On 1/6/2016 8:56 AM, Bob Whelan wrote:
While I have no idea what manufacturers of round emergency 'chutes do
these days, in the days when used and ex-military ones were common in
the glider world (e.g '70's/'80's), an also-quite-common "four line
release" modification was routinely offered/performed by master
riggers. It allowed - post-inflation - the user to quickly release 2
risers on each rear side of the canopy, thereby providing some measure
of continual air-venting and, reportedly, distinct forward motion
along with some degree of steerability.

During my military flying days we were issued a hook-blade knife which
was carried in a flight suit pocket on the left leg just below the
crotch. We called it the "peter pocket" for obvious reasons. It was
attached to a grommet in the pocket's snap flap by about 5 or 6 feet of
cord so it wouldn't be lost if dropped. All of the parachutes I wore
also had a 4-line modification which allowed releasing the back center 4
suspension lines (two from each rear riser). I guess the knife was for
the occasion that I had an unmodified chute or something about the
modification failed. Release of the 4 lines would open a lobe at the
rear of the canopy which allowed air to spill out at the rear of the
chute both reducing oscillation under the canopy and imparting a small
amount of forward motion.

My old Pioneer Thin Pack round canopy emergency chute had a mesh panel
at the rear which served the same function as a 4-line cut. For my
personal safety, I retired that chute, mainly because no riggers these
days seem to have the wherewithal to inspect it due to it's 40+ year
age, and replaced it with a ram air canopy for which I took several
training jumps.

The advice to discard the rip cord is to "avoid it becoming tangled in
the parachute". Frankly, I find this to be so unlikely as to be
ridiculous but the $50 or so required to replace it seems to be small
insurance against that unlikely event. Likewise, with my current chute,
the pilot chute and deployment bag are sacrificial, i.e., they're not
connected to the canopy and, after deploying the canopy, they're lost.
The advice in that regard is to not try to catch them during your
descent. Picture hitting a bridge or power line just as it comes within
your reach!

--
Dan, 5J