How to make an ultra lightweight parachute

You can easily make a small parachute to put inside a balloon that weighs about 2g. This is how.

In this guide I will show you how to make a parachute good for a small payload of up to 30g flown with a small balloon. the final diameter will be approxiamately 20cm. To calculate the descent speed at ground level, you can use this calculator: https://descentratecalculator.onlinetesting.net/

I am using 7µm painters foil/PE foil.

1. Cut a piece of foil roughly 35 x 35cm large. It doesn't have to be accurate.

2. Start with the first corner and twist it

3. Make two knots ontop of eachother in the twisted end.

4. Now take a string that is about 1m in length. Tie severaly knots over the knot in the foil securing it to the foil.

5. Repeat step 2 through 4 for the other 3 corners.

6. Gather the ends of the four string together and tie another knot. Your parachute is finished. You can now put another string at the end, I recommend about 3m. You can then put the parachute in the balloon making sure not to loose the end of the string.

As you can see, the parachute weighs under 2g without the extra string.

I hope this guide helped you building a parachute for use inside a balloon. Definitely let me know if you have problems understanding any parts of this guide!