TALONSKY

Hi have put a little over 300 jumps on a Safire 1 made in Spain and never had a hard opening. I could trash pack my Safire in 5 minutes and it always opened well. If your looking at Safire 1's it is my understanding that a fair number of them that were made by PA open hard and do not flare well. I have never jumped a Safire 2. I have over 200 jumps on a Crossfire 1 129, and a Crossfire 2 130. They both open great and fly even better. Kirk

I think that with out a doubt the Icarus Crossfire 1 or Crossfire 2 are the softest openning canopy out. They are fun to fly and can either be very aggressive canopy or more conservitive depending on wing loading and flight style. Kirk

Maybe I am going out on a limb but if you are not a student then it is your responsiblity to look out of the plane and decide whether or not the spot is good for yourself. I think this entire sue happy culture should be shot. Kirk

I have had my Infinity for over a year and love it. I think they have incredible customer service. I really do not think you will find anyone unhappy with Infinity Kirk

For a first rig I would buy used. Javelin, Mirage, Wings, Infinity, Talon 2 , Vector 3's are all good rigs. I would be careful of anything older than 96. I believe some older ones may have soft housings for cut away and reserve cable plus l more velcro. The reason to buy used is you will start out with a much bigger main and down size later on. Most containers can move up one size and down one size from what they were designed for. By the way, you can go up one size but it will be very difficult to pack. Kirk

I have a new set of risers from Mirage. I found that because of how the extra break line is slowed on the back side ot he riser it makes it too bulky for the slider to pass over. If you only stow the extra brake line throw the bottom stow and not throw the top one it will allow the slider passed. The problem is that with the top stow it puts all the bulk of the ring and the extra line that passes around the riser to be at the same spot by only using the bottom stow on the rear of the riser (the one closest to the three rings) it move that bulk to a lower spot and the slider will pass over it. Kirk

I believe the orignal Crossfire was to be direct competition for the Stiletto with better opennings and a longer recovery arch. Now I believe the Katana is to compete with the Crossfire 2 which is a step above the Stiletto but just a step down from X-braced. But if you really want the best comparison you should demo as many different canopies in the performance level you want. Make no mistake the Stiletto, Crossfire, Crossfire 2, Vengance, Katana, Heatwave, Samari, Jedei are ALL high performance canopies and need to be flown and treated like it. Good Intermediate canopies are Safire, Safire 2, Sabre 2, Hornet all of these are semi eliptical. Kirk

Hereis a slightly out of focus pic of my suit Kirk

Thanks, that was the kind of response I needed to make up my mind on which one to get. Kirk

I know that most all skydive specific things such as the camera eye 2 are for Sony products and that across the board Sony seems to be the Camcoder most used. But I find it interesting that the Sony PC105 is one megapixel while the Canon Optura 300 is 2 megapixel. The Optura is about the same size as the PC105 so I am interested to hear others experiance using other camcorders othr than Sony?Thanks Kirk

Two years ago I ordered a suit from them with the "RUSH" option. I called them and they said they could not rush it. Back then I got my suit in 9 weeks but that was after calling every week to try and get it expedited. They have great suits just a little slow on the order processing end. Kirk

First skydive through A-license $2000. Altimeter (FT-50) $150 First used rig $2200. First used RW suit $100. Helmet Z1 $225. Pro Track $260. Second main (Safire 169 ) $550. Second custom made RW suit $350 First custom made Free fly suit $275 Third custom made RW suit $350 one third GTI birdman suit $244 Coach rating $180 Third used main(Crossfire 2 130)$1200 New container/reserve/Cypress Infinity container/ PD 143 R $3400 Sell of my first Container/R/AAD $-1500 Sell of my second main $ -400 Birdman suit Skyflier 3 $1200 Altimeter watch(SuuntoVector) $180 B rig container (Eclipse ) $250 B rig reserve (PD 126 ) $630 B rig main (used Crossfire 1 129) $800 Cutaway $85 Tandem rating $1300 Open face helmet (EVO Z1) $150 Fourth main (used VX 109) $1000 Set of riser for new main $135 New freefly pants for tandems $200 Altimeter for chest mount (FT-40) $70 Camera Helmet (Sidewinder 2) $200 (still need to get camera for helmet) $750 Currently I have 650 jumps at an appox cost of (try to guess with hop-n-pops) $9750 total so far not including unbought camera $25,534 I have been skydiving for approx 4 years so a cost of $6383.50 per year and an approx. $38.69 per jump over that time

Here's mine Kirk

I think their service is great !!! Awhile back I had ordered a set of Mirage Stainless Steel risers for them. Mirage lead time was 4 weeks, when I received them they were standard hardware not SS. So they told me to send them back and they would have new ones to me in a week. I also told them I wanted some clear goggle so they sent be 2 pairs of the $17.00 goggles for free. Kirk

In my personal experiance there really is no such thing as a good freefly/ Rw suit. I feel it is best to get the right tools for doing that disapline. So, decide which you would want more and get it. I feel for RW that a suit with booties and inside grippers is best. I also found that the larger grippers are better Kirk

I am still a newbie Tandem instructor but I did learn one very important lesson on my second live tandem. If after opening you have ANY doubt about the condition of your main make a couple of attempts to fix and if that does not work GET RID OF IT. I opened to tension knots on the right side and a 5000 feet AGL it was a very minor turn to the right which was easy to correct. I did a couple CCC and the canopy was fine. At 1000 feet AGL the turn to the right was much worse I let up for a second to give my left arm a small break and we immediately went horizontal to the ground in a spiral. I was barely able to correct and land it. A mistake I will never make again. Secondly always Keep all your options open. Kirk

I have a VX 109 that I am puting in an Eclipse container made for a 135 main. It is a very tight fit, I have pycho pack it and roll it very tight in order to fit it in the container and look good. I have seen it packed up looser and it fits but the container then looks pregnant. Believe what you hear they are at least 25% bigger. Kirk

I have over 100 wingsuit jumps with a Crossfire 1 129 loaded 1.85 to 1. I have never had any problems and find their openning great for wingsuit fling. I currently have a Crossfire 2 that I use for wingsuit flying and other than doing some unwanted hip turns while unzipping I love it. As someone else stated fully eliptical canopies are not reccommended for wingsuit flying but in the end it is up to the individual. I would recommend learning to fly and deploy with a square canopy before using your Crossfire. I did over 50 wingsuit jumps on a square before switching. Kirk

My pit special took about 13 days from time of order to delivery. My Tony swoop suit took about 21 days from time of order to time of delivery. It depends on the time of year to how quick their rush service is, but I have always had great luck with their service and fit. Kirk

I believe they have had some staffing problems or lack there of to be more specific and are having some trouble catching up with orders. I believe that is why the long delivery times. Kirk

My personal opinion is that it is really cool to have all your gear matching, so use your container colors as the base colors of the suit (that is if you like them and plan on keeping your container for a while. Kirk

When I had my lines replaced I called Icarus and used their factory rigging company. SKYWORK PARACHUTE – ICARUS SERVICE CENTER CHESTER COUNTY AIRPORT 1918 LUSCOMBE LANE CHESTER, SC 29706 They did a great job and only took about 2-3 weeks. Kirk

I started learning to swoop on a Safire. I think they are a good intermediate canopy with a fairly long recovery arch(that is if it is a safire 1 and not a safire 2). They have lighter front riser pressure and are not too sensitive to input. Kirk

The Heatwave is a fully elliptical canopy. It is similar to the PD Stiletto. I am not trying to be a canopy nazi but you may want to get a few more jumps under your belt before jumping a fully elliptical canopy Kirk PS. Great intermediate canopies are the PISA Hornet, PD Sabre, Sabre 2, Icarus Safire & Safire 2 Kirk

Instead of being judgemental, we should share out experiences for our fellow skydivers to learn from ________________________________________________ Hey Tina, wasn't that what every one was doing. You are the one who came out here ranting about the advise others gave. It seems to me that you are the one that blew up to what it became. Blue sky Kirk