pack jobs, how long?

[lodestar 0]

Just a thought, but what's the consensus from the riggers on the board about how long a reserve can remain packed without a repack or inspection and still be good to go?
This would be without any outside interference such as water or other liquids spilled or otherwise penetrating the container or any other outside exposure to any sort of elements.
There may be a division between older style rigs and some of the newer modern containers so if you wish, give estimates for both styles.

[pchapman 262]

I dunno, ten years easy, in some cases almost indefinitely, subject only to the degredation of the materials involved.

That only works if no outside influences have caused problems ... which is why we inspect things more often.

Like elastics on a round canopy's diaper, or, very slowly, breakdown of the nylon. Any loss of PC spring strength would be slow but I wonder how much creep there might be.

I've pulled old round reserves out of packs that were in there 10-15 years, that seemed good to go. Maybe the MA-1 was pretty weak but they always seem that way compared to modern PC's. And without a diaper there were no elastics to decay. As for safety stows in modern rigs, one sees 10 year old ones still in rigs, that aren't falling apart more than usual. Others, though, get pretty stretched out, but probably will still work since the fabric holds the stow together.

I'm not sure how much difference there is, between a rig that has sat for 10 years packed, vs. one that has been in use for 10 years, and only unpacked at 120 day intervals for less than 2 hours at a time.

I wouldn't trust anything "sticky" as much over time. Like ZP mains that we know can become somewhat brick like. Or the gummy inside of some Javelin freebags.

High humidity can of course be an issue, with rusting hardware. Not sure how bad mildew on nylon would be. It doesn't supposedly eat the nylon itself, but one wonders what the effect would be over time.

They pressure pack military canopies and airplane recovery parachutes for 5+ years and expect them to work. Not sure about how military ones are sealed. For BRS canopies for ultralights, those in sealed canisters, or fabric canisters shielded inside an aircraft, repack intervals are 6 years. That's down to 1 year if it is a soft pack outside the aircraft (and even then it should be protected from moisture etc).

So the number of safe years could be quite long, but as the time grows, there are more and more caveats about how it was stored and problems that might occur with specific components. Simply having layers of nylon fabric pressed against nylon fabric, I'm guessing that isn't much of an issue.

[darkwing 4]

Some years ago in Boise we had an emergency military rig that had been sealed for 50+ years. We put it on a test drop dummy and threw it out of a c-182 and it opened fine. Silk canopy, cotton harness. I'm not saying it was strong, but it was undamaged on that opening. I think this was about 1997.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[drjump 0]

The FAA states 180 days. LOL

[PROGRESSIVE 0]

I really do believe that repacking a reserve is hard on the canopy and the container itself, despite how good of a packer you are. I think there's enough data to significantly increase the pack cycle and reduce the wear of the rig without any detriment to the proper sequence and timing of deployment. Unless, however, you have the habit of leaving your rig in a hot trunk of your vehicle, or spill battery acid on your rig, etc.

Pete

[airdvr 200]

I've got a 1979 26' LoPo packed into a 1983 Racer in my basement. Data card says it was re-packed 3/2/04. I'm pretty sure it would be no problem. It's been stored in a dry place and I think the reserve has only seen the windstream 3 times (all me).

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[patworks 5]

repack cycles are an artifact of silk canopies. Over time, Silk will take a 'set' and sometimes fail at the fold. Military experiments with long-packed emergency rigs,incouding some soaked in sea-water for weeks, concluded the is little-to-no rationale for repacking outside of placating the Feds..
Silk canopies are beautiful in the air they have a mother-of-pearl luster that is lovely to see. Malfunctions usually blew them into a pile of rags.

Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,