Do you know a practical way to measure canopy volume at home?

[freeflyfree 0]

Anybody? a home made contraption to actually meassure the volume of a canopy? or a technique maybe? thanks....

Felipe

--
Blue Skies
NO FEARS, NO LIMITS, NO MONEY...
"A Subitánea et Improvísa Morte, Líbera nos, Domine."

[mollusc 0]

Put it in a plastic bag, suck out the air with a vacuum cleaner, put it in a bucket of water and see how much water it replaces. Just a thought though, never done it, and never even heard of it.

[yoink 321]

Use three bits of string to measure your d-bag when packed. Then measure the string with a ruler...

lxbxh = volume


maybe

[councilman24 37]

No method you use will "match" number done using the PIA method. Even two people trying to match the PIA mehod will get variations. No two test "chambers" are identical. Jump Shacks is different from Rigging Innovations (Sandy Reid) is different from Precision Aerodynamics. See http://www.pia.com/piapubs/TSDocuments/ts-104.pdf for the original study and the background.

PIA is working to update a testing procedure but meeting twice a year and being all volunteer it's slow going. The rig manufacturers most often refer to measured canopies to determine their rig volumes. For a container the volume changes if you inflate it like a beach ball or pack it square like a d-bag.

Bottom line, unless you want to complile a personal data base and test every canopy that you care about so the numbers compare, don't bother trying.

Chair, PIA Rigging Committee

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[riggerrob 643]

The simplest way to measure pack volume is to try packing the canopy into the rig in question. If it "falls in" then it is too small for that container.
On the other hand, if you struggle at every step of packing, then it is too tight.