Willi91

I understand your way of thinking. Of course you want something that is smaller and more comfortable than the gear you've been jumping earlier. But I'd say listen to the guys talking about not downsizing to fast. My suggestion to you is that you go find yourself a canopy that you like. Try out a bunch and then make your decision. If you don't know which one to choose between two different sizes, go for the biggest one. When you know which canopy you want, go find yourself a container. For your first rig, I'd say buy used gear, instead of buying brandnew and doing everything you can to make it suitable for as many smaller sizes as possible. Used gear can also be sold again without much of a moneyloss compared to selling new gear. If you give yourself some time do dial in your needs, I believe you will be happier with the outcome.

My advise to you will be that you go buy yourself a fine, used rig for starters. This will give you the time to either decide that you're fine with the used one, or else you have some time to decide what to buy if you want it new. Selling your gear that was already used increases the chance of not losing too much money compared to selling a rig that was brand new, and that sucks if it doesn't fit your needs after only 200 jumps or so.

have you ever seen somebody hit a pond in a dive? They die just as easily as hitting the ground No, I haven't. But my point was not that if you have a pond you wont get hurt. I'm not that stupid. It was a bad attempt to underline, that boundaries have been reached and crossed, by those who get seriously injured or die. With my post I was mostly having canopy piloting in mind, while this is where I have most of my focus right now. I don't believe that there is many ways of speeding progress up much further than where we already are.

Well, the closest thing you get to foam pits in skydiving is the pond, I guess.. I also think that the general boundaries are pretty much dialed in. Pushing the envelope too much can be deadly, so going there might not be as forgiving as on a bmx bike. I believe that after all we have to listen to the experienced guys with lots of jumps, even though they sometimes sound like big, arrogant jerks here. But I guess, they're right in most of their statements.

Okay, I'm editing an old review, since I have put more jumps on it now (60+). Let me start with the openings. Generally, they're okay. If you want a canopy with on-heading openings everytime and no end-cell closures, you won't get it from a Sabre2, but personally I don't really mind. Mine has a tendency to turn 90 degrees and sometimes up to 180, but I never really have linetwists. End-cell closures are always there, but they're easily dealt with. Pull lightly on your rears of pump once with your toggles, and they're gone. The flight of the canopy is awesome. The first times I flew it, I couldn't stop laughing. The turns are fast and precise. The canopy does exactly what you tell it. I also love how responsive it is on harness input. The landings are very, very fun. I have advanced to 270 HP landings, and I love doing them on the Sabre2. I start out with double fronts, but the last part of the turn is all harness. Before doing 270's, I didn't use front at all, only harness on 90's and 180's. This gives you a very comfortable slow turn, but still lots of speed. Landing on the rears is no problem either. Lots of distance and a nice shutdown at the end. I noticed on the first jumps on it, that flaring all the way to the bottom of the range wouldn't give you the best shutdown, but instead you have to find the right spot for maximal flare. All in all, a very nice canopy. I really love flying it and would recommend it to anyone. It's very versatile and it can offer you easy flying but it can also be agressive, if you want it to.

If I'm in a rush, about 5 minutes. If I'm not, then add a couple of minutes. I pack fast, but I always pack it well.

I'm from Denmark, and here you don't get to fly your own rig before 40 jumps and you earn your license (our licenses are a little different, but after 40 jumps and all tests passed, you are allowed to jump without an instructor on the ground). That means that 20 jumps is quite early, in my perspective, to be jumping a 190 size canopy. I'd say stick with gear that easier can let you get away with making mistakes. But again, this is just what I'm used to - but eventhough 40 jumps may seem alot in your standard, i still see people, who could need another 40 jumps before jumping smaller canopies.

Javelin Odyssey Sabre2 135

I have this feeling that it might have something to do with nationality Great products!

After achieving my C-license, I borrowed a Sabre 170 from a friend and made two jumps in it. It opened like thunder and lightning. Afterwards a visited my rigger to see, if he had some gear that fitted my needs. He had a Sabre 170, which I bought, 'cause it was fine in price and was in great condition. I was afraid, that it would open in the same way as my friend's but I've made almost 30 jumps in it now, and have only had one or two openings i would prefere to call hard. All openings besides those two have been fine. It opens fast but smooth. Not fast as in painful. As far as I know, PD also put bigger sliders on the late models, which mine is. I'm not sure though. So if you're a beginner who's looking for an affordable canopy, I would strongly recommend this one.