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I'm looking at buying a Squirrel wingsuit, made from Cloudlite material. As it's still fairly new and Squirrel are up front about the fact it's still in beta phase, I'm trying to find some information about the durability of the fabric:

Does anyone have a cloudlite suit and can answer any of the questions I have??

How many jumps have you done on the suit (skydive and base)

How is the material wearing?

Any estimate on expected life time? assuming careful handling and use.

Have you have any rips or damage? did they happen too easily?

Thanks in advance,

Greg..

I have 2 skydives and 51 basejumps on the cloudlite Aura.
I have 129 basejumps on a regular Aura.
There is no difference wearing the different materials, the cloudlite material makes a funny sound, like a plastic bag.

I am jumping the cloudlite Aura since May, up to now I see no more abrasions than on the regular material. I am always concerned with stepping on the long tailwing, I think that is a area you have to look after carefully.

We had one jump were we had to climb down to the exit, I had no damages, but another cloudlite Aura had small punctures - like needle pricks - from the sharp rocks, but nothing like a rip.
If possible you should put on the booties directly at the exit.

I had a rip at the innie-outie zip, I don't now whether that was caused by a loose chest strap - Squirrel warns about loose chest straps in the manual. I now have that area strengthened. On the newer models that may already be standard.
Main advantage is a smaller pack volume, weight difference is about 600 - 700 gr.

This lightweight squirrel gear is giving me the heebie jeebies. I hope this goes well.

Thank you for your contribution.

Thanks @HWalter,

Good to hear your comparison between the suits.

I'm looking to hear from as many people with experience as possible... Keep 'em coming!

Cheers..

We have several Stronglites (and Ibexes) floating around with instructors, and so far the performance has been excellent. I don't worry about it any more than any other brand of gear.