As a skydiver on civie side I was just curious what is the average altitude that you jump from, and what type of rigs are they, I know they are the round canopies but are their any sort of reserve systems or is the altitude low enough that a proper cutaway and reserve deployment wouldn't be possible?
Question For Anyone with a jump qualification?
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The kit used for military parachuting is much different then the civilian gear you might use. There are jumpmasters and parachute instructors on this site who can add more or correct my info:
For a basic parachutist, the gear is a CT-1 conical chute activated by a 24 ft static line. The reserve sits on your chest and is activated by a pull handle. The drills do not involve cutting away anything, but are taught in a way that minimizes the risk of fouling your chutes.
There is also a CT-2 chute which is somewhat steerable. It has a forward direction of about 8 knots and is steered by rotating on it center axis. But is is a conical chute as well.
The free fall chute, which is very similar to civilian chutes is the CT-6. it is rectangular and is steered and flown in the same manner as you would a civilian chute.
For static line jumps, the minimum safe altitude is 800 ft above ground level. Most training jumps take place at either 1000 ft agl for trained jumpers and 1250 ft agl for trainees. The absolute minimum altitude is 400 ft.
Talking with US soldiers who jumped into Panama say at that altitude you might have time to look up at your chute, and then you hit the ground before you look down.
For a basic parachutist, the gear is a CT-1 conical chute activated by a 24 ft static line. The reserve sits on your chest and is activated by a pull handle. The drills do not involve cutting away anything, but are taught in a way that minimizes the risk of fouling your chutes.
There is also a CT-2 chute which is somewhat steerable. It has a forward direction of about 8 knots and is steered by rotating on it center axis. But is is a conical chute as well.
The free fall chute, which is very similar to civilian chutes is the CT-6. it is rectangular and is steered and flown in the same manner as you would a civilian chute.
For static line jumps, the minimum safe altitude is 800 ft above ground level. Most training jumps take place at either 1000 ft agl for trained jumpers and 1250 ft agl for trainees. The absolute minimum altitude is 400 ft.
Talking with US soldiers who jumped into Panama say at that altitude you might have time to look up at your chute, and then you hit the ground before you look down.
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Rocky, that's why ground school for instructor assisted deployment is a couple hours, and military basic para ground school is a couple weeks.
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basic para also makes sure you are ready for every single eventuality, and you know what to do. Civvie is an entirely different thing! I was young and thought that civvie para prepared me for basic. Not bloody likely. I was pretty stupid, but I learned.
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Medic is right about the static line angle....For freefall, the CT-6 is a monster of a chute, 370 square feet of canopy to float down with. Similar to civie rigs but much bigger and you pull a ripcord not a hakie sac. Just as much fun though, most jumps are conducted at the maximum height available, which is 12500'.
Eagle_Eye_View
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What is the chute that SAR tech guys use then...just curious. ;D
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The CSAR-7. It's a 300 sq ft 9 cell canopy. They can use it in both free-fall and static configuration. The reserve is a 335 sq ft 7 cell canopy.
Eagle_Eye_View
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thanks for the info! 
