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JustRelax

Any Flat Pack instuctions with pictures on line?

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SkymonkeyONE


I personally refuse to PRO pack any canopy I cannot lift off the ground at my waist (that normally means 120 square feet). PRO packing tandems is dumb and causes so many line-overs at some dropzones that the instructors just laugh about it like it's not a big deal. The "it takes too much space to flat-pack" argument is BS as it normally takes about one minute to get from side layout to stack. Ultimately, it should be about what makes sense, not what others tell you is "how everyone else does it". I work at a place where every one of our students jumps his own packjob on his first jump. Guess what we teach/test them on?

Chuck
AFF/SL/TM-I, PRO, S&TA, FAA Senior Rigger



I'd be curious to see what's going on at these DZs with line-over problems. We've always propacked our SETs and I've never packed or been under a lineover or heard of anyone at our DZ (or my previous DZs) having one. I guess this is somewhere between historical and alegorical evidence since I've only jumped at DZs using Strong gear.
"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

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I couldnt flat-pack even if my life depended on it yet I can pro-pack my zero jump canopy (170sqft) in a reasonable amount of time. Does this mean I should still learn to flat-pack too before moving on?



You don't need to know how to flat "pack", but you should learn the details of the construction and rigging of your canopy that you might learn by flat packing. If layed out to flat pack I can do a full line rotation in about 15 sec without getting off of my butt.

That's the kind of thing that flat packing allows, seeing and learning about your canopy. You can learn that without going ahead and packing. There are some advantages to flat packing. As stated above in cam distribute the bulk better and.allow.a.canopy to fit.a container better. Also be.aware there are at least three major ways of flat packing with endless variations.

Learn about your canopy and keep packing and.get the damn thing in the air.:P
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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SkymonkeyONE

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I wouldn’t recommend to get into flat packing too much.



You're joking right? I know people who can flat pack a canopy faster than most people PRO pack. Knowing how to flat pack is as essential as knowing emergency procedures or how your equpment functions. For some people flat packing is easier to do than a PRO pack, especially for those with large mains. Regardless, one should become proficient at flat packing before moving to PRO packing. it all goes with the crawl, walk, run theory of learning.


+1

I personally refuse to PRO pack any canopy I cannot lift off the ground at my waist (that normally means 120 square feet). PRO packing tandems is dumb and causes so many line-overs at some dropzones that the instructors just laugh about it like it's not a big deal. The "it takes too much space to flat-pack" argument is BS as it normally takes about one minute to get from side layout to stack. Ultimately, it should be about what makes sense, not what others tell you is "how everyone else does it". I work at a place where every one of our students jumps his own packjob on his first jump. Guess what we teach/test them on?

Chuck
AFF/SL/TM-I, PRO, S&TA, FAA Senior Rigger

Students learn quite fast (Pro)packing here.

I used to learn flat-pack as a student, but I don't pack that way anymore. I can do it if I really want to. ;)

I prefer to have a hook for packing tandems. I did pack over the shoulder, but I don't like that.

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Hello all,
I am French and have been on the accuracy circuit for five years now. We are about 150 competitors in France, year in, year out.
We all pack flat, it is standard practice over here. Nothing compulsory, you do as you wish, but we all happen to do it that way. My own accuracy rig is a PD Zero 295, so holding it at arms length for a pro pack is a bit challenging. That said, most of us own a second rig, more "normal" (for me, a Sabre 210) and we routinely do pro pack.
Why flat pack, beyond the requirement of controlling the material? First of all, it allows for consistent flaking of the fabric and full control over tension of the lines. Also, we all have our little habits and, given that we do team jumps with very little spacing, we tend to be very precise in the delay factor. I am not sure of the right words in English. The idea is that you want to be very precise in how much time it will take to open, especially when you do a hop-and-pop, with low wind speed at the time of opening.
Now flat pack, as opposed to pro pack, is asymmetric, since you lay down the canopy on its side. From the very beginning, I have taken the habit of changing side on every jump, i.e;, I pack to the left on one jump, and to the right on the other. That way, even after a few hundred jumps, I presume my canopy is not accumulating more opening stress on one side than on the other.
On my harness, an Atom Axis, I have a pocket for the packing loop on each side. So, after closing the flaps, I put the loop in the pocket that will be on the side of the front of the canopy when I pack it next. That way, even after a few weeks, I do not need to remember which side I last packed.

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