Buffdiver

... but aren't they all going to be Phantom-2 soon? What will be PF's newest suit. They came out with the Ghost and Stealth within a year. Is there really a Phantom -2 on the way?? What is the next progression in their lineup??

Cool vid. Music is Above and Beyond on the album Tri State. Song name is Indonesia.

WOW! whatever you do to pay for the habit is going well. I dont have much room to talk cause i just bought a " new to me" rig and a new wingsuit, plus a few trips which I could not afford..but what the hell. I am young. enjoy all the new gear everyone. And by the way, whatever gear you have ... is the best looking gear around.... be proud of it.

I agree with the general response but would also like to put my 2 cents in with the pilots that are teaching skills to up-and-coming jumpers. I have a lot of respect for great pilots that are teaching students how to fly a canopy safely and responsibly. These teachers may not be winning the medals but are teaching skills that are crucial to the survival of the sport of swooping. I myself am a student and consider my education class on "high speed approaches" priceless to my career as a skydiver.

Just bought a "new to me" Mirage M0 which is sized for a 126 reserve. I was contemplating buying a less expensive standard PD-R 126 (which by the way is a great reserve) but felt with my jump #'s and for any reason unconscious under a reserve, I would like to have the biggest thing over my head. I love the 143 Optimum I ended up going with. Fits great in the container and gives me the confidence that I can land that thing most anywhere. I put 4 jumps on an Optimum this summer and absolutely loved it. My buddy and I Opened up near each other a bit far off the DZ and I had the same distance coverage, if not a bit more, with him flying my Sabre 2 150. We even considered buying Optimums and converting to mains for wingsuit just based on how good the openings were and what fun they were to fly. I think that once PD has the R&D with the larger sizes, the Optimum will become the new standard in what a reserve chute is.

I have no regret for buying my M0, got a great deal on it used. My concern was that Mirage's website stated that a Sabre 2 135 was tight. My 150 fit just fine and my new 135 seems to be normal. I bought my container used so I am in no way complaining, but if you are flying a 135 or think to soon be flying one, get the MT. It is the same reserve but you will be able to downsize further with that container. Hope this helps.

I learned the Psycho from boyd38off. Had a rough opening the 2nd jump but that was due to my carelessness, (I let the slider creep off the bump stops but thought it would be OK). would happen to anyone on a pro-pack. Just started Psychoing again and I absolutely love the openings. For some reason, way better heading performance and just the speed I like it. not to fast but not a sniveling bastard. Did I mention, a lot easier to get into the bag. I would recommend to at least give it a try.

I will be in Puerto Rico in a few weeks. Who do I need to get in touch with in order to be a part of this?

Liquid Sky Suits rock! www.liquidskysports.com Best customer service hands down and they can get you a suit way faster than any other company I have seen. Did I mention the quality is awesome and there are quite a few options available too. Quite a few people at my DZ have a LS suit and all are very happy with them. Oh yeah, I am selling a pair of FF pants if you are interested. Check out the classified ads.

To build on Boyd's original question. I don't think the quickness of us getting out (as far as time between flyers) is as much as a problem as far as order of exit. The stability issues out the door any of us had did not really have and effect on the separation. So here is the question. All of you that have experience flying big way flocks, What is the exit order or, when does the Base go out and according to that, what is the best way for the rest in the group to fly in order to get together as quickly as possible?

You mentioned the suit not fitting properly. All of us guys (6 of us) were measured at the same time by one of the PF reps here and all of our suits tend to have the baggy "pooch" in the belly. We didn't really notice it until I saw some shots of me on my back. Is this something to be concerned about such as having the suits brought in around the waist?? Thanks Scott. Now that you mention it " you need to push your hips up more and tension the wings(arms and leg) of the suit more, extend/spread them and push them down against the wind." This is how I remember finally flying on the last few jumps on the old suit. Ill keep plugging away at it.

I know this pic does not show the most optimal backflying position. I mostly posted it to show the inflation on my back. I had the same issue when learning on the Phantom. I used to fly a bit "ass low", but over time developed an efficient de-arched position. I guess I am just frustrated because I spent so many jumps dialing it in and just when i finally got it.....bam...back to square one. I am always up for the challenge though. Thanks for all your input.

So here is my problem: Last season I put over 100 jumps on my Phantom and towards the end was feeling extremely comfortable on my back. I had my fall fate down as low or lower than our normal flocking speeds. I had the back inlets on this suit and it seemed to inflate very well on its back. The CO crew all got our new Ghosts last month and I felt the transition to backflying would be pretty easy considering the time spent on my back in the Phantom. This is not the case. I feel as though I am starting the entire learning process over again. Am I doing something wrong or is it just going to take jump #'s on this suit to get it dialed again? Also, the Ghost does not seem to inflate nearly as well as the Phantom did on its back. The only thing I really feel pressurizing is the Pooch of extra fabric on the belly section of the suit.(see attached pic). Is this a design issue with the inlets or just by bad body position. I would appreciate any input from experienced backflying pilots or people with more experience with this particular suit. Thanks.

So I have been Jumping a Sabre 2 150 for many of my wingsuit jumps. I just bought a 135 for its ability to open relatively on heading but still swoop decent. My old Sabre I 170 gave amazing openings but was lacking a bit on the performance side. My question is that I am really enjoying swooping as much as i love wingsuit. What is the best canopy for both worlds. I am a huge fan of the Samurai but had to cut that away. Also heard some good stuff about the crossfire and its openings. We have one on Demo for the PR boogie but would like to hear some feedback. I love wingsuit....but I love swooping......... is there an happy/medium canopy, or am i destine to 2 different rigs?? Thanks for the input.

I want to see more pics of the Stealth!! That thing looks huge.

3 of the CO birds are heading down to Eloy for the weekend of Jan 10th-13th to get some jumps on our new Ghosts before the Puerto Rico boogie. Just curious if anyone else will be there during this time.

At first glance, the front inlets do not appear do have any type of airlock. They are essentially two large scoops on the front of the leg wing. You can actually fit your arm down these scoops into the center two cells. There is in fact a valve or loose piece of balloon zp that will cover these openings while you are on your back. I believe the back has a similar design but are inlets rather than scoops. I only have a handful of flights on the suit but have been on my back about half the time and my leg wing was always well pressurized. I have another question regarding the design of the suit that maybe someone can answer. On my phantom, the way that the leg would inflate was through the side inlets near the hips of the suit. there were circular holes at the top of the leg wing cells(inside the suit) to allow the air to enter. Now on the Ghost, there are still these side body inlets that allow air into the body of the suit, but no holes at the top of the cells as described above. what are the point of these side inlets? is it just to pressurize the body? Also, there is no mesh covering the top of the arm wing cells from inside the sleeve. My phantom had this mesh but was curious to why it is not there on the Ghost. No complaints on the suit just curiosity with the design.

So 3 of the CO crew finally got some flights on our new suits today. I have nothing but good things to say about this suit. I was a little nervous flying this suit again after MOAB. I felt so natural flying my "old" Phacro and was afraid that I would not be able to fly this suit the same way. When I demoed it back in MOAB I was easily fatigued and felt a little sloppy flying the suit, but today I felt normal strength. I could not believe the range we all had with this suit. I was also a little worried about the tail flutter some people had talked about, but for some reason, my leg wing is rock solid, so much so that I can't close it all the way during deployment. Not as much as described with the SM1 but defiantly felt like i was squeezing a smaller beach ball between my legs. When testing the back-flying capabilities I quickly found the sweet spot and was able to fly with my buddy just a few feet above me again in a very acceptable fall rate. Aerobatics were also an easy transition from the Phacro. As said on PF website, this is suit is intended for experienced pilots. It is a great suit but definitely would recommend some jumps on intro/intermediate suit first. I would definitely recommend a longer bridle with this suit. Not so mych a big deal with the smaller suits but today I borrowed a rig today with a standard bridle and could feel some delay on deployment. There is still a lot of learning to do but I am very happy with the first flights. PF has yet to let me down with any of their lineup.

The Colorado “flock in a box” finally arrived today! They were so nice that we had to try on all of them. Too bad T-Dog, Roland, and Virgil could not make it out for the dress rehearsal. Sorry guys! Of course the weather here turned Sh*%$y last night so we can’t jump them today. Lets all hope for good weekend weather. Pictures are as follows: -#1 and #2 are me in my actual suit surrounded by the flock (also got a new rig this week. Merry Christmas to me)! -#3 and #4 are me Boyd and John having our way with our friends suits. See everyone in Puerto Rico!

I completely agree with Ward in dealing with Richard and Buildarig.com. I just purchased a new container from Richard this week and it was a great experience. Richard is a passionate person not only with skydiving but many other things in his life. Great customer service. He is the type of guy that really wants to see you get the right equipment at a good deal. He was very patient with my millions of questions and emails, but was also cool enough to give me some crap about it at the same time. What can I say, I was excited. As soon as we agreed on a deal, my container showed up in two days! Again, thank you Richard for all your help. You will be the first person I call when Im in the market for some new gear.

I agree. If you can't watch your rigger pack your reserve without confidence, how the hell can you just give it to him/her and just say " give it back when its repacked" without having that confidence. I personally use a few different riggers based off their availability ( i tend to be the person that realizes my repack is due a day or two before i plan on jumping), Each one of them i trust with my life. Hurried or not. i feel they would make the right decision and if i ever felt uncomfortable, I would question them about it.

What about wingsuits? Not trying bring on any more regulations but last time we did a night flock, my DZ required us to have cell phones. I think this was a great idea. If in the right location it could be easier to loose your berrying when flying a suit that has a possible 2-4 mile radius. Its nice to have a contact no matter what particular jump you are doing or what time of day it is taking place at.

We just got news that the 6 Colorado Ghost are officially at Morpheus today. We should be getting them here within the next 5 days. So far, 3 of us are attending the PR boogie for sure and are ready to do some serious flocking. I have read numerous post from all of you ever since I got into wing suiting and I can't wait to finally meet you and get some jumps in together. Can't wait till February. Will update once the "flock in a box" is in.

Thanks Scott. I did read another post you made on this camera. It seems like this would be a good fit for what I am looking for. Thanks for your great input all the time. Do you think this camera would work for a side mount on my helmet if I decide to get the Rebel for stills?

Hey everyone. Ive been flying camera for about a year now. I had a friend give me a Panasonic camera for free which I top-mounted to my Optik. It has worked great for me (especially for the price) but the camera is starting to crap out and i figured it was time to update my setup. My knowledge of the camera market is not so great and I am not sure on what would be a good investment. Here are my concerns/questions: *I really like the top mount. Its clean and symmetrical but i realize that if i want to continue to use this helmet and eventually get a still camera, side mount would be a good way to go. *My current camera does not have any input for a cameye, which I have been fine with but are there any new cameras with this option. Not totally necessary but definitely convenient *I have a friend that wants to sell me his Rebel for a great price when I am ready. Around $350 and its barely used. What are the cameras video guys are jumping these days? Thanks for all your input and expertise on the situation.