Sabre 2 wing load

[theshortbus 0]

Hi,

I´m really quite new to this game, so bear with me. I have about 40+ jumps and are under a month away from my new (and first) rig arriving. The question is actually not about the rig, but the wing. The wing of choice is a Sabre 2 170 and I have been reading a lot of reviews on it.

It seems to give a lot of people 90 degree turns on deployment and some closed end cells.

I know I´m not supposed to be exceeding the wing load since I am so new, but I was told I could "bend" it a bit after some jumps. I have to loose some weight before jumping it, but I didn´t want to buy a wing that I would "out grow" to fast. Quite the investment.

The question is; would the wing load have any impact on these "problems" or would it not matter at all. I was told i could start jumping it with a WL of 1.1 but my "normal" weight is gives something between 1.15-1.2...

Sorry for the looooong post guys!

Party ´til impact!

[billvon 2,406]

What's your question? Wing loading does increase the severity of built in turns for a few reasons:

1) Likelihood of spinning up the canopy. With your wing/loading that's not a serious worry.

2) Collision. This is a bigger concern. If you consistently have 90's, then you will be turned towards other jumpers. The higher the loading, the less time you have to avoid them.

3) Harness loading. The higher the wing loading, the more sensitive a canopy is to opening problems due to asymmetrical loading. (Which is caused by not pulling 'flat.')

[Elisha 1]

So...are you saying that with all your gear on you weigh about 200? If so, try considering a 190.

[MagicGuy 0]

I have about 35 jumps on a Sabre 2 150, loaded at just about 1:1 exactly. I definitely had a lot of 90s on opening, and closed end cells like you said.

1.1:1 is going to seem a little bit zippy to you. I just started jumping a 135 which puts me at 1.1:1. Toggle turns are significantly faster and coming in for landing is pretty fast. Just be aware of these things before you start jumping the canopy. Pull nice and high and do a bunch of practice flares and controlability stuff. Work on flat turns, too.

It might be worth it to try a 190 before you start jumping the 170. If anything, it won't hurt.

Be safe and good luck.

[theshortbus 0]

Sorry, my english is not all that good, so it might seem a bit unclear what im askin.

To narrow it down; will a higher wing load on the Sabre 2 affect these deployment issues for the better or worse? or not at all?

If I´m not misstaking i think I saw someone recomending higher wing load to avoid these problems im reffering to. I, for my part, do not know.

I weigh (with no gear, just clothes) 74kg. Thats 163 by your standards.

Party ´til impact!

[billvon 2,406]

>will a higher wing load on the Sabre 2 affect these deployment issues
>for the better or worse? or not at all?

Depending on the issue, it will either not affect it or make it worse.

> i think I saw someone recomending higher wing load to avoid
> these problems im reffering to.

That would be bad advice IMO.

[theshortbus 0]

hehe. im not intending to. Well, unless everyone with experience told me to.

The issues i was reffering to was 90 degree turns and closed end cells. on deployment of course.

thanks guys. many things to learn for a new guy like me

Party ´til impact!

[squarecanopy 0]

I was jumping a Sabre 2 190 at 1.36. After 25 jumps, I upsized to a Sabre 2 210 at about 1.1. The only problems I have had with 90 turns on open were at Eloy, using a professional packer because I was on vacation. It got a right hand line twist or hard turn every opening. At least it opened the same every time. Get a local rigger to show you the right way to pack the Sabre 2, and you should not have any issues with turns. As for closed end cells, the Sabre 2 is known for it. Pump them open with your toggles, no big deal.
One thing you could do until you are ready to downsize to the 170 is to demo a 190 from PD. They are really cool to deal with when you get a demo canopy, it does not cost much, and you can fly the bigger canopy for 2 weeks and get some valuable experience while at a safer wing loading.
And by the way, your English is outstanding.

Just burning a hole in the sky.....

[GravityGirl 0]

Buy a used 190 and put some jumps on it. It will not depreciate so much. You can sell it for very close to what you bought it for when you are ready for the 170.

If you buy brand new, you take the biggest depreciation hit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[theshortbus 0]

Thanks a lot.

I´m actually not that fond of forums. Just to much rubbish in most of them. People acting like they are king of their sport, when they are not. A lot of wrong info about (not here).

But this has been a pleasant surprise. Thanks again for all the help!

Blue skies bros

Party ´til impact!

[darkwing 4]

Quote

...I´m actually not that fond of forums. Just to much rubbish in most of them. People acting like they are king of their sport, when they are not. A lot of wrong info about (not here).

But this has been a pleasant surprise. Thanks again for all the help!

Hang around. It will change!

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[RossDagley 0]

I jump a S2 170 loaded at about 1.2:1. Never had an off-heading opening (guess my body position is always perfect ) but every so often get closed end cells. I also almost never pack for myself, and "trash" pack in the litteral sense - I'll jump any pack jub from any packer - if its in the dbag

[LloydDobbler 2]

Hey, shortbus. I'd just like to second what Bonnie said above. Some people say a used main canopy depreciates maybe $1 per jump...but I'm not even sure if that's accurate. In a nutshell, if you have a ZP main like a Sabre2 & you decide you're ready to downsize within 100 jumps, you'll be able to resell it for close to what you paid for it.

(Assuming you want to become the best canopy pilot you can)...do a search for some articles on this site about what you need to be able to do under a canopy before downsizing. If you can't do all those things under a 190 yet, I'd say stick with it before dropping down to a 170. Keep in mind, aside from the potential problems of a higher-WL, you'll also have less time each jump to work on canopy drills if you go with the smaller canopy. (Which is the reason I opted for a slightly-lighter WL on my 1st canopy).

Anyway, bottom line is, you stand to lose a lot more downsizing too quickly than you do buying a slightly larger canopy, then downsizing as soon as you're ready. Whether it's 4 months or a year, you'll still be able to get most of your money back out of it.

Signatures are the new black.