group parachute shelter

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hi i shall be Purchasing a parachute in the near future for group meetings, could i have some advice on:

what sort of rope to hang it with?

how water resistant are they really?

how high to hang it? (angles ect)

how high above a fire?

and any other info you think i should know!

cheers

RAPPLEBY2000

 

[wizard]

I have a small booklet called "Survival Uses of the Parachute" I wish I could get a copy to you. There may be a way but it may take a few days to get it scanned and made into an Adobe file.
One thing to consider is most paratrooper chutes are very pourous, so they leak in a heavy rain. There are some that are made of a low-pourousity material and are the best for a shelter. The ones used in some ejection systems are usually low-po type. The US ones are multicolor, orange, brown, white and OD. Also some chutes designed for cargo drops come in a low-po material, not all of them though. As for hanging them, height depends on circumstances, how close to the ground you want covered and of course, how big is the canopy you have to hang. Paracord or something like 5mm cord would be good. Most canopies also have a hole at the top where the lines join or pass over to opposite sides and that is a good area to attach a line for the apex of the thing.
I will see if I can get that little booklet scanned in for you and pass it along. Cheers!

 

[Pablo]

Just stumbled on this thread as it happens. Maybe Fenlander can help you more but the thread has a good pic.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=5262&highlight=tarps

Pablo

 

[Goose]

We used a parachute for sleeping under at the new years meet, I need to learn to check my kit properly before I leave! It was raining during the night and although the parachute stopped the rain it seemed as if there was a fine mist in the air all night. It was ok with a bivi bag and it was great during the day as it was dry enough but I would reccomend extra shelter if sleeping under it. I would compare it to a flysheet without the inner.
I just threw a rope over a branch hoisted the apex and pegged out the bottom. The parachute I used was loaned to me and it had a tape around the bottom which gives it the rounded shape, I would cut these away to enable it to be pegged out better to give a better teepee type shape.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Great questions Rappleby! Having just purchased a parachute myself, I'd really like to know the answers too

I did help put a parachute up when I did the Woodlore Journeyman course, when we strung a rope across two trees at probably about 18 feet off the ground with the apex of the parachute attached to the rope by a loop. We then pulled the panels out and attached the guys to surrounding trees or home-made pegs. Basically, it needed to be high enough that when the panels were pegged out you could walk under the edge of the parachute without having to bend over.

But, like you, I would really like to know what ropes and cords should be used and where to get them from.

 

[Fenlander]

Just set this up today where I run my courses.

I cut 3, 18ft poles and lashed the tops together...

I then threaded a rope through the lashing and threw each end over an apposing tree. I secured one end of the rope and then pulled on the other to raise the three poles.....

With the lashed end of the poles raised, I moved the poles into a tripod shape....

Notice this piece if wood suspended from the apex to act as a pully....

With a rope threaded over this, I tied on the parachute and pulled on the other end of the rope to raise it into position....

At this point i would recommend obtaining a 28 line chute as it is much easier to hang correctly (mine is a 22). Assuming you will have a 28 line chute, tie off every 7th line, leaving six untied lines between tied lines. Gather the untied lines into threes and then tie them off. Your parachute should now hang correctly....

The benefit of this system is that you can raise or lower the chute to suite you needs. To remove the chute, i just reverse the process, but now leave the tripod as a perminant fixture and keep a rope threaded through the pully