Buying a Sabre1

[KillerK 0]

I have the oppurtunity to buy a complete rig at a really good price. The problem is the main is a Sabre 170... I've been told by many that I'm guaranteed a brutal opening with a Sabre, despite quality packing. I searched the forums here a found that this does seem to be a pretty substantial problem. I don't meen to start the Sabre debate over again, but I really would like to buy this...but I'm a little scared.

[monkycndo 0]

If you need reassurance to buy a canopy then don't. But I have put well over 400 jumps on my S1 170 loaded at 1.2:1 and have never had a hard opening let alone being slammed. Every canopy has a personality of it's own. The one you *might* be buying could be a lover or fighter. Any canopy can slam you eventually. Only one way to tell.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[punkd 0]

100 jumps on a saber 170 @ 1.1:1

1 brisk opening, 99 decent openings.

You could always consider getting a domed slider as well.

[firstime 0]

pretty much the same as "punked" 1 real brisk opening, the rest were nice soft snivels. I got alot of pros & cons about the sabre 1 but then again I also rec'd pros & cons with other canopies.

[peek 20]

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You could always consider getting a domed slider as well.

A domed slider? Is that all?
- a domed slider the same size as the original slider?
- a domed slider bigger than the original slider?
Reference please?

[JustChuteMeNow 0]

My daughter had several brisk openings with a sabre 135 and she cracked some of her vertabraes. She was a new jumper and she wasn't letting anybody know of her discomfort until she could barely stand after trying to pack up her canopy. She was out of the sport for about 6 weeks.

On the plus side we installed a pocket slider and this corrected the issue. Her openings are now very mild and she has about 200 jumps on that canopy.

Think of how stupid the average person is and realize that statistically half of them are stupider than that.

[peregrinerose 0]

I'm not sure why you consider the main a problem. It's a decent first canopy. I have about 150 jumps on a Sabre1 170 and my husband has about 300 jumps on the same canopy. Neither of us ever got slammed.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[KillerK 0]

The problem I see is searching, sabre hard openings, on this site. It would take all night to read the negative responses about sabres. Sorry if I'm offending any sabre owners.
Could someone explain what a slider pocket is - how easy/hard, price for rigging service.

[councilman24 36]

One thing to realize is that one persons slam is another persons normal and positive opening. Many of the new canopy designs take 700 to 1000' to open. Meaning that the peak force is lower and the opening is softer. But, in my mind those are malfunctions that eventually clear. I'm willing and often get out at 2000' or 2500'. A canopy that takes 700' to open is unacceptable. I demo'ed a spectre when they first came out. 4 jumps, two hop and pops from 2000' because of clouds and two terminal openings. They all took 700' to open.

My sabre (there is a sabre and a sabre II) opens in 300-400' which is what I want. Many newer jumpers would consider each opening a hard (and if they've only jumped a spectre type canopy maybe a "slammer". I consider them normal. Every once in awhile I will get a slammer. Those are the ones where you have to check you pants.

I haven't bothered with a domed or pocket slider. These can tame a Sabre to something more like a newer design. Too damned slow for me. Of course I started 28 years ago with canopies that opened much harder. It's what I'm used to and what I want. If I have a chance to see the canopy with the slider all the way up during opening it's too slow for me.

Sabres are good canopies. Don't be afraid of it. My primary main is a sabre 170.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[berchtoldaj 0]

Nicely put Terry, I completely agree. The Sabre was designed in a time where a shorter snivel was a desired characteristic. The Sabre was unarguably one of the best selling and most desirable canopies of its time. The sport has changed, desired openng characteristics have changed, and because of that, acceptable deployment altitudes have adjusted skyward. The demands of the skydiving public have changed, technology has advanced, and hence there are different product available for the skydiving community.
There are many different canopies with different opening, flight, and landing characteristics. Decide what you find most important in your equipment and select your gear based on that. Do you want extremly soft openings, easy landings, speed on landings, etc. If you buy one that doesn't fit your desires, its not a good deal, no matter how low the price.

************
Watch out for planters.

[Martini 0]

I'd suggest test-jumpng the Sabre, get someone who knows how to pack a Sabre to pack for you so you'll know how the canopy can open, then if you like it get that packer to instruct you. If jumping it yourself isn't possible get someone you know/trust to test it for you. I can jump any canopy I want and still choose the Sabre for most of my jumps. I also use a slightly oversized slider but all other Sabre-1s Ive jumped have been fine with the original slider. Packing technique is definitely a factor.

Sometimes you eat the bear..............

[JerryBaumchen 1,047]

Hi Gary,

I cannot speak (type?) for anyone else but when I make reference to a domed slider I am meaning a domed slider that when it is a finished product the grommets are at the same spacing as the original slider.

Now given that, I have read some of the stuff that you have posted here and it would seem that the most effective single change to slow down an opening is to increase the slider size in the front-to-back dimension only.

Yes? No? Other?

JerryBaumchen

[virgin-burner 1]

i have a sabre 150, loaded at 1.25.

gives me snivels so long, i'm worried i have to cut that sh---, wait, its all good!

i love my sabre1!

edited to add: i had the same worries because of the same reasons as you do. i jumped it, saw for myself, and i like what i got!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[flipper 0]

Jump the rig ... if the openings are not for you ... move on

As most others have said there is nothing wrong with the SA1 ... just slightly different when compared to more modern canopies

[Genn 0]

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I haven't bothered with a domed or pocket slider. These can tame a Sabre to something more like a newer design. Too damned slow for me...... It's what I'm used to and what I want. If I have a chance to see the canopy with the slider all the way up during opening it's too slow for me

My thoughts exactly. I've had my Sabre 120 for 10 years now, haven't bothered changing the slider. Mine even has the velcro on it. I don't get slammers- then again I pack it a certain way.
It's also what I'm used to, and I find it to be a 'predictable' canopy. And, the openings aren't as positive as my Lightning.

Also, any canopy, at any time, can 'slam' you.

[Ronaldo 0]

It's a good canopy. Test jump it, if possible. Have someone to check the lines, if too worn then it is probably out of trim which makes it prone to hard openings. If it is a good deal, you can have a rigger to install an H-mod later. It will improve performance a little bit, make the openings consistently soft and maybe add some resale value.
Good luck!

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

[jakee 1,254]

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The problem is the main is a Sabre 170... I've been told by many that I'm guaranteed a brutal opening with a Sabre, despite quality packing.

Absolutely not. Some Sabres will get you every now and then, but most of them are just fine. I've had one fairly hard opening in about 350 jumps on my 150 with less than stellar care and attention to the packing. Do make sure that the particular canopy you're looking at doesn't have a history of misbehaving, but don't dismiss it out of hand because of its name.

The Sabre1 was a phenomenally successful canopy in its day - I doubt it would have sold so well if every Sabre owner was being spanked on a weekly basis.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Sabre1Lucke 0]

Jumped with 2 Sabre1's: My first canopy was a Sabre 150 (wingload 1.35) and my second was a 135 (wingload 1.48)
Always had good openings, never hard and in 99% of the cases on-heading!
Liked the canopy very much and my girlfriend is jumping now a 135, also no hard openings.
I still think it's a good canopy

[AndyMan 7]

In 1500+ jumps, I've only injured myself to the degree that I required medical attention once.

Also, in 1500+ jumps, I have only ever jumped a Saber1 once.

The injury was to my neck, and it happened on that one jump.

Take from this what you will.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

My 2 cents... and OBTW, I've got probably something like a thousand jumps on original Sabre's... the original Sabre's reported reputation of being a constantly hard-opeing canopy is a bunch of bunk. Having said that, I'll say three other things... 1) Any canopy can open hard on occassion for lots of reasons; my Sabre has opend hard on occassion (so did my PD190 before that & my Sabre-2 since), it just is; 99% of the time, it opens fine... 2) Canopies of that era / generation, like an original Sabre, IMO, have the potential to open hard if one doesn't pay attention to packing technique; there's more than one way to skin a cat too, remember... and... 3) Look at the folks saying to "stay away" from an original Sabre, most all of them have 5 or less years in the sport, so they gotta be parroting what they say based largely on hear-say (sorry folks, not a slam... reality) and are of a generation used to jumping canopies that open into a streamer that eventually clears after 700 to 1000 feet.

Gather informaiton.

Make your own decission.

Let us know what you find out.

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Theres already a wealth of good information in this thread but I will just add that my first 200ish jumps were on a sabre 190 with overall good results. For me, about 1 out of 20 was "harder than I would have liked" and about 1 out of 100 I would consider a "slammer". I could attribute both of those slammers on getting nervous because I was slightly low and not coming out of my track all the way before pulling.

And you can usually pick up a used one for a decent price. Overall, I would recommend it.

[hudsonderek 0]

I had a brisk opening on a sabre1 190, it was mostly due to not rolling the tail enough. I went to Icarus canopies after that and cry with joy every time my canopy opens, no matter how poorly I pack it.

[baseknut 0]

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I have the oppurtunity to buy a complete rig at a really good price. The problem is the main is a Sabre 170... I've been told by many that I'm guaranteed a brutal opening with a Sabre, despite quality packing. I searched the forums here a found that this does seem to be a pretty substantial problem. I don't meen to start the Sabre debate over again, but I really would like to buy this...but I'm a little scared.

I did 150 jumps on a Sabre 1 170. It spanked me as much as my friends Sabre 2 150. Suck it up, roll the nose F***ing tight to the A lines if your nervous. If you are going to have a packer pack, tell him to roll the nose tight.

The second sentence may be deceiving. It did wack me. But it was very uncommon. And usually becuase of lack of attention to detail and hasty packjobs.

Have fun. Stay safe

~J

Step into my (sub)terminal Playground

[blackout 0]

ohh its brisk but roll the nose and it snivels a bit more.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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tell him to roll the nose tight.Cool

Eh. Roll the nose magic/myth again?

You know there is a device for controlling the speed of opening called slider....