couldn't find handle

[ranger28 0]

Recently, I had the opportunity to make a jump w/ some friends with borrowed equipment. The borrowed equipment included a container with a leg throw out PC --unfamiliar to me. I did a few practice touches on the ground and felt comfortable enough. I was doing a 3 way with 2 friends, both of whom are D license holders. One friend said he'd hang with me and watch my deployment sequence at our planned pull altitude.

When it came time to deploy, I could not find my handle. I tried to trace the lift web to the leg strap and could still not find it...I could not even visually identify it. I then decided (still altitude aware) to deploy my reserve, and was going for the handle, when I noticed my fellow jumper fly in and deploy the leg throw out. Had I not ceased my action, it would have resulted in two canopies out.

lessons learned:
1. unfamiliar gear? get to know it, whatever that takes. according to my fellow jumper, upon deployment altitude I first reached for a BOC that wasn't even there.

2. have a plan, rehearse the plan. I knew my plan...I was deploying the reserve. My buddy didn't know the plan, and it almost cost me.

[NWFlyer 2]

You've already stated your obvious lesson learned, though I'm not sure why you had a question mark after "unfamiliar gear." You didn't know your gear and it could have cost you your life. However, kudos to you for realizing you were not in a position to deploy your main and making the right move under the circumstances to get a canopy over your head.

As for your buddy, you are not a student and he is not an AFFI. HE KNEW THE PLAN.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

I know your buddy thinks he did you a favor, but as you have observed, he definately did not. You acted 100% correctly in this situation, and deserve recognition for that, congrats.

If you read through the BSR's you'll find that only an AFFI is authorized to deploy for another person... even a USPA certified coach is specifically forbidden from deploying their student on a formal coach dive.

While I'm can see a few exceptions where breaking that rule would be appropriate (say an experienced jumper is knocked out and tumbling... or maybe if you were still fumbling for your main handle and not going for the reserve by 2000'), this doesn't seem to me like one of those situations.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[elias123 0]

Not judging or anything, but I think I would have first done a solo jump with some dummy pulls if were to jump unfamilliar gear with an unfamilliar deployment manner/PC location. That way I could focus (almost) the whole freefall on getting familliar with new/borrowed gear/different PC location. I think that might lessen the possibility of going to BOC PC at pull time while in fact one needs to pull the leg PC.

Blues
Eli :)

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane"

[brianfry713 0]

At 35 jumps you probably shouldn't be switching to a different deployment location without a through briefing from a coach or instructor. There are other issues going to ROL that I won't comment on since I've never jumped one.

A few (around 3) practice touches on the ground was obviously not enough, and you shouldn't have felt comfortable with that. Read up about Jan Davis' El Capitan protest jump for the seriousness of switching from BOC to ROL.

I've heard a song "People bounce on borrowed gear, do da, do da" or something like that. Other people say something like "Borrowed gear is best!" as a joke. You need to understand the gear you are jumping and especially the handles and their locations.

I'm a little paranoid but I inspect and touch all my straps, flaps, handles, and everything else lots of times before every jump. On a new system a few practice touches in the air would also be a wise choice. I still do practice touches on each handle every tandem I do.

Also give youself extra altitude for deployment when jumping unfamiliar gear, or during any other unfamiliar skydive.

Your life depends on you being able to find your handles, practice 1,000s of times if you need to or can.

Good job of at least trying to stick to the rule of try to find the main handle twice and then pull your reserve.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[airdvr 197]

Back in the day before deployment systems were standardized "jump was made using borrowed gear" was seen alot in the incident reports.

Not to say it doesn't happen, but with your jump #'s the RW should have been left off the agenda.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[Cantoral 1]

Quote

Not to say it doesn't happen, but with your jump #'s the RW should have been left off the agenda

I agree, with 35 jumps it had been better make a solo jump and practice some touchs in freefall. and left RW to the next jump.

[linton 0]

With only 35 jumps you may not be a student but that may not of been what your buddy thought, they made the split seond decision to help you, someone with low jump numbers and organised with to watch you depoy unfamilar gear obviously they were worried enough to stick around and watch you dump, of course they would help you.

[tbrown 26]

Quote

Back in the day before deployment systems were standardized "jump was made using borrowed gear" was seen alot in the incident reports.

Not to say it doesn't happen, but with your jump #'s the RW should have been left off the agenda.

So true. Rigs nowadays are basically standardized, with the exceptions of pull out deploy and the occasional older rigs with ROL p/c pouches like the one you jumped. Back thirty years ago, when all the experimenting with hand deploy and single point cutaway systems was going on, every make and model of gear was different and it was worth a person's life to jump with borrowed gear.

A Frenchman named Roche Charmet, who had over 16,000 jumps went in jumping on borrowed gear with a pilot chute located in a different place than he was used to. In 1980 I witnessed somebody go in on borrowed gear. And indeed the year before, a friend of mine almost went in jumping MY rig because he didn't quite "get" the way my pilot chute worked. Watching him open the reserve at 100 ft and then land in a filthy muddy marsh made a lasting impression on me (I stopped lending out my rig after that). More recently, this same BOC vs borrowed gear with an ROL killed that Jan Davis on a BASE jump in Yosemite and just two years ago it caused a Cypres fire at Perris - on Safety Day, no less.

At 35 jumps, you have way too much going on to be messing around with gear that's not configured like the gear you normally use. If this kills even experienced jumpers, you have especially no business messing around with it, though I admit there's nothing I can do to make you stop. But stick with the gear you've been trained on and live to be an old man, you'll even enjoy this sport a lot more.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[ladydyver 0]

Coming from a newbie......this is not the first time I have heard of this. We had a newer jumper at our DZ who had the same thing happen....ended with a reserve ride with no complications. Thanks for posting the info as it is something that we all can learn from.

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[tbmoore 0]

I had a simular situation last spring after getting back into the sport after over 18yr layoff..I had started with military gear...moved to belly band...then leg deployment and now I found it BOC. I did retrain and jumped with a coach but on about my 5th jump could not find the BOC. I reached twice then went straight to the reserve....Since then I jumped by myself ... or with a coach....and still pulling high untill I feel like I am back in the saddle again...I am too old to let ego kill me...I am just taking it slow and easy for now....

[jurgencamps 0]

Quote

... There are other issues going to ROL that I won't comment on since I've never jumped one.
...

1. Pilot chute in tow if you put on your gear with a twist in the right legstrap.
2. Higher risk:
- premature opening due to the long part of the briddle exposed to the wind
- out of sequence opening if something catches the exposed briddle.

Jurgen