degeneration

Here's a list of a lot of the different brands of parachute out there... http://www.dropzone.com/gear/Main_and_Reserve_Parachutes/index.shtml Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I will not mention that one to him, as I already have to wear 12lbs to keep up with him!! I don't want any more! As for what he wants - the general impression I got was that he wanted something that was a bit faster in flight. Faster turning and quicker to respond to toggle stroke. I just get the impression he's finding his Pilot 168 not as enjoyable any more, so is wanting to move up a level to bring the fun back. I think he has done a canopy course or two. I think I put him off sticking with a Pilot and downsizing to a 150. I relatively recently went from a Pilot 150 to a 132, and haven't noticed that much of a difference in my general flight. Yes it is a little faster in turns, but other than that nothing that notable different about it that I could tell. I'm still enjoying it though. So because of my experience, I think he is expecting the 150 to not quite be at the performance he's wanting. Will still tell him to try one if he can, just to be sure though. That's why he's looking for a more sporty, aggressive canopy of the same size rather than a smaller canopy. Will tell him to whore himself around all the 170s that he can find, borrowing kit where he can to get some experience on as many canopies as he can. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Pretty sure a JVX will not quite be the sort of canopy he's looking for! Experience wise he's on circa 300 jumps, the vast majority of which have been on Pilots. He's wanting to get a canopy that is a bit faster and more responsive than his Pilot, but not being stupid about the choice. I don't have experience of canopies other than Pilots, so have no advice to give, hence me asking the question on here for him. He's simply looking for other sensible options for canopies to try out, demo etc, so that he can make his own choice. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Cheers for that. Will pass the info on. Are the likes of Stiletto's or other fully elliptical canopies decent at that size/WL, or are they best used at the higher WLs? Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Asking for a friend (he doesn't have an account on here). He's currently flying a Pilot 170, and has pretty much only flown Pilot's since his early days of jumping. He's looking to try out a more responsive, zippier canopy in the same size, rather than downsizing. What canopies are worth considering? His WL is about 1.2-1.25 or thereabouts. Cheers. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Other people have mentioned the point I immediately thought of when reading this. Why do you have to be able to do a double front approach? I'm on 400+ jumps, have never done a double front riser approach, and to be honest, have no plans to in the foreseeable future. High performance landings don't interest me at all at the moment, so I'm happy to do the same style of landing as I've been doing for the last 400+ jumps - downwind, cross wind leg, into wind leg. All at sensible altitudes. So as I've no interest in doing the double fronts, your proposal would limit me to the novice category, jumping something around a 180-190 for my exit weight. That doesn't seem fair. The other bits seem fine ish, although I would be breaking the limits, I'm on less that 500 jumps, but am jumping a 132 quite happily and comfortably, but your limits would put me on a ~160... I wouldn't be happy with that! Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Dude, it did say student on your profile info on the left, which is why people assumed that you were. Anyway, glad you've made a decision on what to buy. Speaking to people and making your own mind up will help you make the decision correct for you and I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Like I said in my other post on here, I'm sure you'd be happy with pretty much any container going, so have fun with it. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I very recently bought a new Icon Pro. Why? Not because of any riser protection or any issues like that, but because it was the one I thought looked the nicest. I would be happy to jump any of the modern containers available - Vector, Javelin, Wings, Infinity, or whatever, so based on that I then went on which one looked the nicest for my tastes. For me it was the Icon and thankfully it also came in below the max level for my budget. Got it a few weeks ago, and I'm happy with my choice. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Cheers for that. Does the canopy label on the centre cell have the place of manufacture, so that can be checked? Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I've seen a Safire-1 139 that I'm thinking of putting in a second rig, but have no idea what they are worth these days. Am I right in the thinking that a Safire-1 139 isn't really a 139 in size, but is more like a 129 cause of the different methods of measuring canopy size? It is stated as having about 95 jumps and in excellent condition - I trust this judgement. I don't have the DoM. Are there any specific things I should ask about a Safire? I've read about a mod. that can (should?) be done on them, but not too sure about it. What would be a reasonable ball park figure for the canopy, if it was just as it was when made, so no mod., and has 95 jumps? Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Can you give me details of the Smart 120? DoM etc. I may have someone in Perris that could collect it for me... Op. 143 isn't an option. I don't have that sort of money available. Getting a new Smart was pushing my budget beyond what I could really afford, which is why I was wanting a 2nd hand reserve. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I was going to be buying a new Smart 120 reserve (can't find a 2nd hand one) but there is a 14-16 week wait or something like that as they have none in stock. I don't want to wait that long, so am looking now for another reserve that has a similar pack volume. So from experience, rather than from quoted pack volumes on the canopies' tech specs, what reserves pack with a similar volume to a Smart 120? My first guess would be a PDR 126? Any others - specifically R-Max or Techno are what I want to know about, but really any other would be great to know. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Awesome! Go anywhere nice? Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Now got the 138 and despite what I was informed by Aerodyne, it is a very tight fit. Too tight for my liking, so I now have an R-Max 138 to sell on if anyone is interested!!! Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

The bit in bold is the bit I'm commenting on: I found the opposite, I found the Safire-1 149 to be slower on toggle turns than both the pilot 132 and 150. The only thing that was better for me on that Safire was the flare, which felt great. Stall point was a little too soon for my liking, but the power in the flare was great. I would definitely plan to demo both. Hopefully my friend won't mind me borrowing his Safire-2 119 for a few more jumps, and hopefully I can get somewhere where the aerodyne rep is this year to try out the pilot. But until that point, opinions from people who've used both are a good thing to whet my appetite for both! Safire-2's seem to be the favoured at the moment, but if I'm likely to enjoy either, it may be whichever I see available in a decent condition 2nd hand first!! Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

The website linked to for the Kasimovo one on my www.jumpticketprices.com website is here: http://skydiving.ru/ I don't know russian, so not sure how helpful that will be. According to my site the current jump ticket price is 580 Rubles, which is about $19. Although that 580 Rubles prices was last updated 3 years ago. I think it is quite likely that the dropzone.com price for that DZ may be out of date. the ones on my site were more likely done by people who go to the dropzones. In 2009 it had a huge surge of traffic from Russia over a week or so period, which is when most of the dzs were added to the database, but others have been updated more recently. Thanks for the links from everyone else to the site. Glad you all find it useful. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

At the weekend there I got to try out a Safire-1 149 and a Safire-2 119. It was the first time in years that I'd flown anything other than a Pilot. I've used a Pilot 150 and a Pilot 132. My initial thoughts of the 149 were that it was slower on toggle turns that the Pilots, but much more powerful flare. I can't really stall either of the Pilots even with my arms locked straight down. I think they stall eventually if I hold the fullest flare I can put on it for several seconds. The safire-1 stalled about hip level, and I could feel the flare up to that point being more powerful than I'd felt on either Pilot. The Safire-2 119 felt a lot more responsive to toggle turns etc than the Pilots, as I was expecting on a smaller canopy, and the flare felt more powerful than the Pilots as well. I really liked that canopy, and was good fun to fly and land. So that brings me to the question. Prior to jumping the 119, I was thinking that my next step would be to get a Pilot 117 at some point, but that Safire 2 has put doubts in my mind. Would I experience a similar comparison between the Pilot 117 and the Safire-2 119 as I did between the Pilots and the Safire-1 149, i.e. The Pilot will feel faster and more responsive on toggle turns, but the safire-2 will have a more powerful flare? Or is it possible that the steering lines on my Pilots are just a few inches too long for me, which is why i'm experiencing a seemingly not as powerful flare? I can still land the Pilots without a problem, but I would love it if they had a similar feeling flare to the Safire-1 and Safire-2 that I tried. So, how does the Pilot 117 stack up to the Safire-2 119? I'd have a WL of approx 1.5 on each. I realise there are a lot of topics discussing pilot vs safire-2, but most in the search results were about 7 or 8 years old so was hoping by now more people have a good amount of experience on both. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Or there is the possibility you have a mal on your next jump. So jump 51, landing the smallest canopy you've ever flown, which has different flight characteristics to the canopy you may be flying (Sabre 2 - don't know about your previous 50 jumps though), and you are loading it at 1.22. Would you be comfortable with this? If yes, then go for it, it is your choice, if no, then reconsider. Get an Optimum or other low pack volume reserve, so you can get a more suitable size reserve in there. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

They don't just have good service, they have unbelievably awesome service. I've had two dealings with them, one a simple question to them, which they responded to in an amazing and generous way, the other over damage I did on exit to a Viso. They remedied the situation in a way so far beyond my expectations, I was flabbergasted. I won't have a digital alti, or audible from any other company now. Not cause any others aren't good, but because L&B's are good, and they back it up with the best customer service I have ever experienced anywhere, ever. I'm not sponsored by them or anything, just an incredibly satisfied customer. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I use cat crap too. It's great stuff. Have put it on the inside of all my goggles, my Z1 and on the inside of my car windscreen. none of them steam/fog up now. Awesome stuff. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I think it is unlikely that Paratec and PD use the same volume measuring methods. I emailed paratec about what size of their reserves would be best for an Icon I3 (reserve pack volume range - 275-333 cu inch), as I was unsure to trust their measurements. By their measurements a 170 or 190 would be a decent fit. I know from other people's experiences that an Op. 143 fits ok in an I3 - 298 cu inch. Paratec replied stating that a Speed 135 would be a comfortable fit - 248 cu inch. Based on the 135's measurements, it should be way too lose if it is measured in the same way as PD's. So I personally think it is quite likely that it is not measured the same, and their VERY low pack volumes should be taken with a pinch of salt. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Another one that is similar to these would be the Safire2. If you do a search on here there have been many threads asking the same question, comparing the Pilot, Sabre2 and Safire2. You will get recommendations from people for each of them. Just look at what people describe for each and see which one fits more of what you are wanting. I jump a Pilot. Had 1 150 from jump 100 to just under jump 400, and a 132 for the last 10 or so jumps. I really like it. Regardless how good or bad I pack it, the openings are always nice. I had one hard opening in 300 jumps. Depending on how bad/quick my packing is, it sometimes opens off heading, but generally everything is nice and good. I have no comparison to give regarding flare, speed, aggressiveness etc, all I can say is that I really like the Pilot, I have fun under it and that's all that matters. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Well, as long as Aerodyne get the stuff and I get the container without too much of a delay, it will still be worth it. This is just going to build more anticipation and excitement!! Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

I needed to know people's opinions urgently so I could let Aerodyne know what my choice was asap. If I changed to cordura or parapack then the rig might just have been ready in time to get it shipped to the person who I had it being shipped to. Literally with 1 or 2 days to spare before they left the country. So I couldn't really delay in getting my decision made. Now that I have made it and gone for spacer foam, it is no longer urgent as it will miss the departure date of the person by over a month! So have to sort out a different delivery address. Will edit the title (if I can) to reflect that it is no longer urgent. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

Well I've been heavily leaning towards waiting and getting the spacer foam since I got the email from Aerodyne, I just posted this thread to reinforce that it was the right thing to do!! And to confirm that spacer foam was the thing I wanted given my priorities. I think this has done that. I have a complete rig I can jump on any jumps over x-mas and january, so wait it is. Cheers. Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).