hjumper33

Unfortunately, we seem to live in an imperfect world, where these things do happen. Even the safest skydiver cant control people around them opening close, or flying at them in line twists. The ability to control your canopy instantly can potentially save lives in both skydiving, and even more so in base. You dont need an AAD either right since you can just pull high and not run into people while flying.

Haha exactly. I could give a flying fuck about the 1% of people who upload to that site. I'd like to think some of my friends are recognized as some of the best base pilots in the world, and I don't know a single one that does distance competitions. Jaron has got to be one of the best acro/all around pilots out there, but is he #1 on all the paralog tracks? But I'd listen to his opinion on suits for sure. So much of numbers in skydiving had to do with conditions. There's a reason when they do land speed records they require that the record be the average of two runs in opposite directions. Same thing is true with base, but you can at least say from exit x on this day I flew to point y. Aren't all those numbers people who dive super hard and then flare super hard too? How is that applicable to anything accept that specific scenario?

That was a really nice and what appeared to be unbiased review. I'll be interested to see what other people think about the fins. Does seem like this is one of the biggest redesigns of a vampire ever ( no leg pouch, different vents, larger, no Mylar, fins) I do like to see that good ideas seem to be getting shared across the board when it comes to vent design which is definitely a safety issue.

This thread makes me think of something I'd heard in the tech world. PCs have users, Mac has evangelists. You do something well enough that people love, they're going to talk about it. Chris is a squirrel evangelist now and if the other companies don't step up their game customer service wise, they're going to continue to lose business. I am not going to say a single word in this thread about flight performance, but customer service wise, there is absolutely no comparison between squirrel and existing wingsuit companies.

Ive had several sabre 1s. The best part to me is that you can pick one up for about $300-500.

He already did :)

Hmmm, I only see two guys yelling at each other. Jerking off with blowjob mouths huh. I guess we see what we want ;)

I think there is always a ton of developments and changes in the giant suits, and people always are looking for the newest thing for maximum performance. Havok and now Funk are designed with a purpose that wont easily go away or be dramatically changed. Even if you upgrade to a big suits, youd still want to hold on to an all around acro type suit. Probably the same reason you see phantoms in the classifieds, but a super small percentage compared to how many phantoms are out there, which I assume is a ton.

I found the sleeves so easy that I started holding risers during opening and didn't realize it til I saw it on a belly mount video. I grab right away to help stop line twists as the are more likely to be induced by body swing in the base world. Also, a really high base opening could be something like 800-1000 feet, and that's on the high side. In those cases when you landing area is very small, flying the wrong direction for even a few extra seconds while dealing with line twists or even unzipping can lead to an off landing or injury. I've had to land in line twists...twice, because not making a landing area was not an option and I chose to control the canopy above the twists. This is a very much less likely occurrence when you can reach up and control and opening right away. If I have a choice of one over the other, I actually unzip my leg wings first.

I think for me at least its just the time it takes to correct it if somethings wrong. I absolutely loved my phantom 2, one of the best wingsuits ive ever owned. It showed up with the wrong color on part of it. I really didnt want to wait another 2-3 months for it to get fixed, so I just kept it. I think a lot of people have had a similar experience. There is absolutely nothing wrong with phoenix fly products. They make quality stuff, and ive never owned a suit from them I didnt like. Squirrel has the production capability that revolutionizes the wingsuit game though, and waiting 6 months for a suit now just seems crazy to me.

To be fair, you also are the worst wingsuit pilot I've ever met, and your dog stole my socks, so I guess it all evens out.

Yup you'll be good either way. Phantoms are basically the gold standard for this class of suit and I did many jumps on a p2 both skydiving and base. I own a swift and it definitely has a bit more power than a phantom as others have already commented on, and has very similar ease of use. The difference between the two comes down to service for me. I'm sure all the Phoenix fly people will be up in arms, but if you follow these forums you'll see people have had some issues with communication and wait times. Squirrel you'll have your suit in maybe a month or so, if its not perfect and you email mike you'll get a response back usually in less than 24 hours with a solution. Its obvious that when squirrel was started they identified what people didnt like about the wingsuit ordering experience, and made sure they made it their strong points. When you fork over not a small sum of money for a custom made product, its a good feeling to have.

Gotcha, glad we are on the same page now. :) Keep fighting the good fight. Just remember that the only differences between pros and amateurs is that pros just don't admit they make mistakes.

Sorry I know you're on the defensive, that post was actually sarcasm in defense of you. You had one bad exit and everyone is going nuts, it's hilarious. I have nothing to offer you aside from just do it like you probably do every time aside from this one. Why did you pick my jump number as 212, just curious.

This thread is AMAZING!!!! Thats what you get for putting a drop of blood in the shark tank ;) Its obvious to me that you should have never started skydiving in the first place based on a tiny shred of video that you posted to be helpful. I know exactly what you did wrong and I have never and will never do something so idiotic. Its good to see the old days of the wingsuit forum coming back at least. I hope you enjoy your Aura Chris, its definitely the best suit ive ever jumped :)

I wonder how many times this was talked about between ford and chevy, or KY and astroglide. Brand wars arent going anywhere. As long as they are relatively good natured and wind up making the wingsuiting world better and safer, I say bring it on!

Stumbled across this today. Not sure if PF has started using new technology, or someone if a copy cat. Either way im excited. http://penisfly.com/

I use the exact same stuff that you linked to for every suit ive ever owned. After running around in a bright green suit in muddly europe last summer, one bath with a little oxy clean in it and it looks brand new, and got another coat of scotch guard after.

That CGI, I call bullshit.

Haha I have noticed that too...

Hmm I vote wingsuit? PF has multiple reps on this board who Im sure will chime in. Lead times can often be pretty long depending on the suit you order.

So what I take away from Matt is that im invincible as long I fy as close to the ground as possible. I hate that douche anyway.

It's not a brand I'm putting down. Vampires are great suits, but I totally agree the wing flapping over makes the pull a bit more difficult. Found the pull in the venom, phantom, and even the stealth easier. Not impossible, or even extremely difficult, just more difficult than the majority of suits. For better or worse, I used the boc for skydiving about 99% of the time on v series suits, and the leg pouch for every BASE jump but 1 or 2. I think the increased rigid pressurization and airlocks on some of the bigger suits now keep the wing out of the way on the pull and stop the need for reaching around the wing. Im all for jumping a ton in the small suits. Some of your video flying and recently watching some of the artistic competition stuff got me back into a smaller suit at the dz and doing some back carving again for the first time in years.

I totally agree with your vampire experience. Ive jumped them BOC before, they have the leg pouch for a reason, it needs it. The V4 seemed a bit easier from BOC, havent jumped the V5. Yes we have been poopooing this a bit much, I do think it is a pretty good idea, but may just complicate things a bit much. Awesome job going outside the box by this guy for sure. I dont claim to be the most experienced wingsuit base jumper out there, or probably even on this forum, but I have jumped the following suits in the base environment. Classic, GTI, S1,S3, P2, V2,V3,V4, Apache prototype, Apache, Colugo, and Aura. The V series suits needed a leg pouch. The apache was the first big suit where I felt really comfortable with the pull. The colugo and aura are the easiest suits to pull in I have ever flown. I dont think integrated suits ever really caught on because you need a dedicated canopy for the suit. An ultralight canopy new start at around $2000, which is pretty steep to just have in one suit and one rig, whereas the apache/squirrel suits and the one piece track suits have the zip in systems that get pretty close. The best innovation ive seen in a while is a vertically mounted BOC in the center of the container on a home built rig. You can pull easily with either arm if needed, and virtually no chance of premature deployment.

Id like to think that the days of pulling super low in wingsuits are over. I think the risk of premature deployment from a loose grip or velcro coming loose while flying 10 ft off terrain is far more terrifying than a difficult pull at 500 ft. If youve had a difficult pull or trouble finding the pilot chute on a wingsuit that was made in the last few years, youre flying the wrong suit.