help getting the chute into the dbag.

[T-box1990 0]

Hi, I spent the past weekend learning how to pack so that I can try and work off some of the costs of skydiving. The only part where I had any trouble and still have some trouble is getting the parachute "cacoon" into the dbag. Any tips or tricks that could help?
Thanks!

"If piloting an airplane is flying, then driving a boat is swimming. If you want to experience the element, you have to get out of the vehicle"

[mrbiceps 0]

if your packing a zero p this can be a bastard. my tip is to get all of the air out of it first before you start folding it into the bag. once the air is out you need to work quickly before it re inflates itself. keep one knee on it to stop this happening.

[T-box1990 0]

Yea it was a hybrid 280sq ft student canopy I think. real pain in the ass.

"If piloting an airplane is flying, then driving a boat is swimming. If you want to experience the element, you have to get out of the vehicle"

[likestojump 3]

Quote

Yea it was a hybrid 280sq ft student canopy I think. real pain in the ass.

quite the opposite. a Hybrid canopy is multitude times easier to pack than a full ZP.

Best trick is to see what others are doing successfully and practice. It will take a bit of sweat and frustration to learn. We have all been there.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

If you find out any good ones, let me know.My only "trick" was practice, practice, practice.
Supposedly the Happy Smurf Pack (also known as Psycho-pack) makes it much easier to get the canopy in the bag, but if you are just learning you need to do the standard Pro-pack. BTW, I saw my first in-person Happy Smurf this past weekend. A little disconcerting to watch.
One last thing-when you are finally able to stuff that sucker in the bag, getting your sleeping bag back in its stuff sack at the end of your camping trip will seem like a piece of cake

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[AtomF 0]

If I get to it, I'll upload a video on youtube this week.

Tips:
-shape the "cocoon" while you're laying on it. that way you get it shaped while there's no air in it
-you may have to roll the crap out of the tail
-don't muscle it. if you're using muscle, it's falling to crap
-make sure your folds are proportional. each s fold should take half the canopy. therefore, each half of each half should be a quarter of the canopy.

Hope this helps. I have 6k+ packs.

[FallloutboyDAoC 0]

Just keep practicing. Watch others. Ask questions. It will all come with time.

[iluvtofly 0]

Quote

One last thing-when you are finally able to stuff that sucker in the bag, getting your sleeping bag back in its stuff sack at the end of your camping trip will seem like a piece of cake

The sad thing is it's true. Since I became a packer at the DZ I can actually get my sleeping bag back in the stuff sack. I can also pack up my tent small enough that it'll fit in its stuff sack as well (Previously I always just threw away the stuff sack because I knew I'd never get it back in there.)

But seriously...practice, practice, practice. I think one of the only reasons I'm so good at packing is because I'm a packer. I think the trick is to use what you have. Everyone does it a little different. (I personally use my boobs to help control the fabric as I'm putting it in the bag.) If you talk to 10 different people you'll learn 10 different ways to pack.

I spent alot of time just sitting on the side and watching other people pack. If I had any questions I would simply go up and ask. I just tried different techniques I saw different people do until I found the right combination that worked for me.

Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually.

[RiggerLee 61]

I can't beleave no one has addressed the most critical issue here. That being, would you please not call it a "Chute". God you sound like a first jump student. Aren't the up jumpers there giveing you any guideince? Look you just can't be doing that, Ok. It is totaly wofo.

And remember to cross your legs under canopy.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[T-box1990 0]

Thanks all, I think im just gonna head back to the DZ next weekend and get some good practice in, sounds like the best thing to do. Hopefully ill find my own little trick to getting the CANOPY into the dbag!!

"If piloting an airplane is flying, then driving a boat is swimming. If you want to experience the element, you have to get out of the vehicle"

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Psycho pack!!!

This should pique your interest in this technique which has a most unfortunate name:

http://www.precision.aero/packing/mvc-002v.mpg

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[debussyschild 0]

hey, yeah, i had some trouble getting it into the D-Bag with some of the student rigs at our DZ. a couple of the people at the DZ showed me some tricks: after you make your first s-fold, put your knee on the warning label and bring the rest of the fabric that hasn't been folded up to your chest. roll it under and get some of the air out, then make your next s-fold. after you make that second s-fold, you kinda have to press on the canopy from all sides. i keep my right knee on the top, and i use my left leg to kind of keep it from billowing out to the side. then i slide the d-back underneath the canopy, get 2 corners in and then work the rest in. once you've got your first line stow you can relax. Henrick and Brett really helped me out A LOT with packing. i'd ask those awesome dudes, too, for help. this is just what i've discovered that works for me. hope i see you at west point soon!

edited to add:

and if you see Jimmy Crouch around the DZ, he's the best person to ask. there's a particular way he likes the student rigs to be packed, as Brett told me. the biggest thing to remember with packing the student rigs is don't roll or do anything with the nose...

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[JustThePacker 0]

put your knee on one of the grommets after you do your s-folds and get one side of the canopy compelety in the d-bag, then pull the d-bag around and shove it in, next time you at the DZ come find me and ill show you all the tricks people showed me when i started

charlesmcdaniel.photoshelter.com

[Heatmiser 0]

Double freaking ditto!!!!

What you say is reflective of your knowledge...HOW ya say it is reflective of your experience. Airtwardo

Someone's going to be spanked! Hopefully, it will be me. Skymama

[jimmytavino 16]

don't think so much about "putting the stacked canopy into the d bag"....

think about "snatching the D Bag Around the stacked canopy"....

In other words. reach under the canopy to the bag, and while keeping a knee on the material, Yank the D Bag, under the stack, so that the locking stow grommets have come out on the opposite side... Then do up the first stow, ,, stuff the corners, do up the second lock stow, stuff the rest, and you're good to go... the key is to let up JUST enough with your knee, to allow the bag to encircle the stack..
sort of like when a magician Yanks the tablecloth out from under the entire table setting of china and silverware...
jmy

[T-box1990 0]

Thanks for all of the responses, I think ive finally figured out what works for me. I do the s folds, straddle the canopy and kind of sit on it then work one corner of the canopy into a corner of the bag and the same for the other. It seems to work pretty well..
Thanks again
Andrew

"If piloting an airplane is flying, then driving a boat is swimming. If you want to experience the element, you have to get out of the vehicle"

[erdnarob 1]

Be very patient, you have to do it at least 20 times to get use to it. Here is an excerpt from one of my post on S fold in trhis forum.
......You can also do the 3 folds and bag the canopy in the deployment bag while laying on it. That keeps the canopy compressed and you have your 2 hands free to control the volume of the canopy and still able to bag one side then the other side without any frustration.....

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[kawisixer01 0]

Ok so am i the only one that does it this way?....I fold the cacooned canopy pretty much in half, and stuff the fold I just made into the bag being sure the corners of the fold are pushed into the bottom corners of the bag, then I fold in the tail on top of that into the bag, then I make an s fold with whats left and fold it into the crease of the first fold. Thats how I was taught and I have never had weird openings and it's easier than folding the whole canopy and stuffing it into the bag FOR ME.

[TerminatorSRT4 0]

I saw some other people doing what you just talked about last weekend, I am going to try it this weekend, cause I am also still having a hard time with getting it into the d bag

[mr_music11 0]

I have a ZP Triathalon 175/the thing that helped me the most was after I flaked and got the parachute on the ground.. making sure that the width of my cacoon was no wider than the D bag...(of course with all the air out and making the folds before it re inflates) then make your folds so that the folded, cacooned parachute is approximatly the same size as the D bag. good luck. blue skies

If flying is piloting a plane.. then swimming is driving a boat. I know why birds sing.. I skydive.

[wildfan75 1]

Think of the process in terms of a vagina.

Keep it tight.

Keep it under control.

Use all your limbs. You might never know what part of the body does the trick.

And the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Good luck.