At 18:40 20 November 2008, Frank Whiteley wrote: (snip)
Why? Because it's a comfortable chair type chute and my first choice
was several months backordered http://tinyurl.com/55t3fz and I didn't
wish to wait.
Frank Whiteley

In the UK it is very unusual for anyone to fly a glider without wearing a
parachute and that includes people on trial lessons. I hesitate to
speculate on whether many would be able to operate the chute.

I have an EB80 which was designed and manufactured by Irvin Airchute (Now
Airborne Systems) and it is designed to open within 700ft. It is certainly
the most comfortable and well made parachute that I have worn.