Bolas 5 #1 March 30, 2004 I posted this in Safety and Training as well... If you use harness turns on your landings get your leg straps hooked together. Alot of freeflyers do this, but most others don't. The reason for this is if you make a deep harness turn your leg strap can slide down the leg and when you straighten up for your final approach you may start turning again. Your rigger can hook your leg straps together with a bungie or you can do it yourself with a pull up cord. Mirage has the strap system as an option, I don't know about other rigs. The reason I bring this up is a friend this weekend was doing an aggressive harness turn on a sub-100 elliptical loaded about 1.6 and when straightened out for the swoop the legstrap had slid down so they did a 90 degree turn and bounced twice off the ground, fracturing the pelvis in 3 places. Obviously if your not loading as high it's not as big as an issue, but the potential for an unintentional turn is there.Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ianmdrennan 2 #2 March 30, 2004 responded in the other thread you started with the same topic. I think it's frown apon to post the same thread in multiple topics here. Anyway, here's what I posted: Quotebut the potential for an unintentional turn is there. yes it is, but I have yet to have a turn with my legstraps that I couldn't level out with toggles. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback when I wasn't there but here's my guess: If anything I'd bet your friend got distracted by the slipped leg strap and failed to fly the canopy given the situation. Sorry but I don't buy the legstrap excuse for hooking in. I do have the bungy but at a guess the way the canopy was flown appears to be the problem. Blue skies IanPerformance Designs Factory Team Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eames 0 #3 March 30, 2004 QuoteIf you use harness turns on your landings get your leg straps hooked together. That kinda defeats the purpose, don't you think? Hooking leg straps together prevents large harness inputs. I make it a point to remove straps so that I can slide my legstraps down to get better articulation. If you jump a small or highly loaded elliptical, whether you do harness turns or not, you have to be aware of where your legstraps are. -Jason Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 3 #4 March 30, 2004 Like Jason said. Any amount of harness steer can be equalized with toggles. Attaching your legstraps together (freefly safety style) defeats the purpose and restricts (in some cases) your ability to harness turn. FWIW, I don't use legstrap ties for anything and I have never experienced any problem with my legstraps slipping so far I couldn't fix them with a simple change of attitude. You can't use legstrap ties on wingsuit jumps anyway, so it's not worth the effort for me to put them on and take them off when I feel like standing up in freefall. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m0ng00se007 0 #5 March 30, 2004 I doubt that the lack of a bungie between the leg straps is what caused this accident. Although, it may have prevented it. But here's what I'm curious about.... Canopy = sub-100 (let's say 96, since we don't have the actual size) Wing Loading = 1.6 That puts the persons actual exit weight at about 153. Subtract the rig weight of about 15 lbs, leaves you with a person who weighs 138 lbs. That's a pretty small person, wouldn't you say? I'm hoping that the rig this person was jumping was custom built for that type of person. If this very light-weight person is jumping a rig that was bought used, it may have been the actuall size of the leg straps (too big) that may have caused this mishap and not the lack of a bungie. Unless of course your figures are incorrect. -Jonathan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #6 March 30, 2004 If this is a real issue, your harness doesn't fit well/properly.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #7 March 31, 2004 QuoteIf this is a real issue, your harness doesn't fit well/properly.I agree. Either that or you're not tightening up your leg straps enough. I also agree that it is correctable by toggle. I had a leg strap slip inside my wingsuit on opening (not worn tightly enough) and it sent me spiraling at first. It was easily corrected and landed by flying uneven toggles. As to the jumper in question, though, his situation appears to have warranted a little less time for a good correction. Sucks."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrianSGermain 1 #8 April 1, 2004 Harness cross-connectors will significantly reduce the effects of harness input. In fact, short chest straps, tight harnesses, and short diagonals will all serve to limit the 3-ring offset capability. If the leg strap is sliding down to the knee during the harness turn, it was not sufficiently tightened. I pray that your friend heals quickly, and that this never happens again. I also hope that people continue to use harness input as part of their canopy flight skill-set. Sometimes it is the best and safest tool for the job.Instructional Videos:www.AdventureWisdom.com Keynote Speaking:www.TranscendingFEAR.com Canopies and Courses:www.BIGAIRSPORTZ.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
