20kN

The best DZ in the area is Perris. That's probably the best DZ in the west if not the entire United States. Oceanside is mostly a tandem factory. You're not missing out on anything there. Elsinore is okay, but Perris is right next door and vastly superior IMO.

Yes, the WinX opens faster than many canopies, but that is a good thing for wingsuiting. You dont want a lot of snivle on a WS canopy. The best WS canopies open fast. PD even talks about this in the manual for the Horizon. The Pilot 7 snivles a lot, which may feel nice as the opening is very soft, but the longer the snivle the more time you have for you to rotate under the canopy producing body twists. By contrast, canopies like the Epicene Pro, Horizon, Triathlon and WinX all open somewhat fast and as a result are less likely to produce linetwists, and when linetwists do occur they tend to be less serious. Also not sure what you're talking about with the P7 opening fast at the end of the snivle. Mine does not do that. It opens quite fast at terminal, but at subterminal the openings are very slow.

I have taken the WinX terminal before. It opens fast, although not as fast as a reserve. Atair will send you a larger slider if you want one, which makes it more suitable for terminal use. It's just that the slider that comes with it is optimized for WS flight since it's a WS canopy.

I've have around 500 some WS jumps on my Pilot 7 167 and I've done hundreds of jumps on it with a CR+, Freak and other large suits. It opens fine. If you had three chops it's probably because you got the risers uneven and it put you on your back. Some canopies are more tolerant to that than others (e.g. a reserve or an Epicene), but ultimately that's pilot error. You need to know what to do when you get linetwists. That's part of being a skilled wingsuit pilot. If you get the risers uneven enough, the Kraken will spiral down on you too. Any canopy of any WL of any size, including a reserve, can and will dive given uneven enough risers. It's just a matter of how much they can be uneven before it starts to become a problem.

Also know that while bodyposition is the primary cause of linetwists in all forms of skydiving, in wingsuiting there is a higher chance that the equipment was the cause compared to the chance of the equipment being the cause in other disciplines. For example, I have countless videos of my canopy spun up in linetwists before the canopy even opened. There are several things that can cause this, but some of them are a limitation of the equipment. For example, the d bag can catch a side of the container and spin right off your back. Open corners in the packing tray is intended to prevent this, but the risk is never eliminated entirely. Using gear designed for wingsuiting will reduce the chances that the gear was the cause and increases the chances that you were the cause for linetwists whenever you do get them. Also know that while equipment plays a larger role in WS than other disciplines, body position has much greater impact in WS than other disciplines. Small imperfections in deployment technique are amplified when opening with a WS, and the larger the WS the larger the amplification. You can get away with a somewhat poor technique once and awhile on belly or FF and maybe only get a few linetwists, but the same level of error when flying a WS, especially a large suit, might get you 20+ linetwists. I think my record is almost 25 linetwists on my worst opening. That was when I upgraded from a Swift to an ATC and my opening technique was not where I needed it to be.

The WinX has the best glide ratio of any of the canopies I've tried, but I dident exactly compare glide ratio that carefully. I mostly only consider opening quality and flare power as there are some tricks to get back from a long spot even with a canopy that is not that efficient. 7-cells are less efficient in general and so your average 7-cell is going to have less glide and less flare than your average 9-cell. it's all a trade-off. When one characteristic goes up, others typically go down.

There are definitely more options that that. Add in the Triathlon, which is very good for WS, the Spectre, OM-7, Renegade, and last you can always jump a reserve as a main if you get an attachment point added from the factory (but I'd suggest it for WS use only--no terminal). I've flown every canopy on your list except the Kraken as well as all the canopies on my list, and I've flown them all with a WS ranging from a tracking suit to a CR+. The truth is any of them are fine if your body position is good. If your body position is bad, they will all give you twists. No canopy can prevent linetwists completely, although some can help to a degree. The best opening canopy I've ever flown with a WS was a Smart reserve. I did about 30 jumps on one and it opened fantastic, but I would not take one terminal. It was sub-terminal only as it opened fast. The next best would probably be the Epicene Pro and Horizon which are both square canopies. After that, the Pilot 7 and WinX, which are both semi-eleptical. Just know the WinX and Pilot 7 are less forgiving than the Epicene or Horizon if you get uneven risers as they are not a fully square planform. They can and will put you in a spin if the risers are uneven enough. I've seen people have cutaways on both canopies (not that no one has ever cutaway an Epicene or Horizon, but still). I have a video demonstrating openings on most of the canopies covered in this thread, and I jumped them all with a wide range of wingsuits, if anyone wants to see it. Also if you're serious about WS and want to get serious with larger suits, you'll have better openings on a canopy that opens faster. Most WS specific canopies are intended to open quicker. This is mentioned in the manual of some of them. Slow opening canopies leave lots of time for linetwists to develop or worsen. Fast opening canopies do not.

I am not sure that winning in PPC speed, time and distance makes you the best wingsuit pilot in the world anymore than having the longest swoop makes you the best canopy pilot in the world. There is a lot more to it than that.

It's pretty well known the Storm is not that good of a wingsuiting canopy for the exact reason you described. Some people claim it's good, but really it's not. There are a crap load of people have cutaway a Strom on a wingsuit. I can think of about 10 - 15 other canopies that are better suited for WS than a Storm.

We packed the Smart 175 LPV in an I4 and it works fine. It was a bit on the tight side, but nothing crazy (i've seen tighter). I wouldent go any larger, but as Aerodyne states the canopy does fit. I'll send you some pictures.

Wear hearing protection in the plane and in freefall. I suffered noticeable hearing loss in only 18 months of skydiving and I wore a full face (which is much quieter than an open face).

The IRM covers in great detail the requirements for coaching. The exact dive flows and requirements to pass are covered in detail. The SIM also covers this information to less of an extent. All USPA coaches are required to demonstrate knowledge on cat F, G and H of the ISP in order to pass and earn the rating since those are the three main categories they are authorized to teach. The ISP covers the exact requirements to pass each category leading from a student's first jump to their last jump prior to graduation.

Well I'm packing an I4 with a Smart 175 LPV this weekend so I'll let you know how it goes. I expect it will be fine as the manufacturer says it fits. Regarding the ULPV, the lifespan is fine if you take care of your canopy. The ULPV is only half low bulk material from what I recall. I think the top skin is ZPX and the bottom is FX11. Most serious WS canopies are almost entirely 0-3 CFM material like the Horizon and Epicene which are maybe only 10% ZP. Yet those canopies can last 1,000 jumps. You'll almost certainly downsize before you wear the canopy out. Also the ULPV material is much easier to pack than ZP or ZPX.

again none of this matters, the jet is not in operation and likely never will be. i've been asking about the jet for years and I havent seen a single serious attempt to getting it up in the air.

The Ultra LPV 188 would fit in an I4 regardless of where you live. That thing packs almost two sizes smaller than a ZP canopy. There is absolutely a big difference in pack volumes between locations. I've jumped at Perris and my Pilot fit fine, then I went to Deland and the next day it was quite loose with the same closing loop setting. I think that those canopy combinations would fit in both an I4 and an I5. The I5 would be a bit easier to pack probably, but the I4 would be a smaller container and you would not run the risk of the container being too large if you went to a more humid climate. If you plan to downsize at all, I'd get the I4 for sure. If you really want to be sure, you could get the I4 with the Ultra LPV main. That would probably be fine. The D Bag for the I4 and I5 containers is the exact same size actually. They use the same D bag for both sizes, it's just the container is a bit smaller.

Mirage makes the W series container which is basically a hybrid between a BASE container and a skydiving container. It accepts BASE mains but with their smallest reserve packing tray so it's legal.

That depends entirely on the volume of your main. If you're at the bottom end of what your container can hold, the pin in that photo would be dangerously loose. Because people dont always use the recommended main for their container, the actual correct position will vary and may not match the photo in the manual. The pin does not need to be insanely tight (that could cause a PCIT), but airing on the tighter side is much safer than airing on the loose side.

Rolling the shoulders forward has a small effect. It's part of the equation, but there are other factors that are substantially more important. You should not be in a hard arch during a track. You should be flat. Not necessarily dearching aggressively, but certainly not arching either. Your legs should be completely straight and locked out at the knee with your toes pointed. The further you sweep your arms back, the faster forward you'll go. If you want to decrease your forward speed, you can bring the arms back out to the side.

But not as good as a 3D vented pilot chute does. Wind tunnel testing shows that you can improve the design of the PC and more than one company has had success in doing this. Squirrel talks about it in their video. Sure, there is a lot of marketing to get through, but the general concept of what they are talking about is valid:

No, you're not going to achieve 50 MPH horizontal speed. The only way you can get that in freefall is with a wingsuit. Know that when you exit the plane, you're still moving in the direction of the plane horizontally for some time. It's not like you get out and you're immediately going straight down. You continue to fly in the direction the plane was traveling until that horizontal speed energy dissipates. In addition, the wind will move you horizontally while in freefall. This is called drift and it's the primary reason why exit order and exit separation exist. The wind will carry you in a certain direction for your entire time in freefall, so you're never moving truly straight down unless there is no wind. Between all these factors, it is completely reasonable that by the time you are under canopy, you're not over the same spot over the ground than when you were when you spotted.

What I DIDN'T do was - I did not arch before starting emergency procedures - forgot about it as I never practice that part. Yea lots of people dont. Try to do it, but getting the reserve out quickly is the more important objective. - I did not bother at all about peel-punch, I just yanked cut-away and then reserve handles - same thing, don't really practice details about how to handle the handle. You should always practice pealing the velcro away. People have been unable to execute their EPs at all because they were not pealing the velcro and therefore could not pull the handle. But that's fine, it worked, just know if ever you grab the handle and cant pull it, possibly it's because you did not peal the velcro away. - Once under the reserve I realized my cut-away cables didn't clear all the way; I didn't swipe the cables - same thing, don't practice swiping cables when practicing emergency procedures. The point in sweeping the cables is to ensure you dont have a partial cutaway, but if you're already under your reserve and the main is gone then it worked. As long as you punch all the way down as far as you can with your cutaway arm(s), then you would have pulled enough cable through the housings to cut away both sides. - I did not LOOK at reserve handle; I might have been lucky that after cutting away I found it with no looking whatsoever - I normally practice that part; during real thing I must have forgotten about it. You should always look before reaching, but know that the day might come where you cannot see your handles. Many people have had issues finding their handles because they could not see them. This usually happens during linetwists that occur in a manner that your head is pinned in a position where you cannot look down. I've had this happen several times to me, just so far never during a cutaway. - I did not keep reserve handle, it dropped. Irrelevant. Keeping the handle is not part of conducting proper EPs.

Or you could just cut the line, which would be my preference. Better than dealing with a potential canopy collapse or have the canopy reopen and spin you up and into the ground. A good thing to consider is which line caused the lineover. If it's a brake line or a C/D line, then I'd probably cut it You can land on the rears if needed and the C/D lines tend to be less critical. The A/B lines, and especially the A's, form the shape of the nose and so cutting those is a lot more risky, as the canopy might have trouble holding it's shape.

Actually fabric does play an important role in opening. It's certainly noticeable. There is a reason why there are virtually no ZP reserves or BASE canopies. 0-3 CFM material does in fact open better than ZP. This is the same reason why F111 PCs exist. They let some air through and therefore tend to be a bit more stable and less wobbly. Mirage talks about it on their website and why they prefer F111 PCs. If ZP PCs were universally superior, then F111 PCs wouldn't still exist. It's a trade-off. Lifespan for performance. F111 PCs are more stable and therefore in theory are less likely to cause PC-induced problems on your main (like linetwists caused by a rotating bag), but ZP PCs last much longer and dont require as much attention to their condition as F111 PCs do. You can get the best of both worlds by buying a vented PC like the SkySnatch or a BASE PC. Those are ZP, but they are even more stable than an F111 PC because they are printed in a 3D shape and they are vented which makes them much more stable. The everyday standard skydiving PCs we use are cheap and basically just consist of two flat piece of fabric sewn together. That's not the best way to make a PC, but it's cheap which is why manufacturers in skydiving do it. In the BASE environment, the PCs are actually built with some engineering behind them because there is less room for equipment problems.

On a different note, does anyone know where I can buy medium size bands? The large 2" bands are too large for me but the small ones are too small. Maybe 1 1/2" would be good.