Cross port vent damage

[Boulavogue 0]

After picking a guys canopy out of trees last weekend we hung it up to check for noticeable damage/debris.

Cleaning a few twigs from the end cell I noticed the cross port vents on both end cells were pretty badly frayed and torn up to .5cm in one place.

All other cross port vents seem to be fine and show a nice clean round edge.
The canopy is an electra (190/210 ish) and wing loaded 1:1 or 1.2 max.

Would anyone have seen this before or know why so much damage would be evident on just the outer vents?

DZ does not have a permanent rigger so will most likely be checked next repack cycle.

Life life, have fun, don't hurt anyone

[GoneCodFishing 24]

I had an Electra 190 with exactly the same damage. Apparently it is normal and nothing to worry.

[Southern_Man 0]

Boulavogue

DZ does not have a permanent rigger so will most likely be checked next repack cycle.

It should really be checked by a rigger before the next jump. I know that is inconvenient but proper gear maintenance is important.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[pchapman 279]

Cross ports normally fray over time. Particularly in the curve at the corners, where fibres are less supported by their neighbours so to speak. My impression from inspecting canopies is that end cell crossports tend to fray the most, with center cell ones next most common.

But the corner fraying should still be within the 'box' formed by the sides of the often rectangular cross ports. (On modern canopies that is -- older ones had round cross ports more often.)

Actual tearing beyond just fuzzy edges would be a concern though.

[BeteNoire 0]

Pulling it out of the tree is likely NOT what caused that damage. It's fairly normal in canopies, just from normal wear and tear of flaking and opening. Those are not high stress support points. You can continue to jump it without much concern. However, we should keep our gear in tip-top shape, so it warrants having a patch put on it to reinforce it. There's just no major hurry to get that done like before the next jump. Mark the extent of the rip with a pen, and monitor it with each pack job to see if it's spreading further. Get it fixed as soon as practical.