Sabre 2 openings, again!

[darrenspooner 0]

I've now done 15 jumps on my new sabre 2 150 (loaded at 1.3). Nice symmetrical opening until the slider comes down, then its diving hard to the right, putting line twists on a couple of occasions. There's loads of posts here about this problem, but I thought it was only on the earlier canopies. Can anyone summarise current thinking on this please? I don't do anything with the nose, and I reach up and pull the risers apart now. This weekend I jumped it, paid a lot of attention to body position. Once I threw out the PC I pulled my legs together to make sure that I stayed symmetrical, and it seemed much more stable. Any tips? This has spooked me a little.

***Die with your boots on

[freefalle 0]

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something there might help ya

[funks 1]

This has been happening to my Sabre 170 alot recently. Very bizarre, and yes you are right, it is pretty freaky. My rig is with my rigger right now, I am having him take a look at the lines to see if it needs relining...strange considering this has been happening for my last 30 jumps or so, but my last jump was the softest most beautiful on heading opening i have ever had....

[darrenspooner 0]

Yeah, that's the thing, its just not predictable. I mean, if it did exactly the same thing each time I could learn how to fly the harness or do something to correct it. I spoke with someone (8000 jumps) on the weekend and he basically said that this is just a feature of sabre 2s that has to be corrected with body position. Nothng to do with packing.

We'll see!

[hookitt 0]

Have someone jump it to make sure it's not you causeing the trouble. No offense but often it's the person jumping it so we want to rule that part out. "Helping" a canopy open especially with risers, can cause interesting openings however people are quick to blame it on body position when in fact it's the parachute.

A friend of mine with well over 1000 jumps (1600 I believe) is having the same trouble with a Sabre 2. body position has been ruled out.

I suggested sending it back to the factory because every thing appears normal and canopies shouldn't do what this one is doing.

Good luck

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[hookitt 0]

Additionally, my comments aren't blaming the sabre2. I've jumped them and was quite impressed.

Occasionally parachutes are troublesome no matter the type so keep that in mind.

I've also been informed the jumper I mentioned in the post above, has around 500 to 600 jumps on the canopy and has had brakelines replaced as well.

As far as normal appearing, it is, the outside lines are shrinking some as all spectral lined canopies do but nothing out of the ordinary.

We'll see.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[JumpRu 14]

i had same or similar problems with several different canopies for many hundred jumps, they started opening ok and then started to dive always one way. I decide to change my packing a little and that seems to fix my problem. Apparently, I was inducing that diving turn right after opening by placing canopy in the bag starting from one (upper left) corner. Surprise!!!

[ALI69 0]

yeah...the PD support will probably tell you that the cause for those openings is either packing or body position or a combination of both...
Since the sabre is a beginners/intermediate canopy...I bet it's quite easy to make the customer believe that.
I'mean how can a canopy that was test jumped thousands and thousends of times and not released before it was "perfect" ( sarcastic )open not perfect?
I've just heard that the sabre 2 is on his 3.lineset revision since it's release.I'm sorry...but 3 revisions already on a "perfect" canopy in such short time after it's release???May some body from PD could comment on this?

NOBODY IS PERFECT...

[hookitt 0]

Greetings ALI69

First post and no profile? Gotta love it. Where did you come up with this information?

It's not that uncommon to revise line trim no matter who the manufacturer is. There's also no reason they should have to tell us about it either. It was fine when the procuct came out, and if they figured out a better trim, then what's the issue?

As many canopies that are out there, a few that don't perform "Perfect" is no big deal.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[ALI69 0]

It's not that uncommon to revise line trim no matter who the manufacturer is...

You probably got a point there,but I haven't read yet from other manufacturers keep going on about it how "perfect" their canopies are when they release them.It also caught my attention that not only the sabre (I personally got knocked out by one) but also the sabre2 (my friend got knocked out by one) seems to be mentioned a lot in relation to opening issues.

There's also no reason they should have to tell us about it either...

I personally think they should tell us about it just the same way they keep talking about all those thousands and thousands of test jumps they do to make those canopies perfect before release.

As many canopies that are out there, a few that don't perform "Perfect" is no big deal.

You probably got a point there as well and I think they should just admit it then and not trying to fool their customers.I'mean the most ridiculouse thing the PD support ever told me as my slider started to fall apart after only 23 jumps was "that's probably false packing"...well I'm surprised it wasn't my bodyposition Sorry...but I had about 3000 packjobs at this time without any sliders falling apart...

NOBODY IS PERFECT...

[Albatross 0]

I have a Sabre2 135 and have had these problems for much of the 500 jumps on it. HOWEVER I have had lots of success by pulling the quartered slider towards the tail allowing mroe air to inflate the canopy.

Chris

[FeFe 0]

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I've just heard that the sabre 2 is on his 3.lineset revision since it's release.

I've heard that PD did not change trim on any of their conventional canopies including Sabre 2, and I heard it from PD . Oh these are all marketing lies aren't they?
Where your 'information' comes from?

[skymama 35]

My Sabre2 170 is getting it's second reline right now. The canopy has about 270 jumps on it.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[bdbrown 0]

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My Sabre2 170 is getting it's second reline right now. The canopy has about 270 jumps on it.

why so many relines already skymama?
Is it something to look forward to I have 43 jumps on my Sabre2 170

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[mouth 0]

Why has it had so many relines? Who is footing the costs for these relines?

--
Hot Mama
At least you know where you stand even if it is in a pile of shit.

[skymama 35]

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Why has it had so many relines? Who is footing the costs for these relines?

PD covered both relines.

The canopy was one of the first ones that came out. I had the turning to the right problem on openings, so at 30 jumps on it they tested it and decided to reline it.

I have had 2 extrememly hard openings on it that made me get physical therapy. The first one tore my pectoral muscle, the last one was a couple of weekends ago where I basically got whiplash. I didn't send the canopy back in because I thought it was a problem with the canopy. I think it's body position or packing (they are encouraging me not to psycho pack anymore). I just sent the canopy in to give myself peace of mind that those hard openings didn't damage it at all. In their inspection, they found that the steering lines were out of trim. So, they've decided to do a reline and test it again. They also have my PC, bag and risers to test all together.

I can't say enough good things about Donna and PD's customer service. They are bending over backwards to help me correct the problem with my hard openings, give me packing solutions and provide me with a canopy to jump while they work on mine. They have a customer for life with me!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Gafneyjr 0]

Some how I doubt that PD, or any other company would say that it was packing related if your slider started to fall apart after 23 jumps and leave it at that. My experiences have shown that they thoroughly follow up and look at all aspects or influences. It sounds like you have a personal issue with PD.... ALI69. I see you only just signed, and have no name or details. Hmmmmm...

[helldog 0]

My 2 cents:
Never really had a problem with off heading openings until i got the sabre 2 (which I love). That being said I found that for me if I really concentrate on having as near to perfect body position as possible that It opens consistently on heading.
Blues
Jim

[darrenspooner 0]

Thanks for all the info folks. My summary is that this is a problem many sabre 2 owners have had that seems as if its probably rectifiable by concentrating on body position. Like I say, my last jump on the weekend was fine. I closed my legs after I threw out the PC and it was lovely.

I do like the canopy, it flies fantastically and the openings, apart from the fact that they are directionally unpredictable, are perfectly paced.

I think I will just persevere with how I'm jumping it and see what happens.

[RedassSkychic 0]

I had this problem for awhile on my brand new sabre2 135, but as the slickness wore off the problem seemed to die down... when it was brand new i had troubles getting it into the d-bag and have since decided that was a large part of the problem. I have about 45 jumps on it now and can pretty much control the openings with my rears.

[ALI69 0]

***
I've heard that PD did not change trim on any of their conventional canopies including Sabre 2, and I heard it from PD . Oh these are all marketing lies aren't they?

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I wasn't aware of that I'm trying to market something here.If you have such a good wire to PD than just ask them to officially state on this thread and we all can read this from PD.

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[ALI69 0]

***
The canopy was one of the first ones that came out. I had the turning to the right problem on openings, so at 30 jumps on it they tested it and decided to reline it.

I have had 2 extrememly hard openings on it that made me get physical therapy. The first one tore my pectoral muscle, the last one was a couple of weekends ago where I basically got whiplash. I didn't send the canopy back in because I thought it was a problem with the canopy. I think it's body position or packing (they are encouraging me not to psycho pack anymore). I just sent the canopy in to give myself peace of mind that those hard openings didn't damage it at all. In their inspection, they found that the steering lines were out of trim. So, they've decided to do a reline and test it again. They also have my PC, bag and risers to test all together.

I can't say enough good things about Donna and PD's customer service. They are bending over backwards to help me correct the problem with my hard openings, give me packing solutions and provide me with a canopy to jump while they work on mine. They have a customer for life with me!

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...if theire so "perfect" product kicks the sh.. out of the customers than they better be nice to them don't you think?
And seriously...2 relines on 270 jumps ??? Sounds like 2 line set revisions to me.Just because the breaklines are out of trim ,which is actaully quite normal on spectran steering lines on either canopy ,it is for sure not necessary to reline the complete canopy .

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[CrazyL 0]

Having several fello jumpers that use the sabre 2, i've delt with similar concerns,such as diving to the right at the end of an on heading snivel, slider hanging up part way, slider damage, line trim, and so on. Within this forum i've read most of the answers that have been given to my customers as well,such as contacting PD support, packing, body position, line trim issues. Body position , packing and symmetry of canopy and lines, canopy design are all part to do with a nice sniveling opening or a hard crappy opening. One instance a young lady apprix 5'6 110 lbs jumping a sabre 2 120 had her slider hanging up about 1/3 of the way up from the connector links and end cell closures. As a freeflyer she always tightrened her chest strap very tight which in turn brought her 3 rings closer together as we loosened her chest strap to a comfy length where she was confident that her shoulder harness would not come off while freeflying we had gained approx. 4 inches more spread in the 3 rings which nearly matched the width of her slider causing the slider to slide down to the tips of her risers, we also sped up her opening by changing wher she placed the nose during packin from shoving it deep into the pack job to setting the nose in between the a lines to keep it centered.Her problem was solved.

[Reginald 0]

I've had two Sabre2's, a 190 and now a 170. I've really enjoyed both. I do have some off heading openings but I can trace most of those back to packing. I can get a nice on heading opening, if I pack it slowly and properly. (those of you that know me know how rarely that is) If I stuff it in the bag or pay a packer to stuff it in the bag I WILL get off heading openings.

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[beezyshaw 0]

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I think it's body position or packing (they are encouraging me not to psycho pack anymore)...

Everytime I hear that PD suggests that someone not psycho pack I want to SCREAM! Folks, that packing method does not cause deployment problems. Period. For years I've been hearing "PD says I shouldn't pack like that..." There is NO deployment problem created by psycho packing. I have too much research, experience, and data to the contrary. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now, and go fix a damn drink to calm down!