davedlg 0 #1 January 3, 2005 Well, I had my first cutaway on Saturday at the Eloy boogie! Jan 1st, Jump Number 37: After a 2-way with Cara, I pull at 3500' and my spectre does it's usual long snivel thing. As it inflates, I notice that the opening seems to be twisting me around a bit more than normal. Once it is fully inflated, I am in a moderate spin. I immediately look up at the canopy and it looks good and square. Next, I look at the brakes. The left brake is properly stowed as it should be, however the right brake line is all tangled up around the risers. I guess it came unstowed on opening. I try to get the right brake line untangled, however there is a lot of tension in the line. I look down at my altimiter...2300 feet. Still spinning, I work on the brake line a bit longer, check alt...I'm almost at my hard deck of 2000'now. Shit...can I land this? Maybe, but I definitely don't want to try it. One voice in my head is saying, "If I only had a little more time, I might be able to get this brake line fixed". Another voice is saying, "nope, you know better than that...hard deck is hard deck...time to cutaway." I look down at my handles then back up at the mess in the brake line then down at my handles again. I can't believe I am actually going to pull them like I have practiced so many times. One hand on each handle...pull red, pull silver. About that time I remember thinking "I hope this reserve works!" I look up to see a nice yellow reserve canopy. Wow...that opened fast. My next thought is "crap, I dropped my handles!" I look down to discover that I am still holding them both in my hands. I tuck my handles into my shirt. I turn to see my main streamering towards the ground, right next to the freebag. I realize I won't make it back to the dropzone, so I find a nice open looking area in the desert and choose to land there. I turned and made a tiptoe landing on the reserve. Nice. I haven't even started gathering my lines when Bryan comes rolling up in the van. What a way to start the new year! Edited for spelling Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeordieSkydiver 0 #2 January 3, 2005 I'm betting it took me longer to read this than the whole process took in the air. Good job. Beer.Lee _______________________________ In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy? http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davedlg 0 #3 January 3, 2005 QuoteI'm betting it took me longer to read this than the whole process took in the air. The spin wasn't so fast that I was losing tons of altitude, in fact I was able counter it with the rear risers. I had pleanty of time to think about it and make decisions. Since there were multiple people ther from my home DZ, I am buying beer upon my return there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyangel2 2 #4 January 3, 2005 Funny as I was reading what you wrote, I thought to myself, yup......I think the same things. But I always feel like my reserve takes forever to open. Again, you did what you where trained to do. Good for you.May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #5 January 3, 2005 QuoteQuoteI'm betting it took me longer to read this than the whole process took in the air. The spin wasn't so fast that I was losing tons of altitude, in fact I was able counter it with the rear risers. I had pleanty of time to think about it and make decisions. Since there were multiple people ther from my home DZ, I am buying beer upon my return there. DUDE that's just wrong, the beer should be bought at the offending site BTW nice jobYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davedlg 0 #6 January 3, 2005 Quote DUDE that's just wrong, the beer should be bought at the offending site The "Offending Site" Had 45 free kegs on tap, thus I offered to defer my beer to a more useful time and place! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyangel2 2 #7 January 3, 2005 Hey, when is that going on? I want to be there.May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davedlg 0 #8 January 3, 2005 QuoteHey, when is that going on? I want to be there. Depends on how much it snows in the coming weeks! Lots of snow means I'll be skiing. No snow means skydiving. Right now, it's looking good for skiing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
groundpounder 0 #9 January 4, 2005 Way to go Dave! back safe and sound...must have been a good skydive. But aren't we trained to keep both hands on ONE handle at a time, rather than one on each, thus preventing an out of sequence rip? let me know when the beer is coming Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstime 0 #10 January 4, 2005 QuoteBut aren't we trained to keep both hands on ONE handle at a time, rather than one on each, thus preventing an out of sequence rip? Good point!! I think it was designed so that a student would not pull the wrong handle. I have since put into musle memory the two hand technique... why because thats all I see everywhere I go, on the plane on the ground and even after the sunset load. IMO it made it easier for me, but the bottom line is pull the silver with your left, right even your foot if it works. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites flyangel2 2 #11 January 4, 2005 QuoteWay to go Dave! back safe and sound...must have been a good skydive. But aren't we trained to keep both hands on ONE handle at a time, rather than one on each, thus preventing an out of sequence rip? let me know when the beer is coming I think Dave has enough jumps to make a decision as to how he wants to do his cutaway. It doesn't matter so long as he sticks to his plan. Just like he stuck to his hard deck. Again, good job Dave. You are alive and walked away, so you must have done something right. I've had three cut ways where I had to put right hand on right, left hand on left, and I did just fine.May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites 3ringheathen 0 #12 January 4, 2005 Quote One voice in my head is saying, "If I only had a little more time, I might be able to get this brake line fixed". Nice. I think listening to this voice has killed a few people over the years. Glad you kept your priorities straight! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites davedlg 0 #13 January 4, 2005 QuoteBut aren't we trained to keep both hands on ONE handle at a time, rather than one on each, thus preventing an out of sequence rip? Hey Dre, yeah, in FJC we were taught to cutaway with two hands on each handle. I believe we were taught this both to prevent out of sequence cutaways and to assure we could generate enough force to activate the handles. I have since consciously decided to change my muscle memory to one hand on each handle prior to cutting away. I did this because I felt that I was more likely to have a hard time locating the reserve handle after a cutaway (and grab the lift webbing or something) then pull the handles out of sequence. Like Mar said, this is how I practice my EP's, so I was comfortable doing it that way. I'm sure others will have more to say about this but personally, this is what I feel comfortable doing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites safetydave 0 #14 January 7, 2005 Nice job Dave! Stick with what works for you. After all you were our best witness on that jump, so all is well that ends well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
flyangel2 2 #11 January 4, 2005 QuoteWay to go Dave! back safe and sound...must have been a good skydive. But aren't we trained to keep both hands on ONE handle at a time, rather than one on each, thus preventing an out of sequence rip? let me know when the beer is coming I think Dave has enough jumps to make a decision as to how he wants to do his cutaway. It doesn't matter so long as he sticks to his plan. Just like he stuck to his hard deck. Again, good job Dave. You are alive and walked away, so you must have done something right. I've had three cut ways where I had to put right hand on right, left hand on left, and I did just fine.May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3ringheathen 0 #12 January 4, 2005 Quote One voice in my head is saying, "If I only had a little more time, I might be able to get this brake line fixed". Nice. I think listening to this voice has killed a few people over the years. Glad you kept your priorities straight! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davedlg 0 #13 January 4, 2005 QuoteBut aren't we trained to keep both hands on ONE handle at a time, rather than one on each, thus preventing an out of sequence rip? Hey Dre, yeah, in FJC we were taught to cutaway with two hands on each handle. I believe we were taught this both to prevent out of sequence cutaways and to assure we could generate enough force to activate the handles. I have since consciously decided to change my muscle memory to one hand on each handle prior to cutting away. I did this because I felt that I was more likely to have a hard time locating the reserve handle after a cutaway (and grab the lift webbing or something) then pull the handles out of sequence. Like Mar said, this is how I practice my EP's, so I was comfortable doing it that way. I'm sure others will have more to say about this but personally, this is what I feel comfortable doing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
safetydave 0 #14 January 7, 2005 Nice job Dave! Stick with what works for you. After all you were our best witness on that jump, so all is well that ends well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
