military surplus cargo chutes

[fedor]

Hi folks,

Does anybody know a place to look for 9-12' military/navy surplus cargo chutes, which can be used as a sea anchor? Will appreciate any hints/ideas, as purpose made sea anchors seem to be extermely expensive...

 

[steve_cronin]

Try:-

http://www.exarmy.co.uk/exarmy.htm

 

[graham]

I dont know if it would work but what about one of the heavy weight bags that building sand is sometimes delivered in?

 

[PaulJ]

Swede and Sons in the US do them by mail order - www.swedeandsons.com

 

[fedor]

hmm, such a sea anchor will definitely occupy a lot of space. also, do those bags have strops attached? I do not think so..

 

[fedor]

thanks!

 

[graham]

They have canvas handles which go right round the bag they must be strong to allow a ton of sand to be picked up by them.

I think the main problem with any improvised sea anchor is how to keep the mouth of it open as once collapsed it would offer very little resistance to the water.

 

[bedouin]

One of the books that discusses heavy weather has an example of these being used as a drogue (or more precisely I think it was 2 or 3 used as a series drogue) to good effect.

However I don't think they are particularly suitable for a sea-anchor simply because they are too small. You would need about 8 of them to get the equivalent of the para-anchor recommended for a 32' boat - and that number would be virtually impossible to deploy.

 

[Guest]

when the winds howling, your neck is on the line, do you really want to be thinking " maybe I should have bought the purpose made sea anchor after all"

cutting costs on antifoul is one thing, but on ultimate safety kit???

 

[alex_rogers]

I have the braking parachute of a Jaguar jet rigged as a sea parachute (about 9 feet diameter). It is very strong and has an open design to handle shock forces. Don't know where you'd get one from, but they are another potential source of sea parachute.