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I and another went out to flick a tall guyed A Sl down. The plan was to climb to 400' or 500' and freefall it, so we both brought a 42" f-111. When we started climbing the tower, we realized that the wind was not exactly right. We flicked a couple cigarette butts from 300' to determine wind direction, and you could see the glow following the direction of the wire all the way to the ground. We then decided it would be safer to jump a little lower, in order to be open below the wires. I had lasered the wire at 200.' We knew we could go a little higher than 300,' but there was a platform inside the tower at 300. We didn't know how high the next platform was, and the platform just made setting up easier. We both jumped pc in hand from 300. He went first, and he said his opening felt low and from the ground I appeared to be open at 70-80.' My friend argues that from 300 we should have used a 46 nonvented. I say the 42" is fine and reduces the chance of an offheading due to oscillation. Apex, the manufacturer of the gear I was using, says a 42" at 300' is black death, but the manual that I got from Tom A at my fjc says its ok to go stowed with a 42 zp av.

I want to get some more opinions on the matter and try and settle the argument. What size pc do you use from 300'?

for a go and throw I would use a 46, but as you see you can get away with a 42 :)
for a 1-1.5 sec delay 42 should not be a problem
all those provided you don't have a ginormous 300ft+ canopy

keep in mind, your delay makes quite a lot more difference, not only your exit altitude.

I took a 1 to 2 second delay, and I have a 293, any thoughts on the 46 giving you a higher prob of offheadings?

As long as you take a delay of 1 sec you'll be fine if you hh. Stowed might take you down a little lower. 2 years ago I was jumping a 290' crane, the only time I was scary low was with a 42' 1.5 sec delay stowed. But that's just cause I needed to clear a light post, and did by 10 feet! That was also the last jump on her.

Is it vented? Since you're jumping a 293, you're probably around 200lbs.. Personally I wouldn't go with anything smaller than a 46". A 293 is getting in the big/heavy canopy range.

But it's your life and Base is all about freedom. So whatever floats your boat.

id go with either. probably a 46 if i had the choice but wouldnt hesitate with a 42 if was already on the object stowed. canopy size and vents should be taken into consideration if the landing is technical and/or you want max canopy time to set up, outfly, sink it ext.

maybe its just me but something about your comment of a 42v being "safer" kinda stood out to me.
this is just my opinion but i wouldnt put much stock in that thought process. heres why.
avpc's arent some saving grace and is actually debated as to the effectivness of reducing occilation significantly. ive had and seen wildly ocilating vpc's give perfect on heading openings as well as stable pc's resulting in off heads. my outlook is i use them cuz why not, but have and will use non vented 42's with the same amount of confidence. so careful to let vents sway your decision if a larger pc would be a good or better choice. im not saying vents dont reduce occilation. ive heard good arguments backed up by observation on both sides, im just saying it doesnt always matter one way or the other. off headings are caused by a meriad of reasons, sometimes multiple ones in a chain reaction and often for no observable reason at all. occilating pc's are just one in a long list and dont usually make a difference as much as body posistion and throw out technique and others. you should feel just as confident with a non vented 46 and a good pitch technique as a vented 42.
again just my thoughts,

42 or 46 will be fine from 300' I've got quite a few jumps from ~245ft-300ft, both 48 HH to 42 stowed. Going stowed puts me maybe 20-30ft lower.

These jumps were done with both a vented Flik 266 and 293 and I cannot see a real difference between the opening times with either canopy.

I'd say do what makes you feel more comfortable but either one will work

BASE has no official "rules." don't expect "arguments" to be settled.

age of equipment, number of jumps, humidity, temperature, body weight, canopy size, etc. will all effect the outcome.

it is up to every jumper to find their personal comfort zone. the best way is to make repeated jumps from this object and experiment. start conservatively and see how it goes.

Ya, Not much to argue about for a 300 ft. jump using. 38 - 42 - 46 or 48 -inch, Diam. PC. they Will All work and drag out a canopy from a open container in time to make a Landing from a 300 ft. exit. The people jumping the bigger/heavier weight canopies might be best to settle on the larger 2 PC's of the 4 .
Only choices are how low you want to go with extraction from contaier using combination of hand-held or stowed with the size of PC.
Only thing I think most people don't think about especially if they don't jump a lot of lower stuff and don't do up the 46-48 inch PC's much. They overlook that you will get more distortion on the canopy on the center cell, In Flight as it is being pulled by the larger size PC's. It will pull and distort the canopy trim and make your canopy and flair point be totally different. I seen a few people get dumped hard on there ass with the bigger size sky anchors.
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that might be a good object to see the difference between pc's, delays, as well as see how his canopy reacts to the different sized anchors.

he can determine both the technical side as well as his comfort level...

Congrats on the jump!!

I've only done 3 or 4 jumps from 300'
and all of them with a 42" PC on a 266.
Now that I have a 46" and a 285 I will
probably try that on my way to BD