Basejumper.com - archive

how many jumps is a pc good for?
if you are not jumping your rig often will you leave your pc packed away on the boc? for how long?

i usaly pack my pc as close to the jump/climb as posible,i never leave it in the boc.

If your zp pc feels like f-111 you probaly should replace it..

In doubt your not in doubt,just replace it

how about porosity test?

if you feel the zp thind and agting like a f-111 pc i would replace it..
got 150jumps on one of my pc´s and its still all good.
I dunno how long they last,but i know that i rather change than take a chance on somthing i aint sure about..

oh just go out to the garage and flop it around
if it's good, it's good, if not, don't use it
if you don't know, you should stop
base hero's are dead or drunk

 

In addition to the permeability, inspect the mesh for wear and tear. Inspect the tapes, especially around the bottom where the center line attaches. Inspect the fabric on the topskin to ensure there are no tears. Inspect the stiching between the mesh and the topskin to make sure it's fine. Pilot chutes have exploded before, but it's been many years since an incident.

Z-po fabric will stay z-po regardless the number of jumps.

A modern z-po PC will outlast a modern BASE canopy, all things being equal.

Read what Chris posted, good advices.

yeah Abbie i know thats why i said if your ZP pc..

did your arse heal up yet?

I've got a ZP PC that feels pretty porous. When you hold it over your mouth you can breath through it. You couldn't do that when it was new, in 1999.

I just retired a PC with 206 jumps on it. I was jumping 5 times a day with very similar 2-2.5 second delays and I started feeling hesitations - so I called it spent and got a new one the next time Marty was in town. It's aweful nice of the manufacturers to visit my home town from time to time just in case I need new gear

And yes, I could breath through the ZP toward the end. That was my first hint that it was time.

If all goes perfectly for a PC, I would probably retire it at 150-200 jumps regardless.

For those who don't keep records like this - use it til it fails and throw it away one jump prior

-tB

Good advice, and I'd like to add to that.

To find damage to the topskin hold it up in front of a bright light. Tears will show up quite easily.

If you really want to do a thorough inspection, turn it inside out and inspect the stitching and bartacks.

Be sure to inspect a pilot chute thoroughly after doing a PC assist.

There really is no magic number of jumps beyond which a pilot chute is no longer serviceable. It's really a matter of wear and tear. Having said that, gear fear at the exit point is a really bad thing. If replacing your pilot chute will eliminate gear fear, then by all means replace it.

Walt

You can minimize damage to the PC by using the bridle to extract the canopy, rather than the PC itself. BASE 428 wrote a good post on this topic here.

Would you call that a reliable method for gathering empirical data on permeability?

FYI, I know of a test that showed a Sabre with over 2000 jumps to still have z-po and another Sabre with 5000 jumps with permeability still better than brand new F-111.

Also Galvanor z-po fabric (the one Morpheus uses to build PCs) is coated on both sides and some argue it retains z-po even longer than Soar-max.

Of course permeability is just one factor. Fabric will lose tensite strength due to UV and mechanical damage at a much higher rate than it loses permeability, same goes for the PCs.

Do not use permeability as your only measure to "retire" a PC or a tarp.

thank you for all the advise, I like the one that reads retire the pc one jump before it fails!

cya!

Retire the pilot chute if there is any doubt in your mind regarding its reliability. It may be fine, but at the low cost of a new pilot chute, why would anyone care about replacing it?

A new pilot chute is inexpensive peace of mind.

thank you for all the advise. i guess i'll just won't duck tape my pc no more...just kiidding

Is the shock loading on a pilot chute the same as a parachute? Does the wear on a pilot chute equate to the wear on a deploying parachute. I have no idea. Numbers and rigger specs don't seem to be that relevant if a simple test such a breathing through ZP indicates a problem. If it has the consistency of fishnet, maybe the pilot chute had a bad batch of ZP, or something else is going on.