Cricket reserve??

[woodpecker 0]

Anyone jumped one? Tell me about it....

I've read all the reviews I can on it....just want to hear from the experience here on dz.com.

SONIC WOODY #146

There is a fine line between cockiness and confidence -- which side of the line are you on?

[dbac 0]

I flew a cricket 155 on my first reserve ride in August, I had a lot of things going through my mind so my memories of the cricket aren't the best and they were in this order...

1) Where the f*** is it?
2) Ah, there it is. and it's yellow, huh, I thought it'd be white.
3) hmmm, not very responsive this. come on, into wind, come on, that's it, nearly there, and relax.
4) Getting close to the ground, almost, almost, and flare. I said flare, ok... plf in some mud then.

Not sure if this is what you were after, so many variables will alter flight characteristics etc plus my adrenaline levels were fairly high too.

Feel free to ask me some specific q's if you need.

Bri
www.escondido.co.uk

[matthewcline 0]

Since Your down by Red's shop go look at them.

I have decided to buy one for my next rig and have them in the small team rigs already.

I have used the Cricket 2 times (oops, packing a Stiletto is not an easily hurried task!).

Both times they did a fine job. On heading, docile handling for a 150ish chute with a <200lbs anchor under it (well <190 after cutting away I guess).

2 team mates have tested them out too, same reason even! The yhave opted for them in their personnal rigs too!

When you talk to Red tell him I said Hi! and I asked him to "hook you up".

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[CrazyL 0]

Have used the mini cricket 130 2 times. Once in Eloy mid summer heat. Opened very fast, solid on heading, good body position, PLF landing. Came up about 2 feet shy of the pea pit. Less lift in the heat of summer. Took a wrap on the steering lines did some test flare to get the least descent rate. Second ride in Dallas springtime. Cooler air than summer in Eloy. Had a baglock type mal.Messed with it, picked up speed,lost altitude awareness, cutaway while standing upright, pulled reserve immediatelly, fell onto my back as the reserve deployed,pilot chute bridle and freebag deployed over left shoulder,freebag hit my head and spun on the way up resulting in a few line twist. Doing my best to keep the risers even as i kicked out of line twist, the mini cricket stayed above my head and did not spiral. Could have landed on a dirt road but chose a moderately muddy field near a dirt road just in case the reaper had more in store for me. Flared without a wrap stood me up softly. My suggestion is to go with the recommended weight limit for the cricket series reserve. I would'nt go with the tso'd weight limit. These reserves are very tough. I heard from a Master rigger who had tested the racer sport and tandem using the cricket. I forget the enormous amount of weight and speed that they used.

[woodpecker 0]

thanks people. Just wanting to know if the damn thing sitting in my rig has had any problems from people who have chopped, and rode one down.

Billy

SONIC WOODY #146

There is a fine line between cockiness and confidence -- which side of the line are you on?

[CrazyL 0]

I believe the Crickett reserve works great. Landing them over the 'recommended weight' I believe will be like landing a 22' round @ 180 #'s if you get my drift.PLF,PLF, If I ever find myself under a Micro Raven 120, I hope there is a pond, soft plowed field, pea pit, trees, to land in.

[Elisha 1]

Quote

If I ever find myself under a Micro Raven 120, I hope there is a pond, soft plowed field, pea pit, trees, to land in.

Saw this thread from searching...just ordered a new Wings and had planned to put a PD126r in it. Bonnie said she has a Cricket 135 (or 130?) which packs smaller, but I had no clue about a Cricket. Good thing I'll only have to worry about potentially using the Micro Raven 150 a couple more months. I'm leaning toward one of the two PD126r's in the Classifieds at this point.

[matt91078 0]

Elisha,
Sent you a PM.
Matt

[stratostar 5]

Nothing wrong with a MR 150 !
Just had a girl fire a 1996 model (first deployment) this weekend due to a total on the main, opened just fine (soft for a term deploy she said) flew just fine back to the DZ to a stand up landing.
Don't believe all the BS you hear/read, make up your own mind and test jump one, I'm sure Gorge would send you one to test, then you won't have to "worry" about using it when you need to.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[PhreeZone 20]

What was her loading on it? When loaded up they are very sensitive in the flare and I've seen 3 different people stall their MicroRavens on landing.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Elisha 1]

I would load my MR 150 just over 1:1 (1.05 or whatever).

I just ordered a new Wings cut for my Sabre-120 and said a PD126r, since I assumed I would get one. I doubt the MR 150 would fit - too big. The PD sounds more reasonable and I'm guessing would be just better, and still at a reasonable loading (probably <1.2 since it is bigger than the "126" according to PIA). (Yes Matt, got your PM.) I jumped a PD143R last safety day and it seemed to fly fine even though I landed on my butt. I just flared a late. 10 jumps on one? Bah - I'm not a reserve test jumper, but I'll jump one once or twice when there are demos available.

[masterrigger1 2]

Strat,
I usually agree with most of your posts, but this one really supprises me!

THe MR had several problems and for most situations , they simply are not a good reserve.That IMHO and the opinion of 95% of the other people out there.

After seeing several experienced people land on their backs after an abrupt stall, we now have the policy of not packing them any longer!

Simply put, there are better reserves out on the market!
The Cricket is just one of them......

Cheers,
MEL

Skyworks Parachute Service, LLC
www.Skyworksparachuteservice.com

[stratostar 5]

My point is, this jumper has one on their back if they are so worried about using it then stay on the ground! With that aside, If I had to use one (and I have one on my back) I wouldn't worry about dumping it. Are there other canopies on the market today that are better, yes there are, am I going to run out a replace my MR150, no.
as for the circket, haven't jumped one so I have no real comment on that reserve.

I to have seen jumpers stall theirs, why? For one they were told when buying it, it was too small for them and then when they used it the flair was too high, too fast and they got pounded!
I have seen more of them landed just fine then those who got pounded with them.
All of the MR150's I have packed and had saves on worked just fine, not a one of them blew up or have had damage after deployment.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[phoenixlpr 0]

I had 1 ride with Cricket 147. See Gear review section.

[riggerrob 643]

The biggest problem with Ravens is people over-loading them. Even the factory will tell that you are DUMB if you load a Raven at 1.4 pounds per square foot. That is primarily because nobody was loading mains more than 1:1 when Ravens were introduced.
Why you would expect a Raven to fly significantly better - than a main of the same vintage - baffles me!!!
Newer generations of reserves (Amigo, Icarus, Next, Performance Designs, R-Max, Smart, Speed, Techno, Tempo, etc.) were all designed after manufacturers learned how to make mains land softly at wing-loadings of 1.5 or even 2 pounds per square foot.

[Elisha 1]

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I had 1 ride with Cricket 147. See Gear review section.

Hmmm...I searched the reviews for cricket and didn't see anything - why I dug up this thread.

[stratostar 5]

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Why you would expect a Raven to fly significantly better - than a main of the same vintage - baffles me!!!

I never said that for one thing.
What I said was there is nothing wrong with the reserve if you jump one without it overloaded.
Then again I have seen them landed just fine over loaded (1.2-1.3) and I have seen fools jump them loaded 1.5 or better and they got pounded, one broke his back.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[phoenixlpr 0]

I give you a hint. GlidePath was reincarnated as Flight Concepts. So Cricket review can be under Flight Concepts Reserve.

[Elisha 1]

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I give you a hint. GlidePath was reincarnated as Flight Concepts. So Cricket review can be under Flight Concepts Reserve.

grazie