Buying used canopies?

[groove75 0]

Hey, I'm a new jumper buying my first rig, and have opted to buy a new container, but everything else used. I'm just curious as to what the average life is in canopies? Is purchasing a used canopy for your first rig a good idea? I'm seeing a few with 4-600 jumps and just wondering how much total life a canopy usually has, and if I should be worried with one that has that many jumps on it. Thanks, Brown.

[ianmdrennan 2]

What type of material is it made of?

ZP can last for thousands of jumps if taken care of.

Normally a re-line will restore the canopy to "new" flying characteristics.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Heavier control lines are used with both flavors of spectra (550/825) and might need replacement arround 300 jumps. This costs about $25 from your local rigger and isn't a big deal.

550 spectra seems to go out of trim within 600 jumps. Depending on how symetrical the shrinkage is you might want a reline at this point, which will cost about $200 from the manufactruer.

825 might last longer - I didn't put enough jumps on my canopy with the heavier lines to find out.

ZP fabric will last a long, long, long time. My old Stiletto has 1200 jumps on it and is fine apart from needing new lines. At that age the fabric isn't at all slippery and the stitching holes have opened up some so it's real easy to pack.

[skybytch 273]

Quote

ZP fabric will last a long, long, long time. My old Stiletto has 1200 jumps on it and is fine apart from needing new lines. At that age the fabric isn't at all slippery and the stitching holes have opened up some so it's real easy to pack.

Just to add info - how many jumps you can get out of a zp main also depends on where it was primarily jumped and how it was cared for.

I bought a Spectre with 1100 jumps on it (was a great deal). I put less than 100 jumps on it before two lines snapped on an opening. Had it inspected after that and was told the center cell needed replacement now if I intended to keep jumping it.

All of the jumps on that canopy were done at Perris and Eloy. Canopies jumped primarily in desert-like conditions may not be good for as many jumps as canopies jumped only over pretty green grass and trees are.