Reserve not opening

[skydiverek 55]

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1400' total, pulled at 1700'

What was the situation, cause, scenario?

[phoenixlpr 0]

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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.

AFAK there is no such a think like emergency brake on a car. I hope you have a real reserve in your container and not just a big fat pillow.....

[thepollster 0]

I know 2 people who have had a reserve total (not including the one mentioned in this thread). Both were rigging errors, one was solved by elbowing the container vigorously (wrong type of closing loop installed), and one was solved by a cypres.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

[LawnDart21 0]

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My only point is that one should not take lightly using there last chance to live.

Thats a great point.

I was recently under a nasty looking main that I wouldnt have believed if it was described to me. A 400 sq ft tandem main that had collapsed center cells, and the leading edge of the inflated left and right 3 end cells were flying into each other into the middle of it, bumping leading edges together. They were surging into each other, bouncing back, surging into each other, bouncing back, etc. I was at 4500, and while it was unsteerable and unlandable, I thought to myself, I have some altitude to try and sort this out, maybe a tug here and pull there will open this up. I'll give it a chance to fix itself before I chop it. I was able to clear it in about 500 ft, and landed it uneventfully.

Had I had a similar canopy situation on a sport main at 100 jumps, I probably would have been quicker to chop it.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[agent_lead 0]

if i didnt trust my reserve i wouldnt be jumping..

--------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com/agentlead

[councilman24 36]

Tension knot in the main steering line.

Cutaway at 1800'. Pulled reserve right away. On one of the prototype Super Swooper Tandems (SST that became Racer). Waited to feel deployment nothing. Looked at ripcord in my hand. The last pin was still in the housing. Pulled it out, looked at both pins to make sure they were there, and threw it away. Nothing. Thought PC hesitation. Rolled on my side, looked up and expected to see PC leaving. Nothing but blue sky. At 86 jumps I was out of things to do. Couldn't really reach anything. Was watching the ground. Was going to land in a house size pile of trees and brush on land being cleared. Thought (about last thought) that I was going to go straight to the bottom, I wonder how long it will take them to find me. Then round reserve opened at about 300' at terminal.

No definitive cause. But lots of little things. The loop material was too big, the bridle was too short, the rigger liked to tuck the bridle into the corner, etc.etc. People above me on the load saw PC material on my back. I believe the top loop hung up, the cap rotated and the MA-1 PC (real wimpy military surplus for those who don't know) spring extended down the container. Cleared on it's own.

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

[JohnMitchell 14]

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

No, but I've had rigs that totaled when the ripcord was pulled at repack time.

[JohnMitchell 14]

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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.

How many reserve rides you got?

[Travman 6]

You will have the rest of your life to worry about it if it does happen.

[davelepka 4]

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You'd be surprised how long you can go wihtout using your reserve.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How many reserve rides you got?

Zero. In all fairness, I have 'fixed' half a dozen minor malfunctions, and landed a couple of blown A-lines. The majoroty of my jumps are tandem/student videos where I dump at 4k or better, giving me extra time to work with a problem. Had I been pulling at 2.5k or under, I most likey would have a few reserve rides under my belt.

Interestingly enough, the longer I jump, the less I am intersted in freefalling much below 4k anyway. Even on fun jumps, I try to structure it so I can get my PC out on the high side anyway.

[JohnMitchell 14]

Zero. In all fairness, I have 'fixed' half a dozen minor malfunctions, and landed a couple of blown A-lines. The majoroty of my jumps are tandem/student videos where I dump at 4k or better, giving me extra time to work with a problem. Had I been pulling at 2.5k or under, I most likey would have a few reserve rides under my belt.

Interestingly enough, the longer I jump, the less I am intersted in freefalling much below 4k anyway. Even on fun jumps, I try to structure it so I can get my PC out on the high side anyway.

[davelepka 4]

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I have seen 2 injuries from landing broken A-lines, so that's something I don't land anymore, even though I have in the past. I'm also a big fan of "fixing" things if you have the time, but some things just won't fix.

The broken A lines were on a canopy size and model I had 2000+ jumps on, plus I had extra time to feel out the flare/slow flight characteristics due to my higher opening altitude.

Mid-air rigging has been the last thing that a bunch of guys did with their lives. It's a tough call, but it's your last canopy you're about to whip out, so you'd better be sure you really need/want it.

The other side of that coin is that the longer you play with a mal, the lower you'll be under your reserve (or now working main) giving you less time to set up and land. Also, a spinning mal will be loading you 3-ring, and trying to push all the blood out of your brain. If the most should happen and you have a reserve mal, you also end up with less time to fix that before impact. It's a slippery slope.

I'd say that unitl you have a few hundred jumps, it should all be by the book. Beyond that, it's a case by case scenario, and you should make your own choices as to how to handle yourself.

[windcatcher 0]

Naaaaaaah

If it opens,great, that's what I was expecting and can safely land hopefully. If it doesn't open, I am just on my way home. I do not fear death

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[RMURRAY 1]

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

no, I know it will open. however, I wonder about landing it. so now I am in the market for a used SMART reserve.

[RossDagley 0]

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

no, I know it will open. however, I wonder about landing it. so now I am in the market for a used SMART reserve.

Thats a whole other topic - I worried so much about jumping my brand new rig, with a brand new main and reserve that I didn't - I got Pine at deland to jump it first

But back to the OP - no, I dont worry about the reserve 'not opening' - I've watched my reserve be repacked, and take great interest in my gear and everything my rigger does (not just to my gear, but to other peoples - I love spending rainy days watching my rigger work) - I have total confidence in his ability, and total confidence in my equipment. If it DOESN'T open - like someone said above - it'll probably only bother me for 15 seconds or so...

[kkeenan 13]

Since I've been doing CRW, I've seen more reserves used in more weird circumstances than I could've imagined. All have worked fine. I realize that doesn't change the statistical chance of a malfunction, but in my mind, it has made the possibility more remote.

The only reserve deployment problems I've seen were caused by the jumper interferring with the deployment.

Kevin

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

[chuteless 1]

A friend of mine who had often jumped with my team in the 1970s and 1980s, jumped at a demo in February a few years ago, , and he landed in water. He made another demo the following week, and he cutaway his main, and when he pulled his reserve, it was a frozen blob. He fought with it and finally got it to open about 74 feet above ground. Two hard osscilations and he hit the pavement, breaking his pelvis.

He made a couple of more jumps in the following weeks, and finally decided to to see a doctor. He ended up having both hips replaces TWICE.

He now waddles like a duck when he walks....in severe pain.

I told him to say "Quack Quack" every so often and no one would notice.

When he told me about his mal, he neglected to tell me he jumped his frozen reserve. I was informed of that by another old timer, and when I told my friend I knew what had happened, he just grinned and said'
Well, thats the way it was...no big deal"

Jumping a frozen reserve....his name is Gary FREEZE, of Greenspings, Ohio.


Bill Cole D-41



.

[Amazon 7]

Hmmm Nope I know its going to open. They have opened 8 times for me so far...

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[JohnRich 4]

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he cutaway his main, and when he pulled his reserve... and finally got it to open about 74 feet above ground.

Could you be a little more precise about how high the canopy opened?

[tbrown 26]

Our sport is completely dependent on our equipment. We can't jump without it, not more than once anyway. We have to learn to trust it. It's not an entirely rational process either. You can tell yourself over and over all the facts and statistics in the world, never even have a mal with your main (knock wood), and have the world's best rigger looking after your gear and your reserve. But none of that can stop your stomach from getting that little tug when you roll the door up and see the ground 2 1/2 miles below. You just never know. A lot of people can't face up to that, it's why most people don't jump. We make the choice put that doubt behind us. If we can't get past it, then maybe it's time to move on (which happens to some people too). As long as it doesn't bug you, keep on jumping.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[phoenixlpr 0]

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You can tell yourself over and over all the facts and statistics in the world, never even have a mal with your main

Hmm, I would consider a linetwist as a malfunction too. So it won't ever happen.

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But none of that can stop your stomach from getting that little tug when you roll the door up and see the ground 2 1/2 miles below.

This spring after 15+ jumps I was just sitting in the door of a C207 and feeling nothing and checking and waiting for my stop to come.

Its better faceing your fears than living with them.

Oh, I do agree with the rest .

[Harksaw 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!

Isn't the pilot chute normally on the opposite side of the d-bag as the cypres cable/ cutter?



No, I don't worry about it any more than any other freak accident that could kill me.

__________________________________________________
I started skydiving for the money and the chicks. Oh, wait.

[Eule 0]

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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

Is this a regular thing that they do at that boogie? Do you have to go
through a lot of training on the belly-mount before you can wear it? Is
there a minimum license or jump number required to do this?

I'm just curious, because I think it would be interesting to see what
a cutaway feels like under somewhat controlled circumstances. I don't
worry significantly about the reserve not coming out, but I do wonder
what it feels like. For a high-speed main malfunction it probably just
feels like a normal opening, but for a low-speed, I think the feeling
of slowing down, maybe getting stood up, and then going back into
freefall would be unusual.

I've only seen the set-ups at two DZs. One just had harnesses between
the floor and ceiling that you sort of lean forward on, and do your
practices with a dummy cutaway handle - just velcro, no cables. I liked
the harnesses at the other one better. They had harnesses suspended
from the ceiling, with both "main" and "reserve" straps. We practiced
most of our emergency procedures with dummy cutaway handles (just
velcro, no cables), but on the last couple of cutaways, we pulled a "real"
cutaway handle that disconnected the 3-rings and caused us to drop a
few inches until the "reserve" straps caught us. I realize this is much
faster than a reserve would deploy, but I think it gives a bit of the
feeling of what happens, and definitely shows you what it feels like to
release the 3-rings.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[moonglo 0]

In that rig (vector 2-2 from 1992) the cypres sat in the bottom of the reserve container, but the cutter was under the flaps over the pilot chute, if i remember correctly (like the new mirage set up). That rig was condemned about a year ago for a main lift web stitching failure and I haven't really looked at it since.

[billvon 2,400]

>Isn't the pilot chute normally on the opposite side of the d-bag as
>the cypres cable/ cutter?

Generally, no. On a few rigs (Javelin, Reflex) it's on the bottom, but it is more often on one of the closing flaps.