Sabres have opening problems.It's no secret

[jumperconway 0]

Go figure,now I have a Cobalt.

I guess you got a good one. One of the cobalt demo's I got spanked me 5 for 5! Now I jump Xaos's no special packing technique to get super nice openings.

[JohnMitchell 16]

My wife, with her Sabre, and I with my Stiletto were both having occasional hard openings. One of the less understood causes of hard openings seems to be slider bounce, where the lines stretch out quickly, then, when the bag opens and the canopy reaccellerates to your freefall speed, the slider rebounds down the lines a few inches or more. This can let the canopy inflate with the slider out of place, giving explosive openings. We both started double stowing our lines. This slows down the speed of the bag away form you during deploywment, reducing the possibility of slider bounce. It's a touch slower deployment, but I haven't had my bell rung since, even when I'm smokin' out of a head down dive.

John

[Ron 10]

Spoon, I have been slammed by a Stiletto, Velocity, Jedei, Specter, PD190, FX, Cobalt (never got that thing to open well), and about 6 other canopies including the Sabre.

The Sabre opens much harder than todays designs....It is what 15 years old? And yes it opens hard at times...But so do all the others..In fact my hardest opening to date was a Velocity 90....DAMN!!!! I chipped a tooth.

The Sabre is not what I would recomend as a canopy to get today...But if its all you can offord, its better than some others...Esprit anyone?

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[HRHSkyPrincess 0]

I have had two Sabres. Great openings with both (still jumping #2)! I give my packers a lot of credit for always taking the time to be sure every detail is addressed: rolling the nose, even line stows, etc. Basic packing skills, but critical, it seems, for nice Sabre openings. In fact, #1 had such a snivel/slow opening I had to allow for extra altitude! Would I buy another one? You bet. :)

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Attitude is everything!

[billvon 3,070]

>200 + jumps on my Sabre 190. I roll and stuff the nose -- One hard opening to date.

That's about my experience.

400 jumps on Sabre 1 with old slider - a hard opening about every 20-30 jumps.

1000 jumps on Sabre 1 with new slider - hard opening every 200 jumps or so.

200 jumps on Sabre 1 with a different (smaller) slider - hard opening every 20 jumps again.

[flyangel2 2]

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>200 + jumps on my Sabre 190. I roll and stuff the nose -- One hard opening to date.
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That's about my experience.

Same here jumping a Sabre 120. I have noticed the only time I do get a hard opening, is when I use a packer.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[chapdog 0]

Bought mine from a guy who assured me no
hard openings.He was right.If anything mine
takes too long sometimes!A 170 that truly
has a very satisfied jumper hanging from it
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No really,if only someone had a camera!

[rogue108 0]

Crossposted...because TomSpoon got upset :(

Let me see...I have personally owned 4 Sabres and jumped 6 different ones. I have jumped everysize from a 190 to a 120. I have put 400+ jumps on different sized Sabres and haven't had a problem with any of them. A brisk opening here and there but no real problems.

This is a dead topic, quit kicking the dead horse. What's the point in rehashing it, to let everyone know that a Sabre opens hard. Exactly, its no secret people have known this for years. There are lots of solutions. If the bothers you enough buy another canopy. You have choice in what you jump.

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You do not follow instructions well.
May I suggest you read more and post less.

Boo Hoo...you hurt my feelings. Maybe you haven't noticed but I hardly post partly due to useless drivel that is discussed. Don't like the difference in opinion or are we supposed to be sheep and agree with you?

[aneblett 0]

Defintely one of the most entertaining posts I have read in a while... In fact the whole thread..

I am curious how many people on here would be willing to buy a brand new car, and then mod it so that it functions as it should.

Age

S.E.X. party #2

..It is far worse to live with fear, than to die confronting it.

[slug 1]

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Defintely one of the most entertaining posts I have read in a while... In fact the whole thread..

I am curious how many people on here would be willing to buy a brand new car, and then mod it so that it functions as it should.

Age

I agree most excellent entertainment.

To carry your example a little further how many people have bought a new car and ended up with a lemon?

Wa state now has a lemon law after the dealer can't fix it after X try's they have to but it back.

Anyone who produces X widgets will produce some that are out of spec's. That the chance we have to deal with with whatever we buy.

Some manufactures stand behind some of their products even after the warrenty period has expired ( personnel experience) because they know that on the based on repair history, disapointed customers they put out a lemon.

Personally I've only had 2 unforgetable openings on my sabre (80's model) out of 200+ jumps. Both were related to packing.

I wouldn't be surprised that due to the variable's in the production process if some Sabre's have different opening characteristic's than other's aka slammers.

R.I.P.

[billvon 3,070]

>I am curious how many people on here would be willing to buy a
>brand new car, and then mod it so that it functions as it should.

I would be curious to see how many people would buy a brand new car(or, more to the point, a used car) and never consider getting it washed, changing the oil or putting in a new stereo. I've seen Sabres with 1000 jumps whose lines have never been changed, with original sliders, used with 36" pilot chutes. They opened pretty hard. They can often be purchased for next to nothing, which can be good news for newer jumpers - with a reline, the right slider and the right PC they can be pretty good parachutes.

On the other side of things, a new jumper can just buy a new Spectre; the price of a new Spectre includes the new slider, the new line set etc. Heck, if you buy a new rig at the same time, you'll get a 26" kill line PC to go with it, and your openings will probably be pretty good. If you can afford all that, great. If you can't, a Sabre (properly inspected and maintained) can be a good investment.

[TomSpoon 4]

If you've gotten this far. You'll want to go to this thread.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=911753;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

[TrickyDicky 0]

I have a sabre with over 500 jumps on it, with 100 put on by me.

In my 100 jumps, Ive had 1 slammer. When I first got it Id get inconsistant messy openings (throw me about alot) but then I got taught a method Ive never seen anyone else use, and it works a treat:

Pull the slider out over the nose, and then roll the nose in with the tail about 4 times, quite tight. Make sure there is some slider poking out when you've rolled the tail (so slider is rolling up with tail too).

Im getting consistant 600ft+ openings.

UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.

[Romolus 0]

I see your point, there are a lot of talk about the hard openings of a Sabre!!! But I guess they ain't all the same! I havent had a hard opening yet, but what i noticed is that the more careful you pack it the harder it opens. Yet remember no real hard openings. I dot say you shouldent pack it carefully but don't over do it!!! And even though the Sabre im an jumping is my first parachute ad people tells me that you can get much softer openings with other brands I would have no problem in recomandig it as a good first buy!

[burbleflyer 0]

I agree. Sabres must suck.
Didnt they sell more Sabres than any other canopy?
World must be full of stupid people.
By the way. I have over 4000 jumps on 135's.
Over a thousand on my 135 Sabre2.
There isnt a canopy out there that hasnt hurt someone on opening.

[aneblett 0]

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World must be full of stupid people.

Don't kid yourself...... it is.

Age

P.S.
Sabre2 != Sabre

S.E.X. party #2

..It is far worse to live with fear, than to die confronting it.

[burbleflyer 0]

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World must be full of stupid people.

Don't kid yourself...... it is.

Age

P.S.
Sabre2 != Sabre

Sorry. The Sabre is most definitely a different animal than the Sabre2. I have thousands of Sabre jumps and a thousand on Sabre2s. I feel qualified to make that statement.

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[aneblett 0]

I figured that you knew that.. I just wanted to point it out for anyone that was reading. It seems that lately I have been encountereing more people that don't know that they are different wings.

cheers,

Adrian

S.E.X. party #2

..It is far worse to live with fear, than to die confronting it.

[Tinkerbelle 5]

My Sabre 135 broke my neck- gave me 2 badly herneated discs 13 years ago or whenever they came out. I continued jumping with it, and today I spend my money going to neck specialists, Physical Therapy, neck injections, etc... instead of jumping!
They say if I continue to jump, now on pain pills, percoset, I will end up in a wheelchair paralyzed!
I wish I had bought a different canopy long ago!
You know those hard openings that hurt, well the hurt is permanent, even though you may not know it when you're in your 20s- it will catch up to you in your 30s!

[Tinkerbelle 5]

what is your point?