whats the lowest altitude to perform a cutaway?

[Newbie 0]

i know it could depend on all sorts of factors like weight, if you are spinning, type of reserve etc but hypothetically, if you were under a canopy that developed problems (e.g. extreme deflation from tubulence) what is the decision altitude in order for a reserve to be out and open at? Is 500 ft ok? Whats the lowest anyone has cutaway at and been under a reserve and landed safe?

[ChromeBoy 0]

500 feet is NOT ok! I will let someone else like Bill Von answer this question but my personal harddeck is 2k.

[Newbie 0]

do you mean that after 2k you make the decision to never go to your reserve, no matter what?
Also, i should have mentioned that the reserve would be on a RSL system, so there is no messing with clearing 2 handles.

[jdhill 0]

an RSL is a back-up not a primary system... you should always pull the second handle...
aside from a canopy colapse, What other situations are you thinking of that have not made a decision befor being that low? If I have a problem with the canopy over my head, I will decide if I am going to land it or chop it by 1000 ft (most likely before then)... if I don't have anything out yet it's 1800 ft. If I've decided to land something, and it gets worse after 1000 ft I'll deal with it then, but if there is the possibility of the situation getting worse (torn canopy for exapmle) its most likely gone anyway.
Josh
http://www.aerialfusion.com

[kingbunky 3]

i was taught that the rsl is a safety device but not one you should rely on, always pull both!
look, grab, punch right, punch left!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bunky
get crazy, before it gets you.

[skybytch 259]

Quote

i should have mentioned that the reserve would be on a RSL system, so there is no messing with
clearing 2 handles.

An RSL is a backup. Never rely on it to deploy your reserve for you. Pull both handles.
pull & flare,
lisa

[Hooknswoop 19]

"i should have mentioned that the reserve would be on a RSL system, so there is no messing with
clearing 2 handles."
This one of the downsides of RSL's. Some people's attitudes and/or training regarding their function and use is wrong. I believe this resoning is the cause or at lest a factor in people going in w/ a PC in tow and only pulling the cutaway handle.
Education is the answer.
Hook

[ChromeBoy 0]

Quote

do you mean that after 2k you make the decision to never go to your reserve, no matter what?
Also, i should have mentioned that the reserve would be on a RSL system, so there is no messing with clearing 2 handles.

What I mean is that if my main canopy is not landable at 2,000 feet I will cutaway and deploy me reserve. I want to have plenty of altitude to make it back to the dz or to be able to find an alternate safe landing area.
Like others have said you still have to pull both handles if you have a RSL. Saying that you don't have to deploy the reserve by pulling the handle because you have an RSL is like saying you do not have to deploy the main because you have a AAD.

[Schroeder 0]

dogpile! Naw, valid questions, I think good to ask.
But like everyone here will tell you, I will say it too: PULL BOTH. Have you seen a RSL? It's a little cord! I'll have my faith in it, but will never _not_ try absolutely everything I can to un-f*ck the situation. My decision alt? 2k. I figure I should know by then. But your Q regarding collapsed canopy when already low? Hmmm. I don't want to say, because I'm new myself, and I think others here would likely be a better source of info.
"If I ventured in the slipstream; Between the via-ducts of your dreams.......could you find me?"

[Zennie 0]

Not to start another debate, but if I hit the ground and don't have all my handles pulled, somebody kick my corpse please.
But the question is interesting from another perspective. Assuming no RSL, how fast (in terms of feet) can you do a pull-pull and get a reserve over your head? In other words, at what altitude should you not cut away your messed up main and go straight for the reserve, taking your chances with an entanglement or downplane?
Somebody mentioned 1000 feet, but I think you can chop a main and get a reserve out in that space fairly easily. 500 feet?
"Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

[freeflir29 0]

I will not cut away below 1000Ft. If I'm that low and still having trouble I'm going to just dump the reserve and pray. "It's all about the BOOBIES!"

[Sebazz1 2]

Remember that when you pull your cutaway handle you will speed up.......... Do you want to gain speed at a low altitude? Under 800' - 1,000' (I said under) You might want to think about a canopy transfer and not cutting away what you already have over your head. I train students to make a decision by 2,500'. I train them to not cutaway below 1,000.
Good question. In Monterey we had a jumper coming in on final at 800' one day. Another jumper blatantly smaked into her canopy ripping open the center cells. She deployed her resere then cutaway her main. It was a gutsy move but it saved her life...........
Remember that a post is not fact. This is just my opinion. Oh why oh why did I post to a serios thread
SEBAZZ.......

[jdhill 0]

---but I think you can chop a main and get a reserve out in that space fairly easily. 500 feet?
If you don't have line twists, a hung slider, or a preference as to where you will hit the ground... it will be out, but will it land you safely? Too close for me... make your decision higher... and if something happens where you canopy folds up low, pop the reserve and get nylon over your head, as much as you can!!!
http://www.aerialfusion.com

[freeflir29 0]

Oh yeah...forgot the canopy transfer part.....Good thing to keep in mind if you find yourself low....and screwed....."It's all about the BOOBIES!"

[Sebazz1 2]

Can I just say that people should not find themselves at 1,000 spinning out of control. Yeah good question but nobody should find themselves in this situation. Thats why you have a decision altitude...............
Ok continue posting
SEBAZZ.......

[ChromeBoy 0]

Quote

whats the lowest altitude to perform a cutaway?

You can perform a cutaway on the ground.

[freeflir29 0]

Quote

people should not find themselves at 1,000 spinning out of control.

True...but for various reasons it has happened.
"It's all about the BOOBIES!"

[ChromeBoy 0]

There was a guy down in Florida who was jumping his girlfriends Sabre at a really low wingloading. At 1000 feet he made a hard turn which collapsed the canopy and he started spinning uncontrolably. He chopped and didn't pull the silver. The AAD went off at about 700 feet. The main canopy landed on a powerline and started a fire which caught all the the shrubs under the powerline on fire. All of the electricity in the town of Immokalee went out because of this. He landed in the middle of the fire and his reserve melted. He came walking out of the smoke carrying a melted reserve. He was lucky.

[Sebazz1 2]

Geez...........I just wanna know how good a cold beer tasted after that?
SEBAZZ.......

[ChromeBoy 0]

I couldn't edit that post but I had to add something. The director of the movie Cutaway, Guy Manos, was there that day and as the guy was walking back up to the trailer we were all quiet. Guy says to Chuck, "I am going to my house to get my camera gear, do you think you can do that same thing again? I want that on one of my videos." Everyone was rolling on the floor after that. Chuck, the guy who did it, had a "deer looking into headlights" look on his face.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"He was lucky."
Good to see the art of understatement is still alive and well, along with this geezer....
Cya
D

[bbarnhouse 0]

I think "lucky" is an understatement! WOW!
It only takes a little pixie dust......

[Cajun 0]

This is just me, but I would think at 500ft if something went wrong with my main I would try a modified canopy transfer. Pull reserve then as soon as I get line stretch pull the cut away. I have heard of this working before (yes even on a square reserve) but it is a VERY risky maneuver. Think of it as intentionally causing a 2 canopy out.
Math problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(ln(13e))]-[sin(xy)/2.362x]

[rgoper 0]

my personal "hard deck" is 1800' my usaual procedure is 3K wave off and deploy, make sure i'm square, steerable and stable, if by 1800', all of this has not happned, ka chink! always remember try once, try twice, initiate survival procedures, cut away main, deploy reserve (if you have an RSL, make like it's NOT there!) rehearse these procedures in you mind every jump. again 1800 is MY hard deck, yours may be higher, but it doesn't need to be lower.
Richard

[rhino 0]

Newbie.. Are you trolling? These are basic, elementary questions you are asking that every skydiver learns in training..
If I had a problem with my canopy down low.. say 500 feet or less I would deploy my reserve while under the main and attempt a canopy transfer when the reserve is 45 degrees and rising behind me. Just yesterday I practiced hookturns up high simulating a line breaking and pulling the reserve while in a hook.. If a line broke at 300 feet in a hook turn knowing how to deploy the reserve or at least having practiced it could save your life.
Blue Skies .....