When Does Skydiving Gear Become Antique
That is the question. A drop zone in Great Britain would say that the ol’ rig is rubbish, meanwhile a salesman at Lodi would tell a newly licensed jumper that he/she could get at least ten more years out of it. Is there a middle ground or is 20 years all you should expect to get out of a piece of skydiving gear regardless of condition?
I am not sure where I stand on this to be honest. I simply haven’t scoured through the data enough to make an informed decision. I’m sure someone has but so far all I have come across is people who are afraid of law suits so they go along with the 20 year thing. Who even picked that number?
One study I came across from 1995, (Ericksen, R.H. & Whinery, L.D. Storage life of parachutes — long time material degradation, article, April 1, 1995; Albuquerque, New Mexico. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc677893/: accessed March 27, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.), shows that the, “mechanical property and dimensional data from a 29 year old nylon parachute revealed no strength loss, shrinkage or other evidence of degradation.”
Does that mean we are good to go? Then what is with the 20 years? I think we just needed to put a date on some pieces of gear so that they can be re-inspected by the manufacture or for pilot bail out rigs, placed out of commission. It helps keep all parties involved safe if we just periodically strength test and calibrate our old gear to make sure that it indeed has not degraded over time. Who wants to find out they were wrong when their reserve blows a cell.
On the other hand what skydiver keeps there gear in a hermitically sealed bag and stores it in a extremely dark and temperature controlled climate year round. We know those things are slow baking somewhere in an RV with a struggling A/C.
Not everything ages the same over the course of 20 years, just look at Mickey Rourke. But again, how long are we looking to keep a parachute? Its ripstop nylon and strings, not an aluminum airframe. I think that skydiving gear is extremely overbuilt and allows us to get away with a lot, but then again maybe one day it doesn’t.
If your gear is older than 20 years just be mindful that this stuff wasn’t meant to last forever. You may have got a killer deal on it, but I can almost guarantee you that the person who sold it to you was glad to finally see it go. Just remember, if you buy a new rig, it will last you 20 years! That is a long time and a good investment. A $10,000 dollar rig over the course of 20 years really only costs you $42 dollars a month. That’s like $1.50 a day. Remember that on the day you’re burning in on your antique gear.
What I would give for a buck fitty.
