tri or hornet?

[udder 0]

could someone give me info on the hornet and tri as a first canopy. one of these would be my first choice or a gen-x. the rig from paraservive is the cheapest with a hornet main and dolphin.what is the dolphin like as a container?
any info would be appreciated.
udder

[trippin 0]

I'm looking into there "affordable rigs" also. Check out the reviews, under gear,on this site.Do you know anything about that gen-x main?
mike

[dove 0]

I am a newbie too, but I have put 50 jumps on my Tri 150 and I absolutely love it. I have NEVER had line twists or and off-heading opening and I have stood up every single landing on it. And it is fun too! I would definitely recommend it, but I have never jumped a hornet so can't compare. Have fun!
Elisa

[riggerrob 643]

It really depends what you want a canopy to do.
I have jumped a Hornet 170s and 190s, a Triathlon 160 and repacked dozens of Dolphins.
Triathlons are mid-range canopies - originally designed for canopy formations - that will allow you to do CRew, sport accuracy or a little turf surfing. The Hornet is primarily a turf-surfing canopy that will allow you to do a little sport accuracy.
Dolphins are decent low-budget containers. Their Velcro won't last forever, nor will they win you many fashion points, but they will get you in the air for a minimum of dollars.

[Dutchboy 0]

I bought an affordable rig from Roy with the Dolphin container and Hornet main. Over 100 jumps later I'm still happy with the rig. The Hornet opens softly and is fun to fly while still having a good margin of safety. You can do some turf surfing with it, but the Heatwave is likely better for that if that is what you want. This was my first rig, BTW.
The Dutchboy
http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

[maretus 0]

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The Hornet is primarily a turf-surfing canopy
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Is that really so ? I've always thought that Extreme Vx is primarily a turf-surfing canopy and Hornet is more like a mid-performance semielliptical allround canopy.

[OmriMon 0]

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Is that really so ? I've always thought that Extreme Vx is primarily a turf-surfing canopy and Hornet is more like a mid-performance semielliptical allround canopy.

There r a lot of canopues that r turs-surfing machines, the VX is just one of them, the hornet is a more docile and forgiving canopy, thats y it's so good as a first canopy, it all depends how u load it, at more higher wing loading u can get pretty good spoowps with it and at lighter win loadings it's very fogiving and easy to fly
Free Skies,
Omri

[Grogs 0]

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Dolphins are decent low-budget containers. Their Velcro won't last forever, nor will they win you many fashion points, but they will get you in the air for a minimum of dollars.

I thought the newer Dolphins had velcroless riser covers. Or are you talking about the velcro on the bridle?

[skymedic 0]

The tuck tabs are a 40$ dollar option on the Dolphin.

[SIUskydiver 0]

I just got myself a hornet for my first canopy and it flies like a dream. ive only got about 15 jumps on it but from what i have done with it so far i an throughley impressed. it has nice smooth openings and light toggle preasure and is easy to pack. If i were u i would go with the hornet

[PhillyKev 0]

I was considering the same options as you. I haven't jumped either, but I'm definitely going to lean toward the tri just from talking to various people, both on here, at the dropzone, and at the local gear store.
The main reason being that Triathlon is made in the US. I'm not knocking the potential quality of the hornet, because it's not, but getting service on it could be problematic. Let's face it, a new canopy isn't the cheapest thing you'll ever buy. Do you want to deal with a business in a foreign country if you have any kind of problem with it? That's assuming you're in the U.S.

[Kris 0]

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The main reason being that Triathlon is made in the US. I'm not knocking the potential quality of the hornet, because it's not, but getting service on it could be problematic.

Unless Aerodyne has recently changed factories they still have PISA (the maker of the Hornet & the Heatwave) manufacturing the Triathlon and the Diablo. PISA makes just the raw canopy and then it gets shipped back to Aerodyne here in the US to have the lines attached.
This was told to me two weekends ago by a PISA dealer who just moved here (to Oklahoma) from South Africa.
Kris

[Dutchboy 0]

Don't assume that the "US" companies make their canopies in the USA. I got my custom ordered Hornet in under a month. Compare that to 3-4 months for a custom PD canopy and convince me that dealing with a US company means less hassle.
The Dutchboy
http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Absoulutely correct. PD owns a factory in Honduras that does most of their raw canopies now. The Aerodyne Triathalon and Diablo are made in South Africa at PISA, the same company that builds the Hornet and Heatwave. German Performance Variable canopies are made at the Atair factory in Slovenia, etc, etc, etc.
But back to the original poster's question: which is better?
They are both great first parachutes. Around here (Raeford), we sell a lot more Hornets than Tri's. Reason? It is a great "intermediate" nine-cell ZP canopy that packs one full size smaller than most of the competition. The result is that you can order a container that you will be happier with for much longer. For example, we try to tell our young graduates to buy a main one size bigger than they will "eventually" grow into; nothing radical. They then get a Hornet in that larger size and jump it until they are very comfortable with it, then eventually (if they MUST step down) they can get that smaller, speedier main and it will fit snugly in their same container. While we all know that it is purely aesthetics, most people want to buy the smallest container possible, while not necessarily the smallest main.
Chuck

[OmriMon 0]

Hey chuck can u explain that whole container thing again, i didn't get it and it sounds like something like i need to do.
Free Skies,
Omri

[freaksister 0]

Geez, I don't know how many times I heard the argument "Get something made in the USA" when I was looking at my HORNET! Well, these guys are right, it makes no difference.
I have an "Affordable Rig" from Rigs N Things with a Dolphin, Hornet, and Tempo Reserve. I love it. My measurements were a bit off so my Dolphin doesn't fit just right but otherwise I like it a lot. They didn't have the tuck tab optionn for $40 last August when I bought mine...if they did I didn't know it. Anyway, with that you would still be paying heaps less than many other rigs, especially if you buy the complete unit from Roy.
This thread was about main canopies though, so here is what I say: I love my Hornet more and more. Now that it is broken in (about 30 jumps or so) it is even better! I don't have off-heading openings or anything like that. I just have to roll the nose to get a softer opening. One of my long-time friends, who got me started skydiving actually, has two Triathlons, and although he loves them, he encouraged me to buy my Hornet. He just happened to get his Tris at a really great bargain (they were used.) He said that if he hadn't found those, he would seriously consider a Hornet. (He was one of the few people I had met at the time who had actually jumped a Hornet before, and I totally trusted his judgement, he's a cautious dude!)
By the way, does anyone ever search the archives for this kind of information anymore? I mean, there have been about 6 threads on Hornets and probably like 10 on Dolphins, just since the new version of DZ.com came out at the first of the year. Not that I mind, really, but I think if you search and read prior postings you could possibly glean even MORE information than you are going to get now. My. $.02
Sis
It isn't brave if you aren't scared...

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Ahem..LOL! Here goes:
Say you weigh 150 pounds and you are wanting to buy that first rig; a used Vector II for example. I know that that a V1-2 is made to fit a 135 Sabre or Stiletto, but I ought not buy a main that small with only 35 or 40 jumps experience. I will promise you that a Hornet 150 will fit in that same container and that main would be much smarter for a person with that little experience. So, if you order that way, you will end up with the smallest possible container for the main you need to be jumping. Then, after you "outgrow" your main and decide to downsize, you won't be stuck with a container that is too big for your new downsized main. Actually, going another size smaller than that is not a problem either, so you end up having much more range. Thus, that container that will work fine for your Hornet 150 is plenty small to hold a Cobalt 120 and will not be hanging all off your back like big-old student gear. Does that clarify it anymore?
Chuck

[Floater 0]

I would say go with the hornet. I tried a triathalon 190 while I was still jumping a silhouette 190 and the performance difference was dramatic. I almost felt like I had jumped back up to a 290 student rig.
To make a long story short, I think you'll get bored with a tri a lot sooner than you would with a hornet of the same size and then you're stuck looking for a new main to spice things up again.
Lee

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

"By the way, does anyone ever search the archives for this kind of information anymore?"
A very good point. We have been dealing with quite a bit of redundancy in our posting. Another example of this is in the safety and training forum concerning canopy control exercises. A bit of research by browsing the old pages or, as you stated, by doing a search would really be better than asking again. I certainly don't mind answering questions either, but you did make a good point.
Chuck