Basejumper.com - archive

i was just wondering who makes the cruiselight canopy.

thanks to anyone who can help.
-Carlow

It was made by ParaFlite but hasn't been made for many years now.

The Bruise-light?

:-) You don't want one.

-=Raistlin

Hello,
Yes, they are no longer in production.
It's a good water canopy, so you can keep your Mojo dry.
Just because some miscreant does not want one,
does not mean you can't have one.
I have extras, cheap.
Avery

Hello,
Thanks for the PM, but I think this is good for the public.
The CruiseLite is a canopy from way back in the '80s.
A 20 year old canopy is a 20 year old canopy,
(this one I'm looking at in particular was made in 1986).
Its condition?
It's well used.
It has had its share of repairs.
It is not a pretty canopy, it is gray, with one red and one black cell.
It is a water ONLY canopy, it's not for fashion, it's for function.
It is air worthy.
I would jump it, with confidence.
With proper care, it has many jumps left in it.
If you are looking for something hip slick and cool, this ain't it.
For $100 bucks and shipping, you can save yourself
from having to take your fine BASE canopy into water.
If you said you were looking for a regular jumper,
I would not sell it to you.
If you lied, and said it's just for water,
and then took it out to your local cliff,
and frapped or bounced or whatever,
well then, that would be your mistake.


In the box right next to it is an old Unit, which was made in 1980.
It is actually in better condition, and looks nicer (yellow, red, orange and white).
Same deal, all the way around.

I checked your profile.
Avery

 

I think Skreamer still jumps a British flag Crashlite!



Be safe
Ed

I made about 45 or 50 BASE jumps on a Cruislite back in the eighties when they already had a bad rep for heading problems. I had two or three 180s with it but, at the time, always thought is was more my fault than the canopy.

However, landing on payment downtown in no wind is no picnic with just 220 square feet.

And yes, I agree these are only water canopies now . . .

NickD
BASE 194

... "when they already had a bad rep for heading problems "
-

I never knew they had a Bad Rep. for Headings ? I found that the Cruislite had exceptional pressurization and consistently good Headings. I think like everyone else does. The landings just Suck. The only other Canopy that would pressurize better was a Pegasus.
I think if you look and desire a good Cruislite, larger than 220. They did have a model a little larger. (i think) it was a 245-XL. I never jumped one but I have seen them jumped and they are around. records on-line say. Paraflite made 1238 units of the 241-246 sq. ft. So there gota be a few still laying around out there.
.

I've got a nice scar that proves the Cruiselites are bad for landings. Many jumpers used them before the Foxes and Mojos became popular. There are still a few Cruiselites at Bridge Day each year.

>>"when they already had a bad rep for heading problems "<<
-

>>>I never knew they had a Bad Rep.<<<

They very much did have one, Mark Hewitt knew it, J.D. Walker knew it, and so did many others who gave me crap when I was jumping one . . . and while I never hit anything with it, I did manage to rip out the ribs below the bridle attachment point all to heck. Since everyone is jumping skydiving canopies for BASE I published an article with a modification that could be done to strengthen that area on these canopies.

The most popular parachutes for BASE at that time were the Unit, Fury, and Peggy (Pegasus) . . .

The problem with the Cruiselite was it was also Built-lite . . . This was a time of baggy jumpsuits and people wanting the lightest weight gear because we all wanted to be floaty . . .

Finding a Unit III (or IV) with a hundred jumps on it, sitting in someone’s closet, and getting it for two hundred bucks was like finding a flyable Jenny in a barn – it was BASE Nirvana . . . However, after a while the word got around the DZs that BASE jumpers would pay top dollar for airworthy Units. And by then some Units were getting unpopular in skydiving because of horrendous snivels when jumped with a sail slider. So there were more than a few around not being jumped. (In fairness it was probably along the lines of how some high performance canopies snivel today, but in those days (late ‘80s) it just seemed too long and too wrong. But with the slider removed they were fine.

I finally stopped jumping the Cruislite, and it wasn’t the openings that scared me so much, it was I didn’t trust it to stay together - and I bought a brand new Interceptor which was a CRW canopy from Precision, but then a few years later (and at about the same time) Adam Filipino came out with the Mojo and Anne Helliwell came out with the FOX. And that was the end of using skydiving canopies for me . . .

NickD
BASE 194