20 year container, is it still usable ?

[speedformula 0]

Hello Everybody, I have a question concerning my rig, I ordered it in the year 2000 and I did a bunch of jumps on it , maybe about 500 and around the year 2005 I stopped jumping , and ever since its been sitting in the garage in a plastic bag, I dont use it anymore , Im wondering if its still jumpable ,  I took it out of the bag this weekend to air it out and it still looks good

but im no expert ,  any toughts ? i want to sell it eventually 

Thanks ! 

[tstar 10]

I'm in for an education! Protected from UV and moisture I would think it would probably be OK... How hot does your garage get?

What size is it? I'm looking for my first rig!!  lol

Tim

[wmw999 2,114]

There are countries where gear older than 20 years has to be retired. The US isn't one of them, but it should be inspected, and the conditions under which it was stored considered. I've jumped gear that was more than 20 years old repeatedly; plenty of people do.

But email or call a local rigger, and set up a time for an inspection and a discussion. Then it can be put up for sale with the words "Closet queen" (that's what that really means -- a rig that's been stored for a long time, and has less use than its age might suggest).

Wendy P.

[nwt 131]

I have a 30 year old container that I still jump regularly. Only a rigger (after a thorough inspection) can tell you whether or not it's in jumpable condition, but it's not an automatic no just from sitting for 20 years.

[MickPatch 44]

My container was manufactured in 1998 so 23 years old, as was the reserve. It spent most of its life in a closet and I bought it second hand. 

 

I sent it to the manufacturer for a full inspection, they recommend that every 10 years for their kit. The inspection report said it was in as good condition as it left the factory and they doubted it had done more than 50 jumps. A new AAD fitted and good to go.

The main was too small for me so I have chamged that out. It has now done another 70 jumps. 

The only think I have found is that, as it was built before freefly became popular it isnt really freefly friendly and the riser covers just dont hold if I jump FF.

New rig in order (from same manufacturer TSE) i will keep this one though as a turn rig, it is great

[riggerrob 558]

Sometimes riggers throw out the "20 year rule" because they are tired of arguing with customers about why they should not squeeze one more season out of their faded, frayed and filthy rig. Since they customer has been jumpoing the rig the whole, time, they do not notice its' slow deterioration.

During the same year, the rigger has inspected hundreds of other containers that are in far better condition. Perhaps the rigger is just weary of sewing patches on top of patches. I told one DZO not to send his old Vector tandems to me because I was tired of patching them. Thankfully, he replaced them with some half-life Vectors.

P.S. I started jumping tandems in 1986, so am so old that I have jumped tandems without drogues. I consider Vectors slow to repack, but in the air they fly pretty much the same, especially after they have been updated to ZP canopies. Yes, I am so old that I started jumping when F-111 was the "hot" new fabric. Nowadays I only jump ZP mains.