hard opening

[ScratchTX 0]

funny thing... a few days before, I'd just skimmed an article about hard openings and thought, gee I'm glad I have a nice tame 7-cell F-11 canopy, Dacron lines, I never have really hard openings, I pack fine, don't like super long snivels, I don't need to worry about that... :-!

HA! -- Ow, it hurts to laugh... :>)

No equipment damage, my neck is badly whacked but that will heal. After talking and thinking about it, I recalled that I had done an unusually messy pack job after my last jump a few weeks ago. The canopy had really spread out when I laid it down to cocoon it and I even thought about starting over. But no, I foolishly carried on, after deciding that the lines were okay inside and I didn't think I'd likely get a lineover...

Thinking/talking about what could have caused it:

not slowing down prior to dumping - nope, this was a relaxed solo, on my belly.

line dump - not too likely. I never make short stows, I was using the same small rubber bands as the previous few jumps, and none of them were broken;

letting the nose get too exposed - most likely explanation, given my pack job. But I never roll the nose, I just gently stuff it and I used to even just let it hang, with no problems. So I am surprised this could have caused such a radically fast opening (we're talking FAST).

slider down -- I bag the canopy by s-folding in the bottom last, and so usually re-check that the slider is all the way up right before closing the bag. But I often have to help my slider down after opening (lightly loaded canopy), and this time it was RIGHT there. So maybe it was down the lines some and I just didn't see it.

it's just bugging me because I know something caused it, and that something was my packing, but I am just not sure exactly what. Can exposing too much of the nose, on this kind of canopy, really make that much difference? Or was it likely another packing error?



--Scratch

[SkySlut 0]

PD says that rolling the nose doesnt do much for the opening other than make it off heading. The most important things to do for nice slow openings is to make sure the slider is all the way down (push down on the grommets with a bit of gentle force) and quartered. I make sure the front of the slider on the nose side of the canopy is fully exposed because that usually catches air first...then I roll the crap out of the tail making sure that I dont roll any lines into it.

Get well soon...you are going to have some jumping to do!!!

Scott Miller will have a packing class that will go over a lot of your questions at the Search.

[ladyskydiver 0]

Hope your neck heals soon.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[ScratchTX 0]

Thanks... Yeah, I was on a plan to up my jumping -- working out to increase stamina, finally back at the dz after a four week break, all set to make more jumps during the day than I usually do (when I am weak and wimpy). This happened on the first jump of the day.

I do quarter the slider as you described, I usually don't roll the tail super tight but I do roll it. That is what would have come undone in my sloppy placing of the canopy on the floor. I guess that does make more of a difference than I realized.

All I know now is that my neck is not a very happy set of vertebrae. I have been through this before (my neck's had problems off and on for years and years) and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to spring for the $$$ at a doc-in-the-box place. Since its not an "emergency," it'll be a lot of money for someone to say "take it easy, use ice on it after activity, use moist heat on it, sure, massage might help, take ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation, it will just take some time." But sometimes an Rx for muscle relaxants does make a difference, helps stop the muscles from spasming around the injured tissue. But, to get a few muscle relaxants, I have to pay a bunch of money for the exam, AND have a "skydiving injury" in my medical record... and I know from previous experience as a self-employed person that it is almost impossible to get good, affordable insurance if you participate in "hazardous recreational activities such as skydiving..." And I might be self-employed again sooner than I think.

opps sorry this has gone totally off topic from gear and rigging.

[SkySlut 0]

To bring it back on the subject again...I also make sure that the point to where the tail is wrapped around the lines is really tight so it doesnt come loose. I also wrap the tail as much as I can, then let the canopy hang (of course this is much easier with smaller canopies) over my shoulders and gently press down on it to get more air out of it and then keep rolling the tail.

I have CHRONIC back pain and I like nice & slow openings. Preventive maintenance:STRETCH! An ounce of prevention...I also have a really cool bag of herbs that I can either put in the microwave or freezer. If I am sore, I will heat it up and throw it on the sore spot for a while...makes a world of differnce. Then of course...Tylenol PM (doesnt make you groggy in the morning...best over the counter that I have found to help sleeping while in pain) and Aleve-2 in the morning will keep you strong all day long.

But of course If you are concerned...get professional medical help...I am not a doctor...I just play one on TV.

[ScratchTX 0]

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To bring it back on the subject again...I also make sure that the point to where the tail is wrapped around the lines is really tight so it doesnt come loose. I also wrap the tail as much as I can, then let the canopy hang (of course this is much easier with smaller canopies) over my shoulders and gently press down on it to get more air out of it and then keep rolling the tail.

Yeah, I watched someone do that yesterday. I does seem easier to do with a small, crisp canopy, than with my big old limp one that hangs down almost to the floor (hunh, that sure came out sounding weird...) when it is over my shoulder.

As for prevention -- absoutely. I look at people who stay fit just by their genetic makeup or something, who can roll out of bed and go jump and feel fine at the end of the day, and I think "more power to them," but I know I just cannot afford to do that. When I do get really out of shape, and stop stretching, I know that even a normal day of jumping will leave me sore. That's why I'm kind of pissed off that this happened -- because I actually had been doing lots of strengthening and stretching. Other than my neck, the rest of me feels fine!

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I also have a really cool bag of herbs that I can either put in the microwave or freezer. If I am sore, I will heat it up and throw it on the sore spot for a while...makes a world of differnce.

Do you know what kind of herbs they are?

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But of course If you are concerned...get professional medical help...

Nah, I am not really concerned, just grumpy and a little whiney... :>) I'll deal. Thanks for the tips.

[SkySlut 0]

I was debating putting this on a different thread, but, hey, its part of my "gear". I actually got this made for me by the girl who makes "DiveBalm" chapstick. She is really into herbs, oils, etc. All natural stuff. She makes a great all natural bug repellant...never been touched by one. But anyways here is a link to something similar...

http://www.wellbeingsonline.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cat=18

I am sure that if you sent her an email, she would probably make you one. Her website is www.divebalm.com

[Rdutch 0]

Just be carefull when you roll the tail. Specially with bigger canopies, you run the risk of pulling your lines in front of the canopy. This can cause a lineover.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[weid14 0]

some of the hardest openings I have had or have seen have been on "F-111" canopies, a couple different manufacturers. You can pack them any way you can and whamo.... I'd recommend a new canopy, better opening technology.

[ptwob231 0]

i've got 400 jumps on F-111. I flat pack them. they open nice. one thing to think about when rolling the nose. The tighter you roll it, the harder and faster it unrolls. Don't know why, but it just does that way.

[darkwing 4]

Sometimes they just happen.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[SkySlut 0]

I know that you are thinking about getting a new canopy...go for it. If you dont have the finances to do that...you can always have a rigger put a lip on the slider to slow it down if this is a re-occuring problem. It will only cost you 15 or 20 bucks.

[ScratchTX 0]

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Sometimes they just happen.

[frowning] Really? I'd always heard that, but I can't help thinking that *something* was different to make it happen. I don't know why though - I can philosophically accept "you can do everything right and still die," even though I know that fatalities are really usually from a chain of events... don't know why I can't accept "You can pack/deploy everything right and still have a slammer." Guess it boils down to personality -- how much of a control freak vs. accepting person you are... guess I know where I fall. :>)

I really doubt it's inherent in my canopy, although I am planning on getting another one soon anyway. I never roll the rose and have never had anything other than soft openings -- fairly quick ones (I prefer it that way) but not hard at all. This was definitely an anomaly, HOPEFULLY not to be repeated.

[darkwing 4]

Yes, really. Don't get me wrong. I suspect that most of the time there is , in principle, an identifiable cause--body position, sloppy slider during packing, inherent to the canopy design, etc. But absolutely, they can happen due to no fault of the jumper or packer. The consequence of all the turbulence around the canopy at deployment is that openings will vary, even when pack jobs and body position don't.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History