Damn... This was really stupid

[Grogs 0]

I had a very interesting jump today. For those of you who have heard my 'Skydive Orange' story, this tops it. Just to lay down a little background info, I just got a beautiful new container/reserve/cypress to house my Silhouette 170 in, and it's an absolutely awesome looking rig. I got it Wednesday, took it to my rigger on Thursday, and he did a bang up job of repacking the reserve, switching the mains, adding velcroless toggles, removing the RSL, etc. and had it ready by Friday morning. Unfortunately, I was stuck inside a classroom taking a BIC/Coaches' course all day Friday and almost all day Saturday, so it's been tearing me up wanting to go jump my new rig. Anyway, enough background, here's what happened...
We finally got out of the coaches' course today at around 8, just as the last load of the day was boarding. I sprinted over, grabbed my rig, helmet, and altimeter (didn't even have time to get in my jumpsuit) and ran towards the airplane, and managed to squeeze in. On the ride to altitude, I noticed I had a loop instead of a pillow for my cutaway. I knew my rigger had been asking me if I wanted one installed, and knowing the type of guy he is, I thought it was really nice of him to put it in with the repack. Anyway, we continued the ride up, and at some point just before jump run I was checking out my 3-rings, and I noticed the RSL. After staring at it dumbly, it hit me that the RSL for my new rig had been removed and was on the ground in my gear bag. Damn... I had grabbed somebody else's rig by mistake. I let out a string of profanities and told some of the other jumpers what had happened, and then we played the 'guess who's rig this is' game. At first they pointed to one of the cameramen and said it was his 2nd rig, at which point I nearly wet myself since I know he usually jumps double digit canopies. Fortunately, one of the other guys on the plane was wearing his 2nd rig, so that was ruled out. We couldn't figure it out, so I finally got someone to take a look at the reserve data card and was told it was a Javelin J-2 with a 150 reserve, so I figured it couldn't be TOO bad and jumped it. It turns out it was my friend's Viper 135 and after a wild, but uneventful ride I brought it in on a nice stand-up landing.
I guess the moral of the story is check your gear before you put it on. After looking at both containers together, it's easy to see how I made the mistake. His was hanging one hook down from mine, both are black Javelins with grey trim, same harness size, same container size, both are fully articulated and stainless, so they look very similar. Anyway, now I owe a case of beer for being bone-headed and I'll still owe one the first time I jump my new rig (tomorrow, weather permitting) and possibly another if I'm able to somehow pass the air evaluation portion of the coaches' course tomorrow. Maybe I'll just take a keg in next weekend.

[PalmettoTiger 1]

Did you ever consider riding the plane back down instead of jumping the unknown rig? It always seems like you can get away with 1 mistake, you break bones at 2 mistakes, and at 3 mistakes you usually wind up in Parachutist. Why take the chance that this is Step 1 on the road to Incident Reports?
Blues, squares,
PTiger
*insert witty sig here*

[Stacy 0]

Sweet story!!!
similar here- did some 4way coaching (AND FOUND A NEW TEAM!!! our debut wil be June 17 at MA NSL MEet 2) today- started packing and Roger was starting to organize... it was 5 minute call... so I had a buddy who does tandems say "Hey jsut go grab my rig!"- we have the same main, so it didn't bother me. I used his rig when I was demo-ing a spectre anyway.
OPened up and it was iffy if I'd make it back. I knew mine woul haved, but his, well, it would be cklose. it seemed to sink a bit more than mine. I picked my feet up to miss the tree line adn made the field by by 20 feet if I was lucky. Almost my first tree landing!!!!
Was asked to do a new 4way team... great honor. I'm psyched, can't wait!!!!
that's it. manifest beckons early tomorrow. gnite!
Stacy
http://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks

[SniperCJ 0]

Dude, the moral of THAT story was the title of your post:
Damn... This was really stupid
I wont post a long drawn out account of ALL the various reasons for it being stupid, cuz we all, and you too I suspect, already know.
Glad youre still here, cuz it could have worked out any number of bad different ways.
CJ

[Grogs 0]

It's not really as bad as it seems at first glance... I would probably call it more boneheaded than stupid to be honest (I was a bit liquored up when I wrote the original post), mainly referring to the fact that I grabbed the wrong rig, not riding it down.
I did consider riding the plane down, but I decided not to for the following reasons:
-It was a Javelin J-2, which really can't hold anything smaller than a 135 main safely, which I was confident I could fly
-It had a Tempo 150 reserve, which I KNEW I could fly if I had to. The reserve was in date and packed by a rigger who's already saved my life once, and who I'd let pack any chute I jumped
-The weather conditions were great for demoing a canopy - moderate, steady winds
-I had several experienced jumpers on the plane including some AFF-I's who are very safety conscious who told me they thought I'd be ok - just be careful and do a nice straight in approach
In any case, it was a personal decision. If it were someone else, and they decided to ride the plane down, I would certainly have respected that decision. Skydiving is all about risk and how much you're willing to accept. Some people will do CRW, some won't; Some people will do head-down, some won't.
In any case, I didn't want to start a debate about whether I should/shouldn't have jumped. I just thought it was a pretty funny (and just a bit scary) story. The aftermath is, I loved the 135, it was a blast to jump, and I'll probably end up buying something in that range next, but it'll be a while. Also, everybody on the dropzone adds 'Do you have the right rig on?' to their gear checks, at which point they look over at me and start laughing or making some snide remark - the bastards. In any case, I'm sure within a few years or so they'll have forgotten all about it.
Blue Ones,
Grogs

[Lindsey 0]

....though I would've been a little bit pissed if someone had jumped my rig without my permission. I have a 150 reserve with an ExtremeFX 110 main. 1) I wouldn't want someone attempting to jump my main and getting hurt. 2) I don't want someone making a personal decision to chop my main and use my reserve....leaving me with nothing to jump for the rest of the day or weekend not to mention lowering the value of my reserve canopy. BUT....I'm glad it worked out for you! Peace~Lindsey
Grogs wrote:
It's not really as bad as it seems at first glance... I would probably call it more boneheaded than stupid to be honest (I was a bit liquored up when I wrote the original post), mainly referring to the fact that I grabbed the wrong rig, not riding it down.
I did consider riding the plane down, but I decided not to for the following reasons:
-It was a Javelin J-2, which really can't hold anything smaller than a 135 main safely, which I was confident I could fly
-It had a Tempo 150 reserve, which I KNEW I could fly if I had to. The reserve was in date and packed by a rigger who's already saved my life once, and who I'd let pack any chute I jumped
-The weather conditions were great for demoing a canopy - moderate, steady winds
-I had several experienced jumpers on the plane including some AFF-I's who are very safety conscious who told me they thought I'd be ok - just be careful and do a nice straight in approach
In any case, it was a personal decision. If it were someone else, and they decided to ride the plane down, I would certainly have respected that decision. Skydiving is all about risk and how much you're willing to accept. Some people will do CRW, some won't; Some people will do head-down, some won't.
In any case, I didn't want to start a debate about whether I should/shouldn't have jumped. I just thought it was a pretty funny (and just a bit scary) story. The aftermath is, I loved the 135, it was a blast to jump, and I'll probably end up buying something in that range next, but it'll be a while. Also, everybody on the dropzone adds 'Do you have the right rig on?' to their gear checks, at which point they look over at me and start laughing or making some snide remark - the bastards. In any case, I'm sure within a few years or so they'll have forgotten all about it.
Blue Ones,
Grogs

[jfields 0]

Grogs,
Thanks for being honest and sharing the story. One more thing to add to my gear check list.
Justin

[GeekStreak 0]

Grogs,
Please re-tell your 'Skydive Orange' story. I jump there, am curious.
1111,
GeekStreak

[mouth 0]

I love my Spectre 135...course I only load it 1:1 so it isn't a big deal but, it sure beats the 170 I had before.
I do agree with you there is something about jumping new stuff so I understand your excitement. Glad all worked out for you.
Mouth

[Grogs 0]

Quote

Please re-tell your 'Skydive Orange' story. I jump there, am curious.

Actually, *cough, cough* I've never jumped at Skydive Orange, and there-in lies the story...
To make a long story short, I spent a whole day jumping in Louisa thinking I was at Skydive Orange when in fact I was at Skydive Virginia. It really never registered with me until I got home and looked at the T-Shirt and then checked out the USPA dropzone list.

[GeekStreak 0]

LOL! Now that's funny ;)
1111,
GeekStreak