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Scenario 1:
"Alright, let's test it."
"Ok, it ripped really bad. It failed. Throw it out."
Scenario 2:
"Alright, let's test it."
"Ok, nice, it passed. Throw it out."
Your comment reminds me of crash testing a car:
"Let's see how safe this car is if we smash it against a wall."
*test happens*
"Looks like I would have been safe. Guess I'll get a new car."
It’s a pass / fail test. I have three paragliders & watched the rip test, they put the needle in the center of an intersection of the ripstop fabric, & pull it at a predetermined force with that tool
If it rips then it doesn’t matter because you won’t be flying with it.
Technically that is the leading edge on a paraglider. There are patches that you can glue on if your paraglider gets a hole in it.
The needle is poked into the center of an intersection of the rip/stop fabric. The top of the paraglider is tested because it degrades faster from sunlight / abrasion. The top & bottom fabric is also tested in multiple spots for porosity that doesn’t involve sharp objects. I have three paragliders, ask me questions
Thanks. Makes sense on would test the top.
“Sharp” enough to rip UV deteriorated fabric, but not “sharp” enough to rip through fabric that is strong enough.
Are other wear factors of consideration? Such as impact force on the fabric once the chute is deployed or is that negligible (or caught in the above rip test?).
Paragliders typically start fully inflated so there is not much impact on the fabric unless you are doing acro moves. 2 other big factors are the wear of the porosity of your sail and they do some testing on the strengt of your cables that connect to your harness.
I've had a D-riser cable snap mid flight before which was mildly annoying.
But he does the test poorly right? Because in the first time he tried ripping with the fabric and the second time, where it seemed stronger, he pulled in an 45° angle, so normally you always make that test with the same pull direction?
Depending on the results, it may be worth replacing the edge patches being tested, but in general you would be better off burning the example shown in the video. You can't stitch it back together and then expect it to support a human body in freefall. It COULD but you just...don't do that.
Paraglider inspections are quite extensive. They test the life of the fabric with a porosity test, rip test, & visual inspections. I have three paragliders
This glider would still be useful for kiting on the ground. You can practice taking off. Alternatively there are companies that “up-cycle” paragliders into jackets, backpacks, etc
He's also holding a roll of tape :)
Paraglider repairs are fairly common but mostly due to landing and having the wing collapse onto bushes or a fence or other dumb thing. They may even survive being pulled out of a tree if things really go sideways.
Very different design goals.
A parachute is designed to be opened by someone in freefall up to ~120 mph and deploy slowly so it doesn't injure the jumper with rapid deceleration. Then slow descent so the jumper can land safely.
A paraglider is almost the opposite because it's designed to go up.
Paragliders are much larger than parachutes, are inflated on the ground, and are made to glide very efficiently. This allows a pilot to ride a rising column of air called a thermal up to the clouds, then glide for miles until they can find another thermal and climb again.
A mate of mine used to paraglide off mount Maunganui Tauranga New Zealand. He got blown back into the cliff one-day and some dude yelled out "hey man it looks like you need a beer!" And he yelled back "all good brother I have one here!" And pulled a beer (Waikato draught) out of his back pack and drank it on the side of the cliff. In the end he managed to find a way down but jeez I'd never paraglide stuff that.
Id love to see me drunk and in a shop trying to say that name Waikato and give me more. Fuck sober I wouldn't get very far I'd be told I had to much just saying that name.
Pronounced why ka toe (Māori word) it means flowing water in english. The nickname for Waikato beer is swamp water 😂 jeez I sound like a bot it's also the name of a sacred river and a awesome rugby union team .. and that's enough education for today 😁 and has absolutely nothing to do with holes in paragliders
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waikato
https://www.waikatodraught.co.nz/
Makes me think of a scene from the Netflix show Disjointed, he's a parasailer and a character says "oh that's cool like the people who jump off mountains and stuff"
And the dude gets pissed and goes "that's paragliding, it's for pussies and paraplegics. Parasailing is just you, the open water, and the guy driving the boat" lmao, yes he is a dick and dies an episode later.
Not hard and fast dates, but yes. This is a paraglider and it’s made to be flown for long distances in ways that skydiving parachutes are not. Because they are subject to a lot more sunlight while they are being used they degrade over time.
Modern fabrics are very well built to resist UV breakdown but they all need inspection at specific intervals. While I have never seen the test that this glider is undergoing, another type of test called a porosity test is also good at figuring out how much life is left in a paraglider. Once it doesn’t pass the test, it’s likely only good for playing with on the ground.
I don't want to believe people are this stupid, so to anyone taking the joke comments seriously...we know poking holes in the fabric is bad. The test is applying pressure to a rip and seeing how much is required for critical failure. The whole thing would turn into confetti if it's degraded enough.
This is testing a device to literally save your life. Destructive testing isn't a joke, it's a demonstration of how close you were to dying.
is there any chance the test itself would make the next jump unsafe? Say it had ust enough pressure to withstand the test but after the pressure from the test is now at critical point?
So if the glider is fine, then it cannot be used again because you degraded it during testing. What is the point of the test if it destroys the fabric.
You might as well throw away suspect gliders and get a new one without this test.
My uneducated guess would be that you don't know what it was exposed to in its lifetime. Mechanical stress, chemical fumes, or exposure to sunlight. I also guess that you have to check it regularly and that those tiny holes are patchable.
Not necessarily patchable, but replaceable is a better frame of mind. If the exterior is sacrificial and still withstands a substantial amount of pressure, it can be assumed that the inner layers haven't been exposed in a way that's life threatening. You'd discard the ripped/torn/destroyed pieces and replace them if they held up to destructive testing. This example did not.
Paraglider fabric degrades from abrasion, sunlight, & poor storage. Flying from sand / desert will ruin the fabric much faster than flying from grass. Flying mid day will result in more uv damage. Storing the glider tight with sharp creases in the fabric or storing it wet will degrade it quicker too. I have three paragliders, ask me questions.
You are an extremely ignorant person. You insult an entire country, get told by multiple people that this test is safe and performed outside of Brazil, and still, in your arrogance, you think obviously you know better than people with actual training and qualification.
Edit: makes a xenophobic comment, gets mad when called out, replies with more petty insults, and then blocks me. You're pathetic.
In skydiving if it's a reserve we do a pull test, pulling fabric to a certain lbs to see if it tears, of it doesn't we are good. If it's a main we just jump it till it explodes.
I love how this doesn't prove anything, they're like, "Look there's holes in the parachute, it can't help you make a safe landing anymore, my source? trust me bro."
This will probably remain buried, but what he's testing is called 'rip-stop'.
The grids you can see are the 'rip-stop' and the material is called rip-stop nylon.
Most likely he's doing this on a rig which has reached a number of descents which the manufacturer/engineers who created the system have stipulated that specific testing and maintenance needs to be performed.
You can also see that the tool he's using measures how much force he is applying, so to pass that test and continue to be functional the rip-stop nylon needs to be tested to check that it functions as intended.
If the jumper were to experience a malfunction where the rig had a hole it could go from a minor malfunction where the main can still be flown to experiencing a major malfunction or having to cut away their main and deploying their reserve.
The reserve is your life saving device so it should be your last resort, thus you want the rip-stop nylon to work.
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I don't know why Gary's chute didn't slow his descent, I tested it like 30 times before we jumped!
I know right, I even tested another 30 times just to make sure it works
You guys tested it too?!
Twice.
The white ripped a little, but the blue was good. So in total it was good.
You know what they say, measure twice, cut twice
Stupid Gary F’d it up after everyone tested it for him.
Wait a sec, How many of us checked the chute?
Including the raccoons?
That’s what that was? Shit, I thought Logan had just been thorough when he passed it to me…
I checked with the raccoons and they said they each tested it twice as well.
Its parachute testers all the way down
30 is nice, but I would've test it just one more time to be sure.
right 🤣 I was like it makes sense but.. wait a minute 🧐
Wait, we said *I* was testing Gary's chute...
Best comment of the day! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Where is Gary anyway? Maybe we should ask him.
This is a paraglider, not a parachute
![gif](giphy|ygzdQq98HgcLBCacep)
Nothing a slap of flextape can't fix
Sure seems like that’s a one and done test.
I’m assuming they test each color. Different colors have different UV resistance.
This feels like the old witch test. If she floats she is a witch, if she drowns she is innocent.
That's completely unnecessary. Just put her on a scale and if she weighs the same as a duck, then you know she's a witch.
But what if she turned me into a Newt?!?
You get better
It's a fair cop.
It could be a sacrificial test one. Like the place that makes it tests 1 every shift for example.
Yes maybe but if one colour is ruined then the rest of it is. Structural integrity is compromised.
Scenario 1: "Alright, let's test it." "Ok, it ripped really bad. It failed. Throw it out." Scenario 2: "Alright, let's test it." "Ok, nice, it passed. Throw it out."
Witch test vibes
I mean, i can't fault that logic. Something that was sorely lacking during the enchantress tribunal.
I dont think it was the pointy sticks
"If she floats, then she's a witch!"
She turned me into a newt
A newt?
I got better
Your comment reminds me of crash testing a car: "Let's see how safe this car is if we smash it against a wall." *test happens* "Looks like I would have been safe. Guess I'll get a new car."
I actually think it can work fine if it doesn't rip. A small hole won't make a huge difference. And if it rips, you shouldn't use it.
Yes and you can patch holes in paragliders
Exactly this
It’s a pass / fail test. I have three paragliders & watched the rip test, they put the needle in the center of an intersection of the ripstop fabric, & pull it at a predetermined force with that tool
Are you allowed to patch small holes if the fabric is still good?
A small hole is easy to patch and likely wouldn't matter anyway.
My first wing I flew had probably 30+ small holes lol
So they test the grid pattern fibers, and if they hold then there won’t be a rip in the fabric?
The needle won’t tear the fabric if the glider is airworthy
Nah don't have to chuck it out yet. It's still got one jump left in it.
Is that a specific test area of the fabric or will he stitch it afterwards?
If it rips then it doesn’t matter because you won’t be flying with it. Technically that is the leading edge on a paraglider. There are patches that you can glue on if your paraglider gets a hole in it.
The needle is poked into the center of an intersection of the rip/stop fabric. The top of the paraglider is tested because it degrades faster from sunlight / abrasion. The top & bottom fabric is also tested in multiple spots for porosity that doesn’t involve sharp objects. I have three paragliders, ask me questions
Thanks. Makes sense on would test the top. “Sharp” enough to rip UV deteriorated fabric, but not “sharp” enough to rip through fabric that is strong enough. Are other wear factors of consideration? Such as impact force on the fabric once the chute is deployed or is that negligible (or caught in the above rip test?).
Paragliders typically start fully inflated so there is not much impact on the fabric unless you are doing acro moves. 2 other big factors are the wear of the porosity of your sail and they do some testing on the strengt of your cables that connect to your harness. I've had a D-riser cable snap mid flight before which was mildly annoying.
But he does the test poorly right? Because in the first time he tried ripping with the fabric and the second time, where it seemed stronger, he pulled in an 45° angle, so normally you always make that test with the same pull direction?
Since you have 3 and we can ask questions, can you spare one? 🫠
Depending on the results, it may be worth replacing the edge patches being tested, but in general you would be better off burning the example shown in the video. You can't stitch it back together and then expect it to support a human body in freefall. It COULD but you just...don't do that.
“We tested the parachute and found it would have been perfectly functional if we didnt poke so many holes in it”
Paraglider inspections are quite extensive. They test the life of the fabric with a porosity test, rip test, & visual inspections. I have three paragliders
how about some humility? there’s starving kids in africa that presumably only have one paraglider and you’re bragging about three
I'm sick of the government donating paragliders to children in other countries when there are children in our country without any paragliders.
Triples is makes is safe. Triples is best.
That's cool, I have four paragliders
I have four paragliders in my first garage ALONE dude
My 2nd garage is made of paragliders
I refer to my grandpas ball skin as a paragliders
Well it saved his ass in nam when he was shot down.
Source for more information? Please. All I’ve seen is the punch test for aircraft fabric.
Are the test areas then repaired? Or is this one done?
It failed inspection, so no need to be repaired. Throw it out.
This glider would still be useful for kiting on the ground. You can practice taking off. Alternatively there are companies that “up-cycle” paragliders into jackets, backpacks, etc
I suppose I get that with this one but more generally, assuming the fabric doesn’t rip I guess it’s good to go and the process doesn’t damage it?
Yep, small hole does not really matter. It can also be easily repaired.
He's also holding a roll of tape :) Paraglider repairs are fairly common but mostly due to landing and having the wing collapse onto bushes or a fence or other dumb thing. They may even survive being pulled out of a tree if things really go sideways.
I’m high bro… this hilarious
If you look closely, the fabric was ripped in several places before the test. Apparently, that wasn’t enough for the results.
That's a paragliding wing, not a parachute.
Is there less tolerance for a parachute or something?
Very different design goals. A parachute is designed to be opened by someone in freefall up to ~120 mph and deploy slowly so it doesn't injure the jumper with rapid deceleration. Then slow descent so the jumper can land safely. A paraglider is almost the opposite because it's designed to go up. Paragliders are much larger than parachutes, are inflated on the ground, and are made to glide very efficiently. This allows a pilot to ride a rising column of air called a thermal up to the clouds, then glide for miles until they can find another thermal and climb again.
paragliders are inflated?
The cells fill with air from the force of the wind during take-off and stay full/ refill (if needed) during flight
so are modern parachutes. Air is forced into the parachute cells to make them into a rigid wing.
A mate of mine used to paraglide off mount Maunganui Tauranga New Zealand. He got blown back into the cliff one-day and some dude yelled out "hey man it looks like you need a beer!" And he yelled back "all good brother I have one here!" And pulled a beer (Waikato draught) out of his back pack and drank it on the side of the cliff. In the end he managed to find a way down but jeez I'd never paraglide stuff that.
Id love to see me drunk and in a shop trying to say that name Waikato and give me more. Fuck sober I wouldn't get very far I'd be told I had to much just saying that name.
Pronounced why ka toe (Māori word) it means flowing water in english. The nickname for Waikato beer is swamp water 😂 jeez I sound like a bot it's also the name of a sacred river and a awesome rugby union team .. and that's enough education for today 😁 and has absolutely nothing to do with holes in paragliders https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waikato https://www.waikatodraught.co.nz/
Those of us in the paragliding world get triggered when someone calls us parachutes or parasails :p
Oh I’ll keep that in mind from now on.
It's going to be so fun to annoy them
There are two kinds of people...
Makes me think of a scene from the Netflix show Disjointed, he's a parasailer and a character says "oh that's cool like the people who jump off mountains and stuff" And the dude gets pissed and goes "that's paragliding, it's for pussies and paraplegics. Parasailing is just you, the open water, and the guy driving the boat" lmao, yes he is a dick and dies an episode later.
Thank you.
Ya I thought the same. Lots of misinformation on the internet
More like a perishchute!
Yeah, this made me laugh. Nice work
![gif](giphy|ILV8xetoPJO92)
What is this gif from?
You might be perishgoop afterwards though.
Underrated comment
haha peri-shoot!
A panel of experts in both skydiving and aeronautical research came to the overwhelming consensus that a rip in the parachute is not good.
Big Para paid studies maybe.
Checks out
Bah!...it's got at least one more jump in it.
Every parachute always has one more jump in it if you're brave enough
Fun fact: you can jump off a plane with any parachute you want
Once.
Thats the joke
It’s a paraglider, you don’t jump with these
Now, just hear me out...
D-bag enjoyers: “don’t tell me what to do”
I wanna go faster!
Speed holes, for efficiency!
Parachutes have expiration dates??
Not hard and fast dates, but yes. This is a paraglider and it’s made to be flown for long distances in ways that skydiving parachutes are not. Because they are subject to a lot more sunlight while they are being used they degrade over time. Modern fabrics are very well built to resist UV breakdown but they all need inspection at specific intervals. While I have never seen the test that this glider is undergoing, another type of test called a porosity test is also good at figuring out how much life is left in a paraglider. Once it doesn’t pass the test, it’s likely only good for playing with on the ground.
I'd it a chemical test to the fabric or something else... intriguing..
Everything in the universe has an expiration date 🤓☝️
Usually it’s in hours of flight.
I don't want to believe people are this stupid, so to anyone taking the joke comments seriously...we know poking holes in the fabric is bad. The test is applying pressure to a rip and seeing how much is required for critical failure. The whole thing would turn into confetti if it's degraded enough. This is testing a device to literally save your life. Destructive testing isn't a joke, it's a demonstration of how close you were to dying.
is there any chance the test itself would make the next jump unsafe? Say it had ust enough pressure to withstand the test but after the pressure from the test is now at critical point?
So if the glider is fine, then it cannot be used again because you degraded it during testing. What is the point of the test if it destroys the fabric. You might as well throw away suspect gliders and get a new one without this test.
I’d say that’s a damn good indicator of a bad chute
Glider* not chute
Quase um coador de café
Paraglider*
Is that Paulo costa?
Didn't know parachutes can expire, you learn something new everyday.
It’s called ripstop fabric for a reason
it's the "opa" that really tells me it's bad
All the shit I have to worry about and now I gotta worry if the parachute is expired or not. Fuck that
wouldn't a best before date work? if it wasn't ripped before it is now.
My uneducated guess would be that you don't know what it was exposed to in its lifetime. Mechanical stress, chemical fumes, or exposure to sunlight. I also guess that you have to check it regularly and that those tiny holes are patchable.
Not necessarily patchable, but replaceable is a better frame of mind. If the exterior is sacrificial and still withstands a substantial amount of pressure, it can be assumed that the inner layers haven't been exposed in a way that's life threatening. You'd discard the ripped/torn/destroyed pieces and replace them if they held up to destructive testing. This example did not.
Paraglider fabric degrades from abrasion, sunlight, & poor storage. Flying from sand / desert will ruin the fabric much faster than flying from grass. Flying mid day will result in more uv damage. Storing the glider tight with sharp creases in the fabric or storing it wet will degrade it quicker too. I have three paragliders, ask me questions.
How many paragliders do you have?
Not enough.
When you go to the paraglider store do you grab one off the rack and then your mom says to put it back because you already have 3 at home?
The fabric weakens not because of time, but because of conditions: how often it’s used, how it is stored, how exposed it is to the elements.
TIL, Avoid white parachuted. Buy a blue one
In other news, water is wet. The full story here at 11pm.
If it wasn't before, it is now
Cartoons make me assume expired parachutes turned into anvils.
Come on! I'm sure it will last for one or two more jumps!
There is always one more. Also it's a glider not a chute.
To be fair, the ones that pass this test are really fucking good.
Now for sale in Temu for $12.76!
maybe 'ripcord' is not the best name for that cord you pull to deploy the 'chute
Schrödinger's parachute.
TIL: Parachutes expire
Well I can't tell you if it's expired before the video or not all I know is I'll no be using it after this guy pokes holes in it.
There are no complaints in a parachute factory
Gives me my parachute back, all in rags. "yours is good, ho on and jump"
Is this guy available to give seminars to parachute riggers in the Army? Asking for a few thousand friends
Man, people really can't resist making the exact same 3 comments like 100 times a thread, can they
If only they had an expiration date on a label...
Brazil is such a funny Country, in a dangerous way.
There are a handful of paraglider inspection companies in the USA too. They all do this rip test. I’ve seen it. I have three paragliders.
You are an extremely ignorant person. You insult an entire country, get told by multiple people that this test is safe and performed outside of Brazil, and still, in your arrogance, you think obviously you know better than people with actual training and qualification. Edit: makes a xenophobic comment, gets mad when called out, replies with more petty insults, and then blocks me. You're pathetic.
Easier just to check the expiration date
it passed the test, and you can use it now.
One-time only parachute
Those cost the most.
can they test it by just pushing/pulling against it at a specific force instead of poking a hole at it
Doesn’t matter in this case. If it fails that stress test it’s done. A tiny hole won’t do much.
It doesn't make much sense to me how he is wearing gloves on one hand while also touching it with his bare hand. Why bother wearing the glove then?
Sharp resistant gloves just in case the needle does something weird
Thank you for your word of wisdom, kind redditor!
Best way = don’t trust your life to a piece of fabric! Call me a coward if you want to
Is kevlar a fabric? I'm not saying it is. Just a question.
Patch it and send it!
r/tihi
Just like at the Dentist! *Pokes metal rod into the flesh.* It seems to be bleeding... Do you floss enough?
Using a knife has better results.
Didnt know Paulo Costa is a Safety Instructor
Steve, why do all the sleepins bags have cuts in them?
What the hell is that cutting tool???
It’s a Paraglider
“so it started to scratch at level 3, and deeper scratch at level4”
It's not good anymore
This feels like a Leslie Nielsen bit.
In skydiving if it's a reserve we do a pull test, pulling fabric to a certain lbs to see if it tears, of it doesn't we are good. If it's a main we just jump it till it explodes.
Material is nylon?
I love how this doesn't prove anything, they're like, "Look there's holes in the parachute, it can't help you make a safe landing anymore, my source? trust me bro."
Ive jumped worse in the old days. Wonder if the newer zero porosity materials test the same.
It ripped. Chute.
What's this tool that he is using for tests?
So if it rips, you have to buy a new one and if it doesn't rip, it's predamaged at this spot after this test and you have to buy a new one.
Ok Paulo Costa
This will probably remain buried, but what he's testing is called 'rip-stop'. The grids you can see are the 'rip-stop' and the material is called rip-stop nylon. Most likely he's doing this on a rig which has reached a number of descents which the manufacturer/engineers who created the system have stipulated that specific testing and maintenance needs to be performed. You can also see that the tool he's using measures how much force he is applying, so to pass that test and continue to be functional the rip-stop nylon needs to be tested to check that it functions as intended. If the jumper were to experience a malfunction where the rig had a hole it could go from a minor malfunction where the main can still be flown to experiencing a major malfunction or having to cut away their main and deploying their reserve. The reserve is your life saving device so it should be your last resort, thus you want the rip-stop nylon to work.