skyninja 0 #51 February 21, 2008 Perhaps your buddy should learn how to not dock on your rig.Why don't you just play 'chicken' on the railroad tracks? It would be a cheaper way to toy with death, I'm sure. CWR #2 - "You SAID collision!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,435 #52 February 21, 2008 BTW here's the pic. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #53 February 21, 2008 Nice shot, Bill.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,068 #54 February 21, 2008 Hi bill, The story of that photo is in comparing the ripcords of the guy at the far left ( yellow pud ) to the lowest guy ( metal handle ). Guess which one is in place? JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skydivesg 6 #55 February 22, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blast handles only killed people when the people started modifying them. Like sewing down the housing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Designed for use in ejection seat use the “Blast handle” is really an “anti-wind blast handle”. It was used by pilots who in almost every case had never jumped before. The center post was not drilled out, this defeats the “anti-wind blast” aspect of the design, and the housing was hand stitched to the webbing. This was to keep the handle in the same place so the pilot would know where to look for it. Sound familiar? The same thing manufactures of sport rigs do today. --------------------------------------------------- Sparky, I know were getting off topic and I'll probably get spanked for doing so but I'm a bit confused. I do understand that the blast handle was originally designed for the ejecting pilots and then picked up for use on sport rigs. And I understand why they were tacked down for the pilots and that the center post should not have been drilled out. But are you saying that the housing near the handle also should have been tacked down on the sport rigs? As I remember this was a taboo thing to do and directly contributed to the death of the last jumper to die before these handles were gounded in our sport. Please enlighten me.Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 3 #56 February 23, 2008 QuoteAs I remember this was a taboo thing to do and directly contributed to the death of the last jumper to die before these handles were gounded in our sport. Please enlighten me. You are right; jumpers did die with a contributing factor being the use of a “blast handle”. But jumpers have also died miss routing the bridle on a “hand deployed” pilot chute, failing to cutaway before pulling their reserve, flying their canopy into the ground and a number of other reasons. But we still use the “hand deployed” pilot chute, the 3 ring circus and HP canopies. But a panicky jumper not executing EP properly is not a reason to “bad mouth” the gear. As I said before, “blast handles” have been successfully used by pilots who have never jump before. It seems to me this is a training problem and not a gear problem. Things have not changed in 30 years. There is a segment of the skydiving population that is either unable or unwilling to learn how their gear works and use it the way it was designed. This will always be so and jumpers will die because of it. (Refer to Booth’s Law #2) SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skydivesg 6 #57 February 23, 2008 OK, as I mentioned in my last post I was confused as to what you were trying to say. And I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't bad mouthing any gear including the blast handle. I had blast handles on two rigs and I did not think they were a problem as I stated below. ---------------------------------------- Blast handles only killed people when the people started modifying them. Like sewing down the housing. ------------------------------------- I too believe that the problem is with the misunderstanding of gear or lack of knowledge. Blast handles worked fine when they were used and maintained properly. The last jumper to die using a blast handle not only miss routed his belly band (as you mentioned) his rig was also modified by having the end of his reserve ripcord housing sown down with roughly three inches of binding tape. So we're on the same page here. It is the lack of knowledge and the lack of training along with the over dependence of gadgets like ADDs and Dytters that contributes heavily to the death toll in our sport.Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 3 #58 February 24, 2008 QuoteIt is the lack of knowledge and the lack of training along with the over dependence of gadgets like ADDs and Dytters that contributes heavily to the death toll in our sport. This is one of the biggest problems in the sport today. Jumper’s ability is getting way ahead of their knowledge. The learning curve today is fantastic but jumpers are not taking the time to learn the basics about how their gear is designed and how it functions. When the shit hits the fan they are behind the power curve from the get go and in many cases this leads to their death. It is sad because this problem that can be solved with very little effort on the part of the jumper. SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
