BWalnut said..
All done with the Pyro. There are some elements to it that I can appreciate but after a few sessions I'm settled on saying it's not the right para for me.
Build quality is nice, everything seems well made.
Upwind angles are as good as any other.
Upwind speed was slower than the Pocket Rocket.
More durable than my Pocket Rockets.
Excellent redeploy.
Steers off the front lines great.
Canopy is nice packable material.
Leading edge collapsed for a split second in a gust on my first day with it.
The backpack bag seemed awesome for doing multi para missions.
Why it's not for me:
Low end and high end didn't line up with what I'm used to. I was experiencing similar low end of the 3.2m Pyro to the 3.1m BRM Paia. Friends were on sails a full size smaller than me. On the high end I wasn't as comfortable as I was used to. With the 3m Pocket Rocket in the same winds I would have been very confident hooking in and powering through the gusts. With the Pyro I consistently bore off downwind because the pull was too strong for my comfort. Hopefully anyone who buys the Pyro and has more time than I did with it will get better at managing the low and high end.
Too many A lines on retract for my taste. As I mentioned in a previous post above, there's 12 A lines that split into 36. When you collapse via the A lines your hand hits 12 knots and has to run over 48 sets of stitching, all at roughly the same spot. This hindered the retract for me and while doing a single reach stow on the beach was easy, doing it on the water required a 2 stage pull anytime the lines and my hands were wet.
While it wasn't for me for those reasons it seems to be well liked by many others. If you're interested in one I'd try to find a shop, buddy, or local rider to get a demo from.
Thanks- that's helpful. All good information that echoes what little I've heard.
