Mamba vs Crossfire2 vs Katana

[Pigi 0]

Would know your opinion/experience regarding:

-openings
-performance
-versatility
-and more...

[theplummeter 15]

Never been near a Mamba, but demoed a Katana and a Crossfire2 a couple years ago and bought a Crossfire2.

Both were nice but my experience is that the Katana is considerably more aggressive than the Crossfire in flight and opens much worse, but if you're into high performance landings the Katana will dive much harder, has lighter front riser pressure and a little more flare at the very end.

I now have 250+ jumps on the Crossfire. Thus far no line twists, very occasional off heading openings, mostly soft on-heading deployments and plenty of flare power. Overall I have no regrets about the canopy. I also do wingsuit jumps but I don't use the Crossfire for those.

[Joellercoaster 6]

I have exactly one jump on a Mamba so I can't say much about it other than it felt twitchy. There were a few of them around the UK on Aerodyne-sponsored athletes a few years ago but for whatever reason they seem not to have gained a lot of the market here.

Crossfire2 vs Katana though is very much a matter of taste.

Both of them open softly - actually the Crossfire takes a little longer than I really like. Katana not so much on heading.

The Katana is there to do one thing - swoop. And swoop it does, like a beast. But it must be flown actively all the time - the natural thing it wants to do is sink, and when you turn, it wants to dive and keep diving. If these are not what you want it to do right now, you need to be on your game and paying attention.

The Crossfire is more generally agile-feeling. It rolls in and out of turns a bit faster and to me feels more "graceful". It certainly flies flatter, though not as flat as the Stiletto. I am not a big swooping person, but you need to put a bit more effort into getting a dive going and keeping it... I have seen people swooping the hell out of both canopies but the dive and flare of the Katana are noticeably better, even to me.

I personally enjoyed the Crossfire2 a lot more from a flying-around point of view, and would definitely look at one as my next canopy if I was in the market. But they're pretty different and as usual, you should demo all three of them.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[timrf79 0]

What about the Zulu, versus the other options?
While I have not flown a Mamba, Katana or Xfire, I have flown the Zulu and found this to be super fast recovering, great opening canopy.

On a related note, rumor has it that there will be a Katana 2 soon and the x-fire 3 has just been officially announced.

[Deimian 43]

timrf79

the x-fire 3 has just been officially announced.

Where? And what do you mean by "officially announced"?

[timrf79 0]

https://www.facebook.com/nzaerosports/photos/a.142006912495692.24087.139399876089729/1456694831026887/?type=3&theater

It states:
"Sneak peak of some #crossfire3 prototypes flying over the South Island...
📷 Chris Stewart
#comingsoon"

Which is an official announcement that the X-Fire 3 is coming soon.
Given the picture with 3 "prototypes" I doubt it will be long.

[Deimian 43]

You got me hyped for a second there. Here you have an "official announcement" with prototypes from close to 20 months ago: https://vimeo.com/122159755

[gowlerk 2,216]

timrf79

https://www.facebook.com/nzaerosports/photos/a.142006912495692.24087.139399876089729/1456694831026887/?type=3&theater

It states:
"Sneak peak of some #crossfire3 prototypes flying over the South Island...
📷 Chris Stewart
#comingsoon"

Which is an official announcement that the X-Fire 3 is coming soon.
Given the picture with 3 "prototypes" I doubt it will be long.

That means almost nothing. Until they announce a firm shipping date it is pie in the sky.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[CygnusX-1 43]

Pre-order a new X-Fire 3 now and we will ship it in a new skysystems C6 Air.

Operators standing by...

[timrf79 0]

gowlerk

That means almost nothing. Until they announce a firm shipping date it is pie in the sky.

You mean it is "no canopy in the sky"

[caldor78 0]

I have just over 300 jumps on each a mamba, xf2 and a zulu. Also a handful of jumps on a KA.

My progression:
KA 120
XF2 129 @ WL 1.6-1.8
Zulu 122 @ WL 1.7-1.8
Mamba 104 @ WL 1.8-2.1

As mentioned I only did a handful of jumps on the KA and at the time my main was a Sabre1 170, my only memory is that it scared the shit out of me because of how aggresively it dove after initiating a turn.

XF2
Openings - Slow and mostly on heading
Performance - Canopy flies flat and the recovery arc is really short, decent power on rears, easy to harness and it rolls out of a turn nice and smooth.
Versatility - As mentioned it flies flat, but you can really get distance out of it if you utilize rears/brakes.
And more... - It had a tendency to dive when I had linetwists, didn't like that at all. I also had a XF2 109 @ WL 2.1 as a demo, and I must say that I liked that one soo much more then the 129 and the lower WL.

Zulu
Openings - Hands down the best openings on any canopy I've tried. Of all the 300+ jumps I did on it, I can count the offheadings on one hand and of those, max 2 were 90+ degrees. Openings are just on heading and fast.
Performance - Flies relatively flat, dives alot after a turn, easy to harness. Longer recovery arc then a XF2, but not an aggressive arc. It rolls out of a turn quicker then an XF2. I could never get along with rears on this canopy, so I went back to pitching with toggles.
Versatility - This canopy could really get you back from a longspot, but you had to really utilize rears.

Mamba
Openings - Really nice quick openings, mostly on heading. When brakes are stowed, it's really twitchy and once every now and then it just takes you for a real nasty dive towards the ground. Most of those I've had to unstow the brakes before I can even try and stop the spinning.
Performance - This canopy does not fly flat, it dives and even more so after initiating a turn. It's really responsive from harness input. Recovery arc is a bit longer then on the Zulu, roll outs are also a bit longer. Rears are quite nice.
Versatility - It can fly kinda flat, but it really seeks the ground.
And more... - This is the canopy that comes closest to a crossbraced canopy without being one.

[Alexg3265 0]

Fluid wings Tesla is available in 107 and 120's for order on November 15th.... The 135 and 150 hopefully by the end of the month and the 97 will be available shortly after that.

https://vimeo.com/189958872

I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...