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  1. #1
    Senior Member zukiguy's Avatar
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    Uses for a retired parachute

    Hey DIY crew,
    A skydiving buddy gave me a lightly used canopy. Actually it's not that old but due to a strange turn of events he needed it gone and who am I to argue.

    Anyway, so now I'm the owner of some kind of high performance chute. I hacked off the shroud lines for a few projects. I'm still left with a huge batch of nice black silnylon. Problem is there's a seam every 10". So I've got lots of "strips" of fabric about 10" wide by just shy of 5' long to work with.

    The structure of this chute is almost like a huge down sleeping bag. There's a top and bottom with baffles in between. I was sort of thinking maybe building some kind of baffled undercover. This would be almost like the bottom of a Clark hammock. I think the pieces would also be long enough to make some shiny new snakeskins.

    So, I've got several ideas but so far nowhere to go for sure. My thread-injector skills are pretty limited. I can let some of this fabric go in trade for a few finished stuff sacks or other goodies if anyone is interested. Please PM me and we'll figure something out.

  2. #2
    slowhike's Avatar
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    My first thought was to use it as a group tarp, as I've seen done a few times, but it sounds like it's quite a bit smaller than the round parachutes I'm thinking of.
    You said "5' wide". How long is it?
    I too will something make and joy in it's making

  3. #3
    Senior Member zukiguy's Avatar
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    Size....

    I haven't had a place to stretch it out all the way. I'm guessing maybe 30' long. I guess this is some kind of high performance setup for acrobatics. I don't thing this one is made to glide slowly to earth.

  4. #4
    Senior Member GrayDog's Avatar
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    From what I have heard, parachute material is known as zero porosity which makes it not leak air. Water may be another issue so you may want to test it before making anything that would require it to stop rain.
    hammock [ham-uhk] noun
    Man's successful attempt to sleep on a cloud

  5. #5
    Senior Member raiffnuke's Avatar
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    PM inbound.

  6. #6
    MacEntyre's Avatar
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    I'm looking for a complete parachute canopy, sans strings... another PM sent.
    - MacEntyre
    "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
    www.MollyMacGear.com

  7. #7
    Banned
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    You should make some parachute pants

  8. #8
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    I will bet you have low-porosity nylon.

    The chute is a ram-air that inflates to form a wing and is flown forward and then "stalled" to land.

    The design of them does not yield much in the way of large sections unless you are very skilled at ripping seams. Evfen then you will have a certain amount of punctures material after the baffles are removed.

    But you will never run out of stuff-sack material! If you are patient you could stitch up a patchwork overcover or undercover. And check the shroud lines - some high performance chutes use low-stretch polyester lines instead of typical 550 cord.

    Jim

  9. #9
    Senior Member Pipsissewa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zukiguy View Post
    Hey DIY crew,
    A skydiving buddy gave me a lightly used canopy. Actually it's not that old but due to a strange turn of events he needed it gone and who am I to argue.
    Is your friend D.B. Cooper?!
    "Pips"
    Mountains have a dreamy way
    Of folding up a noisy day
    In quiet covers, cool and gray.

    ---Leigh Buckner Hanes

    Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.

    Surely, God never did.

  10. #10
    Senior Member zukiguy's Avatar
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    DB Cooper

    If he was I think I'd turn him in for the reward. Then I could buy all the hammock goodies I want....

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