Safire2 or Sabre2

[murps2000 86]

To me, the safire 2 seemed like it recovered more quickly, and with less altitude loss, but not much less. The riser pressure was light, tho, and it was easy to keep in a dive.

[johnny1488 1]

I have about 300 jumps on a safire 209, 100 on a safire2 169 and some random jumps on sabre2 190, 170 and 150's.

I prefer the safires, but you should fly both. It depends on the kind of flight you like best. I think the safire2 required a bit more to get the best flare and glide but I think both surpassed the sabre2. The only definite difference was the far superior openings of the safire2. The sabre2's that I jumped didnt open bad per say, but the safire2 opened incredibly every single time no matter what I did.

Do your best to get to similarly sized canopies and go fly'em.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[freeflyeuphoria 0]

All I can speak for is the saifire I have jumped the Safire 1 229 staright from AFF one of the first canopies built. Got 300 jumps on that then jumped a saifire 1 (with line mod to give it better flare) 300 jumps i now jump a Saifire2 169 with 250 jumps on it have jumped sabres 1 and 2 on many display jumps its what the team i jumped for flies both great canopies as u guessed my choice is the Safire 2 better glide and lighter front riser pressure. This is only my opinion your best of getting some demo canopies and some canopy coaching and seeing which one does it for you both great canopies. Both PD and Icarus run demo canopies all over the world so it should not be to hard to get one . Remember Icarus also run a 30 day satisfaction guarentee if u dont like after u jumped see them for another or your money back!!

Laterz

Grant a.k.a "The Wookster"
Euphoria freefly
http://www.freeflyeuphoria.com

[LoudDan 0]

I've never jumped a Safire (I or II), but I've put almost 400 jumps on Sabre II's. Never a hard opening, and loads of fun to fly at medium wing loadings. Swoops great, and has a ton of brakes.

I'd say demo them both for 20 or so jumps on each and then decide.

Coming soon to a bowl of Wheaties near you!!

[ChrisL 2]

Just by way of comparison, I weight 210 without gear and jump a brand new Sabre2 210. It currently has 57 jumps on it.

Sounds just like the guy you are talking about.

I'm not going to enter the debate of Safire2 vs Sabre2 because I have no experience on the Safire2 at all.
I alos wont comment on what I heard someone else say. Hearsay is often crap.

I can most definitely comment on my own openings under the Sabre2 loaded exactly the way this guy you are taking about.

I get maybe a 600-700 ft opening. Its not too hard and not too soft. I've put every jump this canopy has on it and I can say with 100% certainty that its NEVER opened too hard. Not once.
Doesnt snivel forever either.
For the first few dozen jumps I had maybe 1 in 3 openings go off heading by 90 degrees or so but that seems to have stopped happening. I guess its more broken in now?

Anyway, I love my Sabre2. Wouldnt trade it.

I have to think that an opening that was so hard that it snapped a guys femur, the strongest bone in the body, that there was somethign wrong with the one he had or there was something congenitally wrong with the guys femur, or maybe even both.
I cant say one way or another, but I can definitely say that this guys experience is not the normal performance of a Sabre2

__

My mighty steed

[Skypilot 0]

They are both excellent canopys for the your experience level.go with the one you can get the best price on and spend the change jumping

Go big!

[DancingFlame 0]

Have you tried Pilot from Aerodyne?
Last week Aubrey from Aerodyne brought some Pilot canopies in Russia (Stupino, Kolomna). I've tried Pilot and I was impressed! Really good canopy with excellent flight characteristics. Flies very similiar to Safire, but has a MUCH better glide. It flies FLAT. But when you want to dive, it DIVES.
The only disadvantage I've found was great amount of oversteer. After a 360 it wants to turn more (about 45-70 degree).

[fundgh 0]

Not many used canopies available

I was scheduled to get my Sabre2 150 Demo in the mail today...Haven't seen it, Fed Ex tracks it to L.A.
I am scheduled to have it for a couple weeks, as well as a Saphire 2 149 for a week. I will try to wring them out and post some input...

Anybody have advice on things to do while demoing canopies?

My intentions have been to spend the weekend in Lodi taking advantage of cheap jump tickets, and extremely cheap Hop and Pops. Hopefully I will be able to get some good jump numbers on each canopy.

But...No Canopy yet

...FUN FOR ALL!

[ypelchat 0]

I tried both the Safire2, and the Sabre2. I found the openings were MUCH better and more consistent with the Safire2, however, the Sabre2 is a better canopy to fly and land, IMHO. So I bought a Sabre2... But I can tell you......the openings sucks on the Sabre2.

The bottom line:

Safire2 openings:
Sabre2 openings:

Safire2 flying characteristics:
Sabre2 flying characteristics:

Safire2 landings:
Sabre2 landings:




Yves.

[friflaj 0]

Quote

I tried both the Safire2, and the Sabre2. I found the openings were MUCH better and more consistent with the Safire2, however, the Sabre2 is a better canopy to fly and land, IMHO. So I bought a Sabre2... But I can tell you......the openings sucks on the Sabre2.
Yves.

The flare stroke is deeper on the SafireII than on the SabreII but I didn't find it any more difficult to land, and it was much fun to fly too. But I am in total agreement on the SabreII openings... varied between slightly (as in 90 deg) to violently (as in all over the map, steep dive, spins) off heading .

I had a opening videoed (sp?) and it showed
1) me totally stable,
2) a very nice and smooth 1st stage opening, until 6 or so cells were open, and then
3) a violent diving 360 turn.

I went back to the demo centre and had them put back my Stiletto, which had *lots* better openings.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

The flare stroke is deeper on the SafireII than on the SabreII

You can make the flare stroke anywhere you want by adjusting where the toggles attach on the brake to toggle lines.

Derek

[bogwarrior 0]

Hi, a few of our staff have sabre 2 canopies and dont like them.. shitty openings. recovery arc at that wing loading should be quite short . Dont know anything about the other canopy. Have you thought about a crossfire 2 ? Sounds like maybe its up your street.

[Stealth 0]

Quote

Hi, a few of our staff have sabre 2 canopies and dont like them.. shitty openings. recovery arc at that wing loading should be quite short . Dont know anything about the other canopy. Have you thought about a crossfire 2 ? Sounds like maybe its up your street.

Hi, I have thought about XF2 but I don't feel myself ready for WL recommented by Icarus for XF2 (from 1.4 and up high). Now I made decision and order SafireII 119 for at least 200 next jumps. I hope I will not be dissapointed.
Thank you all guys for your help !
I share my feelings about new canopy in a week!

[LoudDan 0]

There are a few packing "tricks" for the Sabre 2. The first and foremost is "don't be too neat with it". Don't role the nose, just push it in the middle a little bit. make sure that you slider is quartered neatly (this is important), role the tail tightly, and shove tha fucker in the bag. I've always (400 jumps on Sabre II) double stowed my lines with long rubber bands, except fot the locking stowes and cascades. (I know some think this is wrong, but it works for me). In my experience, you can trash pack the hell out of a Sabre II and get great openings.

Coming soon to a bowl of Wheaties near you!!

[fundgh 0]

I am demoing a Sabre 2 150 ....
I normally fly a Sabre 150, and I was surprised on how inconsistant the openings were. Like it has been said alread, some were smooth 90s and I had a couple 360+. None of them opened on heading, but none of the openings were violent in any way, they pretty soft in fact.

...FUN FOR ALL!

[friflaj 0]

Up to the point that you're altering your trim... search around these forums and you'll find more people (like Phree) commenting on the longer flare stroke. I've jumped the Safire2 and the rep said that that's just how she flares. It's not bad, it has a very nice flare, but if you're used to the typically shorter PD stroke it takes a few jumps to get used to it, is all.

[mysky 1]

Get the Sabre 2. I don't know what people are talking about with the openings but I have had all fantastic openings with the Sabre 2. I can't say the same about the original Sabre but the Sabre 2 is a whole new animal.

There are 3 kinds of people in this world, those that know how to count, and those who don't.

[nicolesser 0]

sabre 2 sucks, i just got one and is the same shit ; Unpredictable openings.

Im impressed how so many sabres 2 jumpers find this canopy off heading.

nicolas

Orbital Flyer

[Jskydiver22 0]

i have a sabre2 135 and i like it. The openings can be a little unpredictable at times, but it is normally a slow, controlled turn that can be corrected easily.

--I don't even know enough to know that I dont know--

[Swoopgoddars 0]

i have owned a safire2 and a sabre2. i much preferred the sabre2. i dives like a mutha^%#%@#, and i found the openings sweet and on heading. i guess it helps if you pack properly.
safire2 has longer openings, which can cause problems. i once dumped out at 2400ft and was just open at 1000ft. that scared me a little, as i don't think 2400ft is exactly low to be opening. the safire2 recovers from a dive very quickly, has very high rear riser pressure - not great for freestyle.
both were fairly nice canopies. i would say that neither is an 'intermediate' canopy. they both are both very fast, and excellent for swooping, especially the sabre2.

Give a man a fish and he will feed himself for one day. Give him a swoop pond and he will feed himself forever.

[repeter 0]

my first canopy was a sabre2.. i thought the openings were nice besides the 180-360 degree turns.. then i demoed a stiletto.. wow.. my sabre2 openeings blew.. they were very swift.. so i sold my sabre2 and picked up a stiletto for my back's sake.. so if the safire2 opens even a little better than the sabre2 go for it..

[DancingFlame 0]

Can't say for the Safire2, but Safire1 opens definitely better than Sabre2. Always on-heading, soft and predictable.
From what I heard about Safires, Safire1 made by Precision is better canopy for swooping than Safire2. Did not have time to check it myself.