Holy Cow!

[460 0]

I was at 600 feet last night climbing a tower. GS Vision Velcro Rig, wearing the harness fully but loosly. I'm standing on a beam to rest and I hear my velcro pop, even though it's not tight and the velcro seemed fine, and a weight come off my back. The canopy fell out of my rig and there was about a 10 mph wind. I clipped my quickdraw caribineer immediately onto the tower to keep from being dragged off, with the other caribeener clipped into my chest strap. The canopy stayed small because of the locking stow at the tailpocket, pulled the stash bag out, clipped the stash bag to the tower, and reeled the canopy into it. Climbed back down with canopy in the stash bag. I feel humbled and very lucky and somewhat stupid.

Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

[Johnnyb 0]

Been there, done that Best story is about no less than tree jumpers experience that on the same antenna load

Guess that is why someone came up with the smart little pin-thingy (If you look closely at the attached picture you will probably see it attached to the girrrl...)

(Quick thinking clipping on to the A, makes life last longer...)

[sum1sneaky 0]

Quote

Climbed back down with canopy in the stash bag.

Should have done a TARD!

[Faber 0]

Quote

In Reply To
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Climbed back down with canopy in the stash bag.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Should have done a TARD!

In 10mph winds... sounds brave.. ill see the video

Good job 460..I once dropped my PC on a climb down due winds(no idea about the windspeed,but more than enough),lucky i felt and saw it and quickly i grabbed the bridel,just before it poped my pins..
You deafently feel humble as you keep climbing down after the "shit" has been stashed

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[JaapSuter 0]

We can shake hands.

We had a terrible night last night. We ended up visiting four objects. The first one had police cars patrolling the area. The second one had a bunch of union-people striking 24 hours on our landing area. On the third one my bottom-pin came lose just as I was putting on my rig, causing my entire canopy to fall out, forcing me to climb down. On the fourth one, we managed to get two people off but the third primed his velcro too much causing his packjob to come out too.

It was a rather embarrassing experience and we probably should have aborted the night sooner because after the first two objects our heads were not in the right place.

[cornishe 0]

And always keep a knife on you. "Mr. Third Jumper" was already tied off to static line after the other two got off when his packjob fell out and was left with 3 options:

a) untie the 45 knots he put on the break cord
b) run really really fast across the bridge and try and create 80 lbs of snatch
c) use his trusty leatherman


.

Abbie Mashaal
Skydive Idaho
Snake River Skydiving
TandemBASE

[f1freak 0]

DAMN....
That reminds me of one of my friends....
This was back around 97ish i guess (we all jumped skydiving gear), I was working ground crew that night. well 2 of my friends made the LONG climb up the A (just a bit over 2000' to the top exit point)
well when they get up there one guy's closing loop broke and his there sit's his D-bag sit's on the platform...
well this dude wasnt gonna climb back down that thing, but they didnt have another loop with them.....
what does he do? Pulls a pullup cord from his pocket and makes his own..... in the dark at the top of this HUGE A....
I tell you what, we had good laughs listening to him tell the story over many beers.....
RIP Kris

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE

[TVPB 0]

AAahhhh - we are all human.
Its good to hear people walking away. Its frustrating, but we get to hear more of your stories in the future.

Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck

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

[base689 0]

> I feel humbled and very lucky and somewhat stupid
No, my friend, you are not humble and you are stupid: you are still one single piece!!!!!! This is what is most important!!!!!
You can jump the object another time, your A is still there.
I am happy you didn't hurt yourself!!!!!
Hope next time you are around my place, we succeed in jumping together!!!!!
See you soon, my friend

Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689 - base_689AT_NO_123_SPAMyahoo.com

[wwarped 0]

Quote

Its good to hear people walking away. Its frustrating, but we get to hear more of your stories in the future.

a good BASE experience has 2 critical elements:
- you leave with your rig
- a few hours later, you return

do that and you've managed the risk well, leaving no room for regrets.

as 460 succeeded at both, GOOD JOB!

DON'T PANIC
The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

[K763 0]

Wow, holy cow is right!

It's ironic...just today I was talking to a new gear buyer about Velcro rigs, telling him how they need more maintenance, are not as secure when say climbing antennas or doing aerial maneuvers, blah blah blah....

And here a tried and true experience jumper has just that story to report. I'm glad it all ended well, and GREAT CALL on the safety attachments! I'm also glad to see my sales pitch for pin rigs is more than just a sales pitch...

Peace,
K

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

...are not as secure when say climbing antennas...

But if you're Dutch, the pins apparently aren't as secure when just standing at the exit point.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[cornishe 0]

Do you also explain to your customers the importance of the closing loop tension and how it will change depending on the canopy you put in, the clothes and armor combination you wear, even weight gain/loss.

Pins pop accidentally too. Probably as often (which is not often) as velcro rigs. You may have to replace your velro every so often but thats 30 minutes work after a number of jumps. Pin jumpers should constantly be checking their loops and are always asking for pin checks.

In the old school before pin rigs, packjobs were not falling out all over the place.

A BR salesrep shouldn't talk people out of buying velcro, unless BR wants to stop making them completely. Present the pro's and con's of both and let your customer decide. I think velcro suits most jumpers just fine, will save them a couple bucks, and is more flexible.

Have you ever jumped velcro, and did you ever have any problems?


.

Abbie Mashaal
Skydive Idaho
Snake River Skydiving
TandemBASE

[Faber 0]

Quote

Have you ever jumped velcro, and did you ever have any problems?

On my old velcro i rember serval times were i heard the noice you dont want to hear.. whith my pins i only once tryed a poped pin(the upper one)

experienced at:
31 velcrojumps(serval more climbs up and downs)200+ pin jumps also serval climbs up and downs

That said i think you mostly can use a velcro safe and even use some bennefits of it compared to pins but i still think that pins are the way to go..

Abbie,i know its only as you cant effort a pin rig,dont worry the day you get one you might change your mind

Stay safe
Stefan Faber