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Was just talking to a skydive buddy about the fabric colour dye adding weight to the canopy. He was saying how white is the lightest color fabric and how certain colours and fluorescents can add a measurable amount of weight . Can this possibly slow extraction and opening or is it negligible ?

Hehe...

I would go with pink. It's a light color and it reduces the airflow friction, thus promoting a rapid inflation....


// percy

Just don't buy a black one... you'll be up there all day.


..and much harder landings.

A few years back the word on the street was that black skydiving canopies were to be avoided because they gave narly openings. There doesn't seem to be any aversion to black canopies among BASE jumpers. Is this because black canopies open fast, which is a good thing in BASE, has the problem been solved, or was I just exposed to a skydiving myth?

 When the first Black canopies came out, the dying process distorted the fabric pretty badly. When it was sewn together, it appeared to be perfectly square. As soon as the parachute would endure opening shock, the fabric would return to it's original shape causing the parachute to become distorted.

The process was eventually modified, as parachutes became more refined requiring much more precision in the final product.

Here is a great technical article on the subject. It does a fine job of explaining the "Black Parachute" anomaly.

http://www.performancedesignation.com/articles/black.htm

WTF is performance designation??

http://www.performancedesigns.com/articles/black.htm