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Seen the logo on Apex's website, anybody know what this is- Lobo?

It's a Lobo. any questions?

Haaa

It's been on their marketing material for 2 years now, but I haven't yet seen it available for order.

It's my understanding that it's a new canopy.

LoBo- my guess is LowBoy? They have the Fox with oversized vents and short lineset for the Ultra low stuff though.

Lobo is spanish for wolf.

The rumor (and that's all it is) that I heard was that it was an all around canopy.

I saw some Apex lackeys that said they were test jumping one at Kjerag. I can confirm (unless I was lied to) that it is an all around canopy.

Lackeys? That is a pretty stupid comment being that it was Marta and Steve over there from Apex. I presume that you also consider Kathy, Marty, Adam, Stane, Jean Noel, Mark, etc. "Lackeys." I certainly don't.

The Lobo is a new canopy design. I saw it a couple of times in Twin when Steve was jumping it.

lack·ey - noun
plural: lackeys

1a : footman
b : someone who does menial tasks or runs errands for another

foot·man - noun

1a : a traveler on foot : pedestrian
b : infantryman

__________________________________________

Considering I talked with them hiking, yeah, I would say lackey. I would also say that I was a lackey.

And as for describing test jumping as a menial task, that's sarcasm for those of us with any form of a desk job.

Should I define sarcasm for you also?

Don't presume things.

I am happy to see that you are educated enough to google second grade vocabulary. I always presumed there would be times where I needed to regress intellectually to speak with people on internet forums. Now, when you graduate to third grade, you will learn proper usage and the fact that "lackey" is usually used in a derogatory manner, unless of course, you were raised in the latter middle ages or during the "age of enlightenment" whereby your usage in everyday conversation would be correct.

educated? intellectual? Man, I am in the wrong place (maybe you are too, with a name like 'douchekiller').

Listen, no offense/insult intended. I ususally figured that this forum was taken lightheartedly. You can look into it however you like.

Thanks for the vocabulary & history lesson. I enjoyed our internet argument. Have a good day.

Back to the topic at hand:

From what little I was told, the Lobo will have good glide and be able to sink in quite well. Curious to see it, as well as the PD BASE canopy.

I don't know about that. Most of the guys I know on here are smarter than me. As far as my screen name, there are so many D-Bags on the internet, it seemed fitting.

Like I said, I saw it jumped several times at Twin. It looked like it had killer glide and shut down softly on landing. Interested to see how it compares to my other canopies.

So, better glide and sink in rate than the Flik?

I can't say as far as sinking in because I only saw it at the Perrine where Steve shut it down from full flight. But the flare looked nice and landed him softly. I didn't see any flights where he was sinking it in. Interested to find out about the "sinking" being that we are jumping urban environments quite a bit.

+1

Also forgot to mention, it looked like the canopy had a rolled over nose like in skydiving. Maybe that is why it landed him so softly from full flight?

I hope it had vents then! ;-)

It definitely did but, but I do not remember how many. Steve did say that they were performing on going testing with various vent configurations on the canopy when I talked to him at the bridge.

any more info on the release of this canopy?

A 280 with Serial number 0001 arrived here today, so I assume they are about to ramp up real production and have a final version ready soon.

The canopy is very stable in deep brakes, and has a very good sink characteristic. It does not have top skin slats, but does have a (standard) bottom skin vent configuration. It's flare from part brakes is good, and it's made from ultralight fabric.

More feedback after we get to jump it some more.

sweet jesus, do you actually kill douchey internet people? SHAME on you, thats downright mean!!! live and let live, man!
=)

Well, I started killing quite a few...but then realized, if I kept going, that within a year, there would be no one left to jump with...and then I would be lonely.

Chuck Peters approves of the Lobo. I know Todd and Steve are just waiting to make it perfect before they send me mine.

Anyone managed to put a few jumps on a Lobo yet that can compare it to an OSP?

 The canopy flies great and you can shut it down quick for a soft landing or smooth for a sporty landing. I fly a 260 and so far ive only jumped it of the potato bridge

I have a Lobo 260.

I am really no expert when it comes to BASE canopies (I am a total BASE newb). Take my comments with my lack of experience.

However I will add that I am very satisfied with my choice. The closure on the new-fangled tail pocket gave me some heartburn at first, but it works great. The openings are positive, but I can't speak for delays >2 seconds yet.

I hear the >2 seconds slider up could make you regret picking the Lobo, but I haven't experienced it myself. I only have 4 jumps on her so far.... 1 was a slider up skydive.

LMK what you end up liking better.....

I've put 50 jumps on mine so far and really like it.

couple of things:
- It has amazing flair - best I've experienced on a BASE canopy

- Really good glide

- Great for deep brake approaches

- Because of the pitched nose feature it takes a little longer to get into full flight which was freaking me out at first but it doesn't cause any issues.
My wing loading is about - .72

- The factory deep brakes are pretty shallow and it has a lot of forward speed on opening. I've had 3 people set custom deeps on it (including myself) and the brakes were 6-8" deeper in order to get a good setting which is a scary thought but it is what it is.

Overall I really like it

- Heres a video of setting the brakes -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boft1xAZqNo

Just to elaborate on my previous comments--I've had a lot more time with the Lobo now. I honestly see no reason why anyone would buy a Flik ever again. The Lobo is just hands down and in every way better.

The Lobo has good glide--slightly worse than the Blackjack (we measured this with weights to equalize wing loading).

The Lobo has insanely powerful flare. It's flare is more powerful than any BASE canopy I've ever seen except perhaps the Proxy, and it doesn't suffer from the Proxy's poor sink ability.

For an overall, all around BASE canopy, I like it a lot. I'd still probably take an OSP for low sketchy stuff, or an Outlaw or Blackjack over the Lobo if given the choice, but it's definitely a top tier contender, so the decision is not a case of "hands down go with this one or that one."

To address Only Tom's comments:


Agreed. But, let's see what the new FLiK is going to have in store. Lobo is a better canopy, but IMHO, is not suited as an all around canopy for newer jumpers that are testing themselves in slightly more technical landing areas. Anyone can land any canopy at the Perrine. A newer jumper taking the Lobo in an urban environment with tight landing areas, no outs, and who is not semi-dialed on accuracy will have some problems.

Definitely debatable. I have a more jumps on the Black Jack than on the Lobo so I have to disagree on a true 1 for 1. But then again, hand an experienced jumper almost any canopy that has a lot of jumps on many different canopies and they will outperform "most" of the jumpers out there regardless of what canopy they are jumping. BTW, I loved my Black Jack. Great canopy. You really cannot go wrong with it.

Without question.

Outlaw. No, completely disagree. Black Jack, 50/50.

I mostly jump my Lobo now. Again, the Black Jack is a great canopy. But, for an all around canopy that lends itself to a newer, less experienced jumper just getting into BASE after his whopping 200 skydives and are looking toward Apex gear, I would go with a Fox UL (not knowing what the new FLiK will fly like). If you are a more experienced / better canopy pilot, I would go with the Lobo. It is an awesome canopy. But again, if you are brand agnostic, you cannot go wrong with the Black Jack either.

Fair enough. But we measured with equalized wingloadings on roughly equal age canopies (the Blackjack had a few more jumps than the Lobo) and without pilot input, so I don't think that either pilot was "better" for our test.

What in the world is a Newer jumper doing in an urban environment with tight landing areas and no outs anyway? Especially without having a good sense of accuracy dialed in?
Jumping in that scenario with any canopy couldnt possibly be a good idea... :/

Without question. But unfortunately, it has become common place. However, when they do jump those scenarios that they should not be, a more docile canopy would do them some good...my point was the Lobo is not that canopy. None the less, I agree with you.

Do you have video we can watch?

my 7th jump was a building tight landing area, zero skydives but im retarded

nah youre a special breed though.

Really a nice video , and self explanatory result due to the changes ,
One question : how those changes has affected the glide of the canopy ?

3..2..1.. C U

You mean the glide before grabbing toggles or after?

BEFORE grabbing the toggles, deeper brakes will make the canopy sink out more. But that's not really when you want glide. You want little forward speed so that you have time to deal with a 180.

AFTER the toggles are unstowed, the canopy will fly exactly the same as it always does because custom brake settings don't affect normal flight.

Hi
Well looking at the video:
Before it make sense because the forward speed is minimal and it's good in case of a 180, clear ...

But looking at the video the toggles were taken and then a turn to right was made , and it was very effective so I assume , but I can't be sure , that the break lines were shorter in order to create such reactivity from the canopy ... Or?
And by being short I imagined that they affect the glide ...
But I am not sure the "theory" is real :)) I am not an expert at all, as may be he just took the back riser ( http://youtu.be/boft1xAZqNo )

Ciaoo

Control lines are not shorter- the setting is only moved to reduce forward speed with the brakes stowed. I would recommend going over this with your mentor to better understand this concept-because it is fairly important.

I am pretty confident that was a riser turn. He executed this with the brakes still stowed, meaning the canopy will perform differently (have more glide) once he releases his control lines. As mentioned above, you should discuss this in person with a mentor or other experienced jumper that you trust.

Yes ,
Watching better it's a riser turn ...
About the break line length , I understand your point but it is interesting how concepts are different by countries because I saw cases where the lines were shorten up , but ok this is another topic .
Thanks a lot for the info given

I think what you are talking about is adjusting the toggle setting, which is a different adjustment, but shares similar ideas/concepts. There are a lot of old topics on changing the toggle setting that you could search for. I don't think deep brake settings are an "American thing". And I'm quite sure that many people in the US adjust their toggle settings (moving the toggle up and down the line) in accordance with their weight, arm length, and desired performance envelope.

true, but to clarify, if you do not change the location of the cats eye/knot down at the lower end of your steering lines where your toggles are, the usable length of the entire brake line will in fact be shorter. i took a full 6 inches off my OSP and definitely had to adjust where my cats eye was down at my toggles - i learned the hard way when i did a slider up jump without adjusting the toggle length and had shit glide because my lines were too short.

Not quite sure I understand what you are talking about. Do you mean you moved your brake setting (cats eye) 6" or you shortened your control lines 6"?

Obviously shortening total control line length will deflect more of the tail and can reduce glide if the canopy cannot reach full flight with toggles all the way up to guide rings in SU configuration.

Do you mean by changing the brake setting you inadvertently shortened the lowers? I can see how that can happen- good reminder to measure the lowers before and after to make sure the total length is the same.