Splittertarn parachute pack

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

Re numbered of chutes that survived. I own two East German chutes and not a lot of them survived for very good reason. According to the regulations once a chute was 15 years old it could no longer be used safely and was withdrawn from service. No doubt the same thing happened in the west.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

I agree that indications are that this was not a chute for standard paras. I'm wondering if it might have been intended for covert insertions for special services agents, pathfinders, or others that would be dropped low and without the many kilos of junk that normal soldiers carry (including things like mortar tubes). For such insertions a reserve chute might not serve much of a purpose because by the time trouble is detected so would the ground

Of course it could have been for pilots. Having it be camo would make sense in that once on the ground the pilot would not want the chute/pack discovered.

Gordon, the expiration date is indeed an excellent reason to explain why so few chutes survive. Other types of outdated stuff tended to stay around because they still had some potential service left in them. But an outdated chute? Not worth keeping around. Plus, thinking about it more, the chutes would be concentrated in a very small number of storage locations, unlike other forms of surplus. So if the edict is to destroy everything older than x date, there's probably a better chance that the destruction happened. Other surplus was more likely to get lost track of or nobody really caring about.

All theories

Steve

[Collectinsteve]

This morning I noticed there's two male snaps at the top point of each of the two shoulder straps. Anybody have any theories about what they might be?

Steve

[Gene T]

This morning I noticed there's two male snaps at the top point of each of the two shoulder straps. Anybody have any theories about what they might be?

Steve

Hi Steve,

I think those snaps are perfectly placed for securing a comfort pad, the kind you really only see on parachutes worn by pilots (for example this US model of very similar size and layout: https://www.ima-usa.com/products/ori...nt=26172055365). This, combined with the small size and high deployment speed, make it difficult for me to imagine this rig as anything other than a pilot's emergency chute. Too bad the model name is no longer legible, otherwise there would have been no mystery.

[Collectinsteve]

Well done Gene! As far as I'm concerned, mystery solved! This is most likely a pilot's parachute. The overall design is nearly identical to the US WW2 pilot's chute you linked to.

The camo, I suppose, was to help disguise the parachute once discarded. I know that one of the first things a pilot is supposed to do when he hits the ground is hide all traces of his chute.

Steve

[sgtdorango]

Wow thats an incredible camo item!.............mike

[schorni58]

Hi Steve,
I have a nearly similar chute in Splittertarn bag, the chute itself is amöbentarn, it is a rescue chute in triangle form.
Regards
Matthias

[Collectinsteve]

Hi Matthias!

Thanks for posting the pictures. It saves me from having to ask you to post them Jens showed them to me yesterday.

Your label is easier to read than mine and it confirms that this is an emergency parachute for air crews, not soldiers. The contract number on yours is slightly different than mine, but both were made by the same company. Mine in 1956 and yours in 1957. Much of the labels are the same.

I am jealous of your parachute! It is a work of art! It also is what I would expect for an air crew parachute. The last thing a bailed out crew member wants is a very large white cloth to show the enemy where to look. Mine is white perhaps because that's all they had available in 1956.

Congratulations on impressing me with your collection yet again. I wish we lived closer together because I think we would have a lot of fun comparing our collections in person.

Steve