This is my first canopy off rental gear. I was flying a Silhouette-190 prior. I put about 30 jumps on my Sabre 2-170 which I bought new. I jump it at a 1.4WL.
The Good: From the very first jump it was clear that this was a SPORT canopy. Its agile, very responsive to toggle pressure compared to the Silhouette & student canopies Ive flown. Its generally quicker all around and a hell of a lot more fun to fly. This is what I expected canopy flight to be like before I made my first solo jump! The amount of flare you're able get out of this thing is HUGE! I remember coming in hot on the first no wind day on my Sabre 2 and flaring a bit too low. All of the other canopies Ive flow would've had me picking grass out of my teeth but the Sabre 2 allowed for a pretty decent slide in. Aside from that, all of my other landing Ive stood up and it didnt take much over raw intuition to pull off. I dont swoop but Im slowly learning to bring a 90 turn closer to the ground and from what little experience I have in the matter, I can tell you this thing will level out if and when you need it to (within reason of course).
The Bad: The openings. Although nice and gentle (so far), they often off heading, always accompanied by end-cell closure, and the slider gets stuck about 1/4 way up the lines on most jumps. Ive tried different packing techniques and even had it packed several times by someone I consider to be a highly proficient packer. The results were generally the same. Granted, pumping the rear risers fixes all these things rather quickly. Ive even tried giving no input at all to see if they would correct themselves. They did. But should you have to deal with it in the first place? It seems this is the rule rather then the exception with the Sabre 2.
Overall, I would recommend this canopy. Its very user-friendly and forgiving in flight and while the opening are a bit quirky, they are nonetheless predictable and too benign to be much of a concern.
Sabre2
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in Main Canopies
The Good:
From the very first jump it was clear that this was a SPORT canopy. Its agile, very responsive to toggle pressure compared to the Silhouette & student canopies Ive flown. Its generally quicker all around and a hell of a lot more fun to fly. This is what I expected canopy flight to be like before I made my first solo jump! The amount of flare you're able get out of this thing is HUGE! I remember coming in hot on the first no wind day on my Sabre 2 and flaring a bit too low. All of the other canopies Ive flow would've had me picking grass out of my teeth but the Sabre 2 allowed for a pretty decent slide in. Aside from that, all of my other landing Ive stood up and it didnt take much over raw intuition to pull off. I dont swoop but Im slowly learning to bring a 90 turn closer to the ground and from what little experience I have in the matter, I can tell you this thing will level out if and when you need it to (within reason of course).
The Bad:
The openings. Although nice and gentle (so far), they often off heading, always accompanied by end-cell closure, and the slider gets stuck about 1/4 way up the lines on most jumps. Ive tried different packing techniques and even had it packed several times by someone I consider to be a highly proficient packer. The results were generally the same. Granted, pumping the rear risers fixes all these things rather quickly. Ive even tried giving no input at all to see if they would correct themselves. They did. But should you have to deal with it in the first place? It seems this is the rule rather then the exception with the Sabre 2.
Overall, I would recommend this canopy. Its very user-friendly and forgiving in flight and while the opening are a bit quirky, they are nonetheless predictable and too benign to be much of a concern.