Hard openings

[MB38 0]

I had a nasty opening today on a 190 Sabre 2. It's a canopy I've been packing and jumping for the last 20 jumps or so without a problem. Obviously it's a small selection, but nonetheless it's a canopy I've packed successfully before. Today, though, I did something wrong enough that all hell broke loose.

The PC left my had just as my 3,500 alarm went off. I found myself dazed in the saddle by 3,200. No linetwists, thankfully. I could get into all the little details about the opening but suffice it to say it was fast, hard and painful. Enough to end my day early and leave a peculiar harness-shaped bruise all around my legs and shoulders.

I know the slider was all the way open and properly quartered, I specifically remember doing it. No rolling or stuffing of the nose. It was a good pitch and I was fully squared up.

So what else could cause a hard opening? Is there some packing error I am perhaps not aware of that could cause it? My best guess [and it's not that good] is that it has to do with some sort of air turbulence. I was just falling past a small cloud when I pulled... perhaps there was some peculiar turbulence that aided in it. Beyond that, I'm out of guesses. Anybody?

[P.S. - I'm posting it here because I expect it was a packing error. If there is a more appropriate place for the thread to be... my apologies.]

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[MrBrant 0]

how tight were your locking stows? Were those bands broken when you got to the ground?

[MB38 0]

No bands were broken, I double-wrapped every stow [including locking stows].

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[RMURRAY 1]

were you doing back loops? what I am getting at is maybe you dumped at high speed. Even so a canopy should be more forgiving. think about dacron lines if it is a real problem.

rm

[darnknit 0]

any parachute can open hard, even when packed and deployed correctly. i am sure you are aware that any given skydiver can do everything right and still die.

you will get alot of responses about body position, and a few concerning packing. there will be people who will ask you "are you sure that...".

you jumped, you lived. if hard openings become a consistent problem, then you need to ask questions. asking advice on a website after only one hard opening is understandable, but not necessarily prudent.

blue stuff,
p.j.

pulling is cool. keep it in the skin

[Tink1717 2]

Your slider was probably not seated all the way up. Even a deviation of 1 inch can lead to brutally hard openings. Make sure your slider is all the way at the stops.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[mattjw916 2]

If my canopy opened "brutally hard" because the slider crept down from the stops an inch... I'd think about jumping a different canopy!

As for the original poster's question... I think darnknit hit the nail on the head. Go jump more. One hard opening isn't a big deal. 10 or so in a row, and I'd have the trim checked and inspect the canopy.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[MB38 0]

That's about what I expected to be honest. Blame the chaos theory or gremlins or who knows, but I figured it was just random. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some mystical packing error I'm not aware of that causes hard openings.

The canopy is a rental, it gets jumped many dozens of times per week by several different jumpers so I'm sure it wasn't the canopy's fault.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[bob.dino 0]

Quote

If my canopy opened "brutally hard" because the slider crept down from the stops an inch... I'd think about jumping a different canopy!

Ever actually tried it? I've jumped my canopy with the slider an inch or two down the lines and the opening bloody hurt. I agree with tink1717 that the most likely cause was the slider not being against the stops.

[Icon134 0]

I've had the same thing happen to me on a Sabre2 170... it only happened on one jump and I chalked it up to a packing "mistake".

Scott

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[hookitt 0]

Chances are you did actually let the slider down the lines while putting it into the bag. It simply takes practice figuring out how to do it correctly every time. This is not a slam so please don't take as such. Your profile suggests that you have less than 60 jumps so it stands to reason you probably have less pack jobs correct?

Learning to control the material takes some time. Something to think about is when you do the first s fold, be sure you keep the slider up all the way. After it's in the bag, and before you close the bag, is the last time you can verify the slider is where it's supposed to be. Make sense?

Just an FYI: Even if your rubber bands did break on the locking stows, it’s unlikely the weight of the parachute pushed the bands to a point of breaking them. Yanking the lines out of a double stowed rubber band with the weight of the canopy against the grommets is what does that.


An occasional slammer is almost always letting the slider just a tiny bit down the lines. There are a few other reasons but they're difficult to describe. It has to do with risers releasing from the tray or pushing tabs open at different times.

Do you watch your pilot chute as you throw it? If you do watch, stop doing that. Just toss the pilot chute (not like a hand grenade either) and get back into a symmetrical body position and wait and don’t help the canopy open. Let it do its thing and be prepared to steer it once it’s finished.

Hope that helps,

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[stevebabin 0]

From PD:

"Science, logic and reason will fly you to the moon. Religion will fly you into buildings."
"Because figuring things out is always better than making shit up."

[MB38 0]

Don't worry hookitt, it wasn't taken as a slam at all. I imagine you are correct - I probably did lose control of the slider at some point. I didn't pack any differently than usual, but I haven't exactly developed a foolproof packing technique at this point in my career.

Contrary to my jump numbers, I do have about ~150 pack jobs under my belt. A friend who lives in the same building as me has a rig which I have spent a lot of time packing out of boredom and for the sake of increasing my experience. Yes, things get that boring around here. No, he does not jump my pack jobs.

Don't worry, I do not watch the pilot chute as/after I throw it. The only time I see the pilot chute is when it's trailing behind my open canopy and on the ground.

Thanks for posting that PD article, Steve. Can't believe I missed it, I think I've read every article on their site.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[Freeflysmiley 2]

I find I have much nicer openings when I push the nose of my Sabre2 in. This obvioulsy won't stop you getting slammed if the slider's off the stops but it definitely gives softer openings. IMHO

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Practise the 6 P's!
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[davelepka 4]

Quote

I know the slider was all the way open and properly quartered

No you don't. You know it was right at one time, unless that was the last time you touched the canopy, you don't know what you folded up and shoved in the bag.

Shit happens. Get used to it, or at a minnimum, be ready for it. It's a fine line between tensing up, and getting ready to take a hit, but figure out where the line is, and be ready to take a hit everytime you throw out. 1/2 a second later, if you didn't get the shit knocked out of you, go back to relaxing.

Just being ready to take a hit can really take the edge off of a hard opening.

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

Your slider was probably not seated all the way up. Even a deviation of 1 inch can lead to brutally hard openings. Make sure your slider is all the way at the stops.

This is the theory I favor as well. On my old Hornet 190 I would periodically have a painfully hard opening until I figured out how to keep the slider against the stops all the way through packing. (I figured out how to start and hold the "cocoon" so the slider can't move.) Then things were smooth from there on out.

My Sabre2 experience came after I was already controlling the slider during packing, and I found that they usually open relatively softly but every once in a while they're harder than I'd like. I can't help wondering if this is a known design issue and that's why the nose has that really thick reinforcement tape on the center 3 ribs...

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[MB38 0]

To bring up a zombie thread, I just came across an old article from Parachutist that was a good read on the subject.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.