Anyone jumping an S-Fire

[Hunterbeav 0]

Anyone jumping an S-Fire....what do you think of it, openings..flying...landing...what kind of flare does it have....any video would be great...very little on youtube....thanks.

[kat00 11]

I jumped one for a few weekends through the square one demo program while I was waiting for my gear to come in. I've jumped safire 2s, safire 3 and sfire. They are all fairly similar. I think the sfire opened a bit faster with less snivel time than a safire 3. I don't really push the envelope much on flying but coming back from a long spot was pretty easy on the sfire. Landing has a nice flare but the most power is deep in the flare.

I don't have any videos but like the safire 3 its an incremental improvement over a safire 2 if you have jumped that. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

[Hunterbeav 0]

Thanks for your insight....I'm going to Z-Hills in March to demo the sfire , safire 3 and the sabre 2.....you said you were waiting for gear..what did you end up getting...thanks Jim

[Hunterbeav 0]

Wow....no one?? Really

[Hunterbeav 0]

Come on come out of the closet....I know you'r here

[Uriel2728 0]

I've got one, size is 149
what do you want to know?

there was a similar discussion in 2017: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4856445;search_string=%26quot%3Bs-fire%26quot%3B;#4856445

[kat00 11]

Hunterbeav

Thanks for your insight....I'm going to Z-Hills in March to demo the sfire , safire 3 and the sabre 2.....you said you were waiting for gear..what did you end up getting...thanks Jim

My safire 3 was already in but I was waiting on my Icon V rig at the time. Both the SFire and safire 3 are very comparable. I can't really tell much of a difference in them.

[Hunterbeav 0]

Uriel2728

I've got one, size is 149
what do you want to know?

there was a similar discussion in 2017: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4856445;search_string=%26quot%3Bs-fire%26quot%3B;#4856445

Hi I was wondering how you like it or hate it and why....how are the openings (hard, soft, long sniveling) how's the flare on no wind days....thanks

[Uriel2728 0]

I like it, did about 20 jumps before the end of last season.
The openings are sweet! I compare to an Icarus Omni, that has a very soft and long opening. The opening with the s-fire is more progressive in the second half of the process and it's maybe a a bit faster, but still soft.
I haven't had the chance to land in zero wind, sadly. Flare is quite powerful I would say :-)

[Hunterbeav 0]

Uriel2728

I like it, did about 20 jumps before the end of last season.
The openings are sweet! I compare to an Icarus Omni, that has a very soft and long opening. The opening with the s-fire is more progressive in the second half of the process and it's maybe a a bit faster, but still soft.
I haven't had the chance to land in zero wind, sadly. Flare is quite powerful I would say :-)

Thanks Urie for the input....I am looking forward to trying one out in March

[Uriel2728 0]

good plan, have fun!

[dpreguy 14]

Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie. It was a good canopy, but...since you asked.. The main difference between the PD products I also test jumped at the boogie was the length of the flare stroke. With the Safire (can't remember if it was a 2 or 3) I found I had to push the toggles almost down to my knees to get the same flare I got from a PD product by pushing the toggles to my waist. I jump a Stilleto 170.

I guess you'd get used to the longer flare stroke, but going from what I would call a "standard" flare stroke to the much longer Safire stroke was a surprise to me. Jumped the Sabre 2 there too and found the flare stroke to be of "normal" length, and quite nice. Ok, one jump. I get it. But I rejected the Safire because of the unusually long flare stroke. That's just me. Have jumped the Aerodyne Pilot and found the stroke to be also "normal" (to the waist) too.

One observer, one jump, one opinion here. Best to jump loaners and see if you agree and are happy with the product you will eventually buy.

[ringleader 1]

dpreguy

Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie. It was a good canopy, but...since you asked.. The main difference between the PD products I also test jumped at the boogie was the length of the flare stroke. With the Safire (can't remember if it was a 2 or 3) I found I had to push the toggles almost down to my knees to get the same flare I got from a PD product by pushing the toggles to my waist. I jump a Stilleto 170.

I guess you'd get used to the longer flare stroke, but going from what I would call a "standard" flare stroke to the much longer Safire stroke was a surprise to me. Jumped the Sabre 2 there too and found the flare stroke to be of "normal" length, and quite nice. Ok, one jump. I get it. But I rejected the Safire because of the unusually long flare stroke. That's just me. Have jumped the Aerodyne Pilot and found the stroke to be also "normal" (to the waist) too.

One observer, one jump, one opinion here. Best to jump loaners and see if you agree and are happy with the product you will eventually buy.

I agree with this. I did about 20 jumps on a Safire 3 and the flare is way too low for my taste. I've jumped PD canopies and their flare is "normal". Given the OP jump number I would suggest a Sabre2, the Safire 3 is in my opinion a bit docile.

I would totally go with a Pilot in any case if you are not looking for a bit more aggressive canopy like the Sabre2.

Openings are long and snively on the Safire3.

[degeneration 5]

dpreguy

Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie.

This thread is about the S-Fire, not the safire.

Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

[dpreguy 14]

OK I need to confess that I didn't know there was an S-Fire.
Who makes it? I will go google it and find out
Obviously my comments are about the Safire, and misplaced. Sorry.

[kat00 11]

dpreguy

OK I need to confess that I didn't know there was an S-Fire.
Who makes it? I will go google it and find out
Obviously my comments are about the Safire, and misplaced. Sorry.

http://www.icaruscanopies.aero/

they have the sfire and xfire which are both branches from the previous safire and crossfire design. The whole icarus and nzaerosports thing can be confusing at times!

[degeneration 5]

Yeah, the S-Fire / Safire thing is quite confusing, but not nearly as confusing as the X-Fire / Crossfire thing given that the Crossfire was frequently called the Xfile for short!

Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

[ringleader 1]

degeneration

***Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie.

This thread is about the S-Fire, not the safire.
Disregard my Safire 3 post :/

[shadeland 5]

dpreguy

Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie. It was a good canopy, but...since you asked.. The main difference between the PD products I also test jumped at the boogie was the length of the flare stroke. With the Safire (can't remember if it was a 2 or 3) I found I had to push the toggles almost down to my knees to get the same flare I got from a PD product by pushing the toggles to my waist. I jump a Stilleto 170.

I guess you'd get used to the longer flare stroke, but going from what I would call a "standard" flare stroke to the much longer Safire stroke was a surprise to me. Jumped the Sabre 2 there too and found the flare stroke to be of "normal" length, and quite nice. Ok, one jump. I get it. But I rejected the Safire because of the unusually long flare stroke. That's just me. Have jumped the Aerodyne Pilot and found the stroke to be also "normal" (to the waist) too.

One observer, one jump, one opinion here. Best to jump loaners and see if you agree and are happy with the product you will eventually buy.

I've found that Safires (2s and 3s) and Pilots are susceptible to too-long brake lines. If your brake lines are even an inch too long, you'll miss out on about 30% of the flare on the bottom end. Where as a Sabre 2 or Crossfire has more power evenly throughout, so if the brake lines are too long it doesn't affect the bottom end as much.

At least that's what I've found.

[theplummeter 15]

shadeland

***Jumped a Safire from the factory guys at a boogie. It was a good canopy, but...since you asked.. The main difference between the PD products I also test jumped at the boogie was the length of the flare stroke. With the Safire (can't remember if it was a 2 or 3) I found I had to push the toggles almost down to my knees to get the same flare I got from a PD product by pushing the toggles to my waist. I jump a Stilleto 170.

I guess you'd get used to the longer flare stroke, but going from what I would call a "standard" flare stroke to the much longer Safire stroke was a surprise to me. Jumped the Sabre 2 there too and found the flare stroke to be of "normal" length, and quite nice. Ok, one jump. I get it. But I rejected the Safire because of the unusually long flare stroke. That's just me. Have jumped the Aerodyne Pilot and found the stroke to be also "normal" (to the waist) too.

One observer, one jump, one opinion here. Best to jump loaners and see if you agree and are happy with the product you will eventually buy.

I've found that Safires (2s and 3s) and Pilots are susceptible to too-long brake lines. If your brake lines are even an inch too long, you'll miss out on about 30% of the flare on the bottom end. Where as a Sabre 2 or Crossfire has more power evenly throughout, so if the brake lines are too long it doesn't affect the bottom end as much.

At least that's what I've found.

I'll second this, and add that once dialed in my old Safire2 had as strong a flare as the Sabre2 (same size) that I was jumping before. The Safire3 is rumored to have a stronger flare than the 2.

[Hunterbeav 0]

Why would the manufacturer of the canopy not shorten the break lines themselves. If they knew it would increase the effency of the flare it seems like they would.

[gowlerk 2,191]

Main canopies come with unfinished brake lines so the user can have them set to the length that works best got them. Demo canopies usually have them set long because its easier to compensate for long lines than short ones.

[theplummeter 15]

Hunterbeav

Why would the manufacturer of the canopy not shorten the break lines themselves. If they knew it would increase the effency of the flare it seems like they would.

There are a large number of factors that go into making a canopy perform correctly. The length of a jumpers arms, their risers, how they sit in the harness in relation to the risers and several other things determine a good length for brake lines. As a manufacturer, shipping a canopy with too much is better as shortening a line is easier than replacing one.

My rigger/instructor worked with me to get my brake lines as short as possible without deforming the canopy when I use front risers. I feel like that is a good starting point.

[Hunterbeav 0]

theplummeter

***Why would the manufacturer of the canopy not shorten the break lines themselves. If they knew it would increase the effency of the flare it seems like they would.

There are a large number of factors that go into making a canopy perform correctly. The length of a jumpers arms, their risers, how they sit in the harness in relation to the risers and several other things determine a good length for brake lines. As a manufacturer, shipping a canopy with too much is better as shortening a line is easier than replacing one.

My rigger/instructor worked with me to get my brake lines as short as possible without deforming the canopy when I use front risers. I feel like that is a good starting point.

That makes sense....you can always make them shorter...but ya can't make them longer without replacing them...thanks for helping me see the light.

[skydiverek 63]

Hunterbeav

Why would the manufacturer of the canopy not shorten the break lines themselves. If they knew it would increase the effency of the flare it seems like they would.

Microlines (Spectra lines) shrink over time, so the excess is used over time.


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