Upper amputation

[computerdoc 0]

I lost feeling and movement in my left arm do to a skydiving accident. I have recently had my arm amputated between the shoulder and elbow. I have been jumping with my bad arm taped to my gear and flying with one arm. Does any one know of any gear for one arm skydiving?

[AggieDave 6]

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I lost feeling and movement in my left arm do to a skydiving accident. I have recently had my arm amputated between the shoulder and elbow. I have been jumping with my bad arm taped to my gear and flying with one arm. Does any one know of any gear for one arm skydiving?

Yes, but it is not "off the shelf" gear.

If you contact a master rigger or the manufacture of your rig, you'll be able to have them move handles around on the rig to make it better for your situation.

As for toggles/canopy flight, what I've seen is that shorter risers are used with a more docile canopy and no other modifications were made.

Good luck!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[computerdoc 0]

Thanks for the reply, we are working on different ideas. I flew a 150 durring the accident and am now flying a 260. still plf at present to land. You can see me on youtube 1armskydiver.

[monkycndo 0]

Do a search on here and google for "pieces of eight skydiving".

They are amputee skydivers that have found a way to keep in the air.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[airtwardo 6]

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Do a search on here and google for "pieces of eight skydiving".

They are amputee skydivers that have found a way to keep in the air.

I think they chenged the name to '20% Off' a few years back!

~Yes, I'm serious.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[-ftp- 0]

is this you by chance?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha-l2qCbFms

[davelepka 4]

I jump with a one-armed guy, he lost his left arm at the shoulder when he was a teenager (a looong time ago).

He jumps a standard rig, with an ADD and RSL, and a bigger Navigator canopy (docile student canopy). The only mod is for steering/flaring the canopy. He has a lanyard attached to the bottom of the right toggle, and a spring-type carabiner on the end of the lanyard. This all fits into a pocket sewn on the riser just under where the toggle stows, and is held in place with a single strip of velcro over the top of the pocket.

Under canopy, he unstows the lanyard, and clips the carabiner to the bottom of the left toggle. He steers right with the right toggle, and steers left by pulling on the carabiner somewhere left of center, so even though it pulls both toggles, it pulls the left moreso, and is a shorter reach than going all the way to the left riser to grab the toggle itself.

For flaring, he grabs the lanyard in the middle, and pulls straight down. The set-up on the steering lines is important because you won't be able to get the toggle 'all the way down' with this method. By keeping the lanyard not much longer than the risers are spread, you'll get the toggles down further, but even then you may need to shorten up the steering lines to get the full flare. It will be a fine balance between long enough lines that you're not flying around in brakes all the time, and short enough that you can get a good flare with a 7/8's flare stroke, but you can do it.

Keep in mind, the conventional wisdom that you need slack in your steering lines, and that they should bow backwards in the wind at full flight is largely connected to the idea of front riser turns. You need longer steering lines to allow you to pull the front risers down with the toggles in your hands and not also pull down the tail of the canopy. However, if you're not doing any front risering, you can get away with shorter steering lines and still get full flight out of the canopy.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to get one of the young hot-shots at the DZ to do some test jumps for you during the set-up. Pick a guy about your size, and have him test the lanyard length, the steering response, and the steering lines set-up to include single point flaring with the lanyard. The reason for the test jumper is that if they find something isn't right during the canopy ride, they can disconnect the lanyard and fly the canopy as-designed, and go back to the drawing board. Once you get up there, you're stuck with whatever you got.

In terms of the reserve, practice flaring with both toggles in your hand, and shoot for as much flare as you can manage with a PLF. It's too much trouble to modify the reserve toggles, with the TSO and all of that. Alogn those lines, use a select group of packers who are very good, and familair with the mods to your gear, so maybe you won't need to use the reserve.

Shoot me a PM if you want the email for the rigger who did the work to the rig.

[DanG 1]

That's all good advice. I would also recommend doing a lot of practice without the lanyard up high, since you won't have it under reserve. When I lost my prosthetic (right lower arm) on a jump, one of the hardest things was just getting both toggles unstowed and in one hand. It sounds easy until you try it. I wish I had practiced that before I needed it. Of course I had regular length risers, so reaching the opposite toggle was hard. Shorter risers will help, but if you want shorter reserve risers, that might be tough. Perhaps larger than standard reserve toggles. It might not be a bad idea to put your container on a hanging harness before the canopies are installed, and test out your reserve steering procedures.

I think an SOS is a no brainer for the OP. One other consideration is the main and reserve canopies must have low enough toggle pressure that you can flare with one arm. A student style canopy might be a good choice, but working on arm and shoulder strength is always smart.

- Dan G

[jumpwally 0]

although not popular this may be a situation to go with a round reserve, just athought. Fighter pilots do it.

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[mjosparky 3]

Contact one of these guys.

http://www.parachutehistory.com/skydive/records/poe.html

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[scotts 0]

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When I lost my prosthetic (right lower arm) on a jump***

And I thought I was the only "loser"!

Lost my leg on a jump. I'm sure the post is around here somewhere.

Back to the original OP; You should be able to have a CRW dawg make you a set of risers to suit your needs.

[computerdoc 0]

Thats me!