whos mal?

[riggerrob 558]

In 3400 jumps I have ridden 17 reserves and landed a bunch of damaged main canopies.
I know this sounds like a lot, but remember that I started jumping back in 1977 and did test jumps for both the Canadian and German Armies as well as more than 1,000 jumps on first generation tandem canopies.
Someone else packed my first mal on my 45th jump. After the stabilizers knotted together, I dumped my 24 flat round reserve. That Crossbow was quickly retired.
I packed my second mal and it was my fault. The main closing loop was too loose and the pin got bumped loose on exit. The resultant horseshoe malfunction didn't get any bigger even after I tossed the pilotchute.
Another rigger packed my third mal. His packing method was unorthodox, but I trusted him. Bad judgement on my part.
All the rest of my reserve rides were on first generation tandem canopies. Most were packed by a guy who insisted on side-packing and never figured out how to soften the openings. Consequently, we had lots of tension knots, broken lines and torn fabric. As soon as he left, the malfunction rate dropped dramatically!
Knock on wood, it's been four years since my last reserve ride.
These days the overall malfunction rate - including tandems and students - is about 1 per 300. Licensed jumpers are expected to go 700 to 2,000 jumps between reserve rides. Much of this depends upon gear maintenance. Ask your rigger to thoroughly inspect your main every 100 jumps or once a year. And pay him/her to fix small problems.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Former Golden Knight Style and Accuracy competitor (and now 82nd Freefall Activity manager) Neal Beverly went 5,700 jumps without a mal. The one he finally chopped? One toggle fell off his control lines on his Sabre 150 and he just didn't feel like landing with his risers at that wingload.
I have 2,700 jumps and have never packed a malfunction. My two reserve rides were (1) a result of a NASTY CRW wrap (I chopped at 900 feet), and (2) a parachute that was assembled on the risers incorrectly. Not bad. I always pack my own rig and I just throw it in the bag; not neat at all really. You would think that with everyones horror stories about having to chop their elipticals due to spins that I might have had a main spin in my 20 years in the sport; I have not.
Chuck Blue
D-12501

[Billy 0]

Hay All,
We were discussing mals this weekend also,, My AFF intructor is a military jump instructor retired and has done lotsa packs, suprevised student packs, etc,, literaly thousands, and has never had a mal,, he flat packs to this day and when asked why he doesn't pro pack he just tells folks why start, after so many w/o a mal?? I was thinkin of doin a poll but don't know how to set that up,, maybe one of you can,, was gonna ask: How many jumps ya have, how many mals, how many cutaways, when ya had a mal were you in a transition or learning phase ie new gear, learnin to pro or psycho pack, student, head down, CRW, etc,, Have ya been injured, sprains, fractures, have ya bounced? Did ya survive?
Thanks if ya put the time into setting that up!!
Blues!
Billy

[unclbennie 0]

Well, I had my first (Beer) mal packed for me on Sunday. Second jump of the day. I was taking advantage of the mothers day special (discount on the jumps for moms). Did a nice solo, opened at 3000, opened in a wicked spin, it was fast!! I don't know what was wrong, suggested by the rigger either a lineover or an unstowed break. The toggles were not loose,and I just thought, well, I can't fix this!! reached for my handles, my hands went right to them, peal pull punch, peal pull punch, beautiful baby blue PD 143 above my head. The RSL probably beat me to it, but I didn't care!! Watched my gear land a few fields over to the east, I landed on the main landing area and I stood it up!! Got all my gear back, held onto my handles.
I had a spinning canopy a few weeks ago, but it wasn't my gear, I'm going to have someone jump with me soon and watch me deploy just to make sure I haven't picked up some bad habits over the winter. I have never had a problem with poor body position on deployment, but worth checking out.
Karen

[Donna 0]

Glad it all worked out for you, Karen! What a mother's day present, huh?

[Iflyme 0]

Quote

reached for my handles, my hands went right to them, peal pull punch, peal pull punch, beautiful baby blue PD 143 above my head

Good work, Karen! Glad to hear you didn't hesitate! On what number jump was it? And was that your first cutaway?

[SurfFlite 0]

Only 1 cutaway for me. The 1 time I borrowed a rig. Jump #101. As I look back on it, it probably wasn't neccessary but my mind said cutaway. The rig was from a guy who is quite a bit shorter than me and I felt kinda hunched over in it. It was a heatwave 135. Upon opening it started a hard left spiral, after 7-8 rotations I chopped. I never even unstowed the toggles. In hindsite I think I was just shifted in the saddle due to the shorter rig.
Kerry
Kerry Vail
Surf Flite-Skysurfing Equipment
http://www.surfflite.com

[cameramonkey 0]

Mine was self induced packing. I packed a step thru on my 35th jump, and it opened beautifully into a line over. :(
Although, the nice thing is that I did finally get a round jump in.... I had a 26' Phantom in that rig. scary, but amazingly fun.
All this talk about mals made me think of a morbid thing to tell my students... when they ask "do we have to pay for the repack if we use the reserve?" to which I respond "Please dont hesitate to pull your reserve handle... its much easier to repack a reserve than it is to get the (blood) stains out."
God I can have a morbid sense of humor sometimes.