Great-Looking Chutes — Designs? Sources?

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I need a chute (or two) in the 72” range, and I’d like to get one that looks great and is unique. Does anyone have any ideas for designs or places to buy unique chutes?

I’ve purchased chutes from Spherachutes, and they are pretty nice. https://spherachutes.com/ These are nice hemispherical chutes, so they look pretty big when inflated. Each size has a set number of panels, and you are allowed to designate a color for each panel, so you have a lot of options for a unique design.

I have one spherachute that is a 54”, 8 panels, alternating black and fluorescent green. This one looks pretty good, but with 2 colors alternating, it’s not exactly unique.

I have another that is 84”, 12 panels, alternating red and yellow. This one looks good too. I used it with my Warlock, which is also red and yellow. I think the alternating 2-color scheme looks better with more panels, so the 12-panel is better than the 8-panel, but it’s still not exactly the most inspired design. Unfortunately, this chute is oversized for the Warlock, so I’m looking for a 72”, probably in red and yellow, but not necessarily alternating. The Spherachute 72” is 8 panels, so if you have any suggestions for how to lay out 8 panels in a unique red and yellow design, let me know. One idea I had was black, yellow, red, yellow, black, yellow, red, yellow. Or maybe black, 3 yellow, black, 3 red. Suggestions and feedback are welcome!

I have one more spherachute— a 24”, 6 panel, random bright colors. This is a chute I used for my monkey during the LDRS 37 mass monkey loft. That’s a fun chute, and it’s very circus-like for monkey lofting, but not what I’m looking for in the bigger chute.

Another vendor I’m looking at is Bama Recovery. https://www.bamachutes.com/ I posted a similar question about chute designs on Facebook, and the guy who runs this company reached out to me. He makes some unique types of chutes that give more options than just picking panel colors. He suggested maybe doing a yellow star on a red background in one of the star chute designs. That might be pretty cool.

The other rocket I’d like a custom chute for is my upscale Silver Comet. I’d like something with a sci-fi look, but I have no idea what a sci-fi inspired chute should even look like, so if you have any ideas, let me know.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[dhbarr]

Bama, no question. He can do ringsail, biconic, whatever.

I don't know of anyone else doing such extreme customization, but I'd be gladly wrong

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Bama, no question. He can do ringsail, biconic, whatever.

I don't know of anyone else doing such extreme customization, but I'd be gladly wrong

His stuff seemed the most customized. And the prices seemed pretty good for that kind of unique look. Have you ever seen one in person? Are they well-constructed?

 

[tim cubbedge]

Yes, he flies down in Florida regularly at both fields I fly at and has sold many chutes at both clubs. Have not heard one unhappy camper.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

User DeepOvertone used one or two Bama Chutes this past Saturday and I got a good look at one. It was a hemispherical chute, maybe a custom job IIRC, maybe he will chime in. It looked a lot like a Sphereachute. The seams where the panels overlapped were sewn "more" than on the Sphereachute. By more I simply it had more stitches and more overlap, beefier. Better? No idea. We compared it side by side with my Sphereachute. I prefer my Sphereachute. Not as bulky, nicer shroud lines. Nothing negative toward Bama for sure. It opened correctly and brought the bird down nice and stable.

You can get a Sphereachute in a wide range of colors. And I was able to request the number of panels/gores I wanted. With alternating colors and 1 shroud line per gore/panel.

I have three Rocketman chutes. I love the easy packing and only three shroud lines. It is possible I will eventually being using Rocketman in all of my rockets, I like them. I don't know if they do custom colors or not, but I am not as concerned with that as I used to be.

For a sci-fi looking chute, maybe get someone to do you up a pyramid looking thing. Or...
I like the new(ish) T-11 parachutes. Maybe you can find someone to make you one of those. If you do, let me know I may get one made as well. Been wanting to, just never have.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Yes, he flies down in Florida regularly at both fields I fly at and has sold many chutes at both clubs. Have not heard one unhappy camper.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[dhbarr]

His stuff seemed the most customized. And the prices seemed pretty good for that kind of unique look. Have you ever seen one in person? Are they well-constructed?

Reasonably well constructed, highly customizable. I have a toroidal and several of the TARC chutes.

For wanting something sci-fi, maybe a ballute?

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

User DeepOvertone used one or two Bama Chutes this past Saturday and I got a good look at one. It was a hemispherical chute, maybe a custom job IIRC, maybe he will chime in. It looked a lot like a Sphereachute. The seams where the panels overlapped were sewn "more" than on the Sphereachute. By more I simply it had more stitches and more overlap, beefier. Better? No idea. We compared it side by side with my Sphereachute. I prefer my Sphereachute. Not as bulky, nicer shroud lines. Nothing negative toward Bama for sure. It opened correctly and brought the bird down nice and stable.

You can get a Sphereachute in a wide range of colors. And I was able to request the number of panels/gores I wanted. With alternating colors and 1 shroud line per gore/panel.

I have three Rocketman chutes. I love the easy packing and only three shroud lines. It is possible I will eventually being using Rocketman in all of my rockets, I like them. I don't know if they do custom colors or not, but I am not as concerned with that as I used to be.

For a sci-fi looking chute, maybe get someone to do you up a pyramid looking thing. Or...
I like the new(ish) T-11 parachutes. Maybe you can find someone to make you one of those. If you do, let me know I may get one made as well. Been wanting to, just never have.

I do like my Spherachutes. I ordered one earlier in the year, and I asked about adding extra gores. She told me she could do it by cutting the patterns for a larger chute that had more gores and then cutting the circle down to size. It wouldn’t be hemispherical afterwards, but would still be a portion of a sphere — not flat. I didn’t like that solution and went with something different.

One difference between Spherachutes and Bama that I can see is that Bama can incorporate other designs, not just offer options on colored panels. So for example, Bama can add a star pattern or other elements, like trim or patches, which is pretty cool.

It’s interesting you mention Spherachutes as being less bulky than Bama. I would have guessed the opposite, because it looks like Bama is using lighter weight materials. For the Warlock, I have tons of room to spare, so bulk is not an issue. In fact, I’d be happy to go with a less efficient design on the chute for that rocket if it meant the chute could be larger.

Those T11 chutes are cool-looking! The design is unique, but I’m also noticing the fabric has a metallic sheen. Do you know if any of the Bama chutes you saw use the silver color? BJ told me he might recommend using his silver fabric for the sci-fi rocket, but from the pictures, I couldn’t really tell if it was very metallic looking, or mostly just grey.

I’m planning on getting a Rocketman chute for one of my other rockets.

 

[stealth6]

Have you thought about making your own?

I was really happy with the ones I made that were based on the Vatsaas Brothers design. If you go the DIY route, you have tons of choices in colors, fabrics, accents/details, etc. And you can almost guarantee that it would be unique. It's also very satisfying....along the same level as building scratch rockets.

s6

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

I do like my Spherachutes. I ordered one earlier in the year, and I asked about adding extra gores. She told me she could do it by cutting the patterns for a larger chute that had more gores and then cutting the circle down to size. It wouldn’t be hemispherical afterwards, but would still be a portion of a sphere — not flat. I didn’t like that solution and went with something different.

One difference between Spherachutes and Bama that I can see is that Bama can incorporate other designs, not just offer options on colored panels. So for example, Bama can add a star pattern or other elements, like trim or patches, which is pretty cool.

It’s interesting you mention Spherachutes as being less bulky than Bama. I would have guessed the opposite, because it looks like Bama is using lighter weight materials. For the Warlock, I have tons of room to spare, so bulk is not an issue. In fact, I’d be happy to go with a less efficient design on the chute for that rocket if it meant the chute could be larger.

Those T11 chutes are cool-looking! The design is unique, but I’m also noticing the fabric has a metallic sheen. Do you know if any of the Bama chutes you saw use the silver color? BJ told me he might recommend using his silver fabric for the sci-fi rocket, but from the pictures, I couldn’t really tell if it was very metallic looking, or mostly just grey.

I’m planning on getting a Rocketman chute for one of my other rockets.

When I was saying less bulky, it was an observation based on the number of gores in the Bama along with the more material and stitching in the overlaps between gores. More gores will result in more bulk. I have only seen one sphereacute (mine) and one Bama (his). But no, I saw no silver color. You may can acquire some silver nylon and send it his way for a custom chute.

Some chutes seem to have a sheen on them. I think my Rocktman does. Just depends on the fabric I guess. Rocketman chutes have a loop on the top of the canopy for, I'm guessing, a pilot chute to pull it from one of his deployment bags. I haven't used deployment bags yet.

The T-11 is replacing the current military chute, the T-10. I see the 82nd and 101st jump pretty regularly and still have yet to see a T-11 that I can remember. But even the old ones seem to have a sheen on them. Like I say, just the fabric.

And I may have been way off on the number of gores on the Sphereachute. It has been a couple of years. I do like that they come with a little bag to pack em in.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Have you thought about making your own?

I was really happy with the ones I made that were based on the Vatsaas Brothers design. If you go the DIY route, you have tons of choices in colors, fabrics, accents/details, etc. And you can almost guarantee that it would be unique. It's also very satisfying....along the same level as building scratch rockets.

s6

That would definitely open up a lot of options, but I don’t think it’s something I’m interested in trying.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

When I was saying less bulky, it was an observation based on the number of gores in the Bama along with the more material and stitching in the overlaps between gores. More gores will result in more bulk. I have only seen one sphereacute (mine) and one Bama (his). But no, I saw no silver color. You may can acquire some silver nylon and send it his way for a custom chute.

Some chutes seem to have a sheen on them. I think my Rocktman does. Just depends on the fabric I guess. Rocketman chutes have a loop on the top of the canopy for, I'm guessing, a pilot chute to pull it from one of his deployment bags. I haven't used deployment bags yet.

The T-11 is replacing the current military chute, the T-10. I see the 82nd and 101st jump pretty regularly and still have yet to see a T-11 that I can remember. But even the old ones seem to have a sheen on them. Like I say, just the fabric.

And I may have been way off on the number of gores on the Sphereachute. It has been a couple of years. I do like that they come with a little bag to pack em in.

Thanks for the info.

 

[RocketFeller]

I love my Bama parachutes and always get lots of compliments on them. They really are an amazing value when you consider the customization and super-fast turnaround.

I have a sixteen foot Rocketman parachute that is also very nice, with the four heavy shroud lines you can pretty much wad it up and stuff it - tangling is a nonissue.

 

[Mustang67]

How about Fruity Chutes? https://fruitychutes.com/

I have a few, and very pleased with the product. Definitely compact and lite.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I love my Bama parachutes and always get lots of compliments on them. They really are an amazing value when you consider the customization and super-fast turnaround.

I have a sixteen foot Rocketman parachute that is also very nice, with the four heavy shroud lines you can pretty much wad it up and stuff it - tangling is a nonissue.

Thanks for the feedback on both of these chute makers.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

How about Fruity Chutes? https://fruitychutes.com/

I have a few, and very pleased with the product. Definitely compact and lite.

I like Fruity Chutes, and I actually know the guy who runs that company. I consider those to be top of the line chutes, and the price reflects that. If I ever have a rocket where space for the recovery system is tight, I’ll probably go with them, but I have lots of room in these rockets, so I’m looking for something a bit more affordable, or to spend the money on some added visual details.

 

[crossfire]

Give the Top Flight Recovery CF line of chutes a try they pack small and have a 20 year track record for the design. Very flight proven. 1000s sold.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Give the Top Flight Recovery CF line of chutes a try they pack small and have a 20 year track record for the design. Very flight proven. 1000s sold.

Thanks for the suggestion. It’s not really the look I’m going for on this project.

 

[Joe Rocket 97]

BAMA Recovery, great product and service. Ben makes custom chutes also

 

[Rocketjunkie]

If you need a 15' chute, you can't beat the surplus flare chutes. I've been using them for years and it's surprising what abuse they will withstand.