I've been flying my Sabre2 135 (WL: ~1.25-1.3) for about 125 jumps and absolutely love it, but wanted to wait until I had a good understanding of how it flew before posting a review.
Although I'm sure what I'm about to say has probably already been said in several different posts or gear reviews, I'd thought I'd post it anyway, maybe it'll help someone decide on what gear to demo/buy.
On with the review already!
I did a lot of research before purchasing this canopy. The specifications I was looking for in a canopy were as follows (in no particular order): -Decent openings -Light front riser pressure -Medium recovery arc -Good glide ratio -Tapered/Semi-elliptical
Openings: My opening are aways soft, and acceptably on heading.
Its very rare to have end cell closure, maybe 1 in 15 jumps, but it's no big deal, just pump the rear risers and they're open.
The only thing that I find a pain, is that my slider likes to say up about two inches from the slinks, and because I've got 24" risers, it's just enough to be out of my reach, but like the end cell closure, a little bit of rears and it drops down. A price I have to pay for using long risers.
I have only had line twists once, and the canopy flew very stable and straight (hence my desire for a tapered planform).
Flying: Toggles are very responsive, as I'm sure you know it's not hard to put your self in line twists with a hard toggle turn.
Nice light/medium front riser pressure, I can hold this in a dive for a 540 no problem, and when you crank on them, it really starts to dive!
Light rear riser pressure, no problem getting back from a long spot using the rears.
The canopy is set up perfect right now (factory settings), with the combination of the length of risers, length of brake line, and arm length, I have to hold my toggles as far down as I can to get it to stall. The onset of the stall is very predictable, you can feel it start to rock back just before it folds up. If you do stall it, no big deal, recover just like any other canopy.
Landing: It's not airlocked, but it's a very stable canopy in turbulence, unlike the Sabre1 which had the accordion effect as soon as some wind hit it.
Very powerful flare, there is no need to run out a landing with this canopy, even with a high speed approach. Just when you think you've killed off all your speed and you're ready to touch down, just keep pushing and you can pop yourself right up.
I just started HP landing with this canopy about 100 jumps ago, and can say it is a great learning tool. I am only doing 90's right now, but I can already appreciate it's recovery arc. It's long enough to let you get a nice dive, while lining up with the gates, yet short enough to be forgiving for those rare times you turn a bit too low.
Closing statements: After doing only 125 jumps on this canopy, I can say without a doubt that my next canopy, will be a Sabre2, hopefully I'll be able to find one used at a decent price, because the only beef I have with the canopy is the damn price! They hold their value extremely well, which is one sense is annoying, because I can't pick one up for cheap, but on the other hand it'll be nice when the time comes to sell mine.
I would recommend this canopy to anyone looking for any of the characteristics I was looking for (at a reasonable wingloading of course). This canopy can be flown conservatively at lighter wingloadings, and can really rip it up the more you load it.
I would have given it 10 stars, but DZ.com only allows 5. ;)
Thanks for reading my review. I hope it's helped someone. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at lanew(at)rogers(dot)com.
Sabre2
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in Main Canopies
Although I'm sure what I'm about to say has probably already been said in several different posts or gear reviews, I'd thought I'd post it anyway, maybe it'll help someone decide on what gear to demo/buy.
On with the review already!
I did a lot of research before purchasing this canopy. The specifications I was looking for in a canopy were as follows (in no particular order):
-Decent openings
-Light front riser pressure
-Medium recovery arc
-Good glide ratio
-Tapered/Semi-elliptical
Openings:
My opening are aways soft, and acceptably on heading.
Its very rare to have end cell closure, maybe 1 in 15 jumps, but it's no big deal, just pump the rear risers and they're open.
The only thing that I find a pain, is that my slider likes to say up about two inches from the slinks, and because I've got 24" risers, it's just enough to be out of my reach, but like the end cell closure, a little bit of rears and it drops down. A price I have to pay for using long risers.
I have only had line twists once, and the canopy flew very stable and straight (hence my desire for a tapered planform).
Flying:
Toggles are very responsive, as I'm sure you know it's not hard to put your self in line twists with a hard toggle turn.
Nice light/medium front riser pressure, I can hold this in a dive for a 540 no problem, and when you crank on them, it really starts to dive!
Light rear riser pressure, no problem getting back from a long spot using the rears.
The canopy is set up perfect right now (factory settings), with the combination of the length of risers, length of brake line, and arm length, I have to hold my toggles as far down as I can to get it to stall. The onset of the stall is very predictable, you can feel it start to rock back just before it folds up. If you do stall it, no big deal, recover just like any other canopy.
Landing:
It's not airlocked, but it's a very stable canopy in turbulence, unlike the Sabre1 which had the accordion effect as soon as some wind hit it.
Very powerful flare, there is no need to run out a landing with this canopy, even with a high speed approach. Just when you think you've killed off all your speed and you're ready to touch down, just keep pushing and you can pop yourself right up.
I just started HP landing with this canopy about 100 jumps ago, and can say it is a great learning tool. I am only doing 90's right now, but I can already appreciate it's recovery arc. It's long enough to let you get a nice dive, while lining up with the gates, yet short enough to be forgiving for those rare times you turn a bit too low.
Closing statements:
After doing only 125 jumps on this canopy, I can say without a doubt that my next canopy, will be a Sabre2, hopefully I'll be able to find one used at a decent price, because the only beef I have with the canopy is the damn price! They hold their value extremely well, which is one sense is annoying, because I can't pick one up for cheap, but on the other hand it'll be nice when the time comes to sell mine.
I would recommend this canopy to anyone looking for any of the characteristics I was looking for (at a reasonable wingloading of course). This canopy can be flown conservatively at lighter wingloadings, and can really rip it up the more you load it.
I would have given it 10 stars, but DZ.com only allows 5. ;)
Thanks for reading my review. I hope it's helped someone. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at lanew(at)rogers(dot)com.
Cheers