Pilot chute tangled around leg

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Asking for 5000ft makes you sound like an AFF baby

If you're not confident, getting 5000 feet so you don't do something stupid is a fine idea for that jump.

Then fix the problem as a survival skill for when the pilot tells you to get out low or you do something like take Mike Mullin's King Air to the cloud base for hop-and-pops (I think we got 2500 feet and put our goggles on before take off)

If you're still jumping a bungee collapsible pilot chute you'll want to disconnect the bungee for the following exercises in case it is or has become mis-calibrated.

Do stable clear and pulls at higher altitudes and once comfortable take the altitude down to an appropriate minimum for the situation (this may be 3050' for 10 hop and pops on a pass out of a big turbine so you can all make it back to the DZ, or 2050' for a C-license holder who gets to spot their own pass to do a little classic accuracy under a big square fast opening canopy).

Do diving exits and non-belly-to-the-wind exits (I especially like exiting in a back track along the line of flight followed by a half barrel roll to deploy. A layout back flip is fun too) followed by deployment shortly afterwards. Then decrease the altitude.

[mrbiceps 0]

I wasn't asking for more height for my sake buddy, i was asking it for the others as there was another guy on the course who had stability issues on the first load also and ended up opening pretty low. Its also a canopy course idiot so a few of us just wanted some more canopy time to practise the things that we had been shown in the classroom.

[denete 2]

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do you jump with a hook knife, if not you will now

Man! You're going to get flak for that statement for this situation.

+1

SCR #14809

"our attitude is the thing most capable of keeping us safe"
(look, grab, look, grab, peel, punch, punch, arch)

[tjm 0]

I did not get to read all the post, so I don't know if it was mentioned. But you need to be aware of the direction of the relative wind. If unaware it can send your pilot chut into a burble or into the wrong direction (in your case around your legs).

I did a hop n pop for a demo a few months back, and when I threw out my pilot chute got caught in my burble and hit my smoke bracket and then hit the back of my head due to a "sissy" throw on my part. My relative wind was at the point of transitioning to vertical, so my body was about 45 degrees toward the relative wind thus creating the wierd burble (my assumption). A good throw out would have solved that.

Arch, realize where the relative wind is on a hop n pop, and give a throw out in a stable position. At 5,000 ft. stability has priority over pulling.

Keep your head up and stay calm in those situations and react accordingly.

If you're not living on the edge; you're taking up too much room!

[kkeenan 13]

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...Its also a canopy course idiot so a few of us just wanted some more canopy time

Your Personal Attack would be more effective if you add a comma before and after the word, "Idiot", so that the person more easily can see what name you are calling him. Why make the moderators' jobs extra difficult.

However, maybe I mis-read your statement, and this was a "Canopy Course for Idiots". These things are very specialized these days. It's hard to keep up.

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[skyjumpenfool 2]

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...Its also a canopy course idiot so a few of us just wanted some more canopy time

Your Personal Attack would be more effective if you add a comma before and after the word, "Idiot", so that the person more easily can see what name you are calling him. Why make the moderators' jobs extra difficult.

However, maybe I mis-read your statement, and this was a "Canopy Course for Idiots". These things are very specialized these days. It's hard to keep up.

KKeenan, I believe that was a passive aggressive personal attack????? Nicely done!

Back on task here.... Does the OP have any idea what altititude he finally pitched at? Or, did you look at your altitude when finally in the saddle?

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[crazycableguy 0]

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.... It’s the first time I’ve experienced instability since my AFF.

BEER!

[popsjumper 2]

Has anyone caught the irony in the OP's screen name?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[firstime 0]

pilot chute caught on ones leg, and i asked about a hook knife and YOU say I will get some flak, Please elaborate, wtf am I missing here

[tumbleroll 0]

My problem wasn't so much that I wasn't able to get stable ... it’s that I threw before I was properly stable. it was an awkward exit and I was flailing a little at the point of deployment, obviously I should have taken the time to stabilise completely before I threw. I don't normally have these problems - I followed that jump with 2 more hop ‘n pops straight afterwards, and didn’t encounter any problems at all in this respect.

Anyway, thanks again to those thast have provided constructive advice,

[hcsvader 1]

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pilot chute caught on ones leg, and i asked about a hook knife and YOU say I will get some flak, Please elaborate, wtf am I missing here

I'm not an instructor or very experienced but he is my take on this.

Some people might misinterpret the suggestion of using a hook knife as to use the knife to clear the horseshoe (pc entanglement) while still in freefall. The priority should be to get something over your head. Be it by clearing the entanglement. As said before only try twice then go to EPs.

I guess a hook knife could be useful had the OP not cleared the entanglement and cut away and went to reserve with the bridal still wrapped around his leg. This could lead to the main trailing from his leg and a hook knife may be a way of clearing it at that point.

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[tjm 0]

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pilot chute caught on ones leg, and i asked about a hook knife and YOU say I will get some flak, Please elaborate, wtf am I missing here

Although this jumper had altitude, IMO, trying to hook knife a horse shoe is a stupid idea at its best. It would take too much time to retrieve the knife, then to catch the bridal with it (by the way the bridal will not be in a static position), and then make the cut. After that you need to get stable and throw out. With a bridal wrapped around your leg, you will probably be on your back trying to cut the bridal, thus falling faster, no altitude awareness relative to the ground (which can be useful during a high speed mal. because that is a fastest altitude check then anything else, IMO). Try doing that during a high speed malfunction when pulling on a normal skydive.

Again, this jumper had altitude, but this is not a reasonable solution to this malfunction at all, IMO. You can easily bounce, or if your battery powered, have your AAD fire doing this.

If you're not living on the edge; you're taking up too much room!

[Squeak 17]

Have a chat with Vaughnie, or Robbie or Jules (or others) they will sit you down and go through the whole thing with you happily

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[DSE 3]

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pilot chute caught on ones leg, and i asked about a hook knife and YOU say I will get some flak, Please elaborate, wtf am I missing here

The OP is doing a hop n' pop from 3.5k.
Should you be reaching a hookknife at that point?

[davelepka 4]

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pilot chute caught on ones leg, and i asked about a hook knife and YOU say I will get some flak, Please elaborate, wtf am I missing here

There has been considerable debate about the effectiveness of a hook knife in certain situations. One poster even went so far as to intentionally rig a malfuction (on a three canopy system) to see if he could clear it with a hook knife. Even though he knew the mal was coming, and knew what the mal would be, he was not succesful in retrieving and using the hook knife during the malfunction.

The debate went on to ask who, if anyone, had actually used a hook knife in an emergency situation and the responses were sparse. There may have been one jumper with a semi-applicable story, and a couple of secind hand stories. The final verdict was the a hook knife is a good thing to have around, but it's actual usefulness is limited.

That discussion was involving a jumper under a partially open canopy, not a jumper still in freefall. Consider for a minute, how long it might take you on the ground to locate, extract, and then use your hook knife to saw through a bridle (which is two layers of webbing plus the kill line). Now consider doing that while falling at 200 ft. per second.

How many seconds did it take? How much altitude would that be? Is that altitude you really want to give up?

Consider that once you're done cutting your bridle, you're still stuck pulling your reserve. Why not just save yourself the 1000+ ft you would eat trying to cut the bridle, and dump the reserve.

Are you familiar with the freebag system? It's designed for this type of situation, but I doubt it would even come into play. Consider that by the time the bridle goes down to your foot, there's not enough lenght left to get the PC anywhere near your reserve container. The chances of clean PC launch are very high, and failing that, you still have your freebag to help you out.

WTF are you missing? It turns out, quite a bit. Perhaps a complete understanding of the gear and the situation presented? Maybe you'r missing the two minutes it would have taken to think through your suggestion?

On top of that, I have to say that your jump numbers aren't helping. If you really have 420 jumps that's one thing, but I highly doubt it. If you like the green, that's your choice, but when you announce it everyone with your little jump number joke, it doesn't help your credibility. You come across like a pothead who doesn't know what he's talking about.

[johnmatrix 21]

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Was participating in a canopy piloting course today, jumping hop 'n pops from 3,500 feet. My exit was woeful and I struggled to regain stability -

I'm not experienced enough to give any advice but I was wondering - what aircraft were you exiting from and what sort of exit did you do?

[mrbiceps 0]

aircraft was pac 750 xl.

[tumbleroll 0]

I generally dive, but did a poised exit on that occasion.

[Squeak 17]

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I generally dive, but did a poised exit on that occasion.

Does not sound very "poised" from your description

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[c10edges 0]

davelepka, the man your talking about who packed the mal on purpose is hooknswoop (Derek V). I remember reading the post and was very interested. He also has a couple of different posts that are worth looking into.


I have had a similar experience to the OP and i can insure you that you do not have time for a hook knife, and if you think about getting it out, its probably to late.

[JohnMitchell 14]

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I generally dive, but did a poised exit on that occasion.

A diving exit can be good on a hop and pop if it's level to the relative wind. I did it once on an emergency exit from 1200', nice and stable.

[hookitt 0]

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I generally dive, but did a poised exit on that occasion.

A diving exit can be good on a hop and pop if it's level to the relative wind. I did it once on an emergency exit from 1200', nice and stable.

I prefer diving since you open in a correct orientation to the relative wind but your head is toward the earth. Great visuals.

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

[rwieder 0]

You exit at 3,500' AGL, your expereriencing this situation. I'm not going to give you advice, I'm simply going to tell you how I would have dealt with it. First of all time is NOT your friend. I carry 3 hook knives, one on my chest strap, and one on each thigh. If that would have been me (And it never has been) I would have cut the lanyard to the PC and deployed my reserve. I hope you realize how close you came to "going in." You were merely lucky this time. Before each jump, no matter what type of jump it is, always have a backup plan, always have an alternative landing location, and never give up. NEVER. Think of every scenario in your head before boarding the jump ship and make a game plan for each one.

I really, really hope you understand the severity of this event could have been for you. Glad you're o.k.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[Squeak 17]

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You exit at 3,500' AGL, your expereriencing this situation. I'm not going to give you advice, I'm simply going to tell you how I would have dealt with it. First of all time is NOT your friend. I carry 3 hook knives, one on my chest strap, and one on each thigh. If that would have been me (And it never has been) I would have cut the lanyard to the PC and deployed my reserve. I hope you realize how close you came to "going in." You were merely lucky this time. Before each jump, no matter what type of jump it is, always have a backup plan, always have an alternative landing location, and never give up. NEVER. Think of every scenario in your head before boarding the jump ship and make a game plan for each one.

I really, really hope you understand the severity of this event could have been for you. Glad you're o.k.

I would have performed my EPs then dealt with it. I would NOT be friggin about trying to wield a hook knife in freefall.
Get some nylon over your head THEN figgure out if it's a slasher scenario

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[rwieder 0]

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I would have performed my EPs then dealt with it. I would NOT be friggin about trying to weid a hook knife in freefall. Get some nylon over your head THEN figgure out if it's a slasher scenario

That's cool if that's your plan. I merely related what I would have done, i made no suggestion that anyone else employ my tactics. Performing EP's before insuring that the main cannot be deployed could, would & may cause a 2 out situation at a very low altitude. I'm more than certain sensory overload would/could cause further complications with no time to deal with a second situation ending in a rather unsavory ending.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"