I sort of understand the life of a wing... lots of dependancies...etc. But what about the reserve?Assuming it isn't used in anger, is repacked on a regular basis and generally looked after, how long should I wait to replace it? Also assumes I don't eat too may pies as well.
Similar question for a harness, assuming it is used, bashed a bit, exposed to lots of UK sunshine (!!!)... UV. I guess the answers for the harness are; showing signs of wear, damage, UV, pie intake, bored of it, I NEED A NEW SHINY ONE.... etc
Expected lifespan of a reserve and harness.
Re: Expected lifespan of a reserve and harness.
Generally reserves are seen as a 10 year item.
Some of the super ultra light reserves are a one chuck item. Unless a reserve was massively over loaded or was damaged after a deployment on the ground it just needs to be aired and repacked with no inspection issues.
In the past I have really gone over quite a few older reserves, including load testing the lines* + permeability and Betts tests. Although they all appeared to be in spec I have generally opted for following the industry advice.
I have never worn a harness out, the hang points and webbing are massively over engineered. its only the outer shell which generally gets worn, most people change their harnesses to " Update" rather than because they need to. I have a High Adventure harness from 1993 which has got 1000/1200 hrs on it a third of that in high UV areas, Alps/Southern Spain etc
* I was limited to my PG line testing rig, which in reality was under powered for useful results
Some of the super ultra light reserves are a one chuck item. Unless a reserve was massively over loaded or was damaged after a deployment on the ground it just needs to be aired and repacked with no inspection issues.
In the past I have really gone over quite a few older reserves, including load testing the lines* + permeability and Betts tests. Although they all appeared to be in spec I have generally opted for following the industry advice.
I have never worn a harness out, the hang points and webbing are massively over engineered. its only the outer shell which generally gets worn, most people change their harnesses to " Update" rather than because they need to. I have a High Adventure harness from 1993 which has got 1000/1200 hrs on it a third of that in high UV areas, Alps/Southern Spain etc
* I was limited to my PG line testing rig, which in reality was under powered for useful results