What size and type of canopy should be my next one?

[Newbie 0]

A little over 200 jumps on my Hornet 190 (loaded at 1:1), which is a semi eliptical canopy that i love and thoroughly enjoy.

What would a safe and sound next canopy choice be for me? Any S & TA's or equivalent give me an idea of choices/guidance? I want something a little faster so i can get better penetration, but am not looking to get into swooping anytime soon.

Many thanks

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[wmw999 2,447]

I'm old school. If you love the canopy you have, why not keep jumping it? More money for jumps that way.

If penetration on something like that is a problem, then you need to talk to the people you jump with about where they get out of the airplane (or you need to ask for more go-rounds). You should be going forward in most reasonable winds.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Newbie 0]

A tracking jump the other weekend had a slight intentional turn that put us downwind of the dz too far (it was quite fast).

4 of us landed off, and i only made it back as far as i did (which was just over the road from the dz) because i pulled higher than the others. It's times like that i could have done with the increased penetration. I don't want to drastically downsize, just something to give me a little more forward drive is all. Ideally i would like the same characteristics as my current canopy but it's been discontinued.

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[wmw999 2,447]

Sometimes you land out. If you had just enough increased penetration, could you have ended up making a low turn because you wanted to make it back to the DZ?

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[gemini 0]

With around 222 total jumps you should stick with your canopy a little longer. Learn to fly it completely. It will do more than you think.

Remember how it lands on no wind days and think of how a smaller canopy will land on a no wind day! If you are having to run out a no wind landing on your 190, you are not ready to downsize.

In an emergency situation where you have to land downwind, it will be much faster. Can you handle that?

Whatever decision you make, stay conservative so we will have the opportunity to jump with you someday.

Blue skies,

Jim

[Newbie 0]

Good points, thanks for the advice.

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[EvilLurker 2]

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It's times like that i could have done with the increased penetration. I don't want to drastically downsize

I don't think you'll find a combination that gives you that, especially since you're jumping a Hornet. Reducing drag by using a technique that presents less surface area of your body and experimenting with toggle position to see which setting gives you the best penetration is about the only options you have, I'd say. Landing out beats a trip to the hospital every time, bro.

[hookitt 1]

Demo a canopy similar to what you have in the 170 range. Something like a Sabre 2 or a Pilot. It will require smoother control inputs since it will be more responsive. You may notice that when you fly your regular canopy, it will be easier after you try something smaller.

Figure out what you like and order it. It's a reasonable downsize at this stage of the game. Keep practicing on the one you have til you get the new one(not that you would have a choice). Be sure you can perform the billvon checklist and have fun.

Be sure to make landing decisions up high, which is nothing different than you're doing now.

Good luck

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[billvon 2,991]

>A little over 200 jumps on my Hornet 190 (loaded at 1:1), which is a
>semi eliptical canopy that i love and thoroughly enjoy.

Pilot 168. Sabre2 170 or Safire2 170 would also be good choices. As usual, make sure you can do all the stuff (flat turns, flare turns etc) on your 190 before going to the smaller canopy.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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A little over 200 jumps on my Hornet 190 (loaded at 1:1), which is a semi eliptical canopy that i love and thoroughly enjoy.

What would a safe and sound next canopy choice be for me? Any S & TA's or equivalent give me an idea of choices/guidance? I want something a little faster so i can get better penetration, but am not looking to get into swooping anytime soon.

Many thanks

200 jumps is not a lot of jumps to put on a canopy. What's the rush with swapping?

Chuck

[phoenixlpr 0]

Here it goes if you buy your first to early.

Can you complete this checklist: Downsizing Checklist - by Bill von Novak

If not you have something left to work on.

[Newbie 0]

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>A little over 200 jumps on my Hornet 190 (loaded at 1:1), which is a
>semi eliptical canopy that i love and thoroughly enjoy.

Pilot 168. Sabre2 170 or Safire2 170 would also be good choices. As usual, make sure you can do all the stuff (flat turns, flare turns etc) on your 190 before going to the smaller canopy.

Thanks bill and hookitt. I perform at least one thing (minimum) off of your checklist bill on every descent, especially flat turns to try and keep the muscle memory there if i ever need them.

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[Newbie 0]

Quote

Quote

A little over 200 jumps on my Hornet 190 (loaded at 1:1), which is a semi eliptical canopy that i love and thoroughly enjoy.

What would a safe and sound next canopy choice be for me? Any S & TA's or equivalent give me an idea of choices/guidance? I want something a little faster so i can get better penetration, but am not looking to get into swooping anytime soon.

200 jumps is not a lot of jumps to put on a canopy. What's the rush with swapping?

Chuck

I wasn't sure if 200 jumps was a small amount or an alright amount of jumps to think about downsizing. I'm not really in a rush, i just want to make sure my downsize progression is slow and methodical. Of course, if people think it's not enough jumps to think about it yet, i want to hear that and get an idea of when i should think about it etc Many thanks

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[wmw999 2,447]

I'm not a canopy maven, but to my way of thinking, if you're still having a ton of fun with your current canopy, that's a plus. What's your canopy goal? Is it to be a swooper, or a bigway jumper, or accuracy, to have a little fun at the end of the jump, or to land consistently and safely? Those are considerations.

Where you "should" end up is a range, not a target most likely. It depends on how current you plan on remaining (will winters keep you out of jumping for a few months? How about money or work?), your overall physical fitness, and your willingness to really focus on canopy skills.

To me, 200 jumps also isn't that much to put on a canopy, unless you really don't like it that much. I've had 2 I got rid of pretty quickly; one was way big for me (this was a long time ago), and the other had a really long flare, and I have short arms. But my goals include consistent landings, and the ability to dive like crazy when I turn. Really high
Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Newbie 0]

Hi, top of my list would be to land consistently and safely i know that much LOL!
Seriously, aside from a little increased penetration from having a higher wing loading, i would like mainly just to have a canopy thats responsive and fun to fly, like my current one, and that isn't going to kill or injure me. Eventually i would like to progress into swooping but i'm in no hurry for that, the main thing is i want to make sure my downsizing is slow and cautious (in lieu of the fact i don't have many jumps and i also have the winter lay off period etc). I'm thinking this could be something to look into maybe next year, after i have 300 jumps with it? What do you guys think? I think this season i'll carry on enjoying it and think about it when i have the weather on my side next year

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[wmw999 2,447]

If you do that, then you'll have had the rest of this season, and however much of next season, to research and demo canopies.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Zoter 0]

You will be welcome to fly my 'new ' canopy.
After the winter layoff and a few referesher jumps on your hornet it should give you a good opportunity to evaluate your next downsize

(+ after the winter layoff the harness will prob fit you a bit better )

[AFFI 0]

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Good points, thanks for the advice.

Seems like I have heard this echoed in huge divits...

When I had less than 100 jumps I was embarrassed that I hadn’t broke the century mark. When I had 222 jumps, I was a skydive god in my own mind. It seems the more I have jumped, the more years of skydiving the more I have learned and studied the sport the more I have learned the less I know, I am still a beginner. What I am trying to say is 222 jumps is as close to 0 if you die on 223 tryong out a “NEW” canopy. Like WMV999 said, “If you love the canopy you have, why not keep jumping it?” Anotherwards, are you having fun? Still? On the canopy you are currently flying? If yes and you have totally mastered flying the canopy, then knock yourself out, hopefully you wont be doing it with the ground… WMV999 expressed herself as “oldschool”, how do ya think oldtimers (No offense Wendy) become “Oldtimers”? Super windy days are when the experienced skydivers sit out back by the beer line and watch the inexperienced skydivers become experienced…

Don’t be in a hurry my friend. Stay un-fuckedup…

Mykel

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[Newbie 0]

Thanks for the advice (genuinely).

I doubt i will ever see myself as a skydive "god". I don't want to get complacent in this sport, as i know what lies ahead for me if i do so. WHat i do want to know is how i can progress cautiously and safely. I'm getting very much a case of "carry on flying your current canopy longer" so that's exactly what i'm going to do.
I'm certainly not arrogant to the point of ignoring the advice of those with 1000's of jumps more than i have
I do want to progress, but the priority is to do it safely and cautiously, hence i'll put my search for a new, smaller canopy on hold for now.

Thanks again all

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[EvilLurker 2]

The beauty of it is, when you do decide it's time to downsize, you can contact the manufacturers and demo pretty much anything out there. You'll reduce the field down to 2 or 3 that you like pretty quickly, from my observations. What people on here personally like and recommend, you might not. I'd recommend you don't buy the one that scares you the most during the demos. Know what I mean?

[thegreekone 0]

Wow, all these posts have been informative, respectful, and have shown genuine care and concern.

cool. I may just stick around and learn something so I can try to grow old in this sport.

[Cloudi 0]

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Reducing drag by using a technique that presents less surface area of your body and experimenting with toggle position to see which setting gives you the best penetration is about the only options you have, I'd say.

Excellent point.

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Landing out beats a trip to the hospital every time, bro.

And another.

Kim
Watch as I attempt, with no slight of hand, to apply logic and reason.

[linc_harris 0]

My 2 cents: Land it 100 times, consecutively, on your feet (wind or no wind), without injury, and on target (within the main landing area). If you can at least accomplish that, then I would consider downsizing.