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SkydivingNurse

Canopy color question

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I searched the forums and didn't find anything on this subject, so here goes:
Does anyone have any idea what color shows up best against the sky? What I mean is, for someone standing on the ground, looking up at the divers, what color canopy would show up best against a blue sky? I'm a long way away from buying my first canopy, but when I eventually do, this is going to be one of the things I think about.
Thanks in advance for any help. B|

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Shows up as in what?

Does it let color glow through the fabric, does it let light go through so to light up the ribs (if a different color), is it easiest to spot from the ground? What do you mean?

If you want something that really is visible from the ground, you can get Orange or a color close to orange. People usually notice that (Just ask NacMacFeegle:P).
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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I am not sure which color shows up best against a blue sky...but I would ask yourself what color shows up best from above or what color shows up best on the terrain that you are jumping over. Its a safety issue for me. I would rather have something that shows up over green trees from above so the pilots above you know where you are at. Plus, a bright color canopy can be easier to find in the woods if you cut it away. I try to refrain from any dark colors for those reasons alone.

I didnt answer your question, but I thought that I would give you something else to think about from a safety aspect.:)

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Does anyone have any idea what color shows up best against the sky?



A color that shows up well on the ground is also good, so that when you have to do a cutaway, you can find it again out in the boonies.

The military has put a lot of thought into this subject. Their pilot emergency chutes have three segments of color: orange, olive drab, and white.

The idea is that the pilot can use those colors either for camoflauge, or for signalling help, in any kind of terrain. In the woods he uses olive to hide. In the snow, he uses the white.

But to be seen and rescued, he uses: orange!

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Wow, I hadn't thought of that until you mentioned it. Makes the seeing it from below thing look silly and trivial.:$
That seems a more worthy question, the last thing I'd want to do is be invisible from above and cause an incident. I'm thinking bright flourescent orange now, top AND bottom.
Is orange ok, though? I mean, it's not reserved for reserve canopies only, is it?

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Nope, not set aside just for reserves. A friend of mine has a bright orange PD Spectre (which is funny since its 7-cell, folks always think he's under a reserve...that's even better when he hooks it).
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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Just don't get solid orange. Looks too much like a reserve, in my humble opinion. I had a Spectre that was bright orange top and bottom, but with a black center cell and royal blue ribs. Looked very cool (again, in my opinion) and was easy to spot from the ground.

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Providing that the sky is BLUE,

The opposite end of the color wheel offers the most contrast.

#1 = Orange
#2 = Yellow or Red.

After jumping an all grey canopy and hear, "Dude, I didn't even see you!" too many times, I went with this:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

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I saw a canopy color design that looked great. It was orange top and bottom skin with grey ribs. It shined really nice in the sky and looked totally different. The colors looked really cool as the sun shined through the combo of the two. Anyways, if this is your first rig...why not buy used??? I personally wouldnt recommend buying all new gear for newer jumpers because you will get rid of it sooner rather than later. Of course there are some exceptions to that based on what your objectives are in your jumping career.

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Secondary consideration - What cell gets the most contact with the ground, D-bag, container, packer... The center cell. Get a light colored center cell and it will turn into a dark one before too long. It is also easier to grab the tail of the canopy and wrap it if the center cell is a different color. Obviously, not too hard to do even on a solid canopy, but in the beginning, anything to speed up a pack job is good.

Also, when it is time, they recommend a light colored canopy with dark colored cross bracings to elevate the cool factor.
Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.

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Do you think my All PD Silver(which is more like charcoal) with black ribs canopy would be difficult to see? Even during the day??



Well. By the time mine got really hard to see it had almost 2000 jumps on it. Plus it was a 97.

But, yea. I got a lot of comments. Especially when rallying for a slot on the swoop coarse, etc.

It helps if you DZ has green grass. I jump over pretty brown terrain, so ya know grey on brown is not great. Don't want to be a downer. Just relaying my experiences.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

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Just another thing to think about.....if you plan on doing night jumps, lighter colors are easier to see during night jumps. I have a Sabre that is white in the five middle cells with blue and pink on the ends and everybody says they can see me real good at night. I always use that canopy during night jumps for that reason.
Nathan
Blues,
Nathan

If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

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Ok, since this is the gear and rigging forum, I hope this is still within the rules for this forum, but is getting off topic.
I'm really curious about the flag thing. I'm not attempting to insult or question at all, believe me, flying with the flag like that is an honor. It's just that I'm a former military guy, and I know that there are rules for the flag. Again, not attempting to insult, I'm honestly curious about it.

Edit to add: if you really don't land, um, can I be your student?;)

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Ok, since this is the gear and rigging forum, I hope this is still within the rules for this forum, but is getting off topic.
I'm really curious about the flag thing. I'm not attempting to insult or question at all, believe me, flying with the flag like that is an honor. It's just that I'm a former military guy, and I know that there are rules for the flag. Again, not attempting to insult, I'm honestly curious about it.

Edit to add: if you really don't land, um, can I be your student?;)


PM sent.
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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Reminds me. The last weekend I was out jumping I deployed and then before turning back to the DZ diagonal across the flight path I looked for the girl who should have been deployed near me. Waited, waited....hung on rear risers. Finally at about 2k I made her out crossing the taxiway and landing her light green canopy.
"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

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The wavelength of light that is easiest for the human eye to see is yellow.

As someone else mentioned, a lot of military canopies are orange, white, brown and/or green.

Orange for rescue, the other colors to blend in with different types of terrain.

IMO, no single color is a good idea for a main. Ideally, it should be different from your reserve, and at least two contrasting colors top and bottom.

Above all else, the human eye detects movement, so in general, an all green or brown top skin, or a grey, blue or white bottom skin are going to be hard to see.
-Josh
If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

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