floormonkey 0 #1 July 24, 2003 About a month ago, we had a jumper who had a HARD opening. It tore his canopy on the right end cell from nose to tail (top skin), as well as damaging another cell. No line damage. It also broke one riser at the grommet (mini-riser) as well as doing some damage to the rig. It tore some stiching in the MLW and popped the cutaway and reserve housings out of the crimps (oddyssey). All equipment had about 60 jumps on it. (Sabre2 230, Javelin Oddyssey). Long story short, we got the canopy back from PD a few weeks later. The replaced the cells and relined the canopy, all at no charge. But the best part of the whole deal-they sent him a free packing video. Now that's service! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #2 July 24, 2003 Quotethey sent him a free packing video. Now that's service! Also very subtle GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blahr 0 #3 July 24, 2003 Quote Also very subtle Gus Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KellyF 16 #4 July 24, 2003 Interesting. We had a jumper break his Stiletto 170 (four cells shredded, with a big 2x4 FOOT piece missing), and they wanted to charge over $800 to fix it. He has the largest Xaos ever made now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #5 July 24, 2003 I'll bet it opens great.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DiveMaker 0 #6 July 24, 2003 QuoteAbout a month ago, we had a jumper who had a HARD opening. It also broke one riser at the grommet (mini-riser) as well as doing some damage to the rig. It tore some stiching in the MLW and popped the cutaway and reserve housings out of the crimps (oddyssey). All equipment had about 60 jumps on it. (Sabre2 230, Javelin Oddyssey). So what did Sunpath do for the rig? Were they the original risers? Was this opening at 'normal' deployment speeds? [aka nothing like a head down or flat fly with excessive speeds?? The way you say it, it sounds like a normal opening with belly perpendicular to the flight path at ~ 120 mph] .DiveMaker Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nubain1 0 #7 July 24, 2003 QuoteAbout a month ago, we had a jumper who had a HARD opening. It tore his canopy on the right end cell from nose to tail (top skin), as well as damaging another cell. No line damage. It also broke one riser at the grommet (mini-riser) as well as doing some damage to the rig. It tore some stiching in the MLW and popped the cutaway and reserve housings out of the crimps (oddyssey). All equipment had about 60 jumps on it. (Sabre2 230, Javelin Oddyssey). Long story short, we got the canopy back from PD a few weeks later. The replaced the cells and relined the canopy, all at no charge. But the best part of the whole deal-they sent him a free packing video. Now that's service! Your lucky.I hear I have to pay for my spectre230 with a ripped cell.The canopy had about 22 jumps on it.Still waiting to find out how much they are going to charge or if I would be better off just buying another canopy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
floormonkey 0 #8 July 25, 2003 The jumper weighs about 245. A fairly new jumper, he came out of a sit, waited about 3 seconds, and deployed. We theorize he a) wasn't slowed down enough b) had a sloppy pack job and c) did not have one brake stowed properly. We sent in the rig, got it back with the stitching redone, but they did not re-crimp the housings. One of the cutaway housings (the short one) was still missing. So we sent it back in to get it fixed. They charged him something around 250-270 to fix it. Yes, they were the original risers, but I'm not sure what the situation was with them (if they charged him for new ones). He's considering getting the canopy relined with Dacron . We spent some time working on packing skills too...and he doesn't freefly much anymore. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vx99 0 #9 July 25, 2003 Quote But the best part of the whole deal-they sent him a free packing video. Now that's service! Glad to hear he got it fixed free, never had that luck on ANY of the blown up PD's(90% Sabres) I've sent back over the years(customers canopies, not all mine!). I have heard plenty of "it's packing problrem" from PD though!! Sabres never open hard when properly packed.................right? I've put 1 jump on a Sabre2 when it came out, at a boogie, got it from the PD booth, packed by a PD rep. Slammed the hell outta me. I was just trying it so I could tell customers what it was like. Guess it was a packing problem LOL_______________________________________________ More rules is NEVER the right the answer..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFerensak 0 #10 July 25, 2003 Yet another testimony to this thread... a couple years ago I bought a used Sabre 170 off the net (about 400-500 jumps on it I was told and yes it was a newbie mistake)... I had my rigger inspect it and he said it looked fine and saw no problems in jumping it. 7 jumps later on this canopy I had what one might call a "catastrophic failure of the main canopy" (see the attached pic)... All of my openings prior to this one were slow and smooth and I had packed them all and was staying (in my opinion) consistent in my packing technique. The last one was a slammer and blew out nose to tail about 2 cells in from the right, top and bottom skin and my center cell had ripped nose to tail on the bottom skin... 2 different riggers inspected the canopy afterward and couldn't determine the cause (porosity looked good, no sun spots, etc.) and when I sent it to PD, they couldn't tell me why it blew up either but they did like the video! In the end, I received a 35% discount on a new canopy of my choice with custom colors.... even though I had this failure, they stood behind their product even if I wasn't the original owner... either that or they just wanted to keep me quiet and threw me a bone... in any case, I still think they have great customer service! -FB-FB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevin922 0 #11 July 25, 2003 QuoteYet another testimony to this thread... a couple years ago I bought a used Sabre 170 off the net (about 400-500 jumps on it I was told and yes it was a newbie mistake)... I had my rigger inspect it and he said it looked fine and saw no problems in jumping it. 7 jumps later on this canopy I had what one might call a "catastrophic failure of the main canopy" (see the attached pic)... All of my openings prior to this one were slow and smooth and I had packed them all and was staying (in my opinion) consistent in my packing technique. The last one was a slammer and blew out nose to tail about 2 cells in from the right, top and bottom skin and my center cell had ripped nose to tail on the bottom skin... 2 different riggers inspected the canopy afterward and couldn't determine the cause (porosity looked good, no sun spots, etc.) and when I sent it to PD, they couldn't tell me why it blew up either but they did like the video! In the end, I received a 35% discount on a new canopy of my choice with custom colors.... even though I had this failure, they stood behind their product even if I wasn't the original owner... either that or they just wanted to keep me quiet and threw me a bone... in any case, I still think they have great customer service! -FB That still sounds like you got screwed.. you just bought a canopy (new to you) and only got 7 jumps on it before having to replace it? 35%, isn't that what a lot of dealers get off their canopies they sell? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Remster 30 #12 July 25, 2003 Quote(about 400-500 jumps on it I was told and yes it was a newbie mistake)... what was the mistake? 500 jumps on a Sabre is not much. Sabres are decent canopies and now are quite cheap with the 2s available.Remster Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFerensak 0 #13 July 25, 2003 Mistake (imo) was actually in buying something used over the net from someone I didn't know just because I thought it was a good deal (sabre 170 main, raven II reserve, vector v5 container, 2 jumpsuits, z1 fullface, time-out audible, and an altimeter all for $1700 delivered). I think I did go through the right steps though by having a rigger look at all the equipment before using any of it... the deal on the new main is probably what dealers get, but it was still cheaper than square 1's cash price and I don't know if my sabre was repairable (or if I even wanted it back if it was) so all in all I think it was a good learning experience and yeah, I'm sure I got screwed a couple times throughout the whole process.... good and bad points to it all but in the end, I'm still happy with PD as a company. -FB-FB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blahr 0 #14 July 25, 2003 Quote That still sounds like you got screwed.. you just bought a canopy (new to you) and only got 7 jumps on it before having to replace it? 35%, isn't that what a lot of dealers get off their canopies they sell? I dont see how they got screwed by PD at all. PD gave them 35% of a new canopy when a well used one bought second hand blew up. Maybe they got screwed by the guy they bought it from, but not by PD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JumpCrazy 0 #15 July 25, 2003 Quote I've put 1 jump on a Sabre2 when it came out, at a boogie, got it from the PD booth, packed by a PD rep. Slammed the hell outta me. I was just trying it so I could tell customers what it was like. Guess it was a packing problem LOL I have also put one jump on a Sabre 2 150. Needless to say, I packed it the same way I pack my Silhouette and it opened on heading and softer that my Sil opens. My Sil has ~75 jumps on it, the Sabre 2 was brand spanking new.Flying Hellfish #470 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #16 July 25, 2003 Ditto. I've jumped skyones Sabre2 97 on birdman flights and it opens softer and slower than a stilleto and it stays square,no dives with line twists. I think it's a kick ass canopy. I'll be buying one when my Sabre 1 finially dies."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
