main canopy storage while not jumping

[jean123 0]

Hi all,

I was just wondering when you take your main out of the container and bag when not jumping? I asked an instructor, and he told me he leaves the main in the container even when he's not jumping it for weeks?
i've got a new safire 2 and have not jumped it for 4 weeks, do you think i shoud take it out of the bag to avoid any kind of damage? if you take it out, how to you tow it? hanging?
thank you very much for your feedback!

br

jean

[wmw999 2,314]

In the US at least, your reserve is packed for 4 months at a time. It's likely that your main can be too
Edit to add: when left packed long enough it can brick up. Long enough varies with tightness, how new it is, and other stuff.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[beowulf 1]

I would jump it just to see what it would do. But I recomend that you repack it before jumping it. I would keep it stored as is and not unpacked.

[Buried 0]

just leave it packed in a dark,dry place. with the PC out of the BOC.
unpackit and repack it before you go do a jump later on in order to have a piece of mind. depending on how new it is, it may want to 'stick' together a little if it has been stored long.

4 weeks aint nothing.

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[Lindercles 0]

If you're concerned about damage, consider that taking it out of the bag may expose it to any number of other factors that can damage it, like sunlight, snags, or even spills.

[billvon 2,732]

If it's going to be for weeks or months, leaving it packed is generally OK. Make sure it's in a cool, dry, dark place.

If it's going to be years, unpack it and put it in a cloth bag somewhere cool and dry.

[kenneth21441 0]

I like the dark colored tubs (totes) that you get at Wal-Mart for under 10 dollars they work well in keeping the canopy out of sunlight and keep all that gear in storage for long or short term..

I also add some mint flovered tea bags to keep everything mintey....lol

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[Guest]

I think the SIM says to re-pack both the main and reserve every 120 days. So, if its under that period, I would think just leaving it packed would be fine (as the reserve stays packed for 120 days at a time). If it's going to be sitting around for a long time, I would unpack it and store it in a nice cool, non-humid, dark place away from bugs and all that jazz.

[recovercrachead 0]

After 120 days the main will forum a lineover so you need to repack or die.

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[councilman24 37]

Quote

I think the SIM says to re-pack both the main and reserve every 120 days.

The FAR's say the main has to be packed within the last 120 days. BUT no paper work is required so it can't be inforced.

What Bill said. I've routinely jumped my fall pack job the next spring here in the north. I usually repack my pilot chute just for appearances. But I also know where and how its been stored. But after a few weeks or months they can come out with more of a set. I wouldn't do a 2000' hop and pop with a months old pack job.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[LawnDart21 0]

Two years ago, I pulled a brand spankin' new Safire 2 out of its bag after being packed for 6 weeks and left in it's javelin container in a cool dry place (a closet). It was a total brick. I was able to pull the bridle and lines tight away from each other and the canopy did not move or unfold. All the goop that is put on it to make it ZP, had hardened and the canopy was a solid hard brick. We had to carefully peel each layer off the brick. The canopy was fine when we were done, but it would have never opened in freefall like that.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[wmw999 2,314]

While we hear about a lot of bricks on the ground, I don't recall hearing about a lot of fast malfunctions from long-packed canopies. Snivels yes, but I don't remember ever seeing a "I left my main packed for a long time and had a malfunction" post.

Even in the springtime, during first-jump-after-winter season. Not to belittle the concern, and not to say it's a good idea. But maybe they do generally open. And maybe those are the canopies that end up with more stress marks from those openings.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[BillyVance 34]

Quote

just leave it packed in a dark,dry place. with the PC out of the BOC.
unpackit and repack it before you go do a jump later on in order to have a piece of mind. depending on how new it is, it may want to 'stick' together a little if it has been stored long.

4 weeks aint nothing.

Yeah, I jump 4 week old pack jobs all the time. The openings are a bit sweeter, though I do have to pull a bit higher than usual.

I did jump a 4 month old pack job once. Wow.... awesome! Not to say anyone else should do it though.

I made a post sometime ago, maybe in 2004, about getting a main from a friend who had not jumped it in 2 years and it was still packed in the dbag. I pulled the stows out and took the dbag off, and damned if the canopy stayed intact! I even dropped it 6 feet to the floor where it just went "THUD" and stayed intact!

I spent 30 minutes prying all the folds apart.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[skyblu3 0]

If you are not going to jump for a while unpack your main and also remove all the rubber bands from the d-bag. I have seen rubber bands rot and react with the d-bag grommets causing a sticky mess after canopies were packed for a long time.

[recovercrachead 0]

The military has did tests up to three years. I have witness res. rides over two years, up really close. Im talking at pulling at 700 feet. Opened at 300 like it was packed yesterday. I dont believe in the brick theory. Its going to open.

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[skyblu3 0]

The military use mainly F-111 the brick phenemenon concerns ZP canopies, especially new ZP canopies. The canopy really does have to be peeled apart after being packed for sometime as the coating that is used seems to make each layer of fabric stick together. Don't know how it will open but I wouldn't be comfortable trying it.

[JohanW 0]

Quote

If you are not going to jump for a while unpack your main and also remove all the rubber bands from the d-bag. I have seen rubber bands rot and react with the d-bag grommets causing a sticky mess after canopies were packed for a long time.

I have jumped a canopy for quite a while that had brown discolourations from rubber bands and/or grommets on both the canopy and the lines. It had been packed for years. It was fine, rigger OK'ed it and I have never noticed any problems. It doesn't seem to weaken the fabric or the lines.

But it won't hurt canopies that won't be jumped for months to be stored unpacked, in a cloth or plastic bag, cool, dark and dry.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[jean123 0]

so i finally jumped the canopy 2 weeks ago. after the different opinions I got here, I prferred to unpack it. This is what I got: After I pulled the canopy out of the bag, I held it with the lines and the canopy stayed exactly in the shape of the bag even while shaking it not to heavy. I guess it would have opened, but it would have taken defenetly a longer time than usual.
The canopy felt crispy (maybe becaus of the coating of a new zp canopy) and I needed to unfolt it and shake it seriously before the material felt ok to be repacked. but after the first jump it felt all normal again ;)

[beezyshaw 0]

Quote

...but it would have taken defenetly a longer time than usual...

No, no, no. I can tell you from many years of experience in environments of both controlled testing as well as real-world skydiving, that you can leave a canopy (either zp or 0-3 type fabric) packed for a long, long time without any adverse (or even noticeable) differences in opening characteristics. I've seen reserves deployed completely normally that have been packed for 6 or 7 years, and I've seen pilot emergency rigs tested that opened just fine that were packed for much longer than that. Even though when you remove a new zp canopy from the d bag and it seems to "stick together" when you shake it around, it will open completely normally. There is a world of difference in holding a canopy by the lines standing on the ground and taking that canopy out of its deployment bag at 120 mph.

To the poster that said that the "brick effect" was concerning zp canopies, that is not true. That term originated years ago from some concerns about certain fabric that was used in the manufacture of reserve canopies. The company I was with at the time replaced many of those reserves, as they literally were stuck together like a brick when removed from the freebag and riggers refused to pack them. But upon test drops on the very worst of those canopies, it was found that deployments were completely normal.

So, not trying to be a hard-ass, BUT...when you guys without any more than just a "hunch" make statements as if they were fact, PLEASE give your opinions, but don't act like you have some sort of empirical data to support what you say. Again, not picking on this poster in particular, but there is just way too much mis-information shared on dz.com.

[recovercrachead 0]

Thank you. I know people who had res. rides on pack jobs 3, 4 and 7 years old. All were no different if it was packed one day. Keep it on subject, not the reason why it was so out of date.

Track high, Pull LOW!!!