Time between packed and jumped?

[tspillers 0]

that is the way I will treat it too Kris

Wanting a pack tonight........

I am not totally useless, I can be used as a bad example.

[riggerrob 558]

This tradition of storing pilotchute springs in a relaxed state probably relates to some of the bad springs that were built during the 1980s.
A few of them were made of inferior spring steel that would loose power over time. All of those Vector I and Talon I pilotchutes should have been scrapped years ago.
Like many traditions, we have continued it without remembering the reason why.
Storing a rig with the pilotchute extended is not going to do any harm.
Perhaps we have overlapping traditions here.
Perhaps now the greatest risk to stored gear is leaking Cypres batteries.
Perhaps relaxing the pilotchute is just a means to the end of removing Cypres batteries.

This whole concept of traditions is perplexing. Too often we continue traditions long after the original reason has been forgotten and the original threat disappeared.
For example, why do armies still parade?
Or would Christian fundamentalists be outraged if they understood the pagan origins of lighting Christmas trees?

[tspillers 0]

Sorry, I was just addressing the issue of main inspections. I treat them separate.

And giving Kris a hard time about want a repack over the weekend.

I am not totally useless, I can be used as a bad example.

[Ron 7]

I have know reserves to work just fine after a year.

I have no problem jumping a Main that has been packed several mths. Not that that really happens here in FL.
The longest on a main would be maybe 4 mths on my other rig.

Ron

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[pilotdave 0]

ahh ok, i read it wrong... thought ya meant to unpack it all and let it sit after storing it for a while.

Dave

[Greig 0]

Hi,
The first time I jumped a Stiletto it had been packed for over two years. The reserve had just been repacked so the main was detached and re-attached. I pulled the main out to line stretch to make sure there were no twists but left the canopy in the d-bag. The canopy opened slow, really slowly actually (but remember, I wasn't used to canopies that actually snivel) and on heading. The rig had been stored in the rigging loft and I saw it almost every day so I new it hadn't had any wierd stuff happen to it.

I've heard about tests performed on reserves when reserve cycles were in question and they found that after the first couple of days of being repacked the deployment speed doesn't really change no matter how long the reserve has been packed. But it did find that packing wears the canopy out faster. I guess the problems arise when people start leaving their rigs in trunks and cypres batteries leak, etc.

As for storage, leaving your rig packed in a cool, dry and dark place is probably the best. I seriously doubt that a packed canopy would degrade any faster than one left in a garbage bag, plus being in the rig gives it some added protection. If the PC spring is not made of sub-standard materials then its load shouldn't decrease over time.

Greig

[darkwing 4]

A few years ago, I think in 1997, at the River Fest boogie in Boise, we put out a test drop dummy with a seat pack that had been packed and sealed for 50 YEARS. It was a silk canopy. It opened just fine. Caveat--not a high speed deployment and not a heavy dummy. Still, it was impressive.

I notice the nervousness of many jumpers if their main has been packed for a couple of weeks. It baffles me. I can't get them to explain why they don't get nervous about their reserve, but do get nervous about their main. The 120-day rule (law) is fine for me.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History