I would like to remind everyone that whether or not AE carried rafts, kites or parachutes, she died, and the TIGHAR hypothesis suggests it was after she landed on Gardner which had nothing to do with kites, rafts or chutes. That wasn't the plan when she left Lae. I think we all agree that part of the reason her plans didn't work was poor planning. What safety gear might/should she have carried? Rafts, chutes, kites? Sure but by landing on Gardner she could have had a car in the Electra for all the good it or the other items would have done. But you carry safety gear "just in case". If you have a chute and the plane has trouble then you have a choice. No chute and you have no choice.
Let's go back to the concept of carrying a parachute. It's for safety. She wasn't going to be skydiving for her fans.
If she had parachutes delivered to Port Darwin then why would she go to that trouble and then leave them at Lau? Ship them home from Lae? She was headed that way already! She could have charged herself shipping and set a new record for parcel delivery from Lae.
Don't start with weight again. We covered that already and said the parachutes didn't make any significant difference.
What good reason can be given for dropping them at Lae after carrying for one trip from Port Darwin?
IMHO. There was no good reason to unload them at Lae. Unwillingness to use them, lack of training, not wanting to jump at night. It doesn't matter. I think we are all agreed she had them on the Electra when she left Port Darwin. You guys are honestly trying to suggest that after all the trouble of getting them shipped to Port Darwin (requiring logistics) asking for them immediately on landing, that she then decided, after one short trip to Lae, with the longest leg of the trip right in front of her, that she said "gee. Don't know why I bothered with these as I (fill in your favorite reason for leaving them). I will leave them here."
You guys have to stop thinking about what you would or wouldn't do and ask what was AE doing? Put yourself in her shoes. Ask what is "most likely"?
Ric, if it doesn't make sense to haul that weight around then why did she? And only for one short leg of the trip. That's the mystery. Did she bail out somewhere? Did she land at Gardner and forget about them because she thought the Electra was safe on the reef and help would arrive soon? Did she use them to bury poor FN with a parachute as his burial shroud and didn't think to use them for signalling? Did FN bail out and left her to navigate herself? It's not enough to say it doesn't make sense without then saying what might make sense. As always we will likely never know but IF she had parachutes on that island and a remnant remains, then it might be another piece to the puzzle. And its not about if she woulda, coulda, shoulda used them, just did she have them.