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Today I tore a small hole in my new 35" PC getting PCA'd out of a paraglider (it got caught on a buckle). I had a small PC on because I was planning to go terminal but the tow line from the boat broke halfway through the tow during a SIV course.

The tear is about 1" long and is in the form of an L-Shape. It is basically a brand new APEX PC with fine mesh.

Wondering if people bother patch PC's, or just buy a new one? I don't see any huge safety concerns if I were to do it, but maybe there is something I am overlooking...

I tried searching for old posts on this but couldn't find any. Thanks!

I think the common wisdom is that if you can patch it or have it patched by someone who's technically competent (that might be you) and you're happy with it, then patched pilot chutes are fine. If you're not comfortable with the patch job, though, then pilot chutes are cheap, and that's not something you want to be worrying about at the exit point.

Answer.

could a patch throw the PC off balance causing it to oscillate?

I'm a little skeptical about the importance of pilot chute oscillation anyway. I can easily imagine damage of the kind mentioned by the original poster which I'd patch up and jump without a care in the world, even though I would characterize myself as a very conservative jumper. I'd even go so far as to say that there's no way in hell that a decent 1" patch on your pilot chute is going to be a significant contributor to the heading of your canopy or to its deployment time, and that anybody who is weirded out by such a patch is being guided more by superstition than rational thought.

However, I could be wrong. And even if I'm right, anxiety generated by superstition is still anxiety, and the best jumps are done because they're fun, not to prove a point. And pilot chutes are cheap.

i'm thinking the patch would need to be significantly larger than an inch to be structurally sound, but i don't know either, which is why i ask.

as far as oscillation, i've had a couple of 42" pilot chutes that had to be retired due to the potential for oscillation...one that had only four binding tapes from the center and the other due to bad zp that was recalled. just something to think about, but then i've been told i think too much : P.

maybe it's not so much a problem with a smaller PC used for terminal jumps but then i don't know...and yeah pilot chutes are pretty cheap.

 

oscillation is caused by bad body position.

 

get a new one

got it. i was kinda' joking before... but in that case, my "professional opinion" is it's def body position.

meow.

Thanks for all the opinions. I am getting a new one after reading about how even slight deformities in rounds (and PC's) really do create a lot of weird problems I didn't think about. I think it is safer to just get a new one.

what do you think? offcource it will be unbalance

Sure, but it was to begin with. Nobody's pilot chute is perfectly symmetrical in how it's built or in how it's attached. The question was whether a patch might be a serious safety issue, and I think that deserves more thought than "Psh, duhhh."

how expensive will it be to fix?
how expensive is a new one?
is the difference significant?

it's only a 35 inch.
how often do you use it? for what?
if you only use it for terminal stuff, do you have enough separation for "funkiness?"

if you have a friendly terminal object, can you test it?

how much is peace of mind worth?

not everyone will answer these questions the same. answer them honestly, and you might not need advice.