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Experienced jumpers: Please list your naked body weight and ideal canopy size below.

I'm trying to expand my Bridge Day F.A.Q. and cite some real world examples of jumper weight vs. canopy size. Newbies are always asking for this stuff and, being a big dude, I want to make sure the smaller jumpers are accurately covered.

Thanks.

75kg / 165lbs - Canopy: Fox 265

155lbs / Canopies- 219-260sqft. (usually a 240)

145-150 lbs 240 canopy

185 outta the shower.

my last canopy was an OSP 245, sold it because it was way too fast and i was pounding in with it, faster stall speed, etc.

my new canopy is a blackjack 280

Naked Weight: 165 lbs
Canopy: FLiK 266

180 lbs. 265 Troll

140 lb /199-244... with 222's being my goto size

190 LBS - Canopy: ACE 280

155lbs. I have 3 240's and one 260 I use for accuracy comps.

Ody

Weight is not everything for canopy size selection.

What you do and where is important.

I don't choose the same canopy size if my main BASE activity is slider down in the Blue Mountains, Building jumping at night time in town or wingsuit flying in green Swiss (or French ) mountains ...

Then tell us all your canopy sizes as well......

I'm compiling data for Bridge Day newbies to give them a general idea of what canopy size is best for them. They won't be wingsuiting or jumping buildings for awhile, fortunately.

155 lbs- blackjack 260 for urban and s/d - trango 245 for wingsuit/tracking/ s/u with bigger lz's

185 dry weight on a good day and have
BASE jumped canopies from 240 to 300
but ideal size for most jumps is a 280.

195 lbs and I jump a flik 308 & blackjack 280. I like long walks on the beach, mimosas, and badonkadonk butts. Soft jazz is nice too.

70 kilos - 265

Hey sinjin, CR 260 and Atair 245 are the same size, although the Spectra lines on a Trango will give you less drag and therefore more forward speed. I'm not saying you didn't know that, but I'm putting it out there to avoid confusion.

428: FWIW I'm 188 pre-dump, pre-shave. Removing my body hair drops a good five pounds. I'm using PIA 280 mostly across the board. I have a BJ CUS 280 [love], I had an Ace CUS 280, I've got a Trango 265 (PIA 280; for sale BTW), I've put a bunch of jumps on an OSP 265 [love], I just ordered a Troll 3MDV ZPLE 265 (to consolidate and replace the Ace and Trango), I had a Mojo 280 and an Ace 260. I also have an old, ragged out Troll MDV 245 (pre-DW model) that belonged to a friend since deceased.

Analysis:

The 280s (including Atair 265s) have performed superbly across the board, giving me flexibility in use. With minimal currency I can hit targets in no-wind frontal patterns and in higher winds I'm not getting abused by the sky. The PIA 260s are too small for me to land in any kind of frontal, braked approach. They require a wide pattern and forward speed to generate a flare. If I were doing a large amount of jumping in zero wind environments requiring deep braked approaches into tight landings, I might upsize to a PIA 300/Atair 285. Having said that, I've jumped into a lot of small landings and on only a few occasions wished for a bigger canopy.

Executive Summary:

188 lbs naked; 280 PIA.

i weigh between 170 and 180 depending on the mcdonalds intake, and jump a fox265 and osp265, definetly prefer the larger osp for the tight landing areas here in moab

160lbs- Blackjack 260

165-170lbs

BJ 260/Seven 260/Feather 240

145 out of the shower / ace 240

155lbs - flik 242

187lbs (85kg) BlackJack 280

185-190 lbs with a Mojo 240.. But wanting to upsize to something in the 260 range..

72kg-----242 ultralite flik love it

85 kg / 187lb - OSP 265/Trango 265

75kg and jump a 266 4/7 FLiK

153 lbs, 69.5kg. Troll 205

200lb - Troll 285, Trango 245.

85kg (187lbs), Troll 265MDV (pre-DW model) for all types of jumps, Mojo 260 mostly for slider up and good landing areas.

Many thanks for everyone's input so far. I guess I should add my info since I'm probably taller/heavier than most of you.
6'4" / 225 lbs / Troll 305.

Would be great to see more data from those over 200 lbs and under 140 lbs.

nekkid 82kg/180lbs - Troll DW MDV 285

Kerkko
BASE1184

135 lbs / 225 Troll

185 lb-Blackjack 280

175 - 280

180lbs/Flick 280, Blackjack 280, Trango 265

In standard all around canopies (Troll Flik Ace Mojo Blackjack Mayhem, etc)
I wonder what is the most commonly ordered/made size canopy for each manufacturer.

I think it'd be about 260-280 but not sure which of those two would win.

205lbs main tarps:

280 BlackJack
260 Feather

225lbs - 305 Troll OSP UL, 300 Mayhem, and 310 Ace.

64kg/145lbs

Troll 225, Mojo 220, Mojo 240

200 lbs, fox 285

166lb Nekkid
280 Blackjack
260 Feather

176pounds and 2 260s, i moved up from Raven III which is around 220sq2, years ago. but i miss the dbs of the Raven.
take care,
space
ps. no significant landing injuries. ankle sprain on the raven.

145lbs
245 troll

171 lbs
245 Fox (x5)

Went in trees downwind 2 days ago, pretty fast !
Had some stitching on my face and need some on my canopy too

But even if it's small, i can land this canopy size nearly everywhere
(without the linetwist, and not in the blue mountains )

70kg / flik 242

See attached file of all data gathered from this thread. Feel free to comment on how the data is presented. Remember, I'm simply trying to create a chart/graph that can help new Bridge Day jumpers get a feel for what canopy size may work best for a particular weight. I don't want this to get too complicated....

I hate you Bro ( joke). I was doing the same stuff. I think that injuries would be a valid difference. Ok, it is BD. but what?
take care and do the trendline. Thanks for your work.....
Tracy

Is the red line just the median of combined data, or a specific wingloading (looks to be about .65-.7) ? Just curious, I could do the math but I prefer things handed to me.

The red line is my guess at the median of all the points. I guess I could be a bit more accurate and calculate the curve, but I don't want to make this more complicated than it needs to be. I just want a newbie to be able to look at the chart and see what size canopy most jumpers are using for a particular weight. I could also add two more curves (one above, one below the existing) to represent the largest and smallest canopy sizes that a jumper might choose?

Space (base283), I'm not sure I know what you're asking in your last post.

Thanks everyone.

The red line could also be called a "Trend" line
because it reflects the trend in data, which is
that most people BASE jump canopies lightly
loaded, usually between .6 & .8 wing loading.

Obviously Jason's graph is more than adequate
to accomplish his goal, but if this was a more
precise application of modeling a function to a
data set then the process most commonly used
is called the Sum of Least Squares.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_squares

Least squares sounds reasonable. Since parachutes are only so big, it's tough to accurately graph the big boys who are restricted to parachutes in the lower 300 square foot range. That's why you see a curve toward the end of my graph. If you plug the 61 sets of data into a least squares linear online tool, you get the attached. If someone else wants to get fancy with this data, I'm happy to send my spreadsheet. Cya.

You need to re-do your data and you would actually get a slightly TIGHTER grouping I think. Like the Troll 205 that is hanging out down low... That is a PIA 225 square foot canopy. Atair measures all their canopies differently than everyone else.

So Trolls, Trangos, and OSP's you would need to add 20 sq ft to compare them to all the other canopies.

I'm at 135 jumping a 225 Troll (PIA 240)

i know somebody that had a 350 made

A frequency distribution of wing loadings may be helpful as well.

~ Chris

Not at you seekfun. But should be added experience and injuries. I know this is about BD But 428 is on to something.

Take care,
space

6'4" x 220#

Canopies I would be happy to jump at bridge day even with 0-20 prior base jumps.

Blackjack 310 - my favorite.
Se7en 300 - also a great flyer.
Ace 310 - same as BlackJack.
Troll 305MDV - Very Good
Dagger 313 - ok

Canopies I would think twice about as a new jumper...but I've jumped under ideal conditions.
Raven4 282
Dagger 293 - ok

At my size, I would think twice about jumping anything below 260-280sq. Wouldn't consider anything below 260 as a newer jumper.

My first jump was at BD on a Basic 270. (225lbs) I personally think that is a little small for my size, but the only lz I considered was the water. I have jumped and (dry) landed a Blackjack 280 from the Perrine bridge. I would stick to my 300+ for the dry lz at BD. Take all that with a grain of salt as I am a relative newbie. (42 jumps)

100% certain they were going into the deep water, then nearly any base specific canopy would work. I would have no issue at all jumping sub-200sq if that were the case.

The problem is "new" jumpers also have ego's. Just because a #225 skydiver with a couple hundred skydives could easily have downsized into a 170sq skydive canopy doesn't mean that they will be ok sticking a 200-260 into the land on bridge day. The real problem is they will all want to try.

New jumpers do stupid shit when they are trying to impress their friends (or themselves). Better to have it happen under a 280+ so when they try they don't pound too hard.

135lb - fLik 220 and FOX 225

175-180 lbs Mojo 240 & BJ260

190 lbs. BlackJack 280 and FLiK 293

I think its more accurate if you make the the 225/45/65 rounded up to the PIA measurement, would reflect true size a bit better and wingloading

though the PIA standard is wrong IMHO, I agree. a standard is better than none. But there maybe a fundamental prob with Jason's question. Exp vs injury vs progression through canopy sizes. Granted this a BD thread, i am wondering how it could be beneficial to starters in the sport.
Take care,
space

135lbs naked
FOX 225

At least one more with 70kg 155lb and a 205 Canopy. I thought a 225 Troll would be the right Canopy but the Price was good and the gear had only four jumps on it ;-)

95kg, was on a mojo 280 for my first 100 or so jumps, now got a fox 315 for home (blue mountains, pretty tech landings) and a 265 troll for euro

86kg (~190lb) FliK 293sqf

175ish out of the shower

I have a combination of 260's and 280's, with 280 my preferred size for sketchier jumps, and 260 for higher winds.

185-190 lbs. naked / 260-280 depending on conditions, object, landing area, etc.

155 lbs now, about 15-20 above that before the Guatemalan Sabertooth stomach munchers got to me :-/ but I still jump the and sizes from before and after those fuckers got to work.

Now-
245 UL OSP
245 Trango
254 UL filk
260 blackjack

Past rigs
245 troll MVD
280 blackjack
260 seven

But truth be told for any new jumpers out there, so long as you keep it within reason on wing loading, and seek proper guidance on the limitations on your canopy any modern base canopy does the trick quite well. As of now I have a specific reasoning for having every rig that I have but until you know what you dont know as dude or dudette just getting into the sport don't fucking worry about stupid ass shit like having the one perfect rig with all the cool options and a 17th multi that blows you after correcting your heading.

My advise to all the dudes who need this info is to take all that money time and effort you were going waste on gear and spend it at a nice chill object getting the assets together that WILL actually save you life some day.

All I'm saying is I would gladly take a 100' d bag with a raven and years of experiance over the same jump with top of the line gear, 20 jumps and the magic confidence that combination seems to inspire.

195lbs naked weight. Black Jack 310. While I have my own suspicions about the larger canopies having a higher "hesitation" rate, the extra square feet over my head are certainly nice when I am landing somewhere really dicey. Or just doing something stupid, which has been known to happen.

87kg naked

Seven 280 & Troll 265

185lbs/84kg/seven280

Ive jumped canopies 220-315, and the 280 is the best all-around, and mandatory for any kind of challenging LZ.

The 220's had great penetration and are great for tall towers with open lz's

The 315 was underloaded and a marginal design (dagger) Due to that, it opened poorly, and almost paralyzed me.

I immedieatley sold it and purchased an appropriately sized seven from asylum, and have been beyond pleased. It really is the best of both worlds, smal pack volume, sporty high-glide flight when you want it with the ability to shut it down and sink it in, landing with no flare and walking away happily.