became the Apache Scorpion once the design was finalised and is possibly why Simon referred to all * Bird models, as not changing? I've got the Apache Scorpion with the lace up front instead of zips, I wasn't sure at first about the system more about time to hook it up than anything. However the handles seem secure, I've had a good look & feel, before, during and after deployment- all seems fine and it only takes a couple of seconds extra to hook up than my R-Bird. I could be wrong about all that though but it's an awesome suit though, I'm getting 2 minute flights in 4500ft of altitude and I'm not that good.
  7. Paul I’m not sure where you are based but if you’re doing AFF in the UK, it may be worth doing it at what will be your home DZ rather than travelling further afield. It gives you chance to get the feel of the place, your instructors to get to know you and make some new jump buddies during the process.
  8. I would imagine the DZ will prefer you to wear one of their suits during your AFF. There are lots of different suits depending on what discipline you want to get into free fly or FS and also your fall rate, do you fall slow or fast will affect the type of suit you buy tight or lose fitting. I’d recommend you do the AFF course in the DZ suit and get some feedback from your instructors as they will be able to advise you better than anyone on here.
  9. Here's my R-Bird + 1 on the base soles, extended leg zips and maybe the winter zips if you're planning to jump in the UK over the winter. I'd stay away from the Emporer Penguin design above, they don't fly straight ;-)
  10. I don't know which one is you, but the head-high position isn't helping forward speed and generating washy flight. Attached is a page from the SOP guide we use at Skydive Elsinore. It might help you change up the body position. Be aware of the leg, in a few of those scenes, legs are lazy, generating yaw. This link may have some suggestions for you. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxhZWxju4_IlQUZDdGtnZUlqM2s Thanks DSE for the link that's really useful.
  11. I’m still a newbie myself at flying and video but I like the sentiment of this thread, surely flying wingsuits and having fun with your mates is what it’s about. Here’s some footage from earlier this year. http://vimeo.com/41773507 All positive critique and help welcome.
  12. Thanks for all the info guys I went with Walmart, I just hope it all arrives! Steve
  13. Hi All Three of us from the UK are heading out to Zephyrhills at the end of this month and want buy camping gear and have it delivered to the DZ, so it's there when we arrive. Are there any cheap online stores I should be looking at (I've looked at Wallmart so far) I don't quite understand your tax system anything I need to know? We're just looking to buy cheap tents, campmats, sleeping bags and pillows X 3 as we will be leaving it at the DZ when we leave. Thanks Steve