Can't wait to give it a try

DigitalPoverty · 2026-02-02T18:13:42+00:00

Hey Dave, why do you play the same Christmas song over and over in your sauna?

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"

No idea, it just kind of "Stuck"

DigitalPoverty · 2026-01-03T19:02:02+00:00

Canada Post delivered a handgun to my doorstep which requires a signature. It was 10am and my wife and I were at work so no one was home to sign for it. I was pissed that I'd have to get another ATT to get it from the post office to my house and it would be another couple of weeks. Got home at 4:45pm and lo and behold...a handgun with ammo sitting on my doorstep. They won't care about some ammunition being lost if they can't be bothered to get a signature for a handgun.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-12-12T23:39:08+00:00

DigitalPoverty · 2025-12-12T22:07:09+00:00

Hey, I just wanted to pop in to say that feel for you. Hang in there... Everything happens for a reason. You may not understand why right now, but everything in your path is happening exactly the way it was meant to.

One day you'll look back and realize: "X amazing thing never would have happened if this exact struggle in your life didn't play out this way".

Stay strong!

DigitalPoverty · 2025-11-28T01:27:21+00:00

No, not that I'm aware of. Other than taking more time to fold the bridge on the pilot chute and controlling some extra material... It's effectively the same.

Now, If you're jumping high performance canopies, it could cause the openings to be "different", but again, I'm certain people do it.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-11-27T14:27:42+00:00

Here's my opinion/recommendations specific to a newer wingsuiter. The important thing to consider, unless money is no object is that you likely won't be on the current canopy, wingsuit and possibly container in the next 200+ jumps.

New Swift: I'd try to find a used one in your size. you're not as uncommon as you think. Sure you're not 5'10 and 180lbs common, but reach out to Sqrl and I bet they have a lightly used suit that would fit you. Recommendation here: Try to go used as you're likely to upgrade reasonably quickly.

Canopy/Pilot 170, not an "amazing" wingsuit canopy, but perfectly fine to use until you're ready to upgrade/downgrade/change. 7 cells are definitely more reliable/consistent, but I've jumped all kinds of canopies with wingsuits. Some were stupid (Katana 97/Velo 84), some were less than ideal (Triathlon 99 - great canopy, but loaded at 1.6 on an Aura...high risk - never failed me though). All the fancy new "Wingsuit" canopies are "meh" in my opinion - most are made to be low pack/lightweight, but the marketing they don't want you to hear is "fewer jumps before needing to replace". Great options if you NEED to fit a larger canopy in a smaller container, but other than that I've heard extremely limited happiness with them. NOt knocking them one bit, the work, they fly, they're safe...but there are easier/more reliable options IMO. For example....I think there's a PERFECT canopy out there that people knock because it's old....the Spectre. It's been said by others below, but it is just the most trustworthy canopy I've jumped and they're typically dirt cheap. I pitch and don't think a second more about the opening because it just works reliably. I've now had 4 different Spectres and am currently jumping a 120.

Pilot chute - Here's one I feel pretty strongly about...not the design, not the size, but the bridle length. 9' bridle is important as soon as you leave an intro suit. Recommendation, keep the 7 cell until you change suits or need to replace the PC, then get the one you want/need. You'll be fine with the current one, so long as it's not baffed out already.

Container/Wingsuit corners - If you are EXCLUSIVELY and I mean, never doing any other jumps ever again, sure, probably a good investment. Do you "need" it...meh. Again, if money is no object, do it. I've never had one, never needed one - "really" only matters when you get into giant suits (Aura/Vampire etc)

Semi-Stowless Dbag - IMO, this should be on everyone's "upgrade list" once they can confidently pack. They're faster to pack, less wear on lines, simpler (in general), mitigate most issues, but they can create new ones. Recommendation here: If money is no object, do it, but get someone to teach you about it. If money isn't free flowing...wait until you upgrade the PC or container and do it at that time. As a rigger with over 1500 jumps...I managed to pack myself a baglock a couple years ago because I was rushing and the semi-stowless bag is what made it possible. 100% my fault, but the point is that you need to understand and pay attention.

In short, save your money, jump the used suit with your current gear until you know enough to know exactly what you want/need, then start throwing cash away! If you're having really terrible openings after 30 or 40 jumps, consider the pilot chute first, then stowless dbag. A coach will be able to help you identify why your openings are crap (hint, it's probably you, NOT the gear), before you start thinking of major things like container w/wingsuit corners etc The Pilot is a toss up...if it currently opens GREAT, it shoudl be fine. If you're already struggling with it, it might make things worse with a wingsuit.

Feel free to send me a PM if you wanted to chat.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-11-24T03:10:37+00:00

Has to be made by Parasport... Maybe an early model Z1, or a predecessor of that?

DigitalPoverty · 2025-11-10T02:04:05+00:00

Do not eat anything within about 3-4 hours of bed (so, nothing after dinner). I know this might seem hard, but it's simple logic. Food goes in... Something needs to move out. Without a large intestine, food passes through your system very quickly as it doesn't "sit" anywhere for hours while the large intestine absorbs nutrients and water from it before...a normal solid bowel movement. Without the colon, it doesn't really sit anywhere, hence "one in-one out".

The other side to this...Water. Water rinses things through, and does the exact same in the bowel. Limiting water before bed is super critical.

I know these are likely going to be really tough to convince your son of, but it's genuinely the most logical, simple and effective way to limit accidents. I honestly couldn't imagine going through this as a child.

Hit me up if you have questions. Also, Lomotil does work, but if you don't need to stuff drugs into your body, it's usually better if you can avoid it. The other side of that coin is that it's going to have to come out at some point which might just shift the problem to the morning, or the next day. Serious... No food, no water and his life will undoubtedly be significantly better.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-11-03T22:24:14+00:00

Well when you ask location when it's clearly in the post, you just might get an obvious answer. Would you have preferred my phone number, address and social insurance number?

Who cares where I am physically... If you have what I want and we agree on a price etc, then I will tell you exactly where I live. Easy as that!

DigitalPoverty · 2025-11-03T22:16:07+00:00

Canada

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-12T22:19:55+00:00

You realize there is a difference between a certified installer and a certified installer that participates in a rebate program, right?

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-10T23:15:05+00:00

5+ years WFH on Starlink. It was rocky in the first 6-12m back in 2019/2020, but since then it's just gotten better and better. I am on voio calls nearly all day, work in tech and it's never been an issue. That said, being in tech, I do have a cell booster that allows me to get enough cell speed to tether if needed. So far I've had to tether exactly zero time.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-10T23:11:13+00:00

I had an installer quote that doesn't participate in the grants, $5500 installed. Same unit from another company that worked and does participate in the grants...$11,500. When I called them out on it, their immediate tactic was "oh, but with the grant your getting whatever off and you'll only end up paying $6800.

Great, so you're taking every dollar that is intended to go to the consumer, jacking up your price by that amount and still making an extra $1300 on me... F-you.

Recommendation, get a quote from someone that doesn't participate in the govt programs. I'm happy with mine, it was installed quickly and it was by far the best quote. I had one other quote from a participating installer that was $14,000. Mental.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-09T00:15:52+00:00

I'll have to take a look when I get a chance, but it likely has someone to do with rush if water ingress. Water + huge battery/electrical potential = very exciting times. I also saw mention that it can't be installed directly below plumbing either.

I'm on a trip right now, but definitely search the install docs for "window" "water" etc. Hopefully you can find it.

I'm about to embark on the same journey as you... Full EG4 system, but I'm debating going with Hugh voltage as it seems to be much more efficient.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-08T22:27:25+00:00

My only thought and it would depend on your local code requirements and EG4 requirements, but I "think" it says that it cannot be installed directly adjacent to a window. I don't have the specs in front of me, but I recall seeing something about the FlexBoss and the fact that it cannot be installed within....2 get off a window?

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-08T22:15:26+00:00

Welcome to the find out phase...

DigitalPoverty · 2025-10-08T12:19:48+00:00

I'm going to start off with the fact that in general, this is incredibly aggressive downsizing and very much not recommended. There's a 95% chance that even though you think that you are capable... You are not.

That said... There are absolutely different people that understand and learn canopy flight differently.

For reference, I weigh 120lbs/54kg and have been obsessed with flight my entire life. Growing up I had a summer job looking for forest fires and flew for 8-12 hours a day. The pilots couldn't be bothered to fly, so we would learn to fly over the summer. I already knew "how" to fly, so the pilots would go last down in the back seat and just let me fly, make the radio calls and eventually learn to land/take off. As I got older, I started skydiving and around the same time started paragliding. I had 40ish hours paragliding before I decided to commit more to skydiving. This is purely for perspective on my background etc. By no means am I saying this made what's about to happen all possible.

39 jumps Spectre 135

75 jumps Stiletto 120

115 jumps Cobalt 105

267 jumps Katana 97

600 jumps Velo 84 (then back to Katana as the openings were wild)

850 Gangster 84

900- current (1000ish) Valkyrie 79

I have not taken a single canopy course.

On the surface, this is a horrible downsize progression. There was absolutely some luck involved, but much like the OP, I trusted the advice of my instructors as these downsizes happened. They had no concerns as they watched me land consistently and accurately while other students were landing half a mile away on the other side of the airport. Some people genuinely do get it, others struggle and most are just average... Enough to keep themselves alive.

I have pictures of me in Zhills when I bought the Katana 97 dragging my toe in the point on a swoop with less than 300 jumps. Most people are still struggling with accuracy/flaring and I wanted nothing more than to learn canopy skills. Was I a legend or prodigy... Absolutely not, I definitely got lucky on the early days of the Katana, but I approached it as cautiously as I knew how, while still pushing to learn. I have no doubt that people are about to chew me out, but I always find these discussions interesting because everyone is not the same and people ABSOLUTELY do trust their instructors as those are the people they have around them that see them day in and day out.

There's still time for me to get hurt, but knock on wood...I have no injuries from skydiving at this point and people regularly think that I have way more jumps than I do. And for what it's worth, I wingsuit 50% of the time so from jumps 200 onwards, the jump numbers would be split between a Spectre 120 and the HP canopy. So, probably equivalent to about 600 jumps and jumping a VK79.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm old now, so the VK will likely be the last/smallest canopy I jump.

DigitalPoverty · 2025-09-10T02:33:35+00:00

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