DancingFlame

Did you ever demo Icarus Safire2? It is the canopy with Spectre-like snivel and it flares even better than Sabre. Definitely, I'd recommend Safire2!

As I heard, Spectre has better flare than Triathlon and turns a little quicker. Triathlon is good at CRW, Spectre is not that good, well, it seems like you will not go for CRW So you'll made a wise decision if you choose Spectre. Again, you should better try these canopies yourself. Do not listen to some people offering high wing load, trust yourself and your instructors. Parachute is a tool for landing and not for killing. Ah, and add Icarus Safire2 to your list. At W/L ~1.0 this canopy performs very well. It has flatter glide and flares better than the Spectre. The only disadvantage, one cannot find any used canopies on the market

Properly loaded Spectre (~1.0) will be the best choice from your list. Nice openings, crisp turns, VERY powerful flare. I fly Spectre-150 for my last 20 jumps, W/L ~1.15, and I love this canopy! It is easy to control, not too sensitive to the body position on opening. After 90-deg turn it swoops a little (35-45 ft, 180 is prohibited at my DZ - blind turn - and 270 scares me a lot). Navigator... well, it is a student canopy, very slow turns, little flare, no swoop at all, no beautiful landings. You will not learn a lot on that canopy. Airlocks on Lotus, hmm, I've seen some guys with airlocked canopies in high winds. I would not recommend airlocked canopies for inexperienced skydiver. One more thing, for the first time, packing Spectre will be pain in the @$$. Combined ZP/F111 canopies are much easier to pack.

From PD's document (wingload.pdf) General Concepts that are frequently misunderstood A. Different canopy models of the same size may perform differently, but they will fly approximately the same speed. Wing loading is the biggest determinant of speed. A Stiletto 190 is not really faster than a Sabre 190, or even a PD 190! Other aspects of performance will be different, however. (Turn rate, glide angle, etc.) These differences may influence a person’s impression of speed. B. A person evaluates a canopy’s speed according to their individual frame of reference, which has been created through their own, unique experiences. Example: Jumper A and jumper B weigh the same, jump the same canopy, and have the same number of jumps. They may have completely opposite opinions of the speed and handling of their canopies. Why? Different frames of reference! The canopy may be the smallest one jumper A has flown. He may have chosen it to get more speed, quicker turns and hotter landings, and might feel that it’s a handful! Yet jumper B may have moved up one or two sizes to this canopy, to create more forgiving handling and easier landings than he had previously. C. When discussing the speed and forgiveness of a particular canopy, remember the different frames of reference of the individuals involved. Be careful to avoid projecting your frame of reference onto a person to whom you’re describing a canopy. Example: If a person is asking advice about trying a new canopy that is much larger than what you are currently jumping, you’ll likely consider it rather slow and docile. But telling them so could be a big mistake if they’ve spent their whole skydiving career on a much larger canopy. Regardless of how you feel about the canopy, it will be the fastest, most responsive canopy they’ve ever jumped. This is true regardless of any wing loading calculations you might make. D. It is not necessary to heavily load a high performance canopy to make it fly and land correctly. This is a common misconception even with many experts. If a person’s canopy is going the speed they are comfortable with, then that should be fine. If they’re not getting good landings on a properly designed canopy flown at a lower wing loading, they’re probably not flaring it correctly. E. Choose your canopy size by reflecting on your impression of the canopy sizes and models you have recently flown, combined with your desire to go faster or slower. Choosing a canopy this way is much safer than using only a chart published by a manufacturer. Such a chart may be a rough guide, but cannot be used effectively without applying your own experience. If you don’t want to go faster, don’t go smaller than what you are using!

On Sabre2 150 your wing load will be approx. 1.33. Well, it is acceptable after 150-200 jumps and a canopy control course. But Sabre2 170 loaded at ~1.2 flies great and there will not be any reasons for you to downsize. If I was you, I'll not even demo Sabre2 150.

All manufacturers claim minimum and maximum recommended wing load. I think, if your wing load on a bigger canopy is below recommended minimum, it will be unsafe to jump on it (for some reason, weather, wind gusts etc). So, bigger is not always safer!

Correct. As for me, Element container is one of the best on the market and not as expensive as Mirages or Javelins. Only $1100 for well-equipped H/C, including hip & chest rings, all stainless hardware, deluxe backpad etc. (full options set), looks like Icon container (well, may be, Icon looks like Element - Icon was presented a year after Element was) ParAAvis canopies are not that good, but as for me, there is no difference between Sabre-175 & Spinnaker (what a strange name too, don't you think so )? Well, Spectre is slightly better than Ozone, but it costs twice!

Try Sabre2 210 ;) Or, event Sabre2 190 after some jumps on rental rigs. IMHO, there one should not hurry with buying big size rig.