skydave89

I have the WinX and really like it. Demoed the Pilot 7 and thought it was good but the WinX did the same thing just smoother with it. The P7 has a sorta hard transition during the opening sequence compared to the WinX. Also had a Pilot 9 cell for a long time that I loved but obviously being a 9 cell it’s more aggressive if you spin it up and it starts diving. My Spectre I thought was great but the snivel is a bit longer than I think you want in a WS canopy. Never jumped the Epicene/Omicron/Horizon.

For what it’s worth, I love my Aurora and also have a Javelin Odyssey with open corners as a backup rig, but for wingsuiting I think the Icon-Long is the next best option if you don’t do the Aurora.

Been jumping one for a year now. Love it. Durability - no issues and I regularly slide in after doing 270s. Does feel like lighter fabric so I’m sure if I slide across asphalt it’s gonna tear. Comfort - just fine. No huge puffy backpad or leg strap pads but it’s as comfy as any other rig without thick padding. Packing takes some work to figure out, but you’ll get it soon enough. Rigger doesn’t care at all, she said it’s essentially the exact same as any javelin Didn’t like the adjustable laterals so I had my rigger tack them in place. BOC is huge, the guy I bought it from had his rigger sew a line right through the center, splitting it into a top and bottom boc. The top one is where I put my pc for storing, but I use the bottom for jumping it. location of the BOC is amazing, I love how long the rig is. Had a cutaway due to a really fucked up pull because of a bad shoulder so I went with the longest rig I ca. find and I’m happy I did. You basically don’t even need to bend your elbow, the pc is nearly at my full arm length. don’t think the neoprene collar up around the yoke does much but doesn’t hurt. prrvious owner also had a rigger sew on a spot for bridle protection but with how I route mine I don’t even use it and I have as good of bridle protection as my standard javelin or any other rig. let me know if you have any other questions.

Cardo Packtalk is what everyone I know and myself use. Work very well, biggest complaint is I have the control unit mounted to the outside of my helmet so I usually push a button and switch modes when I pick my head up to look at my canopy opening because it hits the yoke of my rig. More than once I’ve suddenly connected to a radio station and had music start playing. A couple friends have lost units to a riser strike. But it’s really amazing to be able to have a straight up conversation in freefall

How used is the Phantom? I have around 500 on my OG Havok and then 450 on my OG Strix and at this point I can tell there’s a noticeable decrease from when it was new. I’m really rough on my suits and also live in a hot humid place and sweat a lot in my suits which doesn’t help the material. I think you need to hit at least 400 jumps or so to finally get to a point where it’s actually affecting your overall times compared to when the suit was brand new. And once you learn the suit more you’ll probably make up for the lack of performance with how you’ve learned to fly it to the limit of its ability. At a certain point I can see a suit not worth flying anymore, but I would guess that number is nearing like 800 jumps based on my own experience. With people having hundreds of tunnel hours I think we’ll start to get a good idea on the upper limits, but then I think the skydiving environment is a lot worse for longevity than the tunnel.

Keep your arms flat the entire time you’re flying. You flare by taking the whole flat wingsuit/body and pointing it downward to gain a lot of speed, and then you flatten it out and finally you point it “upward” which causes a flare. Diving and flaring shouldn’t be initiated by “sweeping” then flattening the arms. If you go back and watch the early ‘proximity flying’ videos you’ll see most people were diving by sweeping their arms back (dihedral) which will cause you to fly steeper, but you’re giving up power compared to when you watch the newer terrain flyers that don’t have any V shape to their arms because they’re taking the whole wingsuit with the arms flat and pointing it down the mountain which results in higher speeds and much bigger flares when they need to pull off the line. I think Scotty Bob was one of the first people to really start doing it. Since then it’s become standard practice for diving and flaring. the TopGun BASE site has all that info in a much more drawn out and technical approach but essentially just dive without pulling your arms back and flare without dropping your arms and you’ll be going faster and flaring higher.

At those numbers I’d buy one of the newer beginner/intermediate suits that have a surprising amount of performance and just learn to rock it. Swift 4 or Magister aren’t too big but they are slightly larger than the smallest suits offered by the company. With one of those and some practice you should be able to fly with Havok/Funk/etc. suits. Even ATCs and Strix if they fly a little dirty for you.

You’re missing the point entirely. The Havok was designed for acro. The ATC was not. Comparing them doesn’t make sense, and you just sound like an idiot for bringing them up in the same conversation.

I have 500 jumps on my original Havok and just did my first WS BASE jumps with it last year. They’re amazing suits and I think they’re probably the best all around suits ever made, but I’d only be offering like 350 for one now. For 500 you can find a Carve and for a bit more a C2rve

Well that’s what I get for drunk posting. Misread your post.

Wait, you’re claiming the suits sewn in Vietnam are AMERICAN MADE? Lol. The most American wingsuit is Tony.

Spectres are alright, very square and stable, but they tend to snivel longer than you want in a wingsuit canopy. Longer snivel = more chance for line twists. Personally I think the 9 cell Pilot is the best all around WS canopy. Short snivels, flat glide for getting back from long spots, and stable in twists. Of the wingsuit-specific canopies on the market I’ve heard the best reviews (from non-sponsored jumpers) about the WinX from Atair. In regard to size, wingloading isn’t the biggest factor, but rather the smaller the canopy the shorter the line set and it puts the canopy more into the wingsuit burble than with a larger canopy.

lol @ the guy trashing the Havok. It may very well be the best all around wingsuit ever made. But anyway, you’ll just have to decide if price is enough of a consideration to possibly have a suit you don’t like as much/ can’t fly as well with. That said - a very prominent Phoenix Fly person has told me they think Intrudair is actually a pretty decent substitute for PF if money is a big concern and you don’t wanna spend more.

I’ve been using this and really liking it

You had 3 chops on a 169 Pilot 7 and an ATC? Yeah I’m not so sure I’ll be listening to your canopy advice lmao