Folding paragliders in concertina causes premature ageing
Here are two ways of folding a paraglider as recommended by MCC Avation.
It is also this non concertina folding method which is recommended by certain service centres who have noticed less wear on wings packed in this manner.
Marc Genovese, the French distributor for MCC AVIATION and SKY PARAGLIDERS, advocates that « Concertina type folding creases the leading edge fabric and causes premature ageing by provoking a destructuring of the surface coating on the leading edge due to the multitude of folds. Repeated crumpling and creasing plus wetting are ideal ways to artificially age test wing fabric. We realised that concertina folding is necessary for competition wings which have plastic reinforcements, but for MCC and even SKY wings which have less reinforcements, this does more damage than good. All that needs doing is to put the cells one on top of the other and not compress the wing too much »
So, if you still have doubts about the best way to pack and compress your wing, you may always loosely fan out the wing and place it in a ‘rapid’ bag such as the SUP’AIR model.
Never fold the wing in the same way to avoid wrinkles in the same places
To avoid the destructuring of the coating on the fabric, avoid folding at exactly the same place each time. By using the folding and storage bag the Tube, you have the assurance that your wing will never be folded in the same way!
