Anachronist

To put this review in context (all numbers are approximations), I have about 300 wingsuit jumps, roughly 50 on a P3 and a S-Bird combined, 30 on an X-Wing (like a X-1), the rest are on an original Havok with a handful on other suits. I’m not an especially talented pilot but just a regular fun jumper with zero BASE experience. I’ve put about 10 jumps on the Colugo 2 at the time of writing this so it is an “initial impression” type review.

As far as dealing with Squirrel prior to and during ordering as well as after the suit was delivered, I can’t say enough good things. They responded very quickly and thoroughly to all of my inquiries and sent updates when the suit was finished, when it would arrive, and when it actually shipped. They quoted 4-5 weeks for delivery and I think it came in at 4 ½ weeks. They also followed up to make sure the fit was just right.

Trying it on and checking everything out: I tried it on without a rig and everything seemed to fit well, the arms seemed just a touch long (like ½ an inch) but that was made perfect after trying it on with a rig. I was already familiar with Squirrel construction and zippers, no surprises there. On a side note, I’m not a fan of any innie-outie system since I don’t BASE jump so there is that, but take a look at how Squirrel suggests assembling it with the bungee routed between your body and the lift web and the handle swallowing problem is considerably reduced. On the ground, in the plane, during flight, and under canopy, my handles haven’t been gobbled up yet.
The fit on the ground was a little snug in the crotch, when I sent a photo and asked Squirrel if it was suppose to fit like that they assured me it was not uncommon and as long as I didn’t feel it in flight then the fit was perfect, which is the case. The zipper comes very high on my neck, the only time I could completely zip it up would be during flight. This is a problem I’ve had on every suit I’ve ever jumped, some worse than others. In general I zip it as high as is comfortable, leaving about 2 inches unzipped, I don’t notice it during freefall or canopy flight. Over all the fit is “snug” and comfortable, perfect for flying in plain clothes but would likely be uncomfortable with any insulation underneath. If you jump with layers, I would suggest asking Squirrel about making it fit to allow that. The last thing to mention is the arms, they also fit “snug,” making a fist causes the arm to become a little tight, again feels great in flight but requires a little more effort at pull time. It comes with two sets of arm padding, thick and thin, the thick stuff is way tighter than I am comfortable with, I made a few jumps without any padding which was very comfortable, then added the thin padding which seems to be a good compromise between comfort and keeping the leading edge nice and shapely.

How it flys: I’m not a big suit expert and my only other experience is an X-Wing. I was impressed with how smooth the exit felt, immediate pressurization and transition into flight. (I made the first jump with the vents ¼ unzipped, don’t bother, just rock out full pressurization.) The suit immediately felt more stable and controlled that I expected and in a relaxed position it is very fast. I made a few small turns to make sure I could fly where I wanted to go and the input was incredibly intuitive. Then on to some nice big and hard turns, the suit stayed locked in exactly the orientation I put it in, it felt just as stable in a steep bank as it did flying flat and level. I then flew in a deployment position for a few seconds, again the suit was stable and controllable during the whole process and I could steer just fine with both hands on my rig and my knees bent. A few more turns and a little playing with pitch changes, the C2 responded precisely and stable to every input I gave it.

Subsequent jumps have included chasing Funk range suits, very steep dives, cloud carving, trying to max out glide and speed, and chasing an Aura 2 flown by a much more experienced pilot. The recurring theme is fast and stable. The C2 really likes to run, but I was able to shut it down, dig my knees in, and preform surprisingly smooth slow speed maneuvers chasing the smaller and slower suits.

So far I am very impressed with how it preforms both in raw speed/glide as well as intuitive control and slow speed flight. I’ve still got a lot to learn about it but I’m glad I chose the Colugo 2 for my upsize.

If you are coming from a Havok/Funk style suit then this should be an appropriate choice to upsize, it will feel a bit more ridged and sensitive to input so make your first couple of flights about learning to go where you want and getting comfortable at pull time (I suggest jumping without any arm padding at first). It will also feel like it wants to pitch steeper but just relax and it will settle into a nice glide, don’t be afraid of feeling you are pitched down, just go with it, the suits wants to fly nicely in a relaxed body position. If you are coming from and earlier X-1/2/3 then you’ll notice that the leg wing is a lot more flexible, you can actually tap your heels, and the arm pressure feels a little lighter. That said it is certainly faster than the X-1 even though it isn’t as stiff and the tail is a little shorter. It will also feel much more stable and controllable.

The only thing I’m having trouble making it do is fly slow and floaty, but it wasn’t really designed for that, and I’m sure it will come with more jumps. May not be the best choice for XRW unless you are a very light or highly experienced big suit pilot. Everything else it eagerly obliges to.

I got the chance to demo a Firebolt DOM 2013 at a WL of 1.3:1. About 10 jumps total, sub terminal, terminal, and wingsuit. Snivel was long and soft every time. On non-wingsuit jumps it maintained heading very well but the long snivel gave it too much time to spin a few line twists on wingsuit deployments. Certainly not a bad wingsuit canopy but not ideal, I've been told it can be packed to make it open a little faster. It likes toggle input most but front and rear risers are effective, shallow fronts are a little bumpy but once you get deep enough it smooths out. Toggle turns were very quick and comfortable with very little input required. The best part is the flare which is very very powerful. If a big flare is important to you this canopy certainly has it. The packing and stowing brakes takes a little getting use to if you're coming from PD canopies but after about 3 packs it all makes sense. This may be one of the most under-rated canopies I've flown, I would strongly recommend giving it a try if you're in the market for a great all around canopy.

Demo'd a Pulse 210 at a 1.2/1.3 WL and put about 10 jumps on it. Freakin awesome! Deployment was comfortable and "prompt;" very stable and usually on heading. Toggle and riser input is very responsive and the flare is fantastic. The recovery arc is very very short. As soon as you stop giving input it wants to level out and does so quickly. To me (non-swooper) I like that. Was very easy to judge the glide which is quite flat and landings are very comfortable. Many of my jumps were on a wingsuit and I found the deployments to be very stable. The pack size is nice and small and it is easier and faster to pack I thought as well. 5 stars all day long.

Demo'd a Storm 210 and put about 10 jumps on it over a weekend. First of all, read the flight characteristics found on PD's website for the Storm. I found that to be entirely accurate with the exception of deployment. I enjoyed it's flight characteristics and the flare is very powerful, especially the last 3 inches, if you aren't fully extending your arms you're not using nearly as much power as the canopy has to offer. The deployments though... 180 degree heading changes of the canopy constantly, back and forth, while my body remained on heading during the snivel. Sometimes it would snivel on heading and right before inflation spin a 180 or even 360 degree turn, often resulting in line twist. After 4 or 5 jumps I would grab the risers as soon as the canopy was over head and pull them apart as much as I could which seemed to temper the oscillation during the snivel. I've got about 250 jumps, about 50 wingsuit jumps, and I've had one diving, spinning, line twist situation that almost ended in a cutaway, it was on a Storm. The "super stable perfect wingsuit canopy" description I find to be misleading. The snivel is long and soft but the canopy is very squirrely until it's inflated, at which point it flys very well. I have found a Pilot, Pulse, and Navigator (The only 3 other canopies I've jumped more than a few times) to be much more stable and predictable during deployment than the Storm. After talking to another, much more experienced jumper, I found my experience was not unique. The only other con is the brakes, when stowed you have an absurd amount of excess line to stow, when I first saw it I thought "you've got to be kidding me." If not for the deployment issues I'd give it a 4 or 5 out of 5 but between that and the annoyance of stowing a mile of brake line its a 3. Maybe this is great CReW canopy but that isn't my forte. If you're looking for a all around sport or wingsuit canopy there are better options out there; the Pulse and Pilot being two of them.

Have put about 20 jumps on a Pilot 210. The openings are smooth and on heading, good positive control on the toggles and rears. The flare is easy to time and plenty powerful. Even had a couple line twisted up deployments on a wingsuit but the Pilot flew along as though nothing was wrong as I spun out of them. It tends to pack a size larger than other canopies of the same square footage. If not for that then I'd have given it a 5 star rating.

Had a PC in tow on a wingsuit jump and had to dump my Smart 190. Deployment was brisk but not uncomfortable, it would be ok for every jump. Had about a 720 of line twists (almost certainly my fault) but she flew solid as a rock while I took my time unwinding. Nice flight characteristics and a bit of a soft flare but I guess that's to be expected. I walked away from a downwind landing off the DZ so it was certainly good enough. :) The only con is that it seems to pack a size or so larger than other reserves of equal size. Reference UPT's and Mirage's container pack charts and you'll see. And where more reserve is usually better I would call that a con. Other than that I'd give it a 5 star rating.

I got some pants and a jacket, over all very poor quality, and they are difficult to communicate with. I consider it a complete waste.

Ordered a jacket and pants, bizarre company to deal with, they don't respond well to e-mails. Also very poor quality, seams coming undone UNWORN!! Plastic bits broke after a couple uses, very cheap zipper, and perhaps subjectively, poor attention to measurements. Complete waste.