the bridle ripped clean off

[base283 0]

This is a technical discussion of why "the bridle ripped clean off" from this post First BASE jump .
so please keep it that way for those of us who wish to learn.
So why did the bridle rip clean off?
take care,
space
#64 - Muff

[Ghetto 0]

user error?

Web Design
Cleveland Skydiving
"Hey, these cookies don't taste anything like girl scouts..."

[TomAiello 25]

I have video of a bridle being cut in half on a static line jump, after the canopy reached line stretch. In that case, my best guess was that the bridle had somehow blown up and around one of the bolts holding the structure together. Unfortunately, no retrieval of the remaining part of the bridle was made, so I don't think anyone can say for certain.

However, in the case you are referencing the question is different, because that one was a PCA. I'm not clear on how the bridle, which ought to have been managed by the PC holder, could have gotten loose and wrapped around something. Totally wild guesses might include poor PCA technique (premature release of the bridle/PC) or poor placement of the PC holder (so that the bridle was dragged over a sharp edge before line stretch pulled it tight).

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[JamMasterJay 0]

By the way he was talking it doesn't sound as if his knowledge of gear is all that high. I wonder if he was referring to the shrivel flap the entire time. Unless he was doing a SL; and we know this was not the case, nothing should have ripped. It sounds like you all know the history of the rig in question. Is it an actual BASE container or a pseudo hunk of crap? Anyway, it sounds to me the entire problem is that he's not familiar with his/whoever's gear.

Truth is the distilled meaning of facts, for any truth refuted by a fact becomes a fallacy.

[base283 0]

I am wondering also Tom. I know that there is a technical lesson here that we all could benefit from. I've never heard of this situation happening before and as a rigger/BASE jumper, I would like to know. I just hope he tells us.
I've seen a lot. I've learned a lot and am still learning.
take care,
space

[base935 0]

Tom, can you please post the video so that we can all learn from this potentially fatal situation?

Thanks!

Gravity Research Institute

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

Tom, can you please post the video so that we can all learn from this potentially fatal situation?

I believe that the jumper already posted it on Skydivingmovies.com. Let me see if I can find it, or maybe he'll read this and post it for us.

The only way I could see something like this being really bad is if the bridle didn't tear, and the jumper was left hanging from the object.

I'll try to dig out the video and throw it up there.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[avenfoto 0]

Thanks!

[base283 0]

It would happen at line stretch and loading and so not much of a physical risk more than normal. Things would have to be extraordinary for it to break before the canopy is fully extracted. I have seen something similar (extraordinary) where the rocket of a deployment system accelerated in the beginning to open the container but overloaded the attachment point of the canopy midway through extraction phase.
take care,
space

[Carpediem 0]

Quote

Totally wild guesses might include poor PCA technique (premature release of the bridle/PC) or poor placement of the PC holder (so that the bridle was dragged over a sharp edge before line stretch pulled it tight).

How hard is it for Andy to chime in and say yes or no to these questions?

Maybe potatohead's grip was so strong, line stretch and loading wasn't enough to pull the bridal out of his hand and it broke after 400lbs of pressure?

Those who do, can't explain. Those who don't, can't understand.

[AndrewKarnowski 0]

from the sounds of it, it was bridle breaking... not ripping out from the center cell.


the only thing I can chime in towards this conversation is that the container was "a dolphin container modified for BASE and a fury 220"

[shropshire 0]

Could the d-link have come undone?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[AndrewKarnowski 0]

I really hate all this speculation...

[shropshire 0]

It was a question (Hint) -->> "?"

<> - sure looks like speculation too

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[TomAiello 25]

To be fair, Andrew did have a PM from Andy, so he might have more information that was relevant when he formed that opinion.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[shropshire 0]

I guess that my hyper sensitivity is taking over from the mind reading... A question can be invalidated by information (whic I didn't have) but it was far from speculation, in my way of thinking..... I'll get my coat.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[TomAiello 25]

I'm currently uploading two copies, called "Static Line Bridle Tear" and "Static Line Bridle Tear Full."

1) Just the jump, shot from the ground, encoded with DivX and about 1 MB. About 20 seconds.

2) The ground footage, plus the POV footage from the jumper, which includes footage the entire time he rigs the static line attachment. It's kind of hard to make out due to camera angles, but maybe you can see something there about how he set it up. Quicktime, about 60 MB, around 9 and a half minutes.


If someone sees that the uploads have been approved and posted, can you post here and let people know?

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

Could the d-link have come undone?

If it did, that would open up a whole different question of why a D link was used. Normally, BASE bridles are just girth hitched into either a metal ring sewn to the canopy, or fabric-on-fabric to the bridle attachment point. With that setup, though (Fury in a converted Dolphin, which sounds like the "Death Rig"), there's no telling.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[shropshire 0]

Thanks you.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[AndrewKarnowski 0]

Quote

<> - sure looks like speculation too

I was speculation too... it was a statement towards the entire thread (myself included) not just you.

[shropshire 0]

Sorry, I apologise for going off on one. - my bad .

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[diablopilot 2]

A little birdy told me.


***Modified Dolphin container, Fury 220 with riggers seal acting as the tail gate.

He was inside the tower and holding the bridle, when i left he held it so tight that it friction burned on the railing.
***

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[Zoter 0]

Its up..
http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=5692

What are your thoughts to the following in the Clip..?

It looked like the excess bridal was 'held' or even left ,rather than S-folded and held in place by a loose bungee stow...could that have contributed to it wrapping around one of the many snag hazards there....(I've not seen the jumper holding the excess bridal on a S/L jump yet)

and probably not related the the PC breaking at all..just another observation...
The back up static line didnt seem to have any more length/redundancy than the primary static line.....
Doesnt having two S/Ls the same length effectively double the overal S/L breaking strength ( 160lbs if it was standard breakcord)?

Just observations, not criticism...I think maybe alot can be learned by looking at these types of incidents in detail...

[AndrewKarnowski 0]

Quote

What are your thoughts to the following in the Clip..?

two things I noticed... like you said, the bridle/PC was just grabbed and held in an un-organized manner...


secondly... look at this screen capture (attached)

it looked a bit (cross)windy at exit, the pilot chute is completely inflated and moving to the side.

[stitch 0]

Quote

the jumper was left hanging from the object.

Been there, Done that.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"