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I'll start by introducing myself since i'm fairly new to the site. I dont have any BASE jumps, have all the gear required, have mentor(s), and am preparing for a trip to Perrine in the near future. I was flying my canopy in a field (always windy here) and noticed i had a tear.

I need some opinions/advice. I have an 1 1/2 inch tear in the bottom skin of the far left cell of my canopy. I called a master rigger and he would do the ripstop tape for free, and do a reserve repair on it (patch?) for $30/hr. Which option would you recommend?

Thanks All!

Kyle

EDIT- forgot to add photo***

What does your mentor(s) recommend?

He said that if it were less than an inch, ripstop...The rigger told me that either way is fine..I asked the rigger the same question.

depends on your comfort level and knowledge of the gear. if it was me i would just use ripstop and inspect it on each pack job. im kind of retarded though.

what do you want to be thinking about on the exit point? think about the jump, or think about if the repair will hold?

Well put, might as well just spend 30-40 bucks and have the peace of mind, thanks all!

wipe a booger on it and call it good.
Seriously though, the main thing is that you don't want it to get bigger. Sew it up or tape it, but ask to watch whoever does the repair because these type of things can, should, and probably will be fixed by you in the future.

As the lazy jew put it...

How much is your life worth..!!!!


oh and jew you owe me some cliff bars , asap to australia..

IMHO: Ditch anyone who suggests using ripstop. One could take out a 6x6" peice and you would not even notice any flight degradation.
Comfort on the exit point is more important.
Take care,
space

Thats not a tear......this is a tear.........

https://www.facebook.com/...p;type=3&theater

i have had a tear in my topskin, far left cell, for about 70 jumps on my black jack. it's an 'L' shaped tear about 1.5" on one side, .75" on the other. it came from me stepping on my canopy during a quick urban getaway.
i look at the tear every time i pack, it has not grown after 70 jumps.
also have a similar sized hole for a similar length of time in my stabilizer.
it has not grown either.
this has not caused me any uncomfort at the exit point.
i watched a guy once land a stiletto 120 with an explosive nose to tail rip on the topskin. he came in to flare yelling 'HELP'. almost stood the shit up, even though the canopy collapsed when he flared. he gave me the canopy, which i repaired and used to drag me around the DZ on days to windy to jump.
anyways no point really, other than i need to fix my canopy.

While YES, myself and most
others would jump it...

A patch for $30 is a good deal
+ watching a real rigger sew it
on will be educational for you.

Man up and get your own sewing machine. Learn to do it your self and you wont regret it.

You could go cheap and get a $100 machine from wally mart, it would pay for it self in just two more tears, but I'd incurage you to buy a real one. You wont beleave the things you can build with it. Hell just the sex toys alone will pay for the investment.

Lee

RiggerLee is spot on.
Take care,
space,

Fix it so it does not get worse. If you get something in the hole while jumping, packing, landing, etc - it will tear more. Depending on where it is in the canopy, it could get worse on deployment too. Why risk it?

There is a "happy medium" that I have seen sucessfully used on small tears. Take the ripstop tape and apply to both sides. Then sew the tape on so it stays forever... You can sew in a pattern to stop both ends from wanting to tear farther.

A typical patch for a tear of that size would require cutting a larger hole, folding over the edges into the new patch, etc. 30 minutes to 2 hours of work depending on the location, probably 1 hour. $30 to do it right? Might be worth it.