General

Just got my package of new Estes Ripstop Nylon Parachutes. I bought $80 worth so I could get the free shipping and I got 4 out of the 5 sizes (all but the 18"). They look nice, very colorful (not the plain dark red anymore). They are a bit lighter then the red ones. The old 36" red goes 58.3 grams and the new 36" goes 37.1 gram. Can't wait to try them out.

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the review. What I like about the original red PSII chutes is that they are durable.

I am looking forward to getting some of the new chutes.

I agree, the new Estes chutes are pretty nice. I flew one of the new 15" chutes in my Estes Black Brant II. It got hung up in the little antennas. I flew it again in my Olly-Oop Sharkit and it worked flawlessly. I have a couple of the other sizes, I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Another fan of the chutes. They're a bit thicker than the plastic chutes (such that you may need to modify your fold technique for smaller BTs), with thicker shroud lines such that you'll need a bigger snap-swivel (if you use them), but the rip-stop nylon is lighter than the nylon chutes that Estes also makes available.

I think it was the 18" chute that I used in a BT-55 at the last launch.