using an old reserve as a main

[Wirzael 0]

My rigger told me, she won't pack my reserve anymore as it is getting to old.

I got myself an other reserve.

But now I have that old reserve, which I would not like to through away just like that.

I was wondering if I could use it as a main for a couple jumps. Has anybody experience doing that? Or is there anything I might forget to consider?

I still got an old pot + some risers. My idea was to start with hop&pops to see how it goes. :) and if I am lucky I don't have to spend a 1000 bucks for a shiny epicene.

[gowlerk 2,247]

It depends. What kind of reserve is it? Does it have an attachment point for a deployment system? If not, buying a new one every jump will get kind of tiring. Some riggers won't pack perfectly good PDRs if they are more than 20 years old. It's possible that your reserve may be still worth some money to someone else.

[RiggerLee 61]

Of course you can jump it as a main. It's a canopy. That's what it's for. A good F-111 canopy, depending on your wing loading, is good for hundreds of jumps. As it wears it gets more pores and can not land with as high of a wing loading as easily. That was why we jumped them at lower wing loading <1:1. You could get 600-700 jumps on one before it was a rag. Some reserve canopies have slightly different fabric and may not last as long. Some companies allow you to make X number of jumps on your reserve as a main before you pack it as a reserve. Precision built all their canopies as both mains and reserves. You could use them as ether. Once it was a main you could then not use it as a reserve to keep people from putting rags in there reserve tray. If you have to sew a bridle onto it... there are ways. To really do it right if you were going to copy the normal design would be a pain and probable not worth the bother. However there are ways to fake it just fine. You can sew a patch on the top skin and bring lines down to the line attachment points. You can do it with out opening any seems. Or you could just use a RDS attached to the slider. Problem solved. You got a nice little canopy, why would you just throw it away?

 

Lee

[stratostar 5]

Just fold it up and put into a big paper bag like from the grocery store and then fold the top of bag so you hold it, jump out count to three and throw the bag in to the relative wind.  

[RiggerLee 61]

I think he wants to really jump it not just put a jump on it. Hanging onto that bag while he free flys or wing suits will be a pain with all the risers and lines running to it.

 

Lee

[IJskonijn 45]

If the canopy doesn't already have an attachment point, then it will need some work by a master rigger to create one, especially for jumping it repeatedly.

As Lee already said, reserves have some different materials used for fabric, but also for the lines. Typically, they are uncoated (to reduce risk of sticking/tension knots I think), which means they are much more susceptible to damage than normally coated lines. Keep an eye on it, and don't expect to get 500 jumps out of it.

[johnmatrix 21]

I did 20 jumps on an old F111 X228 that had been used as a reserve. It had the bridle attachment point cut off it so I super-tacked my bridle onto the load tapes that remained there. That started to come apart fairly quickly but my friendly rigger sewed a pull up cord on there that worked much better.

[evh 22]

Bridle attachment? Static line it! 

A club member of mine did that when his reserve was too old, and he wanted to make at least 1 jump on it before throwing it in the trash. We put it in a static line bag, tied the excess staticline to the harness with some rubber bands and he jumped it from a C182. I was JM :-)  It worked perfectly. 

 

[riggerrob 643]

People are forgetting how much main canopies have diverged from reserve canopies over the last 30 years.

Many younger riggers refuse to repack reserves older than themselves. Even grumpy, old, grey-bearded Master Riggers like me (62 years old and rigging for the last 35 years) want nothing to do with reserves built during the 1980s. Heck! I no longer even have the tools needed to inspect round reserves made during the 1980s.

Back in 1989, zero-porosity fabric and zero-stretch suspension lines had only been recently been invented. Most skydivers loaded their 7-cell, F-111 fabric mains about 0.7 pounds per square foot. The range of main sizes was severely limited and only petite women jumped 176 square foot mains. Only a few brave souls loaded their reserves more than 1:1.

Early BASE jumpers just used their regular skydiving canopies (e.g. 7-cell, 220 square foot Cruiselite made by Para-Flite).

Anyone who expects soft landings under a 7-cell, sub-150 square reserve more than 30 years old should ..... buy the best medical insurance available.

[RiggerLee 61]

I don't know what your talking about. The micro raven 150 was a perfectly good canopy for a 95 lb girl. I did every thing with my Maverick. I loved it. I don't know why people diss F111 canopies. I think they have a lot to offer. It's only a problem if you ask them to be some thing they are not. I beleve  you can fly any thing, history has proven this, You just have to respect it and fly it appropriately. 

 

Lee

[Wirzael 0]

Thank you for the reply.

I don't mind it not holding as long as a normal main. I wouldn't be allowed to use it otherwise anyway. So I prefer it being used more than once before I through it in the bin.

I got a Techno 115, 17 years old and only jumped once by me. Landing was not to bad.

 

Thank you for your replies. So I need to figure out a way to attache the pot, will ask my rigger for a favour.

[piisfish 140]

On 10/4/2019 at 2:52 PM, Wirzael said:

Thank you for the reply.

I don't mind it not holding as long as a normal main. I wouldn't be allowed to use it otherwise anyway. So I prefer it being used more than once before I through it in the bin.

I got a Techno 115, 17 years old and only jumped once by me. Landing was not to bad.

 

Thank you for your replies. So I need to figure out a way to attache the pot, will ask my rigger for a favour.

Is it the techno 115 your rigger doesn’t want to pack ? 

[irishrigger 32]

A Techno Reserve is a Parachute de France canopy if memory serves me right!?!?

If that is the case have a look at the max suspended weight on the Label, i believe it was very low comparing to other Reserves out there. i would highly recommend that you do NOT jump with with a high wing loading.

I saw 2 people trying to land a Techno reserve with high wing loading's and both canopies collapsed as they flared and they had very rough landings

1 of those people i refused to pack the Techo for as he had a wing loading of 1.5 and i told him it was not safe for him to jump as he was way outside the recommended limits. he went off in a huff and got another rigger to pack it. after that landing he came to me and said sorry that he did  not heed my advise and bought a different reserve of me.

Rodger

[Cloggy 1]

That's right, the Techno is made by Parachutes de France.
1.5 wingload would be exceeding the TSO for any size of Techno.
I jumped my Techno 155 twice at wingload 1.4, which is a bit above the recommended wingload. I found it an easy and responsive canopy to fly and land; no problems with flaring.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Cloggy

[Wirzael 0]

yes the techno is my old reserve, I will pack a Optimum 113 in the future.

I had a wingloading of 1.53 on my techno - landed it once so far. - was fine.

[piisfish 140]

7 hours ago, Wirzael said:

yes the techno is my old reserve, I will pack a Optimum 113 in the future.

I had a wingloading of 1.53 on my techno - landed it once so far. - was fine.

I might have people interested to buy it. PM me your contacts and date of manufacturing 

[Veis 29]

We are using old reserves and full RDS for our research, related with wingsuit deployments.

 

[MrBrant 0]

Aren't all reserves technically full RDS?

[Veis 29]

11 minutes ago, MrBrant said:

Aren't all reserves technically full RDS?

No, of course not, because slider is part of the Deployment system.

[MrBrant 0]

Damn, you got me!

[nwt 131]

On 12/11/2020 at 12:20 PM, MrBrant said:

Aren't all reserves technically full RDS?

I believe technically there isn't something called "full RDS"

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

50 minutes ago, nwt said:

I believe technically there isn't something called "full RDS"

Not something I have complete knowledge of, but "Full RDS" is redundant.

Pretty sure it's:
"RDS" (Removeable Deployment System) - slider, D-bag & pilot chute all come off.

"Removeable Slider" - Just what it says. Only the slider comes off. 

"Freebag" - Pilot chute & deployment bag are not attached to the top of the canopy and 'sail off into the sunset' on deployment. This is what reserves have.

[Veis 29]

More reserve deployments with full RDS: