Preferred Tandem-Main

[bosco 0]

My money is on the A2. It is the best all round tandem main on the market today (in my opinion). Easy flare, a nice balance of speed, performance and dependable openings. Each of the canopies detailed here have their excellent points (especially the HOP which is great fun to fly and does flare like the home sick angel) however if your looking for a tandem main which has a good balance of all things we look for then the A2 is my choice.

[livendive 8]

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I read about the HOP330, but my feeling is that it might be a little to small - at least for me....
What about heavier passengers on null wind days?

alex

I did find the canopy little "hot" to start with. But it only took a few jumps to get to know how the canopy flies and lands , and have been very impressed since.

As for heavier passengers, then again it is no real issue. I have taken 15 1/2 stone in nil winds and had no issues landing.

How well does the HOP shut down? In the videos I've seen online, they're all beach jumps where there's usually a little breeze (and I noticed catchers on several). I've got an Icarus 330 and 400 and an EZ-384. I want to replace the 384 soon and was leaning toward an Icarus 365, but the price difference on the HOP sure is attractive, especially if it flies as well as most people are saying and can shut all the way down. (I'm at 2200 ft MSL with moderately hot summers and a somewhat uneven and rocky landing area...sliding in isn't always fun).

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[bclark 0]

Love Icarus tandem mains. Have jumps on SET 400's, Sigma 370's, EZ 384, HOP 330. Would not want to jump anything but an Icarus. I can take passengers up to the TSO on the rig and flare them by myself with no problems. (I am a pretty small TM 150 lbs) They fly great in high winds and turbulence. The bottom end flare is fantastic. They can open a little sporty but you get used to it. I was largely unimpressed with the HOP 330. It has such a huge aspect ratio and is so eliptical that it has a very disturbing side to side rolling moment when coming out of turns, does some very scary things in turbulence, and in my experience does not flare NEARLY as well as what people here are saying. It does open nice and has a very high rate of turn on toggles. Just my opinion though. I have done 3000 tandems on Icarus 365's and believe it is just the right tool for the job.

[2cmyzx 0]

First off I am not a tandem master but hope to be soon. I have 12 tandems with our instructors and the last one 2 weeks ago was on a new hop we just got. Matt the (TI) is about 190ish and i am 218 and we just brought it straight in with nary a breeze to a no step landing. The hop 330 performs excellent from opening to landing.

[RMURRAY 1]

list price for firebolt 298 is 2600US, firebolt 350 is 3033US --- from the jumpshack website.

rm

[ast4711 0]

First of all, thanks a lot for all the opinions!!

To clarify the purpose of my post:
I currently considering buying a new tandem system and want to have the best for my money.....

It seems there are some canopies that get very good review: SIGMA, A2 and ICARUS.
Everybody who tried the HOP was greatly impressed by its performance too, but I think, I will not go smaller than ~360. I need a reliable, easy to fly all around workhorse for the next couple of years....

My favorits are the above three, as they were before my post, but I have a better understanding now - at least I think so. From the avove, I only know A2 first hand.

thanks for all responses!!
alex

--
www.tandemmaster.net
www.skydivegear.de

[bosco 0]

You simply cant beat the A2 as a great all rounder.
Good luck.