Kolla

Hey Snowdude! The Sabre2 and the Pilot are quite different canopies, so if you are looking to compare "apples to apples", I would suggest looking at the Silhouette vs the Pilot, those two are much more related in the way they fly. The Sabre2 is a bit more aggressive in it's handling. I noticed that you list Cross Keys as your home DZ, will you be coming down for the Invasion over Christmas? If so, I would definitely recommend that you stop by the PD tent and chat with the PD reps and demo a few canopies. If it isn't too cold (remember us Floridians don't like cold) we'd love to go do a high hop & pop and do some canopy flying instead of just talking about it on a forum

I'm UPSIZING my PD 113R to a 126 of the new material. Blues, Ian Ditto there - although I fully trust my 113, I'm all for more reserve over my head. Blue Skies Magazine

Hey Scuba! I would recommend that you contact PD and get a demo of the Silhouette 230 and compare that directly to the Spectre 230. Doing it the "apples to apples" way will give you the best grounds to compare the two canopies. Call up Kim who runs the demo program at PD, she has quite a few jumps under the Silhouette and a lot of experience with the Spectre, so she will be able to relate to where you are coming from very well. My hunch is that you will enjoy flying the Silhouette - it's a great canopy. The top skin being zero p gives you a strong performer and the hybrid construction makes it very nice and easy to pack (compared to the fully zero p models). The wingloading recommendations for the Silhouette are intentionally very conservative - they were done with young jumpers in mind. The canopy can handle higher loadings just fine, but as with any model, the smaller the canopy or the higher the loading, the more skilled the pilot needs to be in order to land the canopy. I would definitely recommend talking to your instructors or the S&TA at your DZ about your thoughts, those people are likely much better equipped to give you advice than us on DZ.com. Blue ones, Kolla Kolbeinsdottir Performance Designs, Inc. Blue Skies Magazine

Yep, that was me at Chicks Rock :) The black & white one I showed you actually belongs to Mark Procos (the GM at RWS/UPT) - my rig was the orange and silver one next to it. The rig is as comfortable as it is beautiful - and of course SkyHook equipped. Good luck saving up the dollars - that always comes really naturally to skydivers... blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Hey Ryan, Yeah, the leg straps are fully equipped too, and they do feel more comfortable - I notice that they "slide around" less than the straps on my previous Mircon did in freefall (when I'm attempting to freefly that is ). I noticed that your home DZ is Eloy - I will be out that way this coming weekend for Nationals. I'm bringing my rig, so if you want to take a look at the new backpad and foam stuff, come look me up under the PD tent, I'm only too happy to show off my new fabulous rig :) Bloooos, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

In my opinion it's well worth it. The rig is more comfortable when sitting/standing for sure, but it also seems to stay put on my back a lot better than my previous Vector in freefall, and the rig is VERY comfortable under canopy. The biggest difference to me is "over the shoulder" comfort. Where the seam/binding tape lining the yoke used to be (sorry, don't have a picture to show you) now is just a smooth pad - it's yummy :o) blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Good luck job hunting, will be great to have another chick in town :) Blue Skies Magazine

Hello mutron, unfortunately I'm not much help when it comes to pricing, but I can tell you that there have been no changes in the design or fabric for the Silhouette since it came out. It is definitely a great first canopy - sometimes referred to as PD's best kept secret :) Blue ones, Kolla Kolbeinsdottir Performance Designs, Inc Blue Skies Magazine

I've had one with and one without - on my new Micron I have the one piece leg pad and they are super comfortable (I have owned a Javelin & a Mirage as well). Due to working with Isaiah, I get subjected to an unnaturally large number of hop & pops from full altitude, and being comfortable in the harness is important on those long rides down :) As with so many other things, this boils down to personal preference more than anything. Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Hi Kate, I think it's a great idea - perhaps you can mix a camp and a comp and run it over a couple of days. I'm with SkyMonkey on this one, don't find it a bad idea at all (having just returned from Chicks Rock where I had a great time with a bunch of great skydiving gals). If I'm available at the time of the event, I'd be happy to help with judging! Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Hey Nick, PD's contracts (or agreements as we usually call them) are a fairly simple document that outlines what we expect from our sponsored athletes, and what they they are provided with in return. Agreements are signed from 1 to 2 years (depending on the situation) - but can be canceled or altered at any point should the need arise. They are binding in the sense that while the athlete chooses to work with us, we will hold him/her to the agreement made. However, if a sponsored persons heart is no longer in it - for any reason - it is usually best to end the relationship there and then and move on. In that sense, the contract/agreement isn't as "binding" as you might think. We prefer to work with people that have a passion for the sport, our products and company. We are fortunate to have a great relationship with quite a few athletes (sponsored to varying degrees) and we are very happy to have Stu as a part of the PD family. As people on the forums know, he's a talented swooper and a person of integrity and character. We hope to have a long and good relationship with Stu for years to come.... contract or not :) The sky is a big playground - there is room for people under all kinds of different parachutes up there. I look forward to next season, we have a bunch of new pilots coming up through the ranks that will for sure add some spice to the competitions. May whoever has the most fun win! Blue ones, Kolla Kolbeinsdottir Performance Designs, Inc Blue Skies Magazine

Well, I have the pleasure of working with Kim (who runs PD's demo program) and she continues to impress me. She really cares about her customers and often goes out of her way to make sure she is matching jumpers up with the right canopy. Just make sure to be nice to the demos - or risk the wrath of the demo queen Blue Skies Magazine

Yep.... the bright minds at RWS are at it again - very exciting indeed and brilliant in it's simplicity!! I would definitely start saving up some $$ for a new Vector!! Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

- I'll second that motion. PD can inspect the main and check the porosity levels, but by the time you have paid for shipping costs, inpection, reline (if needed) and the canopy.... I just can't help but thinking that money would be better put towards a more modern model, of appropriate size. Best of luck finding gear! Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Hey Sparky! We did make the PD 7-cell in 176 as well (not CRW specific). It's an old design for sure, and if the canopy is starting to get a bit worn the flare performance has likely started to suffer. Blooos! Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Wow, I was just thinking there should be a post remembering them :) Having a Heineken now, toasting the gang. It's a Heini ilght actually - wonder how the guys would have liked it! Lara, Sandy & Justin are in the Keys, finishing Bruno's bottle of Mandrin for him and saying hi... -has it really been a year already? Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

The plan is for the 2% dealer not to be dealers, thats how - you hit the nail exactly on the head there :) And again, definitely a lot of changes here, but after the dust has settled I'm confident that we will see a stronger dealer network that is better able to both take care of their customers and run a viable business. The forums here are not the appropriate place to go into details, so you will just have to take my word for it - for the time being at least. I'll see you at Skyfest! Kolla I'll see you at Skyfest Blue Skies Magazine

Actually Mark, the cost of sponsored athletes/teams went down! We are making some changes in our sponsorship program to enable us to better support the teams/individuals we have - as a part of that we somewhat reduced the size of the program. Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

well, thing is that two things took place simultaneously - make sure to keep that straight: 1. Prices increased (as a result of increase in the cost of doing business, to include labor & materials). Simple as that. 2. Pricing structure to dealers was changed. Not quite as simple. That comes about as a part of a plan to move our business to a more professional level. Another part of that plan is to strengthen and support dealers that do take the time to educate and service their customers (in particular the younger jumpers) and enable those dealers to work in an environment where they can thrive. THAT we believe will be to the benefit of the individual jumper and thus the sport. And JP, as you so eloquently put it - the "trunk dealers" are the ones the industry as a whole hopes to see go the way of the dodo bird (if needed, I recommend watching the movie Ice Age for further information on the species). Thanks all, for taking the time to read the press release and share your thoughts. We may not always agree, but we will always listen. This is a big change, and change can be difficult. We are as committed as before to build PD into a strong company with some of the best products in the world, sold by some of the best dealers in the world. Blue ones, Kolla Kolbeinsdottir, Performance Designs, Inc. Blue Skies Magazine

Hey Brad! You da man!!! You have filled us at PD with pride and joy and the employees here are rooting for you, superhero-swooper style. I printed out Stu's website article and put on the wall for all to see, but now they demand a photo to go with it! Please e-mail me a photo of you and your Katana so I can hang it up next to the article! Blue ones, Kolla Kolbeinsdottir Performance Designs, Inc - The maker of the KATANA!! PS, I'm dead serious about the photo, so send it!! Blue Skies Magazine

#3 - for sure!!! My new one is due in a few short weeks, and that is charcoal & orange too, but diagonal split instead of your V split :) These colors look sharp on a rig in my opinion, and also wear very well (my old one was charcoal and & red) Enjoy your new Vector :) Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

I'll be there - with my clip board Look forward to see you there, can't believe it's the last one of the season aleady! Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Allllright boys - take it outside In my experience it's a bit of a "chocolate vs vanilla" situation. I wouldn't say the one canopy is better or worse than the other - they do possess very different flight characteristics that will appeal to different groups of jumpers. Personally, I favor the way the Katana flies, and I prefer chocolate over vanilla. It all boils down to preferences. Keep in mind that releasing the Katana didn't make the Stiletto any less of a performer - you still need some skill and experience under your belt before either one of those canopies is a suitable choice:) Blue Skies Magazine

I absolutely can see people flying the Katana at easy going wingloadings! I flew the 135 at roughly 1.2 and enjoyed every second. It's still a very lively canopy - built for an experienced canopy pilot no matter the wingloading. You may have noticed that the only canopy PD has posted "minimum wingloadings" for is the Velocity - and the minimum we recommend is 1.0 :) And J, enough with the dunk tank thing... although - if you quit smoking (for good!) I will agree to be dunked!!! Hows that for a bargain?? Bloooos, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine

Matter of fact, I think AggieDave has been pestering me for a big Katana since the day I started working at PD... and back then we didn't even know we were going to build it Kim, our Demo Chick, is already building a waiting list for the larger sizes and the demos are being made. I can't wait to hear what jumpers will think of the 3 new sizes. I own a 107 and am 155-160 out the door, but have to tell you that 135 was one of the most fun canopies I have ever flown! And J - I just might see you in TX ;) Blue ones, Kolla Blue Skies Magazine