Hard opening vs Soft opening | Altitude loss

I don't know if this is a topic that has ever been discussed, but i wanted to bring it up because I haven't came across any post.

I've read plenty of articles debating a variety canopy flight and deployment characteristics, but nothing about altitude loss. I'm particularly interested in talking about the snivel/altitude loss of canopies. I understand it's nothing serious to consider when skydiving because the deployment altitude is higher than base jumping per say. However, it's something i'm personally interested in learning about and wanted to see if anyone else had any input? 

I've read articles about the Pilot or Safire 3 having severe snivel characteristics, so how does that relate to altitude loss? 

- Is a snivel characteristic correlated to altitude loss? 

- Is a hard opening caused by the canopy opening quicker, thus losing less altitude?

Interested to see if anyone has any input? 

16 minutes ago, americanfreefall said:

- Is a snivel characteristic correlated to altitude loss? 

- Is a hard opening caused by the canopy opening quicker, thus losing less altitude?

Yes and yes. Well known and beyond debate. However, in a rare case it is possible for something like a bag lock to cause a delay in opening followed by a hard opening. Certain canopies are known for long snivels and can easily take 800 feet to open. I have not heard that about Pilots in particular.

800 ft was pretty standard for my Pilot 168, same for my Crossfire 129. Both open very comfortable.

8 minutes ago, evh said:

800 ft was pretty standard for my Pilot 168, same for my Crossfire 129. Both open very comfortable.

Any experience on a safire 3? 

I'm looking into demoing one soon, but was wondering how comparable the openings are to Sabre2 or Pilot. 

Every video i watch on youtube either looks like the safire 3 has the longest snivel or opens quick (Majority of them sniveling). 

My Safire 3 takes 1000 feet to open. About 150 jumps on it. Open higher or you won't make it back!