bodie1kanobie

I was in Florida for bad reasons and decided to get current there as I had been inactive in the sport for some time. I had always wanted to jump in Florida, so I took advantage of the trip to do so. TK and the rest of the staff were great. I showed up at the end of the day, but they organized a load just for me, and that meant a lot. Paul in the tavern was great to talk to. Overall, I would say that a trip to Zhills should be on every skydivers agenda!!!!

Thanks Davincis.... I was hoping more would comment on the Fusion. Good to hear that you liked it. It is at the top of my list. I think I am down to three and wiil be demoing each.... not too happy about the $100 bucks I gotta spend to demo the SabRE2, but I will just save that one for last unless the others are as expensive to try out. All of these canopies seem to be getting good feedback and there are certainly a lot of PD fans out there who are standing up to defend thier choice so it is worth looking at. Thanks everyone for your advice.... it is greatly appreciated.

Wow I can not believe I have never noticed that.... the company spelled it wrong.... lmao

I am talking about specific complaints by numerous posters. I know the flight characterisics are good and the flair is epic... that is the reason it was my first choice. But I am concerned about the opening characteristics spcifically...off heading, diving, closed end cells (not a big issue), line severe line twist, hard openings. If you were loading at 1.2 and higher you may not have experienced these issues. However too many people (novice to highly experienced) for me to ignore. Of the 70 reviews of the Saber2, more than half say the openings can be an issue. If it were one or two i could over look it and say user error... and I would have ordered one yesterday. I guess I will just have to demo one and see how she spreads her wings for me. Thanks again for the advice.

So would you say that the Saber is less finicky (sp?) at the higher wing loading? From what I have seen in the reviews packing was only an issue for a few people, many had issues whether they rolled the nose or left it hanging or used different slider quartering techniques and other things were mentioned.... these changes only made a difference for a few people. What I did see was those who loaded the wing at 1.3 or higher (which I would) had less issues. So what was your experience.... did higher WL= better openings with less "seekeing"? As for demoing other... without a doubt. I will be demoing the Saber2, Fusion, and now the Safire2. Thanks for all of your imput it is very much apreciated.

Honestly Dave I have to say that I agree with you 100%. I will be demoing them prior to purchase... and maybe I should try more than I couple. I just have always felt that the less money you spend on other things the more you have to jump. But Ican not argue with your logic on overall savings or resell. Resell was why I bought my Tri. I knew I could always sell it without much hassel... and did. Let me ask you about your Saber.... what are you loading at? I read somewhere that you really needed to load at 1.3 or better to get predictable openings, and the reviews/forums seem to confirm that. people loading at that or better seem to have less opening problems than those loading closer to their exit whieghts. I think I said that the Saber was what I looked at first and just figured I would get one... then I read the reviews (bom...bom ...bom (insert dramatic music here) and that got me started on this forum shopping and information quest. I have considered the Pilot, but I was never happy with the flair on the Tri and it seems that the pilot may have the same weak Flair. I could be wrong... I dont know, it just seems to be the reoccuring con. I am sure with the tappered shape it will fly with a bit more weeee factor than my Tri did. unfortunatly I am just not sold on it. The Saber2 however could be still up at the top of my list if the WL makes a difference in openings (headding, end cells.. ect.)

Thanks for the reply Dave. I think I am going to go with a 9 cell this time around. I know I can demo, but do not want to spend a bunch on demos.... in an ideal world (financialy) I would demo every canopy and copare that way, but as I remember from when I bought my f**st rig it was around $30 to demo one for two weeks. Now I know that is not expensive, but if we just took the canopies that have been mentioned so far that would be at least $150.... that's eight jumps I would rather have under my belt. I am going to demo my top two choices, I just dont want to have too big of a pool of candidates.

Thanks guys, I knew at least one I had not looked at would come up. I have checked into all of these except the Safire2. I read the reviews and almost all seem good. So now it is down to two. Safire or the Fusion. I would love to hear from some one who has flown the Fusion and get thier 2 cents. Over 20 reviews on the Safire, but not many for the Fusion. Again thanks for the replies!

Ok.... so I have been out of the sport for a bit. I am looking to get current again and of course get new gear. I previously owned a Triathlon 175. It was a good canopy but I want something with a little better opening and flair characteristics. I have read alot of the reviews about the Saber2 (the canopy I was leaning toward) but am concerned about the openings. I like the sound of the Fusion, but with only four reviews it is hard to pull the trigger. I figure I can demo, and would like to narrow my optoins down to two or three. I want an intermediate canopy with predictable opening and great flight characteristics with the flair of the saber2. Is there a canopy out there that you get all of this in one? Or is it a case of sacrafice one aspect to gain another?