Decisions, decisions...

**Skydawg** · October 20th, 2004, 07:51 PM

Well the time has come to retire my current gear;
A very tired unvented Fox and Reactor combo that was starting to give me coronaries

, but I find myself in a bit of a quandary, been that there's a plethora of really good gear out there, and my experience has been limited to the Fox...

So, how about some helpful comments (or not

) about new gear combo's.
Because the majority of our local sites are very low E's with sh[tty LZ's (Aussie) I was thinking about the new Rock Dragon from Vertigo (which is supposed to be really good in tight LZ's) or the FLiK without the fifth control line or an updated vented/valved Fox, and either BR's Vertex 2 pin rig or Asylum's Perigee Pro.

**Raymond Losli** · October 20th, 2004, 08:25 PM

Don't forget about the newer, Atair, Troll BASE canopies.
I have noticed that they to fly well with good opening and landings.

So many good choices for you now, skydawg

Tom Aiello · October 20th, 2004, 08:33 PM

Can you get demos?

**Skydawg** · October 20th, 2004, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by Tom Aiello

Can you get demos?

Only on the FLiK, and I'll be loading it a bit more than normal.

Tom Aiello · October 20th, 2004, 09:15 PM

Is there any way to put off your purchase until after taking a trip to demo? I really prefer to demo gear before buying, just because it's so personal (for example, the length of your arms will effect your ability to flare various canopies).

Most of the manufacturers are pretty good about sending out demos, and if you hit a big weekend in Idaho, or spend a week or two in Norway, almost everything rolls through, and folks are usually friendly about letting you try their gear.

**Skydawg** · October 21st, 2004, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by Tom Aiello

Is there any way to put off your purchase until after taking a trip to demo? I really prefer to demo gear before buying, just because it's so personal .

Realistically, I probably won't be able to take any trips for the next year or so. I'll be buying based on other people's opinions.

**B.rad** · October 22nd, 2004, 10:41 AM

You should have a look at the Paratech Odyssey fx this is a sweet rig that performs from superlow no airspeed to full on terminal arials. It's also got a very comfy harness for those long climbs.
As for Canopy's the Blackjack is quite the ride from great on heading opening performance to and huge control range input. this canopy flies great in all area's even giving you soft landings on backed in or straight down approches.
after seeing video of all the other canopy's on the market open and fly this is my canopy of choice.
As for the container within my crew pretty much everybody jumps the odyssey fx, it didn't start this way but after seeing the comfort and functionality this is the way everybody's going.

Tom Aiello · October 22nd, 2004, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by B.rad

You should have a look at the Paratech Odyssey fx this is a sweet rig...

After jumping my Odyssey FX for approximately 20 jumps, I returned it to the manufacturer. I did not request a refund. Read my review of the container here.

The manufacturer told me they would address my concerns in future revisions, but that was the last I heard from them.

Rambobase · October 22nd, 2004, 12:34 PM

I heard that this rig is no longer going to be produced anymore. This is obviously hearsay...something about the mfg. going into producing hunting gear. Probably alot more profitable than BASE gear. How does the Blackjack set you down on railroad tracks? ;) :p

**B.rad** · October 22nd, 2004, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Tom Aiello

After jumping my Odyssey FX for approximately 20 jumps, I returned it to the manufacturer. I did not request a refund. Read my review of the container here.

The manufacturer told me they would address my concerns in future revisions, but that was the last I heard from them.

Hey Tom I heard that you had this container sized for a 310 and ended up putting a 260 or somthing like that into it? This is what i had heard.
is this true?

**deviate** · September 23rd, 2014, 05:11 PM

Tom's review has disappeared from Blinc.
I found a cached copy of his review here.
I know this is an old thread, but I'm looking at buying one of these.

ManBird · October 22nd, 2004, 02:37 PM

You can't go wrong with a Gargoyle. Your container issues are solved there.

Though the Prism 2 is looking good, too. FLiK, Rock Dragon, and the MDV Troll all look to be excellent choices with all the "modern" features that alleviate problems that any canopy had before them.

I'm not super-experienced, but I don't think most experienced/current jumpers would disagree.