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aresye

Hard Opening

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Can't figure out what could have caused it.

I replaced my slider correctly, after my canopy was set up for ground launching, and I did a proper line continuity check. I packed the rig just as I normally do, and same with my pilot chute.

When pull time came, I threw the PC, and my harness just dug painfully into me. I got yanked harder than anything before, and my parachute just opened instantly with a slam. Probably could have heard it from the ground. My canopy was acting really funky after the opening, and was buckling around a lot, until finally it became stable. I did a thorough control check, and it was very stable afterwards.

The hard opening may have been from line dump, as my stows weren't as nice as they usually are. The part that puzzles me is the canopy buckling. Is this normal behavior for a parachute following a hard opening, or did mine just do something wierd?

Is it possible the force of the opening could have depressurized the cells a bit, making the canopy buckle due to the not fully inflated cells?

Canopy: Spectre 190
WL: 1.1
Jumps on Canopy: 300
Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

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The hard opening may have been from line dump, as my stows weren't as nice as they usually are



You're thinking of Bag Strip. That's when your canopy starts to come out of the bag before you're at line stretch. All you *need* are two locking stows to keep the bag on the canopy until line stretch. Having short line bites won't give you a hard opening.

The slider coming off the stops while packing is a very typical cause of hard openings. Any canopy can open hard at any time.

The bucking forward and back, in and out of a stall happens after a hard opening sometimes. Check your canopy and gear for damage, pack up and go do it again. If you pack yourself another exceptionally hard opening then get with a rigger on your packing techniques and/or have a rigger pack for you to see if it continues. Worst case, if it continues to happen, contact PD, they will be happy to look at your canopy for you and check it for problems.

Here's a video of Scott Miller teaching how to pack: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6886&string=performance%20designs
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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Thanks for the input Dave. It could very well be the slider, as I had not checked it while packing to see its placement.

Wish I could find someone else to be the ginea pig for the next few jumps, hehe :P

Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

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Wish I could find someone else to be the ginea pig for the next few jumps,



You're at Elsinore. Talk to Shark (Mark) and see if he'll do this for you. Of course, let him pack it for the jump. :^)

The hardest opening I ever had was on my Spectre-135 (loaded at 1.4 at the time). I -know- what caused it. I didn't keep control of my slider. It was a windy day and I did a sloppy pack job. The bruise on my chest from my camera helmet's chin cup hitting it was there for at least 2 weeks. :^(

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

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That's the only downside to a Spectre I guess. It will almost never slam you, but when it does, IT DOES!

I was seeing stars, and in a state of confusion. I had just thrown the pilot chute, and then was thinking, "Wha? Why is it already open?"
Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

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The slider coming off the stops while packing is a very typical cause of hard openings. Any canopy can open hard at any time.



Is it really though? I'd like to see the results of any actual research that confirms this. I have a very hard time believing that a slider thats an inch or so off the stops will have the effect that people say it does.
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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Is it really though? I'd like to see the results of any actual research that confirms this. I have a very hard time believing that a slider thats an inch or so off the stops will have the effect that people say it does.



Ok, call PD and ask them, they have completed hundreds of thousands of test jumps. Or do some jumps yourself, at terminal and you tell me!
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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Like already stated any canopy can slam you at any time and you may not be able to figure out why.

I packed my boyfriend a really hard opening once, and I think that when I rolled the tail I caught the nose up in it. This caused the nose to be thrown out instantly when the tail unrolled. BTW I don't roll the nose so its easier to get it caught in the tail.

The buckling afterward? Just a guess, but think about what your body is doing on a hard opening. Your head, arms and legs are all thrown forward possibly causing the canopy to surge forward, then you come back to neutral and look up and maybe even arch some transferring the pressure the other direction.

I could be completely off on these, but hey another point of view never hurts, right?
Well behaved women don't often make history.

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The slider coming off the stops while packing is a very typical cause of hard openings. Any canopy can open hard at any time.



The Pilot opens as softly as a Spectre, but the slammer I had on my 210 hurt like a mofo aside from that it blew out the canopy and required a cutaway. I do my own packing, so perhaps I was lax with making sure the slider was up against the stops. With that in mind, I reach inside and double check by feeling the grommets against the stops after I've laid the canopy down on the ground. haven't had another slammer now in 14 months.

That said, Bill Booth has a theory that plastic tuck tabs on the riser covers can hang up. Or rather that one of the tabs hangs up, causing unequal loading on the lines, which can shake the slider loose as the canopy de-bags. It only takes 1 1/2 to 2 inches to do the trick, and voila - slammo ! Booth gives this as the reason for his developing magnetic riser covers, as he also states the problem was virtually non-existent in the good old days of velcro.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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Is it really though? I'd like to see the results of any actual research that confirms this. I have a very hard time believing that a slider thats an inch or so off the stops will have the effect that people say it does.



I was taught yes. I was told (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that the slider has to be ALL the way up. It not only keeps the lines tight together, but also shields the nose from the relative wind, thus slowing the inflation. Again, I may be wrong, but this is my understanding.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Your openning sound just like the one I had on my Sabre 2 last weekend. I was dazed a bit, had a riser burn on my chin. People heard mine on the ground, my rigger said, "Oh, I wouldn't want to be you." And I rock and rolled for a bit as well. I had a combination of slider and body position. You have my sympathy.
POPS #10623; SOS #1672

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I learned some tricks from a rigger at Skydive San Diego, on how to better position the slider to catch more air, and keeping the nose out of the direct flow.

Next 2 jumps, openings were back to normal, if not softer than before!
Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

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In looking at the video I noticed the pilot chute, bag, and bridle. Seems the canopy is stalling a bit, possibly from the hard opening throwing your body out in front?

I've had a few slammers in my day. Not fun.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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It could be the winds, but how many jumps do you have on that canopy?

The canopy buckling, surging, and just in general feeling unstable during normal flight, is a good sign the line set is going out of trim.
Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

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You can get the line trim specs for your canopy from the PD website. A rigger can help you measure your lines to see if they are out of trim. (You can do it yourself, but it's easy to measure wrong if you haven't done it before.) If you have Spectra lines, there's a good chance they are getting out of trim. Dacron, not so much.
You don't have to outrun the bear.

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You know something was hard when everyone on the ground was wondering if hunting season had started...

Part of a slider's operation is that it plays a tug of war against the spreading lines and the wind from your downward travel. For every inch down it travels I could see more than an inch of spread available to the canopy. Starting with the slider down a few inches may give the canopy enough of a head start that it wins the tug of war too fast and BANG.

A few other points - rolling the cone nice and tight gives it more time before the nose starts to catch and inflate. I've found making a tight cone and camera packing the nose on my sabre2 170 gives me very nice smooth openings. I can always tell when someone else packs it.

-Michael

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There are several factors contributing to the opening forces like : canopy type, pilot chute size and fabric, line stows length, right sort of rubber bands, the way the slider is placed, the jumper position at opening, use of tuck tabs on riser covers...One can read about it on Performance Designs web site.
What can likely happen is that the slider moves down a bit on the lines when doing the 3 folds and bagging the canopy. A slider just one inch away from the stoppers can make a really hard opening. Therefore, at the bagging one should comb the lines up in order to make sure the slider is still against its stoppers.
Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

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Hate to revive an old thread but I sure wish I found it earlier since I’m sitting here in pain 4 hours after my last jump.

I often brag about my Spectre 230 and how it snivels and actually came to believe that it was incapable of anything but a nice smooth comfortable deployment.

Guess what? They can and will bite you like I read here. I think complacency led to being lazy about the slider as I’m sure that was the culprit.

Having just packed it yesterday, I remember the slider coming down while packing and I just shoved it back. It was also a pretty sloppy pack job, but I’d done ‘em before that way with no issues. When it opened, everyone at the DZ “knew” what happened. I was told it was pretty loud.

I packed it up and there’s no apparent damage as I inspected the hell out of it including all the line attachment top & bottom and did a thorough inspection of the harness.

This opening put welts on my crotch, something smacked me in the face giving me a nice bruise “I think it was my arm”, and I did something to my neck and back. Tomorrow should be interesting.
You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

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