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Hello Experienced WS BASE jumpers:
I'm looking for feedback on suits from those of you who have jumped the S-Fly or are very familiar with it. Can you comment on the cutaway system or the comfort / practicality for its BASE (specifically) application? Objective comparisons to other suits would be welcome.
Thanks!

S fly is good. i like that i dont have to hold on to anything while flying and that the wings are not so big, so you can still pull easily from BOC. I also like the fact that with the leg wing still zipped you can run and walk easily.

I cutaway the arm wings every single base jump. This is faster than unzipping and since just one handle pulls em both, and you dont have to worry about unzipping the leg, it is just simple: pitch, swing thru, cutaway, steer. I had my rigger make an extra cutaway cable in case I ever drop the cable.

S-fly may tend to get smoked by a vampire on a distance flight, but it is all the pilot. some rule in S fly, some suck in any suit. then again some flights are distance flights and you might want all the wing you can get.

if easy cutaway, easy walk/run and easy pull are important to you go S-fly, if distance is what you really need for your sites, go vampire.

I second that. I've got a Vampire and a S-Fly. I haven't base'd either yet, but the S-Fly is super easy to fly & move around in. It isn't going to beat someone good in a vampire, but look what Andreas from VKB is doing with his suit.

G

In term of performance and feeling of flight, there's absolutely no comparison between the 2 suits. It's like you're barely moving forward with the first one, while the vampire makes you feel you're flying and not even getting down... but I've felt it tricky to launch.

I also prefer the opening on the V1, using the leg pouch and with a lot of forward speed: no need to close the wings, and you're flying under canopy almost at pull height! It's just a small move of one hand and resume flying, much easier than pulling BOC on an S-fly.

Anyway, if flying close to the rock is the goal, you don't need a performing suits, but rather an easy to manoeuver one. And then, the vampire may not be the best...

Good flights!!!

Awesome guys, thanks - that's exactly the kind of info I was hoping for...
Yes I'm stoked on maneuverability before and after exit... they both sound good but I think I'll start with the S Fly.
See you out there.

i can only post my observations its all in the pilot i have seen on ITW people with S-fly, BM, Phoenix all reaching Marcelos bar + french guy Ludo in his smoke sistem to clear the parata zebrata and opened behind climbers backs and landing on heli place.

Then again i was opening over the last hill before the main landing with prodigy, ask jury he is flying with prodigy to the landing, so all in all its all in the pilot

I cant really say that I agree with you on that one. I believe that people will be surprised to see the distance you can get with an S-fly if it's flown properly. It's not quite as good as the Vampire, but pretty close.

Another good thing about the S-fly (for BASE) is that you can fly it a lot steeper than the Vampire without loosing wing surface. This is good when you are flying close to stuff and want to go down to a talus. To go really steep with a vampire you would have to reduce wing surface on the arms and then you loose some of the speed and power in the suit. With the S-fly you can rather tilt it steeper and keep full surface and power in the suit.

Although even with these differences it's mainly up to the pilot. I'm sticking to my V1 for now and I'm very happy with that, but they are both excellent suits.