What to make with a Parachute and hang glider wing?

[rjcress]

My guess is the parasail is made from spinnaker sail cloth which is coated vs impregnated. It would surprise me if it is silnylon, but that doesn't mean it's not highly water resistant.

For the parasail/parachute, it looks like nylon ripstop in the neighborhood of 1.1oz. Super thin, nearly translucent.

on the hang glider wing, I'm thinking he said it was either 2oz dacron or 4oz dacron.
He showed me both (he has another 2 or 3 hang gliders in his garage and showed me all of them), and I just don't remember which this one is. I'd have to guess 4oz.

[rjcress]

Finally unpacked the parachute last night.
Having worn a chute many times in case of airborne disaster, it took me a while to work up the nerve to cut off the lines and unpack the chute to see what I have. Had to get past the idea that this was a life saving device instead of a source of fabric.

20 panels of very light, likely about 1 oz, ripstop.
It is a mushroom shaped chute, not a rectangular chute.
Stamped as made in July of 1982.
Apparently, it was the "if everything else fails" backup for a hang glider. In an emergency, the operator would somehow deploy it by hand and it would lower the whole glider assembly to the ground.

Due to the triangular shape of the parachute panels, and how each panel is pieced together from many smaller sections, I'll have to do some more thinking about what to make with this material. I was hoping it was a rectangular chute that would make hammock bodies easy to make.

Hmmm. maybe my first hammock sock will be made of this.
Likely that some will make it into the outer cover for a UQ as well.
Too bad it doesn't lend itself well to making a hammock body, as I was hoping to make a hammock for my friend that gave me the chute.

I have already removed all of the 16 foot canopy lines, which the previous owner said he thought were spectra. Tried making hammock suspension whoopies, but the lines are too weak. Currently have a whoopie-adjustable ridgeline in my new DL 1.1RS hammock made from this and it works well. Will also use for tie-out lines, whipping line, etc.

[JohnSawyer]

Lots of ideas here... too bad the panels are too small...

Though my first hammock (Byer of Main parachute hammock) was made from 3 panels of fabric, and the whole thing is like 48" wide at most...

Gear hammock?

I can understand the reluctance to cut up what could be a useful (and expensive) piece of gear...

I like the sock idea, or a KISS overcover...

Heck, cut a few panels and Trade them for something...

[rjcress]

All great ideas, John

Here is the label from the parachute, in case anyone finds it interesting.