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I really like everything I've seen/heard about the Troll MDV canopy, but the largest size made is a 290. I'm 210 w/o gear, and I figure that would put my WL at about 0.79. Is this unreasonably high? This would be my first BASE rig, so I really have no experience to go by. I would appreciate input from anyone else jumping the Troll at similar WL. Would I be better off to look at one of the other manufacturers that offer 310 or 322 sizes?

Thanks in advance,
Sam

Hey SAm

I purchased a TROLL 290 MDV and got it in February. The one thing is, they(Atair) measure it like a paraglider and not a BASE/skydiving canopy like most manufacturers. So in reality it is much closer to 305 when speaking in the terms comparable size.
Search the Blinc archives for a post by Adam Filipino about wingloading bigger canopies. It is more reasonable to load a BIG canopy a little more.
I was worried about not having a big enough canopy when I started to jump. I weigh 240lbs without gear on so I load about .82 on my troll. So far the landings have been great!! Full flight flare or dropping almost straight down in deep brakes have both been impressive. I have done 3 jumps at about 3400ft.ASL and one that was above 2000ASL and all of them had rocky LZ's. The Troll was kind to me on all of those jumps.
That is MY opinion but keep in mind I have only 4 BASE jumps so far, I am no expert, it is the only BASE canopy I have owned/flown.
Hope that helps!?

I load my Troll MDV @ 0.73 if you take the "sold as seen size" - but as Sabredave says, Trolls are measured differently so my 265 is actually more like a 280 where my loading is actually more accurate as 0.65.

There has been a few posts about how the troll is measured differently, and some posts on "big boy canopies" - have a search around BLiNC and DZ - I am sure you will find some useful info....

Thanks guys. It sounds like the 290 (or 305) Troll might not be out of the question. I'll do a little more research here and at Blinc.