Sabre slams

I can't understand why people trash Sabre's openings so much. I have about 70 jumps on my Sabre and have had only one hard opening. I know the exact root of the problem too and it was definately packing, no doubt about it. I have heard that old Sabres had a small slider and this made it open to fast, but PD told me that they began replacing the sliders for much larger ones in 1994. This is all that I can come up with though.

Safe landings Alex C-30872

Before you buy.

You've got 70 jumps on one Sabre. That's sort of a limited sample, wouldn't you agree?

Blue Skies,

Marc

I drank what?

Socrates - 399 B.C.

I'm aware that they've made changes.

true.

Saying that it 'isn't at all true' is an overstatement. The Sabre got it's reputation for a reason, and that reputation may very well still hold true in the eyes of many people, especially if they've got one of the older ones....

Blue Skies,

Marc

I drank what?

Socrates - 399 B.C.

Of course that depends on how old the canopy is, the state of the lines, and how you (or someone else) pack. The sabre can be tamed, I've got about 400 on mine and only a few that were slammers, but it needs careful attention when packing, especially slider placement, rolling the tail and line bights. Get a little careless (or give the packer 5 rigs and say we've got a 20 minute call) and you could have to brace

Maybe, but I am not the only one that agrees with me on this. All the people I know with a Sabre never seem to have problems. I was just wondering why their reputation for openings was so bad. Just yesterday I had a 500-700 ft. snivel and I don't roll the nose at all, have loose line stows, and hardly roll the tail. Plus I kindof just flopped it in the bag after that. I guess I am just lucky. By the way, my Sabre has around 120 jumps and was made in '97.

Safe landings, Alex

Before you buy.

Yuh, I got one of the older ones. If I just roll the nose and tail it's a brisk opening. so I tuck the nose and it just fluffs open everytime. If I don't roll at all I get a little bam.

Jafo

Before you buy.

Also, under wing loading it can make a difference. I weight 165 and was jumping a Sabre 190 for a couple of weeks (a demo from PD) and it sniveled at least 600' every time. Now that I have my 150, if I'm not very carful packing it it slams me. But I love the handling characteristic's, and landing it gives me.

I have a Sabre 210 that I got when it had about 250 jumps on it and I have put about 50 on it since then. I am loading it at about 1.3:1 (yeah, I'm an anvil).

It used to spank the bejesus out of me on about every 5th jump. I had a rigger and two packers try to work their packing magic on it with no luck. There was always that jump right around the corner that would leave me bruised and walking funny for a couple of days.

It came with an oversized slider that didn't seem to work. I finally cured it by having my rigger put a small pocket on the slider and I now psycho-pack it. Since then, it opens like a dream. With the slider pocket I can pretty much leave the nose hanging and barely roll the tail and it still gives a nice soft opening.

Well... except for the time that I accidentally packed it with the slider still stowed, but that's another painful story.

Kris

Most people that whine about their Sabre openings don't pack it like the manufacturer says to. They talk to their friends, do funny things with noses and sliders, yadayada.....

or they hire a packer who doesn't care how their canopy opens.

PD will hellp you out if you are having hard openings with a Sabre....

I psycho pack, push the nose right back, pull the slider forward and roll the crap out of the tail! I tried a different tail treatment a few weeks ago and it told me it didn't like it! I have a 135 loaded about 1.4. btw, I am 'the packer' and I treat my gear the same as everybody elses....DC

I have a Sabre 210 that I got when it had about 250 jumps on it and I have put about 50 on it since then. I am loading it at about 1.3:1 (yeah, I'm an anvil).

It used to spank the bejesus out of me on about every 5th jump. I had a rigger and two packers try to work their packing magic on it with no luck. There was always that jump right around the corner that would leave me bruised and walking funny for a couple of days.

It came with an oversized slider that didn't seem to work. I finally cured it by having my rigger put a small pocket on the slider and I now psycho-pack it. Since then, it opens like a dream. With the slider pocket I can pretty much leave the nose hanging and barely roll the tail and it still gives a nice soft opening.

Well... except for the time that I accidentally packed it with the slider still stowed, but that's another painful story.

Kris

I have to agree with this - Tim McCord at PD was very helpful to me. I have a recent (1999) Sabre 135 and I weigh about 180 out the door. Openings were mostly OK, occasionally hard, but I like 'em really soft due a minor neck problem. Tim replaced the slider with a larger one (23 by 31 inches vs the original 21 by 31 I think), and the openings are now consistently soft - similar to a Spectre.

Soft ones!

Geoff

Before you buy.