Dwain,
I disagree with some of your comments and would like to make a few points, less any unsuspecting jumpers stake their safety on this information.
First let me say that "Glide Ratio" is a virtually worthless parameter for comparison as it is highly variable, difficult to quantify and often misrepresented in advertising. This is not to say that different
canopies will not exhibit different behaviour with respect to glide efficiency but the simple "distance covered" approach is not a meaningfull point of comparison.
Many factors beyond the design will influence the glide of a parachute.
Wingloading is most certanly one of them as variations in wing loading effect dynamic pressure which in-turn influences wing shaping and efficiency.
Denisity altitude-for the numbers to have any relevance they must be correctd back to standard -day-sea level.
Ambient wind. Down wind/upwind, as pointed out, have a bearing on emperical measurments.
Canopy age and condition also will have a bearing. Both with respect to cloth integrity and also line trim.
PC drag is a factor but bridle attachment style is probably negligable. The principal influence of a PC is related to form drag not compramises in wing shaping.
I could go on with a list or minor factors but the point is that Glide Ratio is only a viable parameter when discussing fixed wing aircraft under controlled tests.
However, for parachutes the term came into the lexicon as a marketing tool. Any claims about a canopy's glide ratio weather valid or not are certainly not relevant to another canopy unless all tests were conducted under the same set of conditions and rules. Even in such a case the actual numbers would only be relative- not absolute.