Cutaway Cable Length

[gemini 0]

If someone tosses their cutaway handle and takes a reserve ride, the cutaway handle is often lost and replaced. Experienced jumpers and riggers know that cutaway cable lengths vary between containers and container sizes and trim the cables as necessary to insure simultaneous riser release.

In a recent incident a jumper cutaway and upon feeling the riser release deployed the reserve into the main that was trailing from an unreleased riser (one released, one didn't).

Upon examination it was found that one of the cables was to long and had not fully extracted even though the other cable was completely disengaged. The cutaway handle was still hanging from the harness when examined even though the jumper was sure it fell away.

Please, if you lose a cutaway make sure the cables on the new one are the correct length for your container. Talk to your rigger. Next time you need a repack, test your cutaway and the riser release sequence.

Remember in a cutaway, pull the cables all the way out of the cable housings to insure riser release.

[councilman24 36]

Just so there is no confusion.... For most rigs the risers WILL NOT release at the same time by design. The RSL side is cut with more cable through the loop (usually about an inch) to insure the other side is gone before the riser with the RSL leaves and deploys the reserve.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[gemini 0]

Thanks Terry my {oversight} bad. The key is that they be the proper lengths.

Blue skies,

Jim

[cvfd1399 0]

The KEY is to pull it all out. No matter what length it is it does you no good if you never pull it through the loop.

[gemini 0]

Quote

The KEY is to pull it all out. No matter what length it is it does you no good if you never pull it through the loop.

The key is to have the cables the proper length. If they are to long, someone with short arms may not be able to them all the way out, BUT as previously stated earlier "Remember in a cutaway, pull the cables all the way out of the cable housings to insure riser release."

Blue skies,

Jim

[nacmacfeegle 0]

How's about this Jim...
Next time you have the 3 rings dismantled (every couple of months or more right?), slap a tape measure on the cables (assuming they are currently the correct length), and write the correct lengths down in your log book somewhere....That way there's no guesswork involved in any replacement scenario. Be sure to measure them with the cables pulled tight.Its also a good idea to do a 'dummy cutaway' during the 3 ring and cable cleaning, at least you know that at full arm extension you are likely to have a successful cutaway, or otherwise.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[billvon 2,380]

>Be sure to measure them with the cables pulled tight.

There's the rub. If you measure them with everything slack you will get one measurement. If you pull on them you will compress the housings slightly (depending on how you do it) and get a second measurement. If you measure them with "normal loads" on the rig (i.e. no cable tension but the rig suspending your weight) you will get a third measurement. The key is to always measure under the same conditions; no load is a pretty good one because it's easy to replicate.

[goose491 0]

Quote

>Be sure to measure them with the cables pulled tight.

There's the rub. If you measure them with everything slack you will get one measurement. If you pull on them you will compress the housings slightly (depending on how you do it) and get a second measurement. If you measure them with "normal loads" on the rig (i.e. no cable tension but the rig suspending your weight) you will get a third measurement. The key is to always measure under the same conditions; no load is a pretty good one because it's easy to replicate.

Naw, he's saying when you're examining the 3 ring system... the cables are out of the rig. Hold 'em taught and measure 'em that way so there's no confusion.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"Hold 'em taught and measure 'em that way so there's no confusion."

That is indeed what I meant.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[billbooth 10]

At Relative Workshop, we first insert the yellow cutaway cables in their housings, Velcro the handle to the rig, and then cut both cables at 6 1/2" past the housing endings. If there is an RSL on the rig, we cut at 5 1/2" on the non-RSL side, and 7 1/2" on the RSL side, just to make sure the non-RSL side goes first.

In truth, the 2" differential really doesn't matter. If we assume you are pulling your cutaway handle at just 5 feet (60 inches) per second (most people pull a lot faster), then the 2" differential represents only 1/30 th of a second between riser releases.

The only real mistakes you can make with cutaway cables, is to use the wrong type of cable, cut them too short, or fail to finish the ends correctly. Hint: Look at the channels on the back of your main risers, and cut your cables to almost "fill" those channels.

[riggerrob 558]

In a recent incident a jumper cutaway and upon feeling the riser release deployed the reserve into the main that was trailing from an unreleased riser (one released, one didn't).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Just goes to show you that "feeling" may not give you an accurate picture of what is happening during a malfunction.
Also shows you that deciding to deviate from standard practice (i.e. full-pull) is a bad practice during malfunctions.

Reminds me of a first jump student 20 years ago. Our DZ had recently purchased Para-Commanders and Piggy-Backs with SOS handles. Some of our packers were still learning the finer points of packing PCs.
Hee!
Hee!
Buddy left the airplane in a lazy arch and promptly found himself hanging under a PC with one stabilizer all knotted up!
He proceeded to pull the SOS handle "until he felt resistance" then let go and resumed a "frog" position until his AAD fired!
Scared the shorts off of our pilot, the second student and me!

The moral of the story is: full-pull on any handle.

[jumper03 0]

What about full pull and clear? I know some people do one hand on each handle. I was taught the two hand on one handle method - pull, then clear the cables with your other hand. Pull the silver, then clear the cable.

Could that type of Emergency procedure have prevented this situation??

Jump
-----------------

Scars remind us that the past is real

[faulknerwn 36]

I had an interesting cutaway about a year ago. (I don't have an RSL). I was spinning on my back with mega-line-twists and went to cutaway. (This was something like cutaway # 14 or so). I pulled the cutaway handle and one side released and I ended up dangling by one side - I then did a second pull and the other riser quickly released - I think there maybe was an inch of difference or less.between the cables.

I think I must have just stopped during the brief length-difference between the 2 cables. The good thing was - instead of going back into freefall spinning widely on my back, the slight time delay had me falling head high and then instantly belly-to-earth stable which made for a nice reserve deployment.

W

(I owe beer now for cutaway #16 in Empuriabrava last week - gotta love a nice CRW wrap on my birthday :-)

[gemini 0]

Spoke to the rigger who examined the equipment and there is more to the story than just the cable length.

Apparently the container originally had soft cable housings. At some point hard cable housings were installed. They are not Sunpath housings and are approximately 4-6 inches longer than spec. The surprising thing is the housing material used will stretch a lot more than the Sunpath housing.

It looks like a pull on the cutaway does not even begin cable extraction until the pillow is pulled 6 or more inches, then at least another 6 inches after normal pull length were needed to fully extract.

Blue skies,

Jim

[Scrumpot 1]

Quote

Could that type of Emergency procedure have prevented this situation??

Yes.

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[uberchris 0]

i was going to start a new thread, but since this thread is discussing cutaway cable length, i have a question for the riggers here.

upon inspecting my new (93') used skyrig, everything is good with the exception of the length of the cutaway cable on the reserve handle side of my rig. i talked to my rigger and we both felt that it was jumpable, but needed to be adressed as soon as i could.

under canopy, the left cutaway cable pops out of the pocket, and is literally only sticking out past the white cloth loop about 2 inches. i have ordered a new cutaway handle/cable system, and i have a question about what to do after i cut the cable to the right length.

after i cut the cable to the right length, how do you treat the bitter end of the cable. do you take a brillow pad and smooth around it after you cut it? do you leave it alone? i do not want any jagged edges of the wire or the yellow material anywhere that could potentially snag during a cutaway........



any ideas on the bitter end of the cutaway cable?

thanks in advance
chris w

gravity brings me down.........

[jsaxton 0]

After cutting the cable to length (with a cable cutter, a REAL cable cutter) heat it carefully with a flame and smooth it out with your fingers so that there is no snag point at the bitter end.

[firemedic 7]

Quote

i was going to start a new thread, but since this thread is discussing cutaway cable length, i have a question for the riggers here.

upon inspecting my new (93') used skyrig, everything is good with the exception of the length of the cutaway cable on the reserve handle side of my rig. i talked to my rigger and we both felt that it was jumpable, but needed to be adressed as soon as i could.

under canopy, the left cutaway cable pops out of the pocket, and is literally only sticking out past the white cloth loop about 2 inches. i have ordered a new cutaway handle/cable system, and i have a question about what to do after i cut the cable to the right length.

after i cut the cable to the right length, how do you treat the bitter end of the cable. do you take a brillow pad and smooth around it after you cut it? do you leave it alone? i do not want any jagged edges of the wire or the yellow material anywhere that could potentially snag during a cutaway........



any ideas on the bitter end of the cutaway cable?

thanks in advance
chris w

If the ends are not smoothed properly they could hang up in the white loop and prevent the canopy from releasing when you need it to. I strongly recommend you take it to your rigger and let him or her cut it to the proper length and smooth out the ends for you.

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

any ideas on the bitter end of the cutaway cable?

Yes. Most emphatically.
What Firemedic said above:
"I strongly recommend you take it to your rigger and let him or her cut it to the proper length and smooth out the ends for you. "

While simple in and of itself, it's best to have someone who already knows what he is doing.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239