Object Avoidance Drills

[lifewithoutanet 0]

I did a floating exit this weekend, facing the bridge, then dumped and attempted to get turned around and avoid the 'phantom' object that I was facing.

The exit:
I stepped off backwards and other than being a little head-high, the exit went fine.

Freefall:
Short delay... 1-1.5. Best visuals thus far.

Deployment:
On-heading, facing under the bridge.

Avoidance:
Unsuccessful. Had it been a true 180 off a B or an E, I'd very likely be injured or dead. All the more reason to practice these drills.
When I opened, the canopy deployed on-heading and though in deep brakes, took off at a very fast rate; a rate I hadn't noticed fully without the aid of the visuals of flying towards the bridge. I went to both rears to slow down and back the canopy up, then released my left rear riser and reached across to my right front riser, pulling it down to match the right rear and aid the turn. All in all, I don't think I spent enough time on both rears. I got it turned around but in all that I did lose a significant bit of altitude (and I was altitude-aware throughout this). I was back in full flight and able to clear my toggles with time to spare before I landed.

What I learned:
1.) These are VERY enlightening drills. (Once again, "Thanks, Tom".)
2.) My deep brake settings are too shallow and need adjustment.
3.) Because of the loss of altitude, turn away from the object, but only as far away from the object as necessary to avoid striking it. I came around with a full 180 (and then had to continue another 90 to head for dry land). I should have just turned enough to avoid the object (i.e. 90 left or right if I were trying to avoid a flat wall). I did maintain altitude awareness in my turn and if I'd had the visual of a wall to aid me, I might only have turned enough and flown down the wall, rather than completely away from it. This would have depended on altitude awareness and how low I was.

My questions...

What else could/should I add to these drills?
What else could/should I have done to avoid the phantom object?
And as important as the above...what *didn't* I learn in this drill that I should have?

Thanks, all.
-C. (ya)

Edit: Grammar and punctuation.

[JaapSuter 0]

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Because of the loss of altitude, turn away from the object, but only as far away from the object as necessary to avoid striking it. I came around with a full 180

Interesting, I did exactly the same thing on my SJC (second jump course ). I did a side-floater facing to the north of the canyon on my 11th jump. I had a 90 left, so ended up facing towards the bridge. I then used rear-risers for a full 180 and ended up losing too much altitude to turn it around for a downwind landing. I then decided to go for the water instead.

The water can get quite chilly in November
Same lesson I suppose; only use risers to turn as far as to point away from the object.

Thanks for sharing.

[Rauk 0]

Sorry to cut our conversation short man. Maybe in Moab. What was the wind like when you attempted this? It would speed you up considerably depending on which direction (as I am sure you know). Keep in mind though, that with most B's, and E's you are going to be jumping with little to no wind at all (especially wind blowing you back into the object). Anyway, just a thought, talk to you soon.
Have fun
Adam

[lifewithoutanet 0]

I get what you're saying. The wind was negligible at that time and while it would still have been a factor, its impact was minimal compared to the overall forward speed. I think the greater contributor was my brake settings.

As an aside, we had to hold off until around sunset on Sat. The winds were just too high. We were standing on the bridge looking around for you and it reminded me of Moab.

"Yeah...the winds are a little squirrely, so we're going to send Adam."

"Hold on...we'll get the cameras rolling."


-C.

[TomAiello 25]

Along the lines of Adam's thoughts:

If you are facing a solid object, and the wind is pushing you into it (which ought to be very rare, since with a headwind, you shouldn't be exiting a solid object), it's often better to turn on toggles.

The reason for this is the total distance the canopy travels toward the object.

Under "ordinary" (i.e. not a headwind blowing you back into a solid object) circumstances, distance travelled toward the object is minimized by using the risers. While this may seem to result in a "slow" turn, the turn while "slower" in time used (it takes more seconds to turn), is actually "faster" in horizontal distance consumed (you move less feet toward the wall).

However, if you add in a headwind, you find that the wind speed gets added to the canopies speed, over time. So, in that situation, you want to minimize the _time_ you spend turning (because you are getting blown toward the object during the turn). So, in the headwind case, you need to minimize turn time in order to minimize horizontal distance used. Which means, often, that you ought to be turning on the toggles.

This is, in my opinion, perhaps the only situation in which an imminent object strike is best addressed with the toggles, rather than the risers. These situations most often occur on slider up cliff jumps (where people are willing to exit into a headwind because they can create more object separation during the freefall).

Note that my use of the term "imminent object strike" pretty much means that you find your body tensing up to accept the impact. If you're 100 feet away from the object (or in any other situation where impact is not imminent) you're usually better off turning on the toggles, because a toggle turn uses less vertical altitude (and in almost every situation not involving imminent impact, vertical altitude is your most precious commodity).

I find it often helps to evaluate a jump by deciding what the "most precious" thing I have at opening is: often it's separation from the wall, but sometimes it can also be time before striking the wall (in a headwind scenario) or altitude before striking the ground. In fact, at different times during the same jump, it will be different things. Choose your turn strategy to conserve your "most precious" commodity, and expend a different one, instead.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[sum1sneaky 0]

You also should take into account that had you jumped straight out (like you would off an E) that the distance between you and the wall will be at least 10 feet more than it was from your floater exit where you just dropped straight off. The other thing you're missing is the line twist that will be there, even if it's just a 1/2 twist, it can mess with your hand's reactions a little bit.

To really practice having a 180 - I'd have your buddy turn your packjob over some night when you're not around or after you've had too much to drink. That way, you'll not be expecting it, you'll jump just like you would from an E, and you'll have at least 1/2 of a twist in your risers. This is sort of like when my shooting coach would load a dud in my clip, to see if I was bucking.

[lifewithoutanet 0]

Thanks, Tom. I'd read one of Motherhucker's posts on toggles vs. risers (http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=409697#409697) and this helps to clarify his points.
-C.

[lifewithoutanet 0]

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You also should take into account that had you jumped straight out (like you would off an E) that the distance between you and the wall will be at least 10 feet more than it was from your floater exit where you just dropped straight off.

I did consider this and that the distance could be much greater depending on the overall height of the object and delay. But for a drill, might as well cut it close when there's really no object to hit.

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To really practice having a 180 ...

I can't tell if you're kidding or not, but I'd actually thought about this before for a very brief period of time and then dismissed it. I've got a few other things to work on, first. Really, I mean...why pack a mal? Or at least the start of one? Who's done it? How often and has it ever really gone to shit?
-C.

[jalisco 0]

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2.) My deep brake settings are too shallow and need adjustment.
3.) Because of the loss of altitude...

My personal experience () is that the deeper your dbs, the more altitude you'll burn trying to riser turn (the rate at which you can turn by slowing down one side of your canopy depends on how much forward speed the other side has, right?). Anyway, with dbs on the non-vented canopy I was trying out (from a low object in the dark, instead of from several grand in the daylight, which would have made too much sense apparently) set close to a stand-still, popping toggles would have been the right option in almost every case I can think of -- collision would have to be really imminent before I'd spend most of the rest of my altitude with risers in my hands staring down the object.

You folks with real experience please correct me if I wrong, Thanks!

[TomAiello 25]

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Who's done it?

I have. Several times. It's kind of good practice for dealing with real emergencies. I figure if I pack myself a line over, and spin into the water here, I'll be much better prepared to deal with it should it happen somewhere else. And if I do it a couple dozen times (I haven't quite gotten that far yet), it might increase my odds of survival significantly.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[leroydb 0]

when you packed the line over... how did you react? what would you do if you had a real one over water? over hard land? If you did this SU, did you have a hook knife? Do you regularly carry a hook knife?



split this off if necessary

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[TomAiello 25]

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...what would you do...over hard land? If you did this SU, did you have a hook knife?

You can watch the video of what I'd do over hard land on sm.com. I always carry a hook knife, but the practice jumps I did were slider down.

I actually found that it's surprisingly hard to pack yourself a line over. They tend to clear during deployment.

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Do you regularly carry a hook knife?

On every rig.

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if you had a real one over water?

I'd probably try to equalize the spin with opposite toggle pressure, and just splash down. If I couldn't equalize it, I'd try more extreme measures (like cutting or releasing the line).


My basic line over response is:

1) Pump toggles twice to try to clear line over. If that doesn't work, proceed to (5).
2) Try to equalize spin with opposite toggle. If that doesn't work, proceed to (5)
3) Evaluate landability of line over. If not landable, proceed to (5).
4) Land with lined over or cleared canopy.
5) Use WLO toggle (if on this rig) or hook knife to release line over.
6) Land on rear risers.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[TVPB 0]

Ahhhh toggles v risers.

I totally agree - toggles give faster response.

BUT

That is when you grab hold of them properly / first attempt and use them properly. i.e. statistically you have a much greater chance of missing toggles than risers as they are a smaller target. Add in the newbie jumper / scared shitless factor that undermines your mental faculties a bit and then it makes them even harder to grab when you need them most . . . . .

You should factor this in your decision making process. Toggles v risers is not a black and white decision.

e.g. The miss has happened to the best of us. RIP

Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck

The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

[TVPB 0]

If I ever go jumping with you, I'm going to bring a finger printing kit with me and make that a part of my prejump equipment checklist.

Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck

The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.