How to properly store gear?

[nelsonsd 0]

I will be heading off to OCS next year and will not be jumping for a while... What is the proper way to store my gear? Should I leave the Main and Reserve in the container, or unpack them and leave them in a pastic bag?

[towerrat 0]

or unpack them and leave them in a pastic bag?


yes

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

[koz2000 1]

A dark dry place (a closet) and unpacked. If you've got a gear bag that would be fine.

______________________________________________
- Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

[AggieDave 6]

Out of curiosity, for the real long term, is there concern with Cypres batteries?

Should you have your rigger take the cypres batteries out?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[rushmc 23]

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Out of curiosity, for the real long term, is there concern with Cypres batteries?

Should you have your rigger take the cypres batteries out?

Yes, I have seen one that had started leaking!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[flyangel2 2]

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or unpack them and leave them in a pastic bag?


yes

Why do you want to leave the canopies unpacked and in plastic bags?

Good point on taking the Cypress batteries out.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[kallend 2,027]

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or unpack them and leave them in a pastic bag?


yes

Why do you want to leave the canopies unpacked and in plastic bags?

Because nylon is non-linear visco-elastic?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Push 0]

Or, in English, when you leave nylon packed you're applying a change in shape to it with very little force. Nylon does not resist changes in shape as long as the force that is causing them is not high. if you leave it packed for a long time it will assume that shape. However, the impulse, and hence force, on deployment is significantly higher, so the nylon will resist more and be much harder to unfold.

Did I interpret correctly, professor? I'm not sure what the correspondence between rate of strain and stress is for nylon, but a convex growth seems to make sense.

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[droquette 0]

what about the reserve? most peoples reserves spend their lives packed. does the 120 day re-pack have to do with these facts? what is the longest a rig should stay packed withouf jumping it?

HISPA 72 ----- "Muff Brother" 3733

[AggieDave 6]

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what is the longest a rig should stay packed withouf jumping it?

According to the FARs (if you're in the US), a main is the same as a reserve, no longer then 120 days.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[billvon 2,991]

>what is the longest a rig should stay packed withouf jumping it?

Legally, 120 days. Practically, several manufacturers have stored rigs for years and then jumped the pack jobs with little to no change in deployment characteristics.

[wmw999 2,447]

Unpacked is probably best. My gear was packed, in a closet, for about 10 years; a reserve repack, a main repack, and I wa good to go. There's a little leeway in there
But I didn't have a Cypres -- I'd definitely take it out and keep it separate because of the batteries.

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)

[riggerrob 643]

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>what is the longest a rig should stay packed withouf jumping it?

Legally, 120 days. Practically, several manufacturers have stored rigs for years and then jumped the pack jobs with little to no change in deployment characteristics.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Opening times do not change significantly even if mains are left packed for years.
That only changes when rubber bands rot out, then openings get dramatically faster.
Can you say OUCH?

[teason 0]

In a clear plastic bag in a cool non humid environment at least 6 inches from the ground. Do not leave them on a concrete floor.

I don't see much point in unpacking it unless their is an aad with batteries and even then, keep it in the freebag. I don't see any advantage, only disadvantage to pulling it out. Seems like and old practice that may have become an urban myth.

If anyone has a good reason for "airing out" nylon canopies by removing them from one bag and stuffing them into another, I'd love to hear it. I may be naive, but I just don't get it!

I would, however, cutaway and message the 3-ring though. Risers can get a memory and most of us are bad at talking care of our three rings!

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.