Mirage Reserve Closing Pin...

[SkySlut 0]

Let me just preface this that this is not a manufacturer issue...

One of our camera guys had just gotten down from a jump and when he had his rig packed up he noticed that his reserve flap was not totally tucked in, so he checked it out. When he opened it up the reserve PC blow out in his face!!! Upon inspection nothing looked odd, there were no real wearing on the grommets...the pin wasnt bent prior. Whats up with that???From what everybody has seen (riggers), they seem to think that it was a manufacturers defect in the pin. It could have been a rushed packer for all I know getting a little amped and putting a knee down on the reserve flap while closing the main container tray. Anyways, check your gear on every jump...imagine what would have happened if he would have been on the camera step when that thing popped???

[riggerrob 558]

Please clarify.
Was the pin damaged, or was it just out of the loop?

[crazy 0]

if everything looks fine, and if the reserve flap was still covering the pin, it means that the pin was pulled. It was probably pulled by the cable (that's close to rocket science, isn't it?).
It is extremely important to know why it happened because the same problem WILL happen again, maybe during climb out.
Take it seriously and don't accept unlikely scenarios.
Possible explanation include:
- harness too small
- cable damaged (or already pulled by a RSL)
- handle damaged (or not properly designed)
- small rocks in the cable housing
- RSL snagged on something
- ...
Or any combination.

BTW, I thought that the spring loaded PC on the mirage was powerful enough to fire the PC 20 feet away. I would be worried to jump a rig where the reserve PC doesn't even clear the flaps.
--
Come

[skycat 0]

Quote

BTW, I thought that the spring loaded PC on the mirage was powerful enough to fire the PC 20 feet away. I would be worried to jump a rig where the reserve PC doesn't even clear the flaps.

I would be worried too. I jump a mirage and had a repack last week, when I popped the reserve it launched all the way across the living room (to bridal strech) and hit Derek in the chest. If I was that guy I would read my mirage packing manual and watch the rigger pack it. He could be packing the bridal wrong. (Derek packed one a few weeks ago where the bridal was folded wrong. nothing major but he would have ended up with twists in the bridal)

Fly it like you stole it!

[barry 0]

We are drifting off-topic here... Why did the reserve open???
Could it be possible the pin was pushed out of the loop because he was sitting against a ridge (or something) in the plane? (The pin is not pulled by just opening the cover)
The (bottom) tucktab does not get out just by itself... If he had been sitting against something edgy(funny word) it could have (1) pushed out the tucktab and (2) pushed up the pin...
I Jump a mirage(G3) and find it hard to believe the reserve pin JUST comes out... I would like to know if the above scenario could have been the couse...
Barry (USPA D-22224, KNVvL D-65607)

[SkySlut 0]

sorry, i was pretty drunk when i wrote that post...

the pin actually broke in half, it wasnt out of the loop or anything like that...the thing just snapped in half when he opened up the reserve flap to check the pin...pretty scary.

[fudd 0]

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[#003366]the thing just snapped in half when he opened up the reserve flap

[/#003366]
WHAT? That is not good, and should not happen. I'm no rigger or expert on the subject, but it might be a production flaw. If it is, there could be more dangerous reserve pins out there. I would have sent the broken pin back to the manufacturer. Their experts can examine it in electron microscope and x-ray machines.
-fudd
-fudd

[Kris 0]

You betcha! I bet Bill Hallett & Jeff Johnston at Mirage would love to get their hands on that pin. If your camera guy still has the pin, SkySlut, send the pieces to Mirage.

Kris

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[riggerrob 558]

Broken pin!
That's a new one.
The guys at the Mirage factory should definitely take a close look at that pin so they can decide whether or not to issue a service bulletin.

[ifallout 0]

The pin broke? that is just scary, anywhere near the door and that could be tragic. how old was the rig?

Bill

have fun, love life, be nice to the humans

[Craig 0]

It might be interesting to know if the flap was bulging (or just the bottom lip untucked) when the jumper decided to check it out underneath. If it was indeed bulging it may have been that the pin was bent, pushing out on the flap. When he opened it up it could have broken then. Not to say that anything is impossible, but it seems that the reserve flap would NOT hold the container closed if the pin was already broken prior to the jumper opening the flap. I own a Mirage, and have watched one packed twice now and can say that the springs are strong as hell. I'd be nice to know what comes about with this situation.

[Unisyn 0]

Mirage Systems is aware of this issue. Capwell, the manufacturer of the reserve ripcord and pin has the assembly and are inspecting it. If someone has a question in reference to this issue contact

[email protected]

[NathanL100 0]

Quote

Mirage Systems is aware of this issue. Capwell, the manufacturer of the reserve ripcord and pin has the assembly and are inspecting it. If someone has a question in reference to this issue contact

I'm really impressed with on top of things Mirage is, which is why I'm about to order a G3. I'm also really impressed with how great their customer service is too. That kind of service is hard to come by these days.

Base # 942
The race is long and in the end, its only with yourself.

[wildblue 4]

Please keep us up to date on this.. that's scary stuff.

Seems hard to believe the pin would just break. It'll be interesting to hear if it was bent at one time, and then just straightened back out and continued to use (that would be my guess as to what happened)

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[matttrudeau 0]

Hi Skyslut, I talked to Chris about it and I couldn't believe it. Not only was he incredibly lucky, he should be on the phone with Mirage right away. I know that he flies underneath tandems and if his reserve fired it would be all over for everyone. Not only does this emphasize checking your reserve pin frequently, but also raises questions about flying underneath tandems.

[PhreeZone 15]

Flying undertandems is'nt the only concern... I fly under groups, sometimes large ones, on my back filming, I fly under freefliers to take docks, I fly stacks in CRW that a reserve fire would be deadly. At some point you have to trust the design of the gear and the certification process of your gear. If it happens to fail then inspect the gear, learn what went wrong, and fix the problem. Its all in the risks you are willing to take, a RW camera person has to trust the group will not have a premature under him, a Tandem has to trust the drouge release will work and a sport jumper has to trust that the reserve spring will work...

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[KellyF 16]

Jump Shack (the manufacturer of our ripcords and many other companies'- don't know about Mirage) issued a recall on reserve pins manufactured by Capewell Components last year after we sent a pin back to them that appeared to have cracks in it that was discovered in our own inspection/testing process.

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[SkySlut 0]

yo...drunk again after another long weekend of jumping!!! anyways, jeff from mirage called my buddy and said that it was indeed a manufacturing issue dealing with how the pin was bent when it was cut. From what they had said, they are changing their manufacturing process to fix this problem. hmmmm...