Reserve not opening

[skydiverek 58]

Do you ever worry that your reserve won't open?

[billvon 2,435]

Worry? Not as much as I worry about what to have for dinner. Do I know it might malfunction? Yes. Do I pack my main more carefully because of that? Yes. Do I fret every time I open my parachute that I might have a double mal? No.

[IanHarrop 37]

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Do you ever worry that your reserve won't open?

Sure, but then I worry about everything!!! Still jumping

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[Dougiefresh 0]

When you need it, there's no time to worry. Just get something out.

On the ground, I worry about it as much as anything else.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[Jeth 0]

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When you need it, there's no time to worry. Just get something out.

Yep. I don't know shit, but I did have to use my reserve, and I second this. And just FYI, I was in a very unstable position with a mess over my head, and my reserve came out clean and fast, just like it's supposed to.
Not much use in worrying about it. When you need it, it'll be there. And if it's not perfect, then you'll have to deal with it at that moment. Better to work on your packing skills for your main, and keep up with good gear checks. That will hopefully save you from having to think about your reserve opening.

BTW, I'm not trying to give advice. This is just how I look at it since my reserve ride.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Dionysus 0]

I'm in the same boat as Billvon. I know reserve malfunctions can and have happened but I trust mine enough for me to jump. Having said that I do try to stack the odds in my favor, such as proper packing, gear maintenance and body position on deployment.
One thing that has really helped put me at ease about the reserve is that I have done two intentional cutaways at the Eloy holiday boogie. When doing that I did have a third belly mount reserve but still, it's nice to know what it feels like and that there is indeed another canopy in there. The other thing I have done is to help/watch my rigger inspect and repack my reserve. In fact when my reserve is due I deploy it and look it over myself.

[jumperconway 0]

Worries me so much that I rode severe spinning line twist on my Xaos 27-79' all the way to 1200' before getting out them! J/K, I new which way to get out of them, kikin' like a banshee!

[JohnRich 4]

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Do you ever worry that your reserve won't open?

I used to.

But that's unproductive. If it fails you when you need it, you're a dead man - so worrying about it in advance isn't going to help.

Just pack your main nicely, don't be stupid, get a trusty rigger, and then don't fret about it.

It's just like worrying about getting killed by a drunk driver on the road: you do what you can to drive safe, wear your seat belt, realize that sometimes ugly things happen anyway, and go on with your life and your fun.

Don't worry, be happy.

[MrBrant 0]

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Do you ever worry that your reserve won't open?

Nope. Never.


Ignorance is Bliss...

[moonglo 0]

I had a reserve pack job that failed to open when the handle was pulled on the ground, so I do worry. But that's not going to stop me from cutting away and using it if I need to (and have 3 times since).

[skydiverek 58]

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I had a reserve pack job that failed to open when the handle was pulled on the ground, so I do worry.

What was the problem/what happened???

[moonglo 0]

The cypres cable was not secured in a channel (Vector 2 not set up for AAD originally) and entangled with the pilot chute. I heard the "pop" of the pin clearing the loop and the p/c pushing the flaps part way open, but NOTHING came out!

Yeah, I don't use that rigger anymore

[davelepka 4]

If you spend your time worrying about getting your main open, your reserve will be a non-issue.

Maintain your gear, pack smart (do it yourself, and don't rush), open stable and on time. You'd be surprised how long you can go wihtout using your reserve.

[Andy9o8 0]

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The cypres cable was not secured in a channel (Vector 2 not set up for AAD originally) and entangled with the pilot chute. I heard the "pop" of the pin clearing the loop and the p/c pushing the flaps part way open, but NOTHING came out!

Yeah, I don't use that rigger anymore

<<...whereupon the "yes" votes went up by 14%...>>

[LawnDart21 0]

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I know reserve malfunctions can and have happened but I trust mine enough for me to jump

Thats kind of an odd statement. I ask in all seriousness, does anyone jump a container with a reserve in it they dont trust to open?

Properly maintained containers/reserves, inspected and packed appropriately, should work as intended, with a high enough frequency of success, that a reserve not opening, hence a total reserve malfunction, should be extremely low on the "Things I should be worrying about" list.

If someone out there "doesnt trust" theri reserve to open/work as intended, and chooses to jump anyways, I would seriously question their particpation in this sport. (Edit to add, BASE jumps excluded from that comment).

Lastly, I would recommend to every skydiver out there, either A) get your riggers ticket, or B) (probably more realistic) arrange to spend time with your local rigger and ask them to explain the reserve pack job process to you. Learning about how your reserve is designed to work and why it is packed the way it is, will give you a greater understanding of why we "trust our reserves to open".

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[dmetz 0]

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If it fails you when you need it, you're a dead man - so worrying about it in advance isn't going to help.


Exactly what I was thinking.

I make sure I don't intentionally put myself in that position by doing what's right before hand.

_________________________________________

"If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?"

• Quote

[MB38 0]

There's nothing that I can do to improve the chances of my reserve opening from a gear perspective. As such, it's not something that's worth worrying about to me. If it opens, I'll hug my rigger. If it doesn't, I won't.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[councilman24 36]

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I know reserve malfunctions can and have happened but I trust mine enough for me to jump

Thats kind of an odd statement. I ask in all seriousness, does anyone jump a container with a reserve in it they dont trust to open?

Properly maintained containers/reserves, inspected and packed appropriately, should work as intended, with a high enough frequency of success, that a reserve not opening, hence a total reserve malfunction, should be extremely low on the "Things I should be worrying about" list.

I don't think its an odd statement at all. Reserves can and do malfunction. You also seem to be mixing total malfunctions (container malfunctions?) and partial malfunctions. Both are not good.

I've had a 1400' reserve total. I've seen rigging mistakes. Never one's that were certain fatalities but they happen.

That's why I often council to use it judiciously. Use it, use it soon, use it when needed, but if education would have made the main controllable/landable lets do that education. Not every inconvenience deserves using your last chance to live.

I'm my own rigger, I expect it to work, I know it might not. We could carry three parachutes. But we've decided that the risk is appropriate with two. It still is a calculated risk. It is "trust enough".

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[Mike111 0]

i first got to own a reserve before i can start worrying

[FrogNog 1]

The only time I spend worrying whether my reserve will open is the time between when I activate my reserve and when it opens.

I've had only one reserve ride, but I have to say that couple of seconds was... concerning. (I was OK for the first second, but once I felt my speed start to increase, then I worried.)

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[LawnDart21 0]

HI Terry, I was just responding to the original question:

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Do you ever worry that your reserve won't open?

I'm assuming the original poster was inferring a total reserve mal, to which I'd go back to my other post. A total reserve mal (the container not opeing, nothing coming out, while possible, is highly unlikely, hence I place it at the bottom of my worry list.

I guess how I correlate reserve malfunction versus frequency/survivability, and where I would rate it on the worry scale is this:

Given my opinion that:
1) total reserve mals are a very rare event
2) partial reserve mals are not a common occurance either
3) most partial reserve mals can be fixed in flight
4) the highly unfrequent unfixable partial reserve mals that cant be fixed can still be survivable.

Given all that, I choose not to worry at all about my reserve malfunctioning, either a total or a partial. Why?
1) If it is a total mal, it will only bother me for 15 seconds or so.
2) If its a partial, chance are I can fix it and it wont kill me.
3) If I'm wrong about #2, see #1.

So, I would say "why worry?".

-Tom

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[davedlg 0]

I worry that my reserve won't open about as much as I worry that my emergency brake will fail on my car when I am driving in the mountains....that is to say not much.

I am more worried that I will have a mal on my main and start emergency procedures too late...or fail to find my handles at all...or lose altitude awareness and pull too low...or fail to see another canopy close to the ground and have a canopy collison...or make a hard turn too low...or any of the multitude of more likely things that I actually have control over. I trust my reserve and I trust it will open when the time comes.

[councilman24 36]

Ahh, but I had a reserve total that has bothered me for 25 years.

1400' total, pulled at 1700'
Why I became a rigger.

This thread needs definitions of "opening" and "worry".

My only point is that one should not take lightly using there last chance to live. If you need to, don't hesitate. But the students who cutaway because of the wind noise, or because they couldn't see the DZ, or because the slider was a foot up the lines, or slightly more experienced jumpers that cutaway from a broken steering line or any number of other landable main issues, might want to reconsider what I have seen as blind faith in their reserve. There seems to be a lot of absolute faith and cavalier attitude about using a reserve.


Me to friend and rigging customer: "What were you thinking when you cutaway?"

Friend: "Okay Terry, here we go!"

Me to friend: "I think you should have been talking to someone else. Nothing I could do then."

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[nvanduyn 0]

Dang, but I guess thats why the reserve re-packs are required, and a general good idea. Gives you a chance to inspect you entire rig, even the parts you don't really want to open

Anyway, to the original topic, do I consider what I should do if I do have a double malfunction? Yes. Do I spend my entire skydive worrying about have a reserve malfunction? No.

If you practice your emergency procedures, you know what you need to do ahead of time. Then the fear of "OMG What Do I Do?!?" tends to go away by itself. Afterall, if you've got a giant ball of shit above your head there are always things you can do to help yourself.

------
-Nick

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Do you ever worry that your reserve won't open?

Have you ever though about switching to golf or bowling?

Of course its going to open! It did and its going to if I ever have to use it again.

Anyway why do you jump a gear that you don't trust?
One gear has failed to open(main) with me twice. In a squence. I have not jumped that anymore, but no complains for that reserve :).

Every time I board a jump-plane I'm ready deploy my main or use my reserve if I have to. On the worst case I'm even willing to ride the plane down .