Icarus Canopies - How to tell the difference

This is often a topic of debate, how do you determine whether a canopy is Crossfire or a Crossfire 2 and how to determine the difference between a Safire and a Safire 2. There are some quick and dirty ways to tell the difference. Unfortunately, we see some crazy things in this sport so the only sure fire way to know is to submit the serial number to manufacturer so they can scour the archives.

Crossfire & Crossfire2:

The easiest difference to notice between the Crossfire and the Crossfire 2 is that the Crossfire has 3 stabilizer attachment points, whereas the updated Crossfire 2 only has 2 stabilizer attachment points. Another way to tell the difference is that the Crossfire will have 10 D lines as opposed to 6 D lines which can be seen on the Crossfire 2.

Safire & Safire2:

The difference between a Safire and a Safire 2 is a little more subtle. If you look at the upper steering lines on a Safire canopy, which is the part of the brake lines where one line breaks down into multiple shorter lines that attach directly to the canopy, they are all the same length on a Safire 1. On a Safire 2 this is not the case as can be seen on the line trim chart designated by the letter A and 1,2,3,5. Although this is a great trick to quickly determine the differences between canopy models we want to stress that serial numbers are critical in any canopy servicing, as trims can change many times during the production of a canopy. If you purchase a new canopy take the time to document the serial number somewhere other than on the canopy label so that you will have it for future reference. On newer Icarus canopies the serial number can also be found stamped in the center cell on the internal tapes at the bridle attachment point. New Icarus Canopies can be purchased from ChutingStar Skydiving Gear SuperStore at this link.

ChutingStar would like to thank Para Concepts (Ottawa, IL) for providing the information to write this article.