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Hazarrd

Have you ever used your hook knife?

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I know they are only 6 bucks



Pretty much anything you're getting for $6 is junk...probably plastic, which will rot over time and break when you try and use it. A friend of mine (also used to work here with us) had a reserve primi at 9K after his buddy's camera lens snagged his D-handle. The reserve was overloaded and overspeed (not to mention he was at 9,000 ft., head down) and he blew two lines and ripped a cell or two. He decided (after he woke up at about 7K under an uncontrollable, collapsing canopy) to cut away his reserve and open his main.

In the middle of hooking the lines, the knife broke and left him holding a shard of razor blade to try and finish the job. He didn't get the job finished and landed under about 1/2 a reserve. He was lucky and only broke his pelvis (he was a ex-paratrooper, so the PLF probably saved his life).

The point here isn't what he should or shouldn't have done, it's that the tool he had to complete his action failed in use...it was a plastic hook knife.

If you're going to carry one, get a metal one, and while you're at it, get two. My experience from CReW is that you need a back-up of anything you really need, because when you need it, you might not be able to find/reach/get to the first one.

One under the mud flap and one on the leg strap isn't a bad way to go. Just my 2 cents....


"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

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Get a metal one.

I have not used it but then I have not used my CYPRES yet either, and I still have one.

I see very few problems with having one, and I know of a few things that it COULD help with.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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I have a Happy Hooker hookknife...i think they run about $30. Never used it, but if i ever have a line over on a reserve, i'll be damn happy to test it out.

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meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

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Reading this posting brings a question of my own: Hook knives are really necessary or just good to have?, I'm new to the sport, please forgive my ignorance.



IMO - They're about as necessary as a Cypres. You hope that you never have to use it, but if you do, you sure are glad it's there! I carry two just "in case"

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
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bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

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Just get one anyway - if you ever come to the UK to jump they're mandatory. Except students aren't allowed them, which I find weird.

Sure, not on a first jump, in case people freak out and start cutting stuff, but once you get onto freefall you're more aware of potential problems they can solve. I only say this because I'm still a student and actually want to have one there, but I'm not allowed.

Nick
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"I've pierced my foot on a spike!!!"

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yup, over here its an A licsence and above requirement. No knife, no jump.

worryingly tho, your not told what to do with it, just expected to have one.
Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE
Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies

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At the very least, a good hook knife will give you a way to occupy your mind as you plummet to your death under a double entaglement.

As an added bonus, it might just save your life.

Get a good one. I take a "Jack the ripper" on every jump. I've sewn pockets into all three of my jumpsuits, and move the knife between which ever suit I'm wearing at the time.

Also - do not use your knife for anything that isn't a life or death emergency. I frequently see people using theirs to cut rubber bands. What the hell is the point of having one if you're gonna dull the blade???

_Am
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You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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I know they are only 6 bucks so I've been told they are worth having, but I want to see how many people have actually used it before. If you have used one, please post what it was for. Thanks!


Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Spend the extra money and get a metal knife. I've only used mine once in 23 years. I had to cut a students jumpsuit after it became entangled with the brake caliper on a 182.



never pull low......unless you are

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I bought a used mirage g3 and it has what I'm guessing is mirage's optional hookknife on the left legstrap. it's a relatively small metal one, but it looks pretty rugged.

as with most new timers my thoughts are on the lines of "I think if worse comes to worse and I needed it I could probably figure out that I did, but the fact that no one ever really talked much about it to me as a student kinda bothers me."

The only time any of my instructors ever mentioned a hookknife was during my first jump course. if we did something really screwy on our exit and got wrapped up in our static line he said he would cut us loose and to go for the reserve.

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yup mandatory in the UK - nuf said

edit:
Try square one at perris - they sell a very nice metal one (same size as the $6 one you've seen), but it aint gonna break. Cost me $20 plus $6 for larry, the rigger there (excellent guy - very competant) to pop stud it to my mud flap.

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I know they are only 6 bucks so I've been told they are worth having,

What do a cypres cost....?? Have you used it, or was 1100 bucks to much....??



Well, I think there are defeinitely good reasons to have an AAD. Getting knocked unconcious in the air is defintely a possible situation. Not as much as losing altitude awareness, but you never know.

.-.

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I dont always carry my hook knife... I would if it were part of my contaciner, but I jsut strap in on to the chest strap when I am doing crosscountry dives and things with other people close to me under canopy. It wouldnt hurt anything to have it attached and I think I am going to get it sewn into the leg strap soon... ya never know when ya might need it..



-yoshi
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Now I REALY like the look of those. They were in the mag a couple of months ago and I looked into buying one. When I asked about them though, I was told that they weren't actually as impressive as they look. I'm also wondering about the fact that there's only one finger hole - what happens if your under a fast mal and your trying to mess about with a knife that spins round your finger?

Has anyone seen these/got one? I still might buy one as a second knife if peoples impression of them has been good.

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This may be a stupid question, but like many of you said, I've never really had hook knifes explained to me.

so, in what situations would a hook knife be useful?

I know: CREW stuff, a lineover on a reserve, but I can't think of anything else you could use it for... plz help this newbie out

MB 3528, RB 1182

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