Planned malfunction scenario worked like a charm...

[dumbaz 0]

I freefly. I also jump a (relatively) highly loaded (extreme vx).

I jump with a reserve pad and a cutaway loop. My logic is as such:

During a jump, I do not want anyone interfering with my reserve
handle. A deployment could be deadly to my/others. So I use the
reserve pad, which is less likely to get caught or grabbed during a jump.

Having a highly loaded canopy, I am concerned about the possibility
of a hard cut-away under a violently spinning malfunction.
Thus the cutaway loop. If anyone grabs this during a jump, there
is no immediate risk to me or the people I am jumping with.
If I don't realize that my cut-away is gone, I just dump my main,
it flys off my back, then I dump my reserve. If I realize it has
been grabbed, I go directly to my reserve.

This weekend someone grabbed my cutaway handle (mistakenly and
unknown to me). During the rest of the jump, he made one hell of
an effort to tell me about it, showing it to me with a concerned
look on his face. I thought he was screwing around with a pull-up
or piece of bungee cord...

On break-off I tracked and deployed. I felt the main lift off my back
and continue going... Realising at that moment what had been
waved in front of my face, I went straight for my reserve.
(I ended up having the reserve a bit high for my
liking -- I would have liked to take it down a bit,
yehaa... ;-P)

I'm glad that I didn't have a reserve loop for him
(or anyone) to mistakenly grab...

Comments?

Brian

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visit http://www.dumbaz.com/

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visit http://www.dumbaz.com

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"Comments?"

Stop flying with 'grab happy' jumpers. A useful drill is fly grips 'open palmed', ie get people to take grips without gripping, if you see what I mean. Its an old RW thing which is equally applicable to Freeflying. It builds the 'fly the grip' discipline, and requires greater skill than 'tight grip' flying.

Apart from that....Good gear setup!
Same set up, for the same reasons, as the one on my 'regular' rig.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[dumbaz 0]

I agree with you.

Just to defend the "grab happy" jumper, though.
He was flying in the base presenting a grip. I flew across his presented grip which basically hooked right onto the cutaway loop. As much my fault as his (if it's anyone's fault!)

He would not have "grabbed" a cutaway/reserve pad.

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visit http://www.dumbaz.com

[billvon 2,434]

>Comments?

If it works for you, that's the important thing. The two minor issues I would have are 1) that will be a dangerous rig when you sell it, because some people go by feel/sight rather than remembering that the reserve is on the left, and 2) that rig would have turned an incident a friend of mine had into a fatality. After a freefall collision she couldn't get to her main (her shoulder was messed up) and barely had the strength to get her reserve out. Had she had to squeeze a pillow as well, she might have become a statistic.

>This weekend someone grabbed my cutaway handle (mistakenly and
unknown to me). . .

I don't understand this part. This seems like evidence that if someone's going to pull a handle, it doesn't matter whether it's a pud, a loop or a handle. Given that, what's the advantage of changing the handles?

[kevin922 0]

Quote

I freefly. I also jump a (relatively) highly loaded (extreme vx).

I jump with a reserve pad and a cutaway loop. My logic is as such:

During a jump, I do not want anyone interfering with my reserve
handle. A deployment could be deadly to my/others. So I use the
reserve pad, which is less likely to get caught or grabbed during a jump.

With that logic, why not have 2 pads??? Why have someone accidentally cut your main away by having a loop?

But hey, you're the dumbaz.

[dumbaz 0]

i don't plan on selling either of my rigs set up in this way. or it is a cheap thing to buy a cutaway pad and metal reserve handle...

to clarify what i said in my original post: the other jumper did not actually "grab" the cutaway loop. he was presenting a grip which i flew a bit past, and his outstreched hand "hooked" through my cutaway loop, leaving him with the cutaway handle in his hand. not his fault. if the blame goes anywhere, it would go to me.

as far as your friend, i understand that scenario. it doesn't scare me as much as having my reserve out at 160mph.

brian

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visit http://www.dumbaz.com

[Hooknswoop 19]

I fly a highly loaded VX also. To prevent the possibility of a hard cutaway, I take certain precautions.

1) Every 30 days I clean my cutaway cables w/ "Ace Pure Silicone Lubricant"

2) Every 30 days I flex my 3-rings.

3) I replace my risers before 500 jumps.

4) Capped, tacked, metal inserts for the excess cutaway cable in the rear risers.

I have 7 or 8 cutaways on highly loaded FX's and two on the VX, always a one-handed, easy pull.

Hook

[skr 1]

>Comments?

Well it sounds like you have thought about
what you are doing and why, so I think you
should jump what makes sense to you.

My thoughts for me were that if I wanted to
pull my reserve, I wanted to be able to do it
with either hand from any direction on a cold
dark night with thick gloves.

Using a cutaway pillow for a reserve handle
felt like I would have to grab it just right with
my left hand and peel it just so, some day when
I was low, scared, confused, my left arm was
broken and my goggles were covered with snot.

So I use a metal ripcord handle.


At the same time I avoid really grabby situations
like linked exits and 3D structures and so on.

I don't mind that since I like to fly around but
don't really like all that grabby stuff anyway.


So I think you should jump what makes sense
to you.

Skr

[Hooknswoop 19]

Do you have a pillow for a cutaway handle?

Hook

[skr 1]

> Do you have a pillow for a cutaway handle?

I started with a pillow, went to kind of loop thing
that velcroed on, can't remember why I went back
to a pillow for a while, and now have a pillow with
a loop added

(in case it's my right arm that's broken and I have
to cut away with my left hand :-) :-)

Skr

[Hooknswoop 19]

Obviously, the reason I ask, was being able to pull a cutaway pillow, that 90%+ of skydivers today are equipped with, is as important as being able to pull the reserve handle, in a partial malfunction situation.

My feelings on reserve pillows are if they are so bad, why do they work so well for cutaway handles? In a partial malfunction, the cutaway pillow will probably be more difficult to pull that the reserve ripcord (pull forces).

The Pillow vs. D-rings/loops decision is one of choosing your risk for your type of flying. A lower profile/harder to grab handle reduces the risk of it accidentally being pulled by someone else or snagged, but also makes it harder for the owner to pull it. The opposite situation for D-rings/loops, easier for the owner to pull it, but easier for someone else to accidentally pull it or to snag it. The type of skydives someone does should influence their decision on the type of cutaway and reserve pillow they have. One type of handle isn't "bad", each has advantages and disadvantages.

You have made an informed choice for the type of handles on your rig, based (I'm sure) on the type of skydives you make, and being comfortable with the type of handles you have. I am inclined to think you have made a good decision.

Nine of my 13 cutaway was with a 2-pillow handle rig. Of the other 4, 2 were tandems (pillow and loop), and 2 were sport rigs with a pillow and D-ring. (I also have 43 intentional cutaways). I prefer pillow handles. I have to defend against the thought process that my decision, although maybe a good decision for me, may not be a good decision for someone else. I would definitely not recommend them for student rigs or for some other jumpers.

Hook

[betzilla 56]

Quote

(in case it's my right arm that's broken and I have
to cut away with my left hand :-) :-)

Um, if you're right arm's broken, how would you deploy that main that you'll need to cutaway with your right hand, exactly?

Also, i think you're lucky you didn't notice your buddy had pulled your handle. If you had gone straight to your reserve, it could easily have entangled with those loose riser ends, flopping around right next to the reserve container.

It kind of sounds like you're increasing the odds that you'll be using your reserve, by presenting a cutaway handle that's easily pulled to other jumpers. Me, I want to use my reserve as little as possible.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

Also, i think you're lucky you didn't notice your buddy had pulled your handle. If you had gone straight to your reserve, it could easily have entangled with those loose riser ends, flopping around right next to the reserve container.

Modern rigs w/ maintained riser covers, this won't happen. The main risers will be held in place and won't get anywhere near the deploying reserve. Try it when you get your new Vector, on the ground, pull the cutaway handle and see how much force is required to get the risers out from under the covers. They would stay put in freefall.

Hook

[skr 1]

>Um, if you're right arm's broken, how would you deploy that
>main that you'll need to cutaway with your right hand, exactly?

Long silent pause ...

You know, you just uncovered some old thinking
that I had forgotten about.

My original idea was to be able to pull all handles
with either hand. Putting one handle back where
I not only can't see it, but can only get it with one
hand has always seemed like a bad idea.

So (1992) I got a Racer, for many reasons, but one
of them was that they offered an NOS (normal over
the shoulders) harness.

That 80's trend of making the harness fit the container
instead of the jumper, with the harness emerging from
the four corners of the container and thereby making
it wide over the shoulders, was not only really
uncomfortable, but played into my one primal fear,
the one thing I was afraid of on my first jump which
was that I would come out of my harness.

So I got the rig, added a little elastic thingy between
the leg straps, which everybody laughed at but now
seems to be socially acceptable, took the horizontal
backstrap out from under the container, which made
the harness fit me instead of the container and also
moved the main lift webs forwards so that the cutaway
and reserve handles were around in front instead of
under my armpits, added a belly band to hold the rig
close and take the weight off my shoulders when
standing around, and then I got stuck.

I couldn't decide where to put the main pilot chute,
up on one shoulder or maybe on the side of the
container or ...

Actually, putting the pilot chute around in front on
the belly band like on the original Booth rigs as we
called them seemed like the best idea.

After all, *I* would never twist my belly band, right ??

I even considered going back to a ripcord.

But gradually the project faded into the stream of
history, and my main pilot chute is still back there
on the bottom of the container.

Skr