Throwing a reserve
Gear Guide,  Harnesses and reserves

Design Insight: Steerable Reserves

What do you need to know before opting for a steerable reserve? Bastienne Wentzel finds out

7 September, 2026, by Bastienne Wentzel

When it comes to choosing your reserve one of the big choices to make is between non-steerable or steerable. The latter are sometimes said to be mainly for acro pilots and experienced pilots. But are they? Steerable reserves come in two flavours: conventional square canopies that are adapted to allow directional control, and rogallo-type canopies.

The latter are similar to the flexible wing that Francis Rogallo developed for Nasa 80 years ago when researching potential recovery parachutes for spacecraft. The rogallo-type reserve is the most well-known steerable...

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