sabre

[mattb 0]

Here's a question on behalf of a friend w/o net access.
What are your thoughts on the PD-Sabre? Are hard-openings consistently a problem for new jumpers who are learning to pack? Not a popular canopy where I jump compared to Stilletos, etc. but if I want to buy user gear there are a lot of Sabres out there. Looking for feedback from jumpers who learned to pack / jump on a Sabre.
Thanks

[Tee 0]

Hey Matt. I bought my Sabre at about 40 jumps and was only bit on the first jump. I am known, however, to pack carefully and neatly but the Sabre isn't a difficult canopy to pack properly. I am happy with mine, nice soft, on-heading openings. Have your friend ask a rigger to show him/her how to pack it properly and with a snivel and they will be just fine! Tee

[PalmettoTiger 1]

I don't mean to sound pessimistic but there's a reason lots of people are selling Sabres. Tell your friend that it's a good canopy as long as he/she is willing to put a lot of effort (and maybe a neck adjustment or two) into learning to pack it correctly.
Blues, squares,
PTiger

[Groundrush 0]

The Sabre openings can solved by adding a bigger slider. My Sabre170 opens slowly after my rigger installed a larger slider. If I roll the nose and the tail very hard it will even snivel for up to 1500ft! Now I can choose to pack it to open anyway I like. It really is a very nice canopy when the opening has been solved.
Take a look at: http://www.pcprg.com/pia01.htm
Blue ones,
Martin

[maretus 0]

The Sabre really is a great canopy. Forgiving and docile but still fun to jump and land. I bought a 150 (loaded it about 1.2) as a first canopy. During 170 jumps on it I only experienced one very hard opening and I presume that was my packing error. I really have nothing bad to say about and would definetly recommend it both as a first canopy but as a more experinced choice. Don't know wheter I had extremely good one but I didn't have to take any extra effort in packing. Just normal propack and that was it.

[Kirils 1]

The Sabre is an old canopy (and good for its' day), but is technologically outdated. The canopy has some funny opening characteristics...I've see new ones open gently and have harder openings as they get older; and then seen just the opposite happen. I would not recommend a Sabre to anyone given the superior canopies available today.
Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability...

[marcin 0]

Put about 200 jumps on Sabre 150, bought brand new. Always opened very hard, with one(!)single exception, when it opened very sweet. Once almost killed me and my neck hurt for weeks (packed by a pro). Rolling the tail, stuffing the outer cells into the center cell, puling the slider in front of the nose, pushing the nose into the pack job seemed to help nothing. My stiletto opened OK,however it also smacked me once, so I almost blacked out. Tight rubber bands (the traditional type) definitely help). It was also difficult to pack, remaining slippery for all the time. It flew great though and I really liked flying it.
mc

[skybytch 273]

I had one whacker on a Sabre 150 out of about 50 jumps on them. I packed it and I really suck at packing zp so I assume it was my fault. But I have heard a lot of people say that they've either always or occasionally had hard openings with their Sabres.
If you're going to buy one - learn how to pack it for soft openings, keep a close eye on the line trim and think about a bigger or pocketed slider.
Used Sabres are pretty reasonable in price now. Even though you might get an occasional whack I'd still recommend one; it's an easy canopy to fly and land.
pull and flare,
lisa

[Zennie 0]

The key, and it seems to work for me. Is in the slider. I can't roll the nose right to save my life (though I still try), but I pay really close attention to two things:
1. Make sure the slider is all the way at the stops; and
2. After you quarter the slide, pull it a little toward the nose (i.e. toward you). Don't pull it all the way through though. This helps the slider catch the wind better on opening.
I've had some real nice, amazingly soft openings when I do this. No whack at all.
------------
Blue Skies!
Zennie

[Kris 0]

My Sabre 210 is a royal pain in the A$$ when it comes to openings. I finally had to put a slider pocket on it and start psycho-packing it to make it manageable.
I'm putting a few more jumps on it to make sure I'm ready to get rid of it and then I'm going to demo a Heatwave 190.

[Joolee 0]

I jump a Sabre 150 (I'm 140lbs) and I have only had one banger of an opening so far which I think was due to the fact that I was new to packing it. Now I leave the middle cell out on the nose and roll the others about three or four times and tuck them in...have had lovely openings since then.
It's worth putting the effort into packing so you don't cringe when it comes to pull time!
Julie

[Pammi 0]

Ya all are scaring me with your Sabre stories...maybe I DON'T want to jump my 135! Nah....I still do! hehe
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
http://trak.to/skydivechick

[skyhawk 2]

ive never had a hard opening on my sabre I pack it normaly expecpt at the end i pull the slider slightly out at the nose grab the tail and put it up to the slider then nuzzle it in. im lightly loaded on it but one of my friends jumped it she said the openning was great and she was on about a 1.2-3 wingloading
"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."
Pablo Picasso.

[Zennie 0]

Quote

I pack it normaly

Normally meaning you don't roll the nose, as with most parachutes? Or normally, for a Sabre, where you do roll the nose?
------------
Blue Skies!
Zennie

[skybytch 273]

Quote

Normally meaning you don't roll the nose, as with most parachutes? Or normally, for a Sabre, where you do roll the nose?

Showing my age here... it's only since elliptical and semi-elliptical canopies arrived on the market (ie within the last 7 years or so) that anyone would consider NOT rolling the nose to be normal... when I started jumping that would have been considered insanity.
pull and flare,
lisa

[skyhawk 2]

i meant normaly as in up to the nose bit and i dont roll the nose i nuzzle it
"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."
Pablo Picasso.

[SkySlut 0]

I am jumping a Sabre wingloaded at 1.2+/- and I do not roll the nose. I roll the tail considerably, but I have never been whacked with about 100 jumps on it.
-Slut
"I'll jump anything!"

[Merrick 0]

While I only have about 25 jumps on my current sabre, I have only had 2 semi-hard openings... I chalked both up to being that I hadn't completely come out of my tracks. Whack me once shame on you.... whack me twice, shame on me!!!
in packing I roll the nose 4 & 4 & stuff into the center cell, quarter the slider then pull it out over the nose, then roll the tail tight!!! Seems to work pretty well!
"Grab the grass, it's the bounce that kills!"
Merrick

[Kirils 1]

Kris:
A note on the HeatWave, if it's the new blunt nose: load it at a minimum of 1.2:1. Less than that, you might be dissapointed with the performance. If you are looking for a lighter loading, I recommend you try the Hornet.
Kirils
Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability...

[cdunham 0]

Quote

i dont roll the nose i nuzzle it

What exactly do you mean by "nuzzle"?
Carl

[skyhawk 2]

nuzzle
i grab it and push it into the rest of the canoppy

[Iflyme 0]

Quote

Put about 200 jumps on Sabre 150, bought brand new. Always opened very hard, with one(!)single exception, when it opened very sweet. Once almost killed me and my neck hurt for weeks (packed by a pro).

Forgive me, but why on earth (or "above" earth) would you put so many jumps on a canopy that only opened nicely for you once?????

[Kris 0]

Quote

Kris:
A note on the HeatWave, if it's the new blunt nose: load it at a minimum of 1.2:1. Less than that, you might be dissapointed with the performance. If you are looking for a lighter loading, I recommend you try the Hornet.

Kirils,
Thanks for the advice. I've been jumping my Sabre 210 at about 1.3:1 since last summer with no problems but I am losing a lot of weight lately and I want to keep at least that wing loading.
I want to try the 190 just to demo and when I am ready to buy I will be looking to purchase the Heatwave or a Cobalt in a 170-ish size to keep the same wing loading I am used to jumping.
Thanks again,
Kris

[marcin 0]

"Forgive me, but why on earth (or "above" earth) would you put so many jumps on a canopy that only opened nicely for you once?????"
Didnt really have much choice. Second-hand market isnt big where I live (Europe). My first new rig, limited experience and knowledge of canopy types. A few years ago I didnt really know what kind of alternatives I had, given limited number of dealers I knew. When I was ready for a Stiletto and able to sell the Sabre I made the transition, at that time I really hated the Sabre and was virtually scared before each opening. The guy who bought it actually said it opened better than his previous canopy(!)
mc
Edited by marcin on 5/14/01 09:53 AM.

[freeflyguy 0]

I'll add my two cents. As I have before.
I had about 150 jumps on a 170. If you have forward speed when you deploy, you will get wacked. That is a biggy. with most canopies, but especially the sabre. Also that tip about quartering and pulling the slider forward is very important. I rolled each side of the nose a couple of times, and "nuzzled" it into the pack as someone said, not too far though.