Basejumper.com - archive

So I just got my Corvid and thought I'd post a few pictures of some features I'm really stoked on and initial thoughts.



-First this thing is feather light. Combined with a CXUL and IBEXul, this thing will be a weapon in those Eastern Sierra climb and fly's where every ounce matters. (EDIT: This thing is light because I ordered it in CloudlLte fabric which Squirrel's website says it will save about 500g. I will weigh it when I have access to s good scale!)

-Speaking of climb and fly's, once you get to the top, you need somewhere to stash all your gear. Not a problem here! With spandex pockets from my armpit to my toes that have a gear loop stitched down the center and with a bungee keeper (available on request NOT STOCK!), we can throw the rack in one suit and the rope double coiled in the other. I've used this setup on my AURA3 with a 35m rope and a half rack and the way it keeps the weight distribution around your ribs/chest, I don't notice much difference in flight besides the slightly lower exit due to higher wing-loading. This is a much better location for gear than between the legs like older designs/other suits.



-In addition to the side storage, the CORVID has the classic nutsack, good for a set of nuts, a stashbag, collapsed platypus bladder, microspikes (carefully placed!) or other small items.



-Like the COLUGO3, the CORVID has the inner leg pockets which seem to be perfect for trekking poles or a pair of climbing shoes and some extra layers. If you fill them up with gear and still have your poles left, you can always do the old trick of placing your polls tied on a pullup chord (carefully not to damage anything!!) inside you legwing between two ribs along your leg as a last resort.



-The phone pocket has been improved from the last two generations to be IMO the perfect combination of both, same style zippers as the first (makes access and camera use easier) but an added velcro strip to close off the pocket part making it just as secure as the version2.



-Finally the new Evolv TRAX rubber is sweet. I've gone out with my AURA3 (with the 5.10 rubber) and my COLUGO3 (with the Evolv TRAX rubber) pushing off every different surface I can find in different conditions (everything but snow) and find better traction with the Evolv TRAX.



I should be able to put my first jumps on it next week but based on what I've seen of it in Moab while jumping my AURA3 next to it, seen on video, heard from pilots flying at, and understanding some of the technical info and changes on this vs the other suits, I think this will be the ticket into increasing margin and safely jumping more exits in the Eastern Sierra.

Thanks for the write up. Can't wait to hear how it flies.

"this thing is feather light " ?
In terms of lbs or kg what does it means ?

"Combined with a CXUL"
Isn't it safer to wingsuit with a longer container like the Stream 2 ?

"With spandex pockets from my armpit to my toes"
Does that means that the suit is "looser" than the others suits ? If it is fitting the body you coudn't put anything in these pockets.

Last but not least, are you part of Squirrel team or just a normal customer ?

Thanks for the detailed review. :)

Concerning the material, this suit is made of what squirrel calls Cloud-light

"You chose Cloud-Lite material! This option is ONLY recommended for pilots who are obsessed with weight and pack volume.

Cloud-Lite suits are less durable than normal wingsuits. They are not for daily dropzone use, and we recommend this option only to BASE jumpers who are not putting hundreds of jumps per year on their suit, and who understand how to care for ultra-light materials.

The CL option yields approximately 500g savings for an average man’s size, and approximately 30% decrease in pack volume."

According to Squirrel the CRUXL is 400g lighter than the Stream 2. It comes down to personal preference.

I will post weights once I have an accurate scale. The only thing I have access to right now is my shitty bathroom scale and I have to be standing on it along with the suit for it to register. When comparing it to my standard weight C3 it showed the C3 was 1.8 lb heavier and then when weights again 1.6 lb heavier. Considering Squirrel says it has 500g weight savings I'm sure my scale is off, so I will hold off on posting actual weights until I can give a real number.

I have jumped my stream and CRUX back to back on previous trips and barley noticed a difference between the two, I think they were 1.5 inches apart. My CRUX was about 2 inches longer than my Summit which I was jumping before with my wingsuit. I have never had an issue reaching my PC in either the stream or the CRUX (same with Summit although it was a little harder due to length, but still doable). I sold my Stream as I liked the way the CRUX packed better and replaced it with a lightweight CRUX which was about 250g lighter. I believe the Stream2 is a little wider and nicer to pack than the original, but for the jump I do I would rather have the lightweight advantage of the CRUXul and now the CXUL which I have on order. I also have a CRUX/HAYDUKE for slider down that I occasionally use for wingsuiting and it's nice to have my PC in the same spot on every rig.

I haven't jumped this suit yet so I cant officially say on fit but it has the same measurements as my A3 and I have the same pockets on my A3 and that suit fits fine. It is a little snug fully loaded but still flys great. When it is empty, it fits loose on the ground but as soon as it inflates it snugs up on me. I think the gear pushes against the inside cell of the suit taking up a bit of volume of that cell along with pushing against me so it feels great full, and when it's empty the cell expands out from the wing pressure snugging it up. I usually have gear with me and layers so I add a few cm on my chest and waist measurements on all my suits and they all feel a bit loose on the ground and I feel no difference in flight compared to suits I've borrowed that fit snugly on me.

I don't see how on the Squirrel team or not has relevance to some pictures of how much gear I can jam in my suit or little upgrades that I'm stoked on where they improved over previous suits.

Just let it go Antoine. This account has a history of less-than-objective gear "reviews."

Here's a fun one:

http://www.basejumper.com/...ost=2996405;#2996405

For what it's worth, at least these "reviews" are obvious advertising.* I don't think anyone is being tricked into thinking they are objective.

I look forward to posting reviews about the entire Apex product line in the near future.

*Edited to correct that Dan paid full price for the canopy reviewed at the link above, and it is not "obvious advertising." Original text left in place for context.

Hey Joe, maybe you should try a HAYDUKE before you make fun of my thoughts on it. You say this review's a fun one yet you haven't found a single thing that wasn't true in it. I've let friends jump my HAYDUKE who were very loyal to other brands and a few have now purchased one after flying it. I even have one friend who's been pretty much only Apex for about 12 years and just picked up a HAYDUKE.

It's funny though, when I switched from my Zak2 to the Summit and was stoked on it and telling everyone they should get one and showing the issues my Zak2 had that the Summit didn't, you had no problem with those reviews. Like when I posted about after jumping my Zak2 for a couple years and being disappointed in a few aspects of it (pin protection for wingsuiting, the way the top flap liked to crease in the middle exposing canopy, the fact that they forgot to hotknife the inside of the riser cover tuck tabs so after about 75 jumps they started to rip off more than half way from fraying, etc) and how the Summit was built better and packed cleaner and had much better pin protection for terminal but could also be folded back to leave everything completely free for low stuff. And that was after purchasing the container from you (for $1,371.10) and I'm sure you can verify that I don't and never have had any affiliation with Apex.

I've also posted good stuff on my Stream/OutlawLite and Aura3 (payed full price) and Crux/OutlawLite (payed full price).


But you're right, these reviews are "totally subjective" and lies My Zak3 didn't start falling apart, My Summit sucked, I don't regularly get 580-630' starts in my Aura3 in neutral conditions (https://baseline.ws/...83-9d19-1b45eb509df4), the HAYDUKE is a shit canopy and everyone who fly's it hates it, my suits fit loose because of gear storage which is why I'm bad at flying wingsuits, the CloudLite is actually heavier than the regular fabric, the new phone pocket design actually launches your phone out on opening (Squirrel partnered with Apple, it's all a big conspiracy), the new Evolv TRAX rubber is shit, and I photoshopped all that gear into the suit...

Feel free to start a new thread on this topic if you want, but your post seems to be off topic and have zero to do with the CORVID. Although if you see something I'm wrong about here in my post on the CORVID, by all means let me know!

Cool.

For the record, if anyone wants to demo the Hayduke or Flik II to make their own decisions, BASEgear.net (in which I have no financial interest) has demos of both canopies in Twin Falls. Pretty sure there are also Summits and Crux's for demo.

However, I don't think you can test out wing suit starts off the bridge. ;)

Daniel and Joe, this will serve as an official moderator warning that Brand wars should be more openly hateful and not so passive aggressive. The lack of name calling is inexcusable, and frankly inappropriate for this forum. Next time, take every positive thing someone says about their new gear, and make it a negative. Antoine’s post is a great example of this. Extremely well done. Both your moms say hi. ASYLUM4LIFE!

Haha sorry Charlie, I’ll try better next time Speaking of Asylum4lyfe, you should see my new container. Totally worth the wait!

I think that is the best post you have ever done

Thanks for the weight precision, 500g on the suit is always nice. You did not told that it was a light version of the Corvid so I did not understood why you called it feather like, and I was trying to understand why the Corvid would be lighter than any other suit in the "normal" version.

Question was not which container you prefer but don't you think it's safer to have a longer one ?
PC in the same place if you do skydive and BASE will never happend, it's not a good argument for me. I have 15-20cm difference between my shorter and my longer container, never had any trouble finding my PC as I'm not jumping the shorter one with a wingsuit, and as I'm jumping wingsuit with a wingtip pouch.

I asked the question of the "loose" because I already heard a feedback about it and the as most people are now liking very tight suits they might be surprised by this.

You don't think that being part of the manufacturer team should be said, I do, and now it's said.
I would not buy a car/washing machine/3D printer/snowboard/whatever based on the feedback of a team/sponsored athlete, but I will read his review for sure, like yours.
I've noticed that there is not a "not good" point in that kind of review, and there are always some from a normal buyer. Some of these not good points will make the difference for some people, and will not change anything for others.
This is not about brand war, Squirrel products are mostly very good, it's about honest reviews. I'm asking the same questions to the same kind of reviews from other brands.

How long did you have to wait?

The last Asylum container order we had, we ended up cancelling the order after 26 (!) months of waiting. We basically can't do any Asylum custom orders any more because of the crazy wait times. I just can't in good conscience recommend that a new jumper place an order for their first container, knowing that it will take more than two years to receive it.

If you have a relationship with a manufacturer, or received equipment for anything less than full retail price, that should be disclosed in the "review." If not I would consider the post to be a bit disingenuous. I would expect the same from any person representing any business in any industry.

Other than that, I'm happy for you and all of your CAPSLOCK setups. Rock on bud!

So, back to to topic.. did you jump it now? How does it fly compared to Aura, C3 or Freak?

Just about a year although I’m probably not a great example for current lead times since I asked if we could get a piece of super-custom fabric from Squirrel for it, so after placing the original order it was a few weeks for Taz to design it, and since I told Squirrel I wasn’t in a rush it took a couple months for the fabric to get to Marty so they could finish some more pressing orders for people who needed them for their summer trips.

It was 6 months from when Marty received the fabric to when I picked up the finished rig and I probably could have had it a bit sooner but he let me borrow a container before turkey boogie so I told him no rush if he had other people waiting on their first rig to do those first.

You're saying a year delivery time was _slow_ in your opinion?

I honestly can't remember the lasts time I saw an Asylum rig delivered that fast. Maybe 10 years ago? The delivery times we've seen in the even close to recent past have been over a year. The last one that we actually delivered to a customer (not the one that was cancelled out past 2 years) was still well over a year.

Weird. It sounds like you're getting a much higher level of service than you appreciate.

Actually, just checked my email records, it was 15 months from when I originally filled out the paper work. Regardless I agree that it is faster than previous years have been. And I very much appreciate it. I know someone else who recently ordered and got a rig from Marty, I think it was just over a year as well. My point was at this time it may be less of a wait than a few years ago. Would be worth a call to Marty if you’re considering a rig.

Yes, would be great to get back and stay back on topic.

I am hoping to put s few jumps on it this weekend if the rain holds off. Right now it looks semi promising. I only have a few skydives and one BASE jump on the C3 so I won’t have the best comparison on that but I’ll be able to give a brief description and then I’ll see what the main differences feel between it and the A3. If you’re curious, the one BASE jump I did on the C3 was back to back with my A3 from the same exit (Via) in the same conditions about 45 minutes apart with the same technique and flight plan. It’s only a one jump comparison but I could post the two flysight tracks over each other. The rear shots look about the same between the two so it does seem to be accurate for the difference in starts they are capable of.

Completly off topic I would like to see the files from your FlySight in the Lauterbrunnen valley and also the manufactiring date of it as they change the GPS chip not long ago.
It is not about suit performances but about FlySight performances in the valley, only 10 in-flight lines are needed if you don't want to provide the full file.
Thank you

Sure, when I get home from work I will post the full files to both along with responding to your previous post.

Here are the tracks. Looking at it now, I pushed with a medium/strong push and then once inflated started to dive. It looks like the C3 was a bit more dive happy or sunk a little more but they had similar starts.

C3: https://baseline.ws/...49-9b0f-dc8481cac54a

A3: https://baseline.ws/...4a-803a-641bd97bf6d0

My bad, I should have included that in the original post, I will edit it to include the part about the CloudLite.


In terms of the Stream2 vs CRUX, the difference is minimal and they are both designed around wingsuiting in terms of length, fit, and BOC placement. The main difference is the pinflap, the Stream has the most secure protection I've seen on any rig, great for backflying and any direction of windflow except for from the bottom up. That makes it less ideal for slider down and the fact that the bottom of the container extends past the laterals gives a snag hazard for you bridle on a mistimed pitch on aerials. The CRUX has a more standard pin flap design, similar to the Profile, LD4, and other wingsuit friendly rigs. It has flaps on the laterals that go to the bottom of the container to prevent that bridle snag hazard and the more "standard pin-flap is better for subterminal. But the lengths are nearly identical and they are both designed to be wingsuit friendly. Because the PC is in the natural position for me to reach back to while wingsuiting and doesn't require me to bend my arm much at all, but also isn't so far down that it feels almost a stretch to reach, I would not say that it is less safe to jump than a Stream.


Maybe I'm just used to the looser fit but I have nor issues with it. I have jumped other peoples suits at the DZ that were tighter and didn't notice much of a difference. Were these people mentioning they like the very tight suits flying Squirrel or another brand? I have flown a few suits from other manufactures where I did prefer the tighter fit. It may have been because they had slightly lower internal pressure so once inflated it didn't feel as ridged or as snugged up making me feel looser in it? I think different manufactures fly differently and need to fit differently and be flown differently. Also if you always have a tight suit you might be really used to it and need to change your flying style for a looser fit. I am pretty skinny for my height so most used suits I've bought have been built for someone heavier than me to fit my height and been looser, and for new suits I order, I have always needed to fit layers and gear in my suit so they are on the looser side as well.


Fair enough. Well I am not on the Squirrel team nor have they ever paid me to post anything on here or say good stuff about their gear (Joe). The majority of my suits, canopies, and containers have been full price from them. They have occasionally helped me out with price on a few pieces of gear for specific projects that we were both excited on. But you can check their website (or email them to ask) but I am not on the team.

I'll leave this part mainly to Joe:

I've ordered and owned brand new containers from Adrenalin, Apex, Asylum, and Squirrel. Same with canopies from Atair and Squirrel (flown canopies from a few others too). And accessories from Adrenalin, Apex, Asylum, Squirrel, Badseed, and Blacksheep. I like to nerd out on gear and try a bunch of different options. I usually share my opinions on gear with friends and post things about them. The only threads I've started on here have been on the Aura3, Hayduke and the Corvid because there weren't threads on them yet. Joe makes fun of my comments on the Hayduke calling it clearly advertising (it's not) yet he's never flown a Hayduke and nothing I said in there is false. I am really stoked on that canopy. Before getting it, I had my Outlawlite and my OSP. I didn't want to sell the OSP while only having the Outlaw because the Outlaw didn't do everything I needed for all of BASE. It was a little better in a total stall than the OSP and had a very fast recovery arc and was great for really technical LZ's but the OSP had a bit stronger of a flare and a bit better of glide. So I kept both until I found something that I liked more. You can read my post on it (Joe linked it somewhere up there) but I was getting the same feeling in deep brakes on both the OSP and the Hayduke which was amazing! and I don't think anyone will argue that the Hayduke doesn't have more flare or glide than the OSP (it is very similar to the Vision).

So that post was me buying a new canopy, realizing it does everything the OSP did that my Outlaw didn't, but also much more which made it my favorite canopy that I've owned (which is why I sold my others and replaced them with Haydukes) and I wanted to let people know my experience with it since I hadn't seen anything else posted. As Tom said above, all those canopies are available in Twin Falls to demo, so you should probably go try them before buying. I also think it's pretty normal for a customer/friend of a company (or even a sponsored team athlete which I'm not) to post things they like about their gear. I think it is kind of awkward and reflects poorly when a representative of/ another company feels the need to comment on and try to discredit all those posts. Especially when they don't even relate to a class of product that company competes with. Each to their own, I guess...

Comparaison with the C3 and Corvid, corvid was more loose and not as precise for close terrain flying, but of course way better starts as it is what it's made for.

I never jumped the Crux so I had the feeling it was shorter than what you are explaining, and the Stream longer than than too. Base on the placement of the hips webbing my guess was a difference of at least 2 inches. Next time I'll measure instead of guessing.
I really think that longuer container are safer in wingsuiting, and it is what almost everybody said after Micah accident, so I don't really understand why there is no StreamUL for wingsuiters. For now they have to choose between safety and weight, and I'm very aware that in that kind of choice it is always safety 3rd unfortunatly...

As far as I know the pockets I have from my armpits to my toes are not stock on the Corvid (or any other suit Squirrel makes) and I requested them as an add on. So a standard Corvid and standard C3 should fit the same with the same measurements in terms of loose or tight on your body. Maybe they were talking about the way the suit flys, not the fit of it? The Corvid is designed around the start and then to have more performance than an A2 but a bit less than an A3. The C3 is already more agile than the A3 for steeper terrain so I would expect the Corvid to feel worse on those jumps.


As I said in my last post, the Stream and Crux are nearly the same length. I will attach a picture of each, unfortunately I don't have a perfect comparison shot ATM.





Luckily enough, I sold my friend my Stream so I can take a picture of me from the same angle in the same suit wearing each rig next week and upload them here if you would like to start a new thread about the CXUL and the Stream. Direct from Squirrel:


They have two wingsuit rigs. One is the Stream which is designed for only wingsuit in mind with the most protective pin flat they can make, and the other is the Crux which is just as safe of a BOC placement but has a more "standard" "versatile" pin flap. The Crux uses less stiffeners and material in it due to the more simplistic design, so when creating and ultralight container, it was the platform they based off of as that was the one that would end up being lighter in the end. If you want to discuss more on the rigs, I would be happy to and will gladly take pictures of both rigs on me and measure them. I even have access to my old Zak2 to do the same with and am having the guy I sold my Summit to send me measurements from that as well. But please make a separate thread so we can keep this one on the CORVID!

No need to create something new, you answered all my questions. Thanks.

You are the one who put the Crux into your original post, don't blame me ;)

Did you pay full price for the gear you reviewed in this thread?

I asked the same question SQ guys. Matt answered that they could do a lighter container from Crux than Stream.

How light do you guys want the gear to get?

I really feel like we're hitting a point of diminishing returns. When we did that with canopies we had structural failures. Let's not forget that--we don't want to push harnesses to the point where they are failing.

I jump mainly my good ol' gargoyle and helium. I don't care about couple hundred grams

Not quite, although I didn't really review anything yet. I haven't even jumped the suit. I just wanted to show how much gear could fit in it and the extra storage options available for the alpine jumpers. And to let people know the new rubber is pretty sweet, as I was hesitant to get it after having bad luck with different rubber on approach shoes after trying some non 5.10 options. This just shows a few features the website doesn't, and then shows what I can can comfortable fit in the suit as the website just shows the pockets.

Now I think your question would be a lot more valid if my review was talking about if all did was say how much better the suit was than all previous models and how it has the best starts out there and best glide and easiest to fly and all that. Similar to what I said about my experience going from the Aura to the Aura3 in a past thread, although I was honest in that review and did pay full price for my Aura3 along with full price for my Stream and OutlawLite that I ordered at the same time back then. http://www.basejumper.com/...post=2993182#2993182

That's important to mention. That's all I'm saying. I don't think anyone would disagree that reviews on sponsored or semi-sponsored gear represent a conflict of interest that should be mentioned. It makes you, and your review, more transparent and honest.

If you think that my calling for transparency reflects badly on me and/or Apex...well agree to disagree. I think transparency on behalf of all companies and the people they do business with generally creates a better result for the consumer.

I will always push for Apex to be a leader in this regard (openness and transparency). If I ever see a review on this site from someone we have a business relationship with, I will be the first to point that out.

I've made my point, you've made yours. No hard feelings. Onward, back on topic, etc.

Then perhaps you should retract your statement on my review of the Hayduke calling it "obvious advertising" as that was in no way advertising and was a canopy I paid full price for and was in no way by Squirrel asked to post it. This is the first piece of gear that I have posted about on here where I received a discount on it (although ordering 2 other rigs and some other gear at the same time may have played into that) and I haven't really reviewed it yet. Even if it was free, I haven't made any claims about it being the best suit, just show what fits in it which anyone could do. Don't worry, I'll be plenty transparent once I jump it and then review it...

*insert no hard feelings and all that fun stuff*

100% agree. We're currently working on a lightweight rig that we feel represents that best blend of lightweight/strength/durability/comfort that we've found. While we could make it lighter, Todd and I have frequently discussed where we pass the point of "the juice being worth the squeeze" on weight reduction. Yeah, we want it to be light. But we also want it to be comfortable, durable, etc. so it's about finding that balance, and I would expect that different manufacturers/jumpers will have different opinions about what that ideal balance is.

We think we do a really nice job of reducing weight and volume on the canopy side, so if that buys us a little wiggle room to add a more comfortable and/or durable feature on the container and still create a very light complete kit, we're happy to take that liberty to provide a (we believe) better all around product. But hey, when someone asks us to leave embroidery off the container to "save weight," we're happy to accommodate as long as it's a safe rig.

I think the mega-ultra-super-lightweight gear is very niche, as is gear that also needs to store a ton of climbing equipment. It's super cool, and I'm sure it will open up some cool projects. But there are a small number of people on the planet who really need this functionality and Dan is one of them. So he's one of the few who I think would show off a crazy light setup with a ton of storage who will actually put it to use. Most of us who buy Air Jordans will never be able to dunk regardless of shoe selection. ;)

Anyway, way off topic, but it's all BASE and always fun to chat shop.

That's fair. Record corrected as requested.

Ditto what Joe said. I'd say next time just put that right up front in the initial review, so people don't start digging for it and creating a (distracting) mountain out of a mole hill.

You'd avoid a lot of finger pointing if you just included the amount of discount (or other inducement) in the original review. It's pretty standard in the business world to give a "full disclosure" statement whenever that happens, and it helps people know what the inherent biases are (or are not).

We could probably spend a lot more time discussing actual technical issues and a lot less time on finger pointing and brand wars if we all adopted some standard techniques like up-front disclosure of our interests. :)

Thank you, Joe.

Back to the topic, then.

How about the RAD, is there foam on the whole arm, or is it missing under the flexible part on the wrist and forearm? Does it feel easier for the pull?

I haven't jumped it yet, but it has 5mm foam in it that runs the full length of the leading edge. The foam is removable, but my A3 has the same leading edge design as this with the same full length 5mm foam which is sew in (unlike this one which can be removed) and even with the steeper arm sweep of the the A3, I can reach my toggles without an issue and and have landed multiple times without unzipping a single zipper. I imagine this will be even easier since the arm sweep is less steep, and if you really wanted to, you could remove the foam all together.

I put the CXUL, not the crux in my original post. That is because this is my lightweight suit with gear storage designed for easy access to the start start arc it is capable of, and I will be using it for climb and fly's in the Eastern Sierra. The CXUL is the lightest container Squirrel makes at 800g (and it is designed around wingsuiting) so that paired with a 250 Ibex UL (bigger size for higher altitude landings) at 3.2kg will be the lightest setup for me between suit, container, and canopy from Squirrel.

That's light! Good luck with your climb and flys

As my question about the crux was about its length, ligth crux or normal crux does not change anything to my question, and as you write about this setup I still think that you put the crux into to topic.

I still think that longer is better because it makes the access to the PC easier.

I'm at less than 6 kg for my suit/container/canopy and it's nice to carry only that on long hikes.

To answer to Tom ligth is nice but less durable, very light is very nice but very less durable.
What I'm usually looking for light inside and not light outside as the biggest problem with light is the abrasion resistance during packing or access to the exit.

What if it was 3' long and you couldn't reach the BOC because your arms aren't that long? Longer isn't always better, the right spot is better. The Crux puts the BOC in the right spot on my back for the length of my arm to have a nice comfy reach.

So now I've put some jumps on the suit and can give a bit of an update here.

Start: In comparable conditions, my best Corvid starts are basicly the same as my best A3 starts. However the one corvid start where I pushed at a slightly off angle was nearly as good as my good corvid starts and also better than my slightly off A3 starts. So basically a perfect corvid start can be the same as a perfect A3 start, but the A3 needs more precision to keep that same perfect start.

One very important key fact on the starts was learned on a 2 way with an A3 piloted by someone of similar skill. We exited together and kept pretty much the same shallow arc all the way past the 45, but then as I went to max glide, he started to sink. The A3 should have slightly better glide than the Corvid, but as its a faster suit, it needs more speed for that glide. Although it is capable of just as short of a start as the Corvid, if you need max glide right off the start, you will need to take the start a bit steeper to access it. I will have to do the math for the minimum start needed for each suit to fly max glide and the difference in glide ratio and make a chart to find out at what point down and out does the A3 overtake the Corvid in glide after having its steeper start.

If you plan on diving into terrain after exit to build speed and you just need the shallow start to clear some ledges and you have your exits dialed, there shouldn't be a difference in start and either suit will work fine. The corvid will be better if your push technique isn't perfect every time or you need max glide directly off the shallowest possible start.


Flight: . It feels right at home coming from the A3. After one mellow jump on it I felt totally comfortable flying the same lines and tree gates I had been doing the week before in my A3. I haven't had the chance to take it on any super steep flight yet but i have take it a bit steep and it feels just as stable as my A3 flying anhedral.


Flare: The flare is great, So far my biggest has been 82' and that was from only 123 mph total speed coming off a 2.0 glide back to the LZ. I'll post back once I have a chance to dive a bunch before a flare. It feels like the A3 gets a slightly bigger flare for the same effort although that makes sense with the A3 being a faster suit.


Pull: The pull is super easy. I nearly reached past my BOC on my first jump it was so easy. The wing pressure is nice and low for a very stress free pull. During the deployment the glideskin on the leading edge allows really easy toggle without touching a single zipper. You can get that same toggle access on an A3 if you order the GS leading edge (I have also reached my toggles without unzipping in an A3 with everything zipped and 5mm foam in stock leading edge, it is possible in an emergency but not ideal).




Corvid vs. Aura3: If slightly off technique and not the best possible start means death on the exits you regularly do, get the Corvid as it has more margin. If you need max glide off a super underhung exit, get the Corvid as it needs less speed to fly. If you don't stay supper current and are a more causal jumper, get the Corvid and trade that little bit extra performance for an easier suit.If you're a new jumper and this will be your first big-suit in BASE, get the Corvid. When the A3 came out, I was a little bummed that Squirrel didn't have any current options for someone starting big suit BASE. I felt the A1/2 were great for that but the A3 wasn't forgiving enough for beginners. The Corvid fills that hole. Its starts are more forgiving to poor or inconsistent technique, it's more relaxed to fly (less like a race suit), its pull requires less effort. It's just easier and more forgiving all around.

If a perfect start is needed to access certain lines but a little bit worse is still survivable on your exits, get the A3. If you have room to dive off the exit after clearing some shallow ledges but you need a lot of glide further out in the flight, get the A3 and its extra performance will show later in flight when you flatten it out with all that speed. If you're very current and consistent with your exits and you want the more performance, get the A3.

So the Stream is "too" long for you if the Crux is shorter and put the PC in the right spot ?


The glideskin is not stretchable so it does not allow anything.
The wider elastic part at the end of the sleeve is probably doing that.

Could you please upload your Corvid and A3 BASE flights (a representative selection or better yet all of them - not just the "best exit") on https://skyderby.ru? This works 1000 times better than a verbal description, especially in case of the same pilot at the same site with multiple tracks in different conditions.

Presently there's very little Corvid data on skyderby, which is a major bummer.

bsbd! Yuri.

The wider elastic part at the end of the sleeve IS the glideskin

Unfortunately due to the less than legal nature of the jumps in California, I?m not going to publicly post the tracks. I can post a screenshot of some of the starts later though.

In terms of the 2 way I did with the A3, we had the same start (20ish feet apart crossing the 45 and I went into a 3:1 glide at about 65 forward and 21.5 downward. The A3 tried to follow on that but that wasn?t possible for it so it started to sink. It probably needs closer to 70-75mph forward which in turn would need a slightly steep start to build that speed.

No. There?s an inch or two range that feels perfect. Both containers fall into that range. They both feel comfy and are in an easy spot to reach. My point was longer isn?t always better since you keep saying the stream is longer so therefore it must be better and the Crux must be less safe. I don?t know why this is still a conversation. Both have an easy pull and both are longer than most other containers and both are designed around wingsuiting.

What are you trying to get out of this? I don?t think this is a with while conversation to continue as I have already told you they are nearly the same length and have posted pictures showing that and told you the pull is very easy on both and switching between them feels natural. Why do you keep trying to insist the Crux isn?t as safe?

Couldn't you just strip the GPS location data from the tracks (if they has it)?

Aleksandr has just promised, for this precise reason, to add an option to remove location data from the posted tracks. Meanwhile, if you upload as private tracks and take screenshots of the charts it should be safe enough even for US :)

The entire flight track is what makes it useful, please, not just the exit.

Cheers! Yuri.

I?m not super tech savvy on that. But I use Baseline.ws and can overlay a few starts and then screenshot it.

I belive the flysite stuff uses all GPS points so it inherently has the location in the data and then you upload it to one of those sites and it analyzes the GPS into our and down numbers. So no way to remove it before uploading the track.

Glideskin is the non elastic fabric.

I'm not trying to insist on the Crux that would be not safe, actually I'm sure I never write it is not safe.
What I am trying to find is what is the safEST, and even with 2 inches one MUST be safER than the other.
I you don't want to make a statment about it it's not a problem, just say it, but do not try to put it on me.

I think not flying a wingsuit in BASE is safER and not BASE jumping at all is safEST.

I think you are making to big of a deal on how much safety change there is in BOC length when it is already a long container. Past containers I've owned (like Zak2 and Summit) were a little over 2" shorter than my Crux. They still worked but made for a more awkward pitch and required thought to go into them. You could argue those aren't safe. I would say they aren't ideal for any suit and maybe unsafe if you're jumping a higher performance suit with extreme wing pressure. Both the Crux and Stream are right in the sweet spot of where i put my hand back without thinking and the BOC is right in my hand. I'll try to measure them side by side but they are definitely closer than 2", maybe more like 1" apart from each other. If you build me a container that was 3" longer than the Stream and I couldn't reach the BOC, that would be unsafe.

Trying to say between the Stream and Crux that one is safe than the other is like arguing a 720m rock drop is safer than a 700m rock drop when a good number of people are jumping 500m rock drops with no problem. If you fuck up bad enough that after 700m you're saved by those last 20, then you're probably in over your head in the first place and done have any business flying that suit.

Here is a spreadsheet that can import a flysight CSV, and transpose your track to any latitude, longitude, and starting altitude of your choosing.

Consider it a very "alpha" version, not too user friendly but hopefully not too hard to figure out.

Copy and paste your raw flysight CSV data (the entire thing) into the "Data Entry" sheet. Go to the "Main" sheet, and in the "New Origin" cells (H4, I4, J4) put in whatever latitude, longitude, and altitude you want. Units are in decimal degrees, and meters.

Export the "Data Output" sheet as a CSV file and try viewing it in your favorite viewer.

Please send feedback. I have not fully tested the output because I haven't compiled a flysight viewer on this laptop yet, but I will get around to it eventually. If this spreadsheet proves useful I may make a script that can do the same thing more simply, or put it on github.

UPDATED LINK:
XLSX Version:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vO1MEWPjoBDCvQzmzfzWddHsbg0-uQ5p

Thanks! I actually have an equally non user friendly version of that on my computer that my friend made me. It's very tedious and you have to trim the clip perfectly to the start of your push or it fucks the whole graph. I mainly use http://www.baseline.ws for looking at things quickly and then if its a track thats much different than my average (either better or worse or shows certain conditions or is at a new altitude I want to compare) I then go into my Excel file and spend the time to get the file in there.

I just updated the link to fix a small bug. Old links won't work, check my edited post.

This spreadsheet should minimize the pain of having to trim accurately. Just paste the entire CSV file into the appropriate sheet, update the lat/lon/altitude if you want (it defaults to 0,0,0), and then export the output sheet directly to a CSV, and open it up in your favorite viewer. It should take only a few seconds, it shouldn't fuck up the graph (as long as you don't edit any cells that weren't meant to be edited), and hopefully my version is a little more usable than what you describe your friend's version in some regards:)

Here are 2 jumps overlayed. This was a 2 way from a certain exit point with the A3 following me in my Corvid. This was 10 minutes after first light (so before sunrise) with a cool 2-3mph tailwind. Both exits were similar technique and both pilots have similar skill.



You'll notice the Corvid passes through the 45 at 600' and the A3 is at 630'. Watching on the 2 way could have effected his start as he wasn't focusing on it 100% or mine could have been slightly better technique. The difference in the two starts is lass than the difference between the A3 and C3. The starts were pretty much the same.



Where it gets interesting is looking at the numbers on the rest of the flight. Both suits were flying max glide to clear a notch on a ridge that requires a good start and glide to make. Because the Corvid is a slower suit, it was able to hold the glide needed out of the shallow start with the speed it had and ended up being high enough on the notch to dive down and actually buzzed higher point to the right of the notch. The A3 was loosing speed the whole way to the notch to sustain the glide (it could have easily had the glide if it took the start a bit steeper and had maybe 10mph more of speed going into it) and then at the end actually had to flatten out even more to barely clear it. The A3 should have diverted and flown around to the left of the notch. You can see at the same point in flight the A3 is 62' below the Corvid, yet the Corvid has a higher speed. This is the best example I have as the jumps were less than a second apart and the skill and technique between the pilots was similar and both were doing the same line. And it illustrates the point that you can have similar/same starts between them as long as you aren't going for max glide in the A3 right after.

All my jumps in the Corvid have been in pretty neutral/poor conditions (first light with no wing or a tail wind in pretty low temperatures).

Posting these examples is fairly tedious looking for comparable tracks, I just made the observation of similars starts with good technique in similar conditions, and then looking at rear cams to compare, better starts in the Corvid with slightly off technique. I can't post the video comparisons and don't really feel like spending a few hours going through a few hundred tracks and taking screenshots to compare and editing them together to post here. The aerodynamics make sense for why they start the same in perfect exits and why the more off you are on your push, the further the starts separate and why the slower flying suit has room to hit max glide sooner out of the start than the one that needs more speed. I'm happy to answer questions about how the suit flies or anything else you guys might have, but I don't want to/have time to keep posting all sorts of pictures and data to reconfirm data past this. If I go do some legal jumps I'll post a link to all those tracks. I don't get paid to post this nor do I make money off any suits sold, I'm just posting this on my own time to give some real life experience and info for someone trying to decide which suit to get. So if you're in between the A3 and Corvid (or C3) this has a pretty decent comparison in it and I'm happy to answer more questions. If you don't believe what I'm writing, that is fine and you not buying the suit does not affect me.

GLIDESKIN - A standard feature on certain models. This highly flexible, durable, and wrinkle-free material

What you are talking about is totally different - it relates to leading edge not the wrist. This part (part, not material) is not flexible because it is sawn onto the non-elastic material. The glideskin itself if the soft and elastic material.

Thanks a lot, this is perfect! Now, any chance to upload a bunch of tracks on skyderby using Colm's stripper? Ideally a few tracks of the same suit/exit/pilot as it gives a good statistical average overlayed on the same screen (make up an exit name, "MezzoDome" or something, so it can be used to group a few trcks together). Better yet, different exits & conditions & pilots - more the merrier!

On more poplular legal exits on skyderby, you can look at dozens of tracks from different pilots and suits overlayed together - this is as good as it gets to compare average suit perfomance (or pilot's, or whatever else statistically significant). This is what i'd love to see... not only a single-jump comparison between A3 & Corvid, but a few dozen tracks of Alpine/Jedi2019/A3/Corvid/etc overlayed on the same screen! I can actually see it now, just without Corvid ;)

bsbd! Yuri.

Whatever DFR
You don't want to answer by choosing.
A 770 cliff is safer than a 700 for me.
A longer container is safer too.

Entertaining to see you argue, even though we both know you are wrong

For the sake of argument, please look at the pictures attached:

1) Hybrid skin - only flexible and stretchable part at the wrist
2) Aura GS (Glideskin) option - the whole arm is covered with stretchable and flexible material called (as the GS name suggests) - Glideskin

Again - if you saw the material onto another fabric it will not be stretchable - only flexible. But the material itself is both.

Depends, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Steep relief, shallow relief. Long container with short arms=oops! Maybe short arms with long fingers ok?
What if it?s a short start with downdraft with extra long container?!
What if it?s massive start with skinny jeans and shorter container but you do steroids so you can?t reach behind you?

My guess is that you did not see a SQ wingsuit made in the lasts 2 years.
The leading edge material is not the same anymore but they still call it Glideskin. If you can get your hands on a 2018 or more Aura/Freak/Corvid and try to stretch the leading edge material I'd like to see how much you can stretch it. Make a video but my guess is that is it a 2 to 5% stretchable material with a force of 40Nm.

I both know you are wrong BTW

Just chiming in to mention that newer Summits (within the past couple years) have longer trays.

The original Summit trays were based off of the DP geometry, which was intentionally short as that was popular at the time. Early Summits carried these same trays, and over time new sizes have been introduced with longer trays replacing the old patterns. For example, a new size was introduced just last week to update an older tray pattern to the longer style.

A modern Summit sits long enough to accommodate any reasonable WS pull. I've been jumping a variety of Summits (both sized for me and not) with a variety of wingsuits for the past few years. For those looking for an even longer tray there's an extra 1-2 inches (depending on canopy size) to be gained by moving to a TL.

Nothing else to add on the topic.

There is always more to add.

Well if you go to the Aura 3 page it mentions "A3GS option now available" which was an option to have more stretchy material on the leading edge (halfway up) which is the same as the Corvid LE. If you go to my other thread on the A3 you will see my lightweight version has it. It does appear that that is no longer an option on the Aura3 page, probably due to the fact that it is a higher performance suit so they don't want to put a lower performance LE on it and now the Corvid only comes with the LE and is the suit to get for low jumps with instant toggle access.


I decided to email Squirrel on it to get some clarification and found out something interesting. It turns out theres a typo on their site and it's actually foreskin that they use for their LE, not glideskin. Foreskin comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and elasticities. Hopefully this clears up the confusion.

It does thanks

What's the exit weight of both you and the other jumper?
Also why don't you use the metric system like sensible people

 



Intentional or Freudian Slip?

...either way, very funny.


(You're never alone with Schizophrenia)

I am 6' and 145/150lb naked. He is 5'9" and 155lb naked. I had a bit more gear with me than him on the jump and one size larger canopy so our exit weights may have been the same.

It was intentional, related to the "we both know" above.
I do not like when people are talking for me so I tried to make fun about it.

I have owned 3 suits with the old full glideskin LE and currently own 3 with the new LE and the glideskin wrist.

I guess both we and I can now agree

Have a nice day!

This is what i'd like to see. This is pretty much the only way to compare different suits with any statistical significance.

Any suit that is conspicuously absent from the charts or present as a single "best conditions" track is naturally seen as not living up to advertisements - until proven otherwise by a good number of tracks.

Cheers! Yuri.

Never used that site, I'll have to make an account. All my (5) jumps have been first light in cold katabatic winds. Once I get some legal ones later this summer in comparable conditions to what other people are jumping in, I'll post them.

Here's a bunch of my Aura3 starts which range from 475' (144m) to 575' (175m) laid out similarly to your example from www.baseline.ws

No I do not agree with you because of the actual SQ website's description of the LE that I quote above.


If you can find an actual wingsuit from SQ with a full stretchable LE like on the Aura 2 I will agree with you.

So if they don't make suits with full glideskin LE, it means that the material is different?

But anyway, here you go - A3GS, pic attached

One more pic - LE.png, which explains the material, which you keep wrongly referring to as Glideskin

And one more pic attached of the actual glideskin wrist.

Also, as DFR pointed out, the SQ guys themselves said it's a typo and "it's actually foreskin that they use for their LE, not glideskin", but I guess "I both" knows better then the manufacturer

So here you have it, hard facts vs. your own incorrect interpretation.

I can be wrong, but if I am it would be because of SQ website's mistake.
Here attached a screen capture like your with the only new LE material AND GlideSkin written as description of it.

I still think I am right because of this picture, and I did not see the same evidence on your screen captures.

You are really just making yourself look ridiculous at this point

It has been stated that it's a typo (by the SQ themselves) but you still refer to it - for the sake of just wanting to be right (based on false evidence) and not trying to understand the facts.

But as I do enjoy looking at you trying to bend the actual information, here's one more pic. I marked with red the important words, that you clearly missed before

Good day to you . This thread got off-topiced enough, so I won't be replying to you again.

If you feel like it, you can write me a PM, but let's leave this for people to talk about the actual original topic.

Finally you put something out that can change my opinion.

My birth language is not English so by typo they mean mistake ?

Can you admit that if like me you are looking to the website and see the picture I attached you can be at least confused ? Without the DFR message it would be for me still a 50/50 between the 2 SQ descriptions.

I don't mind making myself look ridiculous, specially when I have a provided evidence of what I'm saying. The ridiculous here is that we can find 2 opposite description of the GlideSkin on SQ website, and they can take 5 minutes answer to DFR's mail but not the 1 minute to change the wrong description on their website.

Have a good day !

Thanks for the review. Now I see how you were able to contact the "point of back deflection" while skydiving an A1 ( from your earlier A3 review ). You are built like a feather.
Cheers

If I could be bothered making these, this could go on for a while.

hahahahaha well done.

You missed France there, on the list of countries that lose wars to Vietnamese farmers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/...tle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu

I believe the French actually _invented_ the metric system.

Ha, ha. Your initial chart was incomplete though

DFR, just wondering if you have ever flown a Freak in skydiving or BASE and how your numbers compared to the bigger suits ,with your wing loading being so light ?
Cheers

I would bet we used metric to put a man on the moon.

As for something close to being on topic. I wonder where the balance is between wing loading and glide?

I put 7 jumps on a Freak1 years ago but had low skill and no flysight back then so nothing useful.

Im making a trip to Squamish soon and I might bring my A3 and C3 along with my Corvid so I could try to do a jump or two on each back to back in similar conditions and identical flights and post the tracks. Although we'll see what weather and plans allow.

Here is a track and video showing off some of the Corvid's performance.

Track:https://baseline.ws/...4b-87bc-bacf2f44f138
Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMGUX-pgjYk

Over the last 4 jumps I have hit 148mph total speed on the suit in the 1.5ish GR, and am looking forward to seeing what it can do when I take it steeper or have room to hold that angle longer.

The start on this track is 675' (210m) mainly due to thin air at 12,000' (3,657m) and having a bit of gear in my suit from the approach. My other starts have been better.

The Corvid feels right at home coming from the A3 (my A1 jumps my have helped with that) Less effort on the starts, lighter wing pressure and easier pull, a little less sharp on the handling (less race suit feel), and a little less power on the flare (still got a 122' flare on one jump though). I think it is the right suit for anyone pushing it on short starts where they want something that will help them out if their exit isn't perfect, people who aren't mega current all the time and want a suit that is easier to fly, people who do a lot of alpine missions and need a suit with lower pressure and easy pitch and easy glide for their tired body after spending a day or two getting up the mountain, and people who are new to bigsuit WS BASE.

I've said before that I thought the A1/2 were good suits to move to for your first season of bigsuit WS BASE and then the A3 come out which was perfect for pilots who flew the 1/2 and were current with high skill. Those in that boat were able to unlock the extra performance in the A3 and utilize it and didn't have issues with their starts. But if you didn't have your exits dialed in or were new to bigsuit BASE, I don't think the A3 would be a good option due to the higher wing pressure and more technical start. I am very happy Squirrel now has a suit in their lineup that fills back in that newer jumper category and also has features the more experienced will appreciate.

Hey Daniel, can you ask those Squirrel guys if they will put backfly vents on a Corvid?

Shoot them an email and I’m sure they’ll let you know but I wouldn’t bet on it. If you want a suit to backfly most of their other suits make more sense. Why do you want the Corvid with backfly inlets?

I have seen a handful of pictures of people backflying it no inlets.

Are people doing short starts exiting on their back not a thing?

I just wanted to check back in with you guys and let you know the Corvid is an absolute animal on its back!!!!!
The fine folks over at Squirrel were able to accommodate my wishes for a Corvid with backfly inlets!!!!
I have only done a couple sky jumps on it and I am really happy with the results!! I had an Aura1 for my base suit for the last 4 seasons and decided it was time to step up to some newer technology.
The Corvid has a much thinner profile than the A1, and it feels a lot faster than the A1.
Internal pressure is a little higher on the Corvid than the A1 but not a huge difference.
The new sport profile arm foam is really nice! Huge improvement in the leading edge.
Leg stance is a little wider on the Corvid compared to the A1.
Grippers are really close to the same size.
The suit fits much better than the A1 and they were both made for me.
Flight characteristics are really similar and comfortable coming from A1, the Corvid is better in all aspects that I can find.
Backfly transitions are effortless, zero tail flapping at all.
This suit has so much power it's unreal. Super happy with it so far, can't wait for summertime and big walls.
I still need to work on my hand placement on the arm wing, as I know I'm holding the gripper incorrectly. The suit has a great balance to it and doesn't send you head low like a big tail normally does. Honestly couldn't be happier about fit/ finish/ and flight.
Print was designed by Sam and Cate Farrand from Tetramode.com
Squirrel did a fantastic job lining up the panels and vents.

I'm always having fun when people are making so entousiastics posts.

https://squirrel.ws/wingsuits/freak
http://www.basejumper.com/...nt;postatt_id=88756;
Such a big tail !!! ....

You paid, they made it. It's not a favor, it's not hard either for them (for me it would be :D)

The other parts and the comparaison between the A1 and the CORVID is intersting.

Antoine, this is the first Corvid with backfly inlets.
So, actually yes they did do me a favor by adding them.

Also the tail is longer than a freak 3.

Have a good day

I was guessing it is the first with back inlets, and it's nice for you if you wanted it.

My point is that when you pay for something for me it's not a favor, it's a service.

Yes the tail is longer, but I will not call it a "long tail" compares to suit like PF SU.
Actually I think the Corvid is flying on its back nicely like you just said because the tail is not a "long tail".

Have a good day too.

Antoine, the inlets were added free of charge, as in I did not have to pay any fee for them. To me, that is a favor. I'll direct you to the definition of favour so the is no confusion that is lost in language translation.

I agree to disagree.
On a suit where the costs for the manufacturer is around 400-600$ and that is sold to you 1650$ if they add a 40$ option it's not for "free", you just pay less (4% discount).
For me it's not a favor, I don't see the kidness, just a commercial gesture.
Actually just by this post and probably the FB and Instagram post you have already done, the advertising you are doing has gave them back the money you did not pay and probably more.
That's why I think it was not a favor, they have done it because they knew they would have it back.
It's like the "free" TShirt you could have had, it's never free, it's a way to advertise and it is taking in acount in the price from the start.

As an other way to see it if you have ordered it by a dealer they would have gave this dealer 15-20%, they gave you a 4% option so they already got 10-15% more benefit than a suit ordered by a dealer. These margins are calculated in the price.

Last example, I have 10 years practice so I could have 1000$ discount on a full package, do you think it's a favor ? It's not an amazing idea to have most of the experienced people using SQ gear, experienced people who are the models for the youngs, who will buy more gear from SQ because of that. Do you think these discount are not paid buy the other customers, these youngs ?

This is not SQ only, this is all manufacturers.
This is business, not kidness.

Just an other point of view.

Corvid with back inlets sounds cool, but maybe it would be more fun to argue about something instead!

Sick Corvid! Love the pattern! Hit me up next time you’re in my area and we’ll have to get some mountain flying in (;

Antoine, the levels you go to to find something wrong/complain about things in this thread honestly amazes me. Keep fighting the good fight

Slick lookin suit Jer! And interesting idea on the back fly inlets as a fellow longtime A1 guy.

Daniel, this is one of the good fights for me, and I will continue.
It's out of the subject I agree, as much as anything about the manufacturer and not the product is for me. I don't think I said it's "wrong" and i'm not complaining, just giving an other point of view, I hope most realistic, on how the business operates.

Daniel is another one who never had paid full price for sqrl. He's gotten min 10% off and yet he also has his nose rammed up Matt and Mike's B-hole wanting on their "friends" page. So you have to take his POV for what it is.... bias.

He posts he’s suit stoked Squirrel did him a favor gave him free backfly inlets. Phoenix fly charges $60 to add backfly inlets to a phantom when your order it and it’s just as easy for them to add them as it is Squirrel. Squirrel has charged similar in the past on suits that had the option to add them or not.

So for squirrel today take a suit that doesn’t have backfly inlets as an option and add them on for him, and not charge the usual fee, that is a favor.

You took 3 posts (while incorrectly assuming he paid for them) to explain how business works. Squirrel could have done the easy thing and said “No, that’s not a suit designed for backflying, order a freak” or they could have done it and charged what they usually do and instead they did it for free slightly lowering their profit on the suit.

I work as a mechanic in a bike shop. If someone comes in and pays me to fix their brakes and then asks me to adjust their shifting and I do and don’t charge for the shifting, I am doing them a favor. Even though there’s no cost besides my hourly on doing the labor to their bike, I am losing the usual store profit and they are paying less than the advertised price and what they were expecting to pay.

Let the man enjoy his suit, don’t try to always put a negative spin on everything.

Hmm where to even start with this...

Well that’s just not true. You seem to spend a lot of time making things up about me, should I be flattered or concerned?

Let’s start, paid full price for:
-Stream/OutlawLite
-Aura3
-Crux/OutlawLite
-C3
-Crux/Hayduke


Are you saying I’ve gotten a minimum of 10% off? Or that’s the biggest discount I’ve gotten? Either way it’s irrelevant. Also I really couldn’t care less of I get a picture on a website. I just like to have fun and fly. Getting cheaper of free gear would be nice but I have a job and can pay for my toys so I do t really care either way.

I wanted to order my A3 in cloudlite for big mountain missions but it wasn’t an option on their site and when I asked they said I should order the regular fabric as most people won’t benifit from the CloudLite enough for the lack of durability to be worth it but if I jump the regular a bunch and decide I still want to Cloudlite they would give me a deal on the suit.

After 130ish jumps on my A3 I ordered a cloudlite one and got a slight discount on the second A3 I bought from them. Along with a slight discount on buying a lightweight CRUX with a Hayduke as it was a prototype container that after a few versions birthed the new CXUL.

So yeah after spending $11/12k with them on multiple rigs and suits and accessories they gave me a small deal on ordering another of the same suit I owned and a prototype rig. And then the same on my CXUL/Corvid as those were both things I had been asking for since the A3 came out and the Stronglite disappeared.

You seem to have a lot of hate for Squirrel and apparently me for an anonymous stranger on the internet who doesn’t know me at all, or even worse someone I’ve maybe met who thinks they know me but is too scared to sign their own name.

How about you stop commenting wrong information on all my replies? Like claiming to know anything about what I’ve paid for gear, or posting that the Ibex is a cross between the Outlaw and Hayduke, etc? If you have a problem with me, come find me and let’s talk. I’m not hard to track down.

Best,
Daniel Ristow

First I can start by this: how, whatever I said about Squirrel, could change the way he likes his suit ?
This is exactly what I was talking about, think about it a bit more. Think about why you are thinking like this.

Yes he paid for the inlets, I'll explain again:
- costs of the suit: 400-600$
- costs of the suit with inlets: 440-640$
- price of the suit: 1650$
The price is covering the costs, so yes, he paid for them (you can read again the example of the "free" TShirt, which is never free).
They decide to make less benefits, but still, he paid the suit, and so the inlets.
They decide to do a commercial gesture, not by kindness but for the exposure they got back. Exposure is making more sells, more sells is more money, and the "less benefits" becomes a "more benefits".
They could have decide to not get 1100$ benefit by saying “No, that’s not a suit designed for backflying, order a freak”, that makes total sense for a business !
I have an idea, next time you got a discount of 60$ (price of the inlets of PF) just say you got front inlets for free...


You are not doing a favor, you are doing a commercial gesture because you know that by doing that you have more chance to have the customer coming back to you for his next problem, and so you have more work and make more money.

Again, nothing bad, this is how you run a good business.

A favor is when you are not waiting something in return, with kindness (at least it is what it's written in the link above). Waiting for something back, which is something totally normal when you run a business, is not kindness.

So yes I stick to my point of view.
You can totally stick to yours, but if you want to answer to me please put what I wrote and the arguments you in front of mines.

I don't think this is right. Backfly vents are standard on most of their suits. Right now on their website it says the +$60 charge is only if you want them on a tracking suit.
I know the PF website is not always up to date but I think they have been including backfly inlets as standard on the Phantom for several years now.

Anyway getting back to the real purpose of the forum - that's a cool looking Corvid, colour scheme looks sweet and good on Squirrel for throwing in some backfly inlets for free.

Correct. My understanding is that backfly inlets are standard on every PF suit you would expect them to be present on. I've had a Shadow, Phantom, Havok, Vampire 4, Venom Power, and Rafale. All came with backfly inlets at no extra charge except the Vampire 4 and Venom Power as they were designed as mountain suits.

The PF site isn't always super clear. Robi and company spend more time jumping than working on the website, but I think their products are better for it. The best thing to do when in doubt is e-mail Edo or Robi. In my experience they have always been responsive and helpful.

The Corvid is a mountain suit!

The only thing I don’t like about this thread is slambo trying to post.

Can we make a separate section for haters, where they can go and suck each others' dicks while commenting on how they hate greedy SQ or communist PF or whatever?

Jeeesus christ guys, grow the fuck up already...

Being a hater is what you just did.
Arguying is what I am doing.

But I agree with you, if people want to suck any manufacturer's dick we should create a section for that, and keep this one for facts or opinions about gear, and only about gear.

P.S.: who is this Jeeesus you are talking about ?

The new grinder. Location please ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/...-asia-china-51466362

The World Health Organization says the official name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus is Covid-2019.

I bet the people at Corona beer had something to do with that

I wonder if this is the way that higher performance suits are used when they appear on the market? Do margins of safety increase or are more risky exits that were not possible suddenly become possible? Perhaps it is a bit of both.

I didn't know Daniel but I followed him like I have a lot of the high profile names of the past and present. I'm sure many jumps became safer for him but the lure of opening more exits brought with it inevitable risk, as it has to so many others.

I don't WS BASE, yet, so I can't speak about the sport from any authority. Certainly, better equipment must be a good thing. As with anything, the limit will be pushed and pushed until the risk becomes normalized and then one day bites you in the butt.

Suits are better than ever, base jumpers remain the same. Although the regular jumping of technical (what should be called super gnarly) exits is impressive, I expect more deaths. Being on the bleeding edge of what is possible in wingsuit jumping never lasts, one way or another.

Base jumper: "A safer suit with good start and glide? I'm gonna jump this super low exit! Really strong flare power? That means I can brush the terrain the whole jump and just flare before I pull, no need to conserve height and margin anymore!"

I've had this conversation a lot...and a lot more lately. The simple truth is that the more you jump, and the more aggressively you jump, the more likely you are to die doing it. Period.

Better gear helps, but it's not a solution. More skill helps, but it's not a solution. Currency helps to a certain point, but it's not a solution. (As much as we like to point to currency...it has diminishing returns.)

I understand that some people push their limits for all the right reasons, and in all the right ways. But it's also undeniable that a lot of decisions in BASE jumping are made for attention, or admiration, or whatever miniscule amount of financial support might be possible. For anyone who is even remotely in the second camp...it's never worth it.

I've been on a BASE hiatus for about 18 months and the real world has reset my view of risk. In BASE land it's so easy to let your risk tolerance slip to a point that is unrecognizable to most rational people. I've seen it happen over, and over, and over...to myself and others. Opening a new, low, technical WS BASE exit is incredibly risky...with (opinion) incredibly little reward relative to flying even a little more safely. But in some circles opening exits like this and flying as aggressively as possible becomes the norm.

Every grown ass adult can make their own choices. I believe that strongly. But I think BASE has a way of distorting those choices by magnifying the relatively small reward of flying on the "bleeding edge," and minimizing the massive impact that a youthful death can have. Not only on your friends and family, but on one's own inability to seek out the infinite number of other ways to live a meaningful and happy existence in this world. BASE is wonderful, and amazing, and an experience I wouldn't trade for anything...but those traits are not unique to BASE jumping.

Maybe I'm just getting old...or soft...or my wife has really gotten into my head. I think BASE will always be a part of my life, but the more I'm around it the more I know it's not worth dying for.*

*Mindset not guaranteed to prevent injury or death.

Yep, exactly. AKA Booth's Rule #2:

"The safer skydiving gear becomes, the more chances skydivers will take, in order to keep the fatality rate constant"

I don't agree with anything that has been said, from SketchySketchy on... as far as DFR is concerned.

This is exactly why the BFL is so important. -- (Note: I'm also not a fan of the term "ego".)

What if Steven didn't clear the talus, & these words were instead written by DFR?

When I saw he had gone in, I was shocked. I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him (what I thought was, "yet"), but we did DM a bit. Having also told him that every time I jump my Phantom 1 OG off the NRGB, I'm unable to get Lukas Knutsson (BFL 72) out of mind. Though, I had Not, mentioned the pilot chute problem I had in skydiving that almost killed me. (Which is fully on video; & for a time on SDM.com) -- Having shared an exit point with many of the OG individuals doing the most of the most of this type of flying, in western states, when I learned of these details (no tools, no info, no guide) ... I was even more shocked.

hashtagBFL .. %#

 
I feel like the multiple & various poor choices that LeRoy made, should've prevented this one:

#138 ... low tech, very high arrogance. First WS BASE.

#405 ... High Tech, Too High Confidence. Far From First.

I wonder how many WS BASE LeRoy would have, had he said fuck it & just went to KL Tower 2009, instead.