How long does white stay white on a canopy?

[HydroGuy 0]

Getting ready to purchase my main...trying to pick out the colors.

Assuming I'm landing on grass and packing on packing mats, how long will the white stay white?

If manufacturer makes a difference, Icarus.

Can canopies be washed?

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[matthewcline 0]

I have 24 white canopies on my team.

The ywil start to show dirt from your body in about 50 to 75 jumps.

Dirt and grass will show up in about 100, unless it is damp dirt the nthe dirt will end upshowing in 1 jump.

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[tdog 0]

My canopy, with 200 jumps on it, is starting to look off white in color... In the air it still looks white, but next to the clean socks on the sofa, it is a "mocha" color... The outsides of the canopy is much dirtier than the inside, and the leading edge seems to have more "mocha" than the tail...

Our DZ is REAL dusty, and we have to ride a trailer back to the packing area.

I have also jumped in the very dusty environment of MOAB...

I am in LOVE with all white canopies with colorful cross braces/insides of cells, so I think I am hooked on white.

About washing it... I have tried wiping a spot with a damp rag, and I got the stuff off, but it looks like the mocha color is deep in the pours and not going to come out...

[vt1977 0]

Landing on grass and packing on mats, your white should stay white for a fair while. However... one trip to Eloy, Perris (or any other sandy DZ) and that nice white will very quickly become a horrible, dirty brown colour.

Personally, I'd steer clear of white! I have a small amount on my current canopy and don't intend to have any on my next canopy!

Vicki

[thelem 0]

Getting an all-white canopy is also likely to annoy quite a few people, as when they see it in the air they will think there has been a malfunction. They might realise if they spot the pilot chute or know that you jump a white canopy, but still best to avoid. I imagine it will also hurt the resale value.

[bob.dino 1]

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Landing on grass and packing on mats, your white should stay white for a fair while. However... one trip to Eloy, Perris (or any other sandy DZ) and that nice white will very quickly become a horrible, dirty brown colour.

Yup. After 350 jumps in Australia, the white cells in my canopy were still white. 16 jumps at Perris & they're a muddy brown .

[bob.dino 1]

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I am in LOVE with all white canopies with colorful cross braces/insides of cells, so I think I am hooked on white.

Bloody irritating for the rest of us when checking canopies on the load though. There's always that heart-stopping 0.25 of a second when you think it's a reserve.

[flyangel2 2]

I have one white strip down the middle of my canopy. It didn't stay white for long, but from the air you can't tell.

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

[Mark4 0]

I was told that its best to avoid a light colour (color!) on the centre cell as this gets all the attention during packing.

I think white works well between 2 darker colours. My last 2 canopies have had white at cell positions 3 or 7 and the white has stayed pretty white. My current canopy has had 50 jumps at Perris amongst other dusty environments like Skydive Spain.

However we don't have that problem here in England... it doesn't stop raining for long enough!

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

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I am in LOVE with all white canopies with colorful cross braces/insides of cells, so I think I am hooked on white.

Bloody irritating for the rest of us when checking canopies on the load though. There's always that heart-stopping 0.25 of a second when you think it's a reserve.

If its a big square all-white PD230 or 260 or the like, sure, but if its elliptical... DOH!

[Candy 0]

I just this weekend ordered my new canopy, I ordered it with 5 white cells, 2 gray cells and then 2 black cells.

My rigger has tried desperately to change my mind on the white, after reading this I am considering changing it, although I do want the white.

How about all black????

[bob.dino 1]

I can tell the difference between a 160 Airforce* reserve and a 160 Safire2 at 600m. But not instantly. That may come with more experience. We shall see.


* Made by Parachutes Australia & the most popular reserve type over here.

[bob.dino 1]

I'd imagine you're going to be nigh-on invisible in the air... especially on cloudy (low-light) days.

[HydroGuy 0]

Well, I jump at Perris...so I guess the all-white with red or black cell dividers idea will have to change.

Back to the canopy coloring programs...going to have to try some red, grey, black combos

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[Candy 0]

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I'd imagine you're going to be nigh-on invisible in the air... especially on cloudy (low-light) days.

Do you think so……………
shit, I like those colors.
That’s something to think about though.

I talked to my rigger on the phone today and he said I had a couple of days to think about it if I want to change my mind, I think I’ll get on a canopy coloring program and check it out.

Guess what color my new container is……
Black on black, with a little black and some gray.

[bob.dino 1]

That's a good color scheme for a container - it doesn't show dirt .

[riddler 0]

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Getting an all-white canopy is also likely to annoy quite a few people, as when they see it in the air they will think there has been a malfunction.

I think this is a training thing that needs to change. I've seen a lot more white mains in the last few years. Instructors that are still teaching that reserves are white probably need to rethink this. Even ten years ago, instructors were teaching "solid-colors".

When I suspect a cutaway, I ask myself three questions:

1. Is it a solid-colored canopy? If yes, might be cutaway.
2. Does it have a pilot chute trailing behind the canopy? If not, definitely a cutaway.
3. Can I see the main streamering down? Usually, they're not too far away from the suspect jumper, but you need to look in three dimensions.

As far as solid-colors - I may be wrong about that too. There are probably manufacturers out there making all sorts of multi-colored reserves. I believe that it used to be solid-colored or white because it made packing volume smaller, but I'm not entirely sure of that - modern dyes could have rendered that rule obsolete.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[vt1977 0]

I agree with much of what you say but looking at it from a slightly different angle, when I bought my rig I specifically chose a white reserve. The reason being that I wanted it to be as obvious as possible to anyone watching that it was a reserve so that they would look out for me/my gear.

Vicki

[jurgencamps 0]

Next time you have to cutaway, everybody thinks that the white canopy they see, is your main instead of your reserve. So nobody will look after your freebag or main.
It's your choice.

I don't understand why people have to rethink this.

It is an easy system that works very fine. You can have a yellow reserve if you want to. But if you use it, the probability that people will notice that you are under your reserve will be lower than if you have a white one.
Hey why do all modern cars have white or yellow lights at the frontside and the red ones at the rearside? I personally prefer red lights in front and white lights at the rear of my car. What do you think?

Jurgen

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Hey why do all modern cars have white or yellow lights at the frontside and the red ones at the rearside?

Because of the traffic code.

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I personally prefer red lights in front and white lights at the rear of my car. What do you think?

No problem. You might not get a registration plate, but you can drive on your on propety only.

I've heard that even a monkey is allowed to drive in some state of USA.....

Back to skydiving AFAK there is not FAR, SIM, BSR or whatever about canopy colors.

[beezyshaw 0]

I can state without reservation that the Gelvenor ZP fabric we use in the Nitro and Blade canopies is the "whitest of white" canopy fabric; I was reluctant to build the first few canopies with white in them, but after several hundred jumps the white is still actually white!

ps... I think I should be on a Tide commercial

[billvon 3,070]

>I think this is a training thing that needs to change.

It's not going to! Students aren't taught that all reserves are solid colors, they are taught that THEIR reserves are a solid color. This is critical; it must be very easy for a student to recognize his or her reserve. I agree that it is a good idea to mention at the end of their training that not all reserves are solid though.

> I believe that it used to be solid-colored or white because it made packing volume smaller . . .

Generally white and blue solid colors pack smallest.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Generally white and blue solid colors pack smallest.

Is this something like red cars are faster?

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[billvon 3,070]

>Is this something like red cars are faster?

More like painted canvas is thicker than unpainted canvas. White reserves aren't dyed, and it takes very little dye to make a canopy light blue. The resulting difference is small but perceptible.