Dionysos

It's my own gear: Vector 3, Safire-2 169 (WL 1.15), PD 160. I have two pillows, one for cut-away and one for reserve deployment, no D ring.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement! I didn't go to my dropzone today... Did I eat something wrong yesterday or is it my subconscious mind? Whatever... I am staying home today. Who knows... It would have been a pretty hard impact even if I'd have managed to prevent the main from collapsing the reserve. On the other hand cutting the wrong lines would have been much worse. Good point. For some reason I used one hand per handle even though I learned to use both hands. Training EPs on a regular basis and going through the motions before each and every jump should help if I ever encounter a similar situation. Thank you for your effort to explain what might have happened. Everything you say sounds reasonable and the quoted point seems to be quite possible. I noticed a few jumpers on my dropzone thinking about hook knifes after they witnessed my reserve...

Hi everyone, I write this post to come to terms with my 1st real dangerous situation I had to deal with while skydiving 2 weeks ago on May 17th. As I want to improve my flying skills and safety at canopy flight, I was attending a canopy course. It was my 41st jump altogether and 1st jump of the day. As it was a canopy course I jumped out at 2000 m. 3 others went out before me, then I decided to go out with a sit floater exit. 1st mistake: I pulled when I wasn't stable. I thought "hop and pop" when I should have waited 2-3 more seconds to be stable. I tipped forward felt the pilot chute sliding along my right leg and immediatly knew I fucked up. While I was hoping not to get entangled my main opended. But... not as you want it to... line overs, line twists and I started to spin. When I saw the mess I decided to cut away. My first time... 1700 m. 2nd mistake: Instead of cutting away and waiting a second before pulling the reserve, I pulled the reserve pillow almost immediatly after cutting away... not the same time but maybe 1/10th of a second. Faster than my skyhook... So the reserve shot through the left riser of my main before it could totally release. My reserve opened but the riser of my main was wrapped around all the reserve lines with the main pulling on it. I just managed to catch the lines of my main and tried to solve the problem. Then I realized I wouldn't be able to get rid of the main nor pull it towards me. I could barely prevent it from running up the lines of my partially open reserve - twisted lines, slider not totally down. If I would have let go, the main would have run up the lines of my reserve collapsing everything. No way to hold the main by its lines rubbing on my fingers until I hit ground. Swearing. 1000 m. Turning point: Then I remembered my hook knife. I was hoping not to loose it when I was fiddling it out of the pocket while I was getting hurled around. I managed it. Cut all the lines of my main canopy, got rid of main riser and lines inside my reserve lines and kicked out the twisted reserve. 800 m. After I was safe I even tried the things I learned at the canopy course and landed standing. Repair will be pretty expensive but life is worth a lot more... Lessons learned: Stabilize before pull if possible. Don't pull the reserve too fast after cutting away. Always wear a hook knife. The next day I jumped twice but on my 2nd jump I pulled my left calf because I flared late... So I haven't jumped for 2 weeks. The situation still occupies my mind. I want to go to my dropzone on Sunday again. Thanks for reading.