There are currently a couple of Flexi Sabre 9.5 and 11.5 listed for sale on ebay for not too bad of a price. I have plenty of FB's and wanting to try a DP. What is the general agreement, are the Flexi Sabre's any good as a first DP kite. Is it worth taking the plunge or am I better off to wait for WBB and see if I can try DP before spending any money.
It's scary, the rabbit hole of addiction keeps getting deeper and deeper. Now I want to try and buy every kite that I see.

One thing about the Sabre is that it is an open cell depower kite. In my opinion not necessarily a bad kite. I have flown the 11.5, a very strong kite that builds power and pulls like a tank. Personally I would want something with a higher aspect ration to leasen the side pull.

From memory, the gen 1 version bar could bind the depower rope when turning tightly or aggressively. The original bar had a straight hole which locked the DP rope when you pulled the bar too much to one side in a turn. This was corrected at some point when they began tapering the hole on the sides so it was more of an elliptical shape. Other than that I think they were pretty good for their time but don't really remember the safety set up.

Thank you guys.

The 9.5 Sabre was my 1st "High Performance" kite after learning on an 8m Access. I enjoyed it; as some have mentioned, pulls like a tank and quite lifty as I recall. Bridles have kind of a funky cross-over which I think was supposed to help with tip tucks, but it still had them. On the negative side for me was the fact that it had very heavy bar pressure and the safety was a bit hard to re-engage (it used an older system where the chicken loop completely detached from the front lines via a pin).

At $150 - $200 it would be quite a bit of kite though. Although not sure it would be my 1st pick for "1st kite". Had my 1st jumps on that kite, so some good memories. And a broken leg.

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=2106

A little discussion about the tip tuck on Sabre I, how to fix it above the cat.

Those look like clean kites on eBay - good luck if you do it.

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Had my 1st jumps on that kite, so some good memories. And a broken leg.

Maybe we should hear about the kite you had your first landings. :D

The Sabre 1 was a great kite. Dont drag tbe leading edge vents ws the mesh will snag, abd tighten. Eventually restricting air flow. The bar is a bit unique witb a wierd cross ver line to enhance steering performance. Worked well tho.

I miss my Sabre 1s. Sabre 2, not so much.

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Maybe we should hear about the kite you had your first landings. :D

lol, the broken leg incident wasn't actually related to jumping - it was more a dumb move on my part. I was tired at the end of a session and had pulled the brake handle to land the kite and pack things up. But the kite re-launched on me, meanwhile the snow was real crusty and my ski tip submarined flicking the ski forward. The rest, as they say, is history. Snapped my leg right at the boot line.

Ouch. Just thinking about it I can hear the snap...

So there's your recommendation, Gix... Enough power to snap your leg like a twig!