TALONSKY

A few things to be aware of: 1) Original Safire's are 8% smaller than their stated size (this was changes with the Safire 2). 2) there is a world of difference between Safire's made by Presision and the one's made in Spain(from my understanding the one's mader by Presision open quicker ie hard, and do not have that ton of flare). The Safire I had was made in Spain and flew great had a ton of flare, light to medium riser pressure, and a long recovery arch. The Crossfire is nice soft openning canopy. They have high riser pressure, long recovery arch and a ton of flare. I personally own a Crossfire 2 and there is a world of difference between the original and the Crossfire 2. All changes are great and make one totally cool canopy, however I would question if it would be a good choice for skyboarding. Hope that helps some Kirk

I bought one used for $1200 and afterward got a qute on a new one. i qoute was for $1828. They are really great canopy, so far different from the original that you would swear they could not be related. The riser pressure is light, it dives longer in turns and turns much quicker than the original Crossfire. Blue Skies Kirk

Well it seems in this matter my opinion was totally wrong so I have deleted it. Sorry Kirk

With out a doubt most freefly skills will not help you become a better RW. Each discipline is completely different in most all aspects other than getting out of a plane and turn and track. To really refine RW skills takes alot of jumps, timing is highly important, as well as looking to the center of the formation at all times, body position and fall rate. I personally did my first 150 to 200 jumps doing 4 way then have spent the rest bouncing around from couch jumps, birdman jumps and alot of freefly jumps. I recently did a 5 way RW and did OK but not nearly as good as I use to. Each discipline take its own set of skills that generally will not be able to be use in other disciplines but it does make for a more well round knowlege to know more disciplines Blues Skies Kirk

I have a Crossfire 2 130 wing loaded at 1.75 to 1, and I love it. The canopy is definitely ground hungry, fast turns and light front riser pressure. It has a lot longer of recovery arch than the original Crossfire a lot lighter riser pressure, in fact the canopy is so different in performance than the original Crossfire it is almost a completely different canopy. The openings are great, with brakes set it is definitely hip sensitive. I have in a short period of time got some really incredible swoops out of mine. Blue Skies Kirk

I have been jumping my GTI for about 4 months. I have found it very difficult to fit in all the things I love to do in skydiving. I jump the GTI about once or twice a weekend. I have a big docile main I jump with it to avoid adding more complications so since I got a Crossfire 2 it has been difficult to not want to fly a docile canopy and therefore I jump the wing suit just occasionally. As far as what I jump out of, I usually jump out of a twin Otter but have jumped it out of a grand caravan. I have not yet had the opportunity to jump it out of a 182, but do look forward to it. Kirk

Well Kevin I was not trying to insult you but just bring up a possible point. In my 30 birdman suit jumps I have never left unstable and have been rock solid out the door, I have watch a fellow birdman go through a learning curve on exits (He had a lower jump number). I personally feel if I can do something then most everyone should be able to do the same, with that in mind the only difference between me and this other birdman were jump numbers and jump styles (RW verses Freeflying). I believe what helped the other birdman out was inflating the arm wings slightly before the leg wing. Kirk

After putting 30 some jumps on my GTI I feel pretty strongly that jump number and jump maturity are important factors to really consider. I personally would question whether or not you should be jumping a birdman suit at 200+ jumps. That aside I would suggest practicing the exit without the suit (I do the exit that is described in the manual) until you have it down to a completely stable exit before trying it again with the birdman suit. Kirk

I really would not recomend buying a jump suit to go through student statues unless at your dropzone they do not have a jumpsuit that would fit. The reason I say this is I personally love booties and highly recommend them to new A license holders. Booties give you a more powerful track and turns however, they would be a really really bad idea for a student. So if the only reason you want to buy one is so it looks better just wait and buy one when your skills are better(plus you need to know how fast you fall in a relaxed arch compared to others to find the type of suit that would best suit you) Blue Skies Kirk

Look on the warning lable that is were it will state the size and if it is a Safire 2 it will state that to. I know that my Crossfire2 only states Crossfire2 on the warning label(the large lable on the side still says Crossfire). As Simon stated in the e-mail anything that is an Omega or Safire(not the Omni or Safire 2) will be 8% smaller than stated. I do have to say that Icarus has been aware of this for a long time and if you have ever talked to them, they will always let you know about it. When I was looking at one as my second main I called them and that was the first thing they let me know. Kirk

WARNING THIS MAY BE SAPPY In the past three or four months I have found a new hero (or person to look up to). About four months ago Drew (airdrew20012001) had a very serious accident, he broke every boon is his face, 3 brakes on his pelvis, a crushed foot, broken ankle, & and broken arm. He has made a total recovery and is skydiving again. MY GOD, I personally think just the accident would have tainted my view on life and skydiving, but Drew is more positive then practically before the accident. So to some it up KUDOS to those out there that get handed this incredible ball of shit and keep a totally positive attitude to life (because I probably would not be able to) Drew you are awesome, Kirk

Well if you can not find someone experianced to help there is a really great training video by Arizona Airspeed called "Skydive University 4'99". I believe it cost around $100 for it, bt it is a really great training tool. Kirk

I havve a Z1 and my Pro-track fit great, dimensionally the skytronic and Protrack are almost the same(except for the rounded area on the skytronic). The way I looked at it is simply this if you want the best (best preformance and customer service) Pro-track wins hands down. If that is too much money a skytronic works almost and well. It is really hard to beat a company that has in alot of times replaced their product when it was no fault of theirs. Pro-track just kicks ass Blue Skies Kirk

I agree with Mac on this, you need to get a lot more jumps in before worrying about flying a birdman suit. Now the birdman web site recommends 500 jumps before jump one. On the web site they state it is more about jump maturity than jump number. I know for myself I started jumping a GTI at around 400 jump, the scariest scenarios I have been in have been with this suit. I have had a hard pull. Which may not be scary, until adding not perfect form on deploying in a wing suit and the result got my main out (not very well kind of head down at that point). I also had a jump were I was on my back spinning with my canopy (at this time it was a Sabre 170) spun up but luckily not spinning up more. I personally feel that the amount of jumps I had gave me the maturity to deal with each situation well. Honestly, if these two scenarios had come a lot earlier in my skydiving career I wonder if I would have dealt with them as calmly and clear headed as I did. Play safely and have fun Kirk

I will second that, Crossfire 2 totally ROCK Kirk

I believe that this sizing issue affects all Safire's and Omega's not just ones made in the USA. Mine was made in Spain on July 2000 and has the sizing issue. Blue Skies Kirk

That would be correct. Your 180 is about a 164. I have a Safire 169 and taking a tape measure to it and comparing it to a PD Sabre 150, I found mine to be about the same size. Ding the same thing to a Hornet 170, I came up that mine was about 16 sq feet smaller. As to why just the Safire and the Omega are the only canopies effected I do not know Kirk

I know that there has been several posts that went into the fact that the original Safire's and Omega's are measure differently than PD. I e-mailed Icarus and explained that this had been talked about here and if they could give me a reply that I could post so here is Icarus's reply The Safire-1 and the Omega are measured differently to PD canopies. As a rough guide a Safire-1 or Omega is about the same size as the next size down - eg A Safire 149 is about a 135. A Safire 119 is about a 109. Use an equation of 8%. The Safire-2 and Omni (Omni supercedes Omega) are measured the same as PD. All other Icarus Canopies are measured the same as PD. The reason for the difference is due to Precision measuring their canopies differently. Icarus have always measured the same as PD however when we originally commenced in the USA, Precision were building parachutes for us under license and were doing it using their size equations and not Icarus/PD's. We have therefore had to wait to supercede these models to change the size equation. Only the Safire and Omega were affected. Blue skies Simon Icarus Canopies USA: 1S671 Bender Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, USA Ph. (630) 562-2735, Fax (630) 231-4430 Europe: P.I. El Ramassar, c/ Vallés, s/n O8520, Les Franqueses, Barcelona, SPAIN. Ph. (34) 938 496 432, Fax (34) 938 497 971 www.icaruscanopies.com

It is my understanding that all Safire 1's are measured the funky way along with the original Omega's. As I understand it they change the way they measure them on the Safire 2's and the Omni. Kirk BTW mine was made in July of 2000

It sounds like you may not know that your Safire 169 is really closer to a PD Sabre 150. You can call Icarus yourself at (630) 562-2735. I had a Safire 169 and measured it up against a Sabre 150 and mine was a touch smaller. The reason for this is Icarus desided to measure differently than most companies on the Safire & Omega ( who knows why). Blue Skies Kirk

I wonder if they'll find some way to incorporate booties... In talking to Dwayne about the tracking pants, there is extra material around the foot to inflat and cover the front of your foot. This is to give it a similiar effect as booties would. I also agree with Mac, there are very few of these pants out right now and the probablity of these being the pants that the base jumper were waring is very slim. It is also my understanding that the main target audiance for these pants is base jumpers. Kirk

I have 470 jumps and about 7.5 % are hop-n-pops. I personally would love about 50 hop-n-pop right now so I can work on high performance landings. Blue skies Kirk

You may want to wait until you have 500 jumps before cutting away. Most rating take 500 jumps & 3 years in the sport to get. Except the Coach rating and at my DZ we coach's only get the jump and money for a pack job. Unless you are experianced doing video. Good luck, Blue Skies Kirk

Falcon 195 (140 jumps) loaded 1.15 to 1 Safire 169 (295 jumps ) loaded 1.5 to 1 Crossfire 2 130 (20 jumps - current) loaded 1.73 to 1 Blue Skies Kirk

Hi, I do not want to be giving a sales pitvh, but my second canopy was a Safire 169 ( actually A 150 compared to PD Sabre) and totally love that canopy. After 350 jumps on it I was doing 90° front riser landing and it performed great. I now have a Crossfire2 130 and the transition was far simpler than I would have imagined. Anyway, I just sent my Safire 169 in for a reline to put up for sale. You can personal message me if you are interested. I personally think Icarus is a great company and have totally awesome product. So if you are interested in my Safire or not I would really incurage you to check them out. Blue skies Kirk