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For people who have made signifigant slider up jumps on a Flik:

I have noticed that the lrg hole mesh slider for my Flik 266 is signifigantly larger than the lrg hole mesh slider for my RockDragon 266. The Flik slider is probably 2-3"s longer and 3-4"'s wider.

In regards to the Flik, have you stuck to the stock slider for terminal, or gone to a smaller one?

I have about 50 jumps terminal on a FliK Vtec 266 (don't know whether this is significant for you...) and I have just used the stock large hole mesh slider. Openings were quite hard in the beginning, now they are perfect with enough rolling of the nose and direct stow. Going smaller seems unnecessary and wrong to me, also, certainly the first people to ask are the ones from Apex, right? Rock Dragon --> different canopy --> different slider...

 

Sometimes Todd, Jimmy and Marta have three different opinions...

Hi

me and friends living near ITW have together several hundreds terminal jumps with vented flik 240 and 32 pc. All of us using stock large mesh, direct control and nose rolls to slow down opening. I had only a couple of hard openig in 100 jumps.

I like to have the slider come down fast in case of a 180.

I think stock size is ok also because going subterminal (6, 7s) i have soft openigs with no direct control and no nose rolls.

Ciao
giamma

 
The people who make & sell these canopies are all highly approachable and they might even know a bit more about parachutes than some of us on dz.com

I think that the difference in slider size between your Flik & RD makes no difference at terminal.

The reason for the difference is probably because otherwise around the 4s mark (and less, for those people into that sort of thing), the RD opens a tad slow slider up (only) for some people's liking.

until I know more, I'll trust the designers. they know a whole lot, and Todd will answer questions.

it seems logical they evaluted the design for terminal jumps.

that being said...
the speed of slider decent depends on how much air it catches. this is a function of porosity and overall area.

the large mesh means the FLiK slider catches little air.

the larger size of the slider permits the risers to spread, to a more natural width. theoretically, this will result in a flatter, more efficient parachute (similar to swoopers pulling the slider down).

is it the reason the slider is bigger? don't know. I'd recommend changing it if YOU discover a solid reason to change... YOU are the test jumper...

I guess I should have stated in bold letters that I HAVE spoken to a manufactuer. I try not to quote people on the net in relation to private conversations or private messages, lest I misquote them or somehow put their ass in a sling sometime down the road.

They told me they like the larger slider for subterminal jumps, getting a more positive opening, and the smaller slider for terminal stuff, using the smaller size to constrict the lines, slowing the opening. They also said this is THEIR personal preference. They told me some people have made custom sliders in between the two, trying to find a middle ground.

And as always, they encouraged me to talk to other jumpers and gather their opinions and experiences, which was the point of this thread...

Just so's ya all realize...I believe the subject in question is the size of the mesh, not the size of the slider. An Apex/BR canopy from 265-293 would use a 23 x 28 slider...large hole mesh for subterminal slider up. For terminal jumps I totally prefer the small mesh slider, esp. when jumping video. The small mesh slows down the opening enough to spare my neck extra stress as well as the rest of my bones...
I jumped this mostly at Kjerag...but also Bridge Day. I even considered having Todd make a double-layer small mesh for Kjerag to soften it even more...but didn't get a round tuit.
Hope this helps.
Oh, I wouldn't recommend the small mesh for Twiin Falls....unless you plan to land in the river.
Peace.
K

I've jumped the Perrine with a small mesh and sail slider on several occasions with no problem whatsoever. At low airspeeds, the only effect of the slider is that it's keeping the lines together. Air-resistance against the slider has no play in it. Sail versus mesh is not an issue on delays less than four seconds.