Semi-stowless on Sabre II

[bravoniner 0]

My Sabre II gives me a somewhat off-heading opening 25 - 30% of the time, and maybe one in three of those is WAY off. I uderstand this is not at all uncommon for that canopy, and lots of people I know who also jump Sabres report the same thing.

Has anyone else who's had that problem switched to a semi-stowless bag and, if so, did it help? Thanks.

B9

[philly51 0]

I switched to a semi stowless bag (Wings) with a sabre 2 and I did notice a slight lessening of the off heading openings. Soft openings and no line twists became the norm though,

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, Shouting "...holy shit...what a ride!"

[GoHuskers 0]

I had a Sabre2 and switched to a semi stowless bag. The canopy came out of the bag on heading and it still made at least a 90 degree turn when it was inflating.

[aaronschimke 0]

What size Sabre2? I've found that the the smaller the canopy, the lesser amount of off-heading openings occur as well.

I've jumped Sabre2 170s down to my current 107 (with a semi-stowless) and I rarely get "twitchy" openings anymore. I had a 120 with the SS D-bag and got similar results.

Now my 150 and 170...well that was a different story! (Note that I didn't have semi-stowless when I jumped these canopies).

Also, how are you packing it? Rolling the nose? "Cross-folding" the tail (for lack of better term)? I've had great success folding the tail seams over each other and simply pushing the nose cells in slightly.

~$0.02

[Dutton 0]

If the parachute turns after it comes out of the bag, it won't make a difference.

Is it out of trim?

[ufk22 32]

The off heading openings have a lot more to do with your body position than with the bag.

This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

[RMURRAY 1]

for example if you tend to look at the canopy as it opens you could be dropping a shoulder at pitch time. try not looking (what good does watching it do anyway) and staying 'square' to the horizon,,,i need to remind myself from time to time.

[virgin-burner 1]

ufk22

The off heading openings have a lot more to do with your body position than with the bag.

one could argue that's a poor reply to a poor design. off-headings DO NOT always come down to body-position. and we have no evidence here to support your claim. just saying.

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

[ufk22 32]

virgin-burner

***The off heading openings have a lot more to do with your body position than with the bag.

one could argue that's a poor reply to a poor design. off-headings DO NOT always come down to body-position. and we have no evidence here to support your claim. just saying.

I never said body position was ALWAYS the cause, but a lot of study by a lot of people back when ZP was starting to take over shows body position to be a major factor.
I've got years of "spinetto" jumps. My opening got much better years back when I quit trying to fly the canopy as it opened (old school theory) and focused on maintaining good body position.
Considering the jump numbers of the OP, certainly a possibility.

This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

[virgin-burner 1]

i've had shitty openings on my saphire 2; turns out one of the slider-stops wasnt placed properly. and yes, people have told me "must be body-position"!

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