Can anything be learned from this video?

[Hellis 0]

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Sky hook needed any chance of full drive then flaring properly before landing. Still making corrections very low

What good would a Skyhook do in this event?

And what is a must for the Skyhook to function?
Think about that and look at the video again.

[virgin-burner 1]

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Would anyone care to elaborate on the malfunction itself? I'm still new and I'm not sure what would cause a step through during packing.

I've done a few google searches but nothing very clear presented itself.

Thanks!

a step-through happens mostly on landing while you pick up your canopy, it's basically a line or a set of lines that falls down on the wrong side of your body and you step out of it. kinda hard to explain. it can happen above or below the slider.

a proper linecheck would have revealed very quickly that there is something wrong.

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[pchapman 261]

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she reached up, not once, but twice and try to collapse the slider.

Although that slider flapping was really annoying, I'll grant her that.

Good comments on leg position, wetrock. The position wasn't that bad IF she were slowing down to do an easy 2 step landing with just a little forward speed. (Touch down on one foot, stop with the next foot). Indeed in stop motion it is like she's casually putting one foot down just before the other.

But she didn't have the awareness ahead of time that she might not get a good flare and might need to PLF, nor was aware enough during the flare to realize that she actually needed to PLF or do anything different from a perfect landing.

[SkyChimp 0]

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it appears as if the jumper has no idea how to fly an F-111 7-cell.

I got another reminder of that today when a local jumper, with maybe 500-700 jumps, had his first reserve ride. He's an average sized guy but that means he was loading his PD 113 pretty heavily. When he flared, he says he brought the toggles down to his shoulders fairly early, waited a few seconds to get lower, and then finished his flare. Not exactly the best way to do it. Luckily it was a soft muddy field that he pounded hard into, and he was uninjured.

Glad to hear that guy was uninjured. I'm thinking ground courses should talk more about flaring the reserve just as much as the main in case there is a cutaway. The more education the better. It's also nice that we have this forum to discuss these issues and learn for better safety in the future.

Does anyone else find it funny that we made a SPORT out of an EMERGENCY PROCEDURE?!?!

[davelepka 4]

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Would anyone care to elaborate on the malfunction itself? I'm still new and I'm not sure what would cause a step through during packing.

A step-through is caused before packing begins, and it happens in one of two ways. The first is typical on a no-wind day, when your canopy lands on top of you. In order to keep the canopy 'straight' all of your lines have to come up and off of you the same way they fell on you, which is somtimes easier said than done. If the canopy fall on top you, and you 'step' out of any lines that are down by your feet, you just created a step-though.

The other time is when you drop the rig in the hanger, if you set it down with the rig on top of the canopy, it's possible to pick it up the wrong way and pull the rig through one of the line groups. No 'stepping' involved, it's actually creating the problem in reverse, but it's the same thing.

The lesson is to do a line check before every pack job, no exceptions. You need to run the lines up and make sure that the front and rear line groups, as well as the steering lines are clear from the riser to where they attach to the canopy. AS this video shows, even the neatest, cleanest pack job won't work if the canopy is not straight before you start packing.

[gregpso 1]

skyhook would have stopped the jumper deploying reservefrom a bad position. (on her back !!) No arch when cutting away.

I tend to be a bit different. enjoyed my time in the sport or is it an industry these days ??

[Liemberg 0]

Whatever the canopy you are under, you will get a softer landing if you let it fly before you flare it.

I also think it to be a misconception that there is an enormous difference between Zero-P fabric and 'fresh' F111. Granted, F111 wears faster and becomes more permeable relatively fast, but most reserve's are brand new if you compare them with F111 canopies with 100s of jumps. The thing can be 15 years old yes, but most of that 15 years were spent away from UV radiation. (Canopy didn't look like very old IMO) Nylon is relatively stable when stored 'in the dark' (like in your reserve container)

Also, though it is a nuisance when a reserve has a built in turn, counteracting that turn with shifting your weight in the harness should at the very least reduce that turn significantly. (It may be that in this case, the turn wasn't so much caused by a flaw of the canopy but from the 'less than stable' opening shifting the harness...)

When you are under a canopy with minor issues, preparing to do the best PLF you can should save the day. There's no reason to break your precious bones on a 1:1 loaded F111 canopy that - even in the worst case - has only a very limited exposure to actual jumps.

Well, at least my Tempo 150 (loaded 1:1.4) saved ME twice without a scratch

It goes without saying that this should be common knowledge for anybody 'big enough' to strap a camera to their helmet.

Priorities, priorities, priorities...

"Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci
A thousand words...

[monkycndo 0]

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skyhook would have stopped the jumper deploying from a bad position. No arch when cutting away.

Not sure where you get that idea. All the sky hook does is use the main as a PC. If you start you EPs in a shitty body position, you will be in that position whn the skyhook pulls out you reserve.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[Hellis 0]

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skyhook would have stopped the jumper deploying from a bad position. No arch when cutting away.

Not sure where you get that idea. All the sky hook does is use the main as a PC. If you start you EPs in a shitty body position, you will be in that position whn the skyhook pulls out you reserve.

Yep.

+ In this event the Skyhook would not have done anything at all, as the jumper did not have the RSL connected.
The Skyhook can be a good thing, but it does not allways function as it should.
You Greg seem to believe it's gods gift to this planet, and everything can be solved with a Skyhook.
That is not true.

A Skyhook is a backup (secondary) device.
You are the the primary.
If the primary fails, you will die!

[DSE 3]

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Would anyone care to elaborate on the malfunction itself? I'm still new and I'm not sure what would cause a step through during packing.

A step-through is caused before packing begins, and it happens in one of two ways. The first is typical on a no-wind day, when your canopy lands on top of you. In order to keep the canopy 'straight' all of your lines have to come up and off of you the same way they fell on you, which is somtimes easier said than done. If the canopy fall on top you, and you 'step' out of any lines that are down by your feet, you just created a step-though.

The other time is when you drop the rig in the hanger, if you set it down with the rig on top of the canopy, it's possible to pick it up the wrong way and pull the rig through one of the line groups. No 'stepping' involved, it's actually creating the problem in reverse, but it's the same thing.

The lesson is to do a line check before every pack job, no exceptions. You need to run the lines up and make sure that the front and rear line groups, as well as the steering lines are clear from the riser to where they attach to the canopy. AS this video shows, even the neatest, cleanest pack job won't work if the canopy is not straight before you start packing.

A step through can also occur when the bag is laid in the tray with too much open line and attention isn't paid to the lines. If any lines are allowed to cross over the bag in the tray, it can lead to a "step-through," even if attention was paid to lines in the field and line-checked at packing.

[JohnMitchell 14]

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A step through can also occur when the bag is laid in the tray with too much open line and attention isn't paid to the lines. If any lines are allowed to cross over the bag in the tray, it can lead to a "step-through," even if attention was paid to lines in the field and line-checked at packing.
\

That's very true. That's why I leave the pilot chute and bridle stretched out away from the rig as I put the bag in the tray. If you try and cross lines over the bag, etc. the bridle shows you the route to untangling it all.

I packed myself a line over once. Halfway thru a pack job someone wanted to see the video I shot. When I got back, everything had been kicked around a little. I thought "Hmm, that looks about right" and packed it up. Next jump was a nice little cutaway.

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

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Would anyone care to elaborate on the malfunction itself? I'm still new and I'm not sure what would cause a step through during packing.

I've done a few google searches but nothing very clear presented itself.

Thanks!

A couple people gave good examples on how step throughs happen.

But no one mentioned how simple they are to recognize.

When you run the lines up from the container to the canopy, are they straight and clear?

Or is there a twist or a tangle in them?

Normally, I will seperate the fronts. rears and control (steering) lines with my fingers. If everything is straight, smooth and clear of twists or tangles it's all good.

If there's a twist or a tangle in them, I flip the canopy around, feed it through the lines, whatever it takes to get the lines correct.

If you are new and not familiar with it, ask for some help. It can be very confusing and frustrating if you don't know what you are doing. It is very easy to make it worse instead of better.

But it's not all that hard. Some places put a rather nasty step through (not just a simple "flip through) into a canopy when teaching how to pack.

I've spent more time untwisting a nasty step through than actually packing the thing.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[BIGUN 1,053]

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- She used two hands on each handle. I prefer one hand on each: chop, then pull reserve. If you use decent technique, you only need one hand on a well maintained rig. PM me if you don't know what proper technique is.

We don't know how she was taught; I'd argue that doing whatever method you've been taught and have practiced is more important than doing one method or the other (and there are plenty of other threads to argue the relative merits of one vs. the other). At only 130 jumps, she's likely using whatever technique she learned as a student. I agree with the rest of your list, but I'd argue this one wasn't a safety concern at all.

Morning, John, Krisanne,

I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt regarding EP's in that she stuck with the method taught. When teaching FJC, I do ask how many folks are southpaws... If they are, they learn the two-hand to one handle method. Primarily because they "may" resort to left-handed instinct during their first rush of cutaway adrenaline.

This may have been the case with her - being a leftie. My other observation would be that it looked like she did the old proper strip method without the, "throw it away." Peel, Punch, Strip, Throw it away; Peel, Punch, Strip, Throw it away.

Keith

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[JohnMitchell 14]

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she did the old proper strip method without the, "throw it away." Peel, Punch, Strip, Throw it away; Peel, Punch, Strip, Throw it away.

She definitely did that. I just argue that it's not always "proper". At some point an experienced jumper can start hanging onto those handles. I also argue that all that stripping and hucking eats up valuable seconds in a low cutaway. More people die from too low or no reserve pulls than from uncleared cutaway handles. But I know there have been numerous debates on this already.
Or it's just that with my extra long monkey arms I can strip and clear one handed while still holding onto the handles.

[BIGUN 1,053]

I do know my S/O Doc cannot fully pull out the cables without using the strip method.
5'2"

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[hookitt 0]

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I do know my S/O Doc cannot fully pull out the cables without using the strip method.
5'2"

Do the risers release before she strips it though? If she just pulls the cutaway to arms extension, how far does the cable clear the riser locking loop?

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[BIGUN 1,053]

No.
1/4-1/2 inch depending on punch down and up.
You know. This is a good reason for those never having a cutaway to punch out in front of their riggers.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Bluhdow 31]

Thank you all very much for the step through clarification. It is greatly appreciated!

Apex BASE
#1816

[hookitt 0]

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No.
1/4-1/2 inch depending on punch down and up.
You know. This is a good reason for those never having a cutaway to punch out in front of their riggers.

That's really bad. That makes me think the handles are way too low for her.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[BIGUN 1,053]

Yup.
Well-endowed Scottish lass.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.