Tonto

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content

    6,441

  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

  • Feedback

    0%

Posts posted by Tonto

  1. I've seen dual deployments on SOS systems.

    I've seen people go in after both hands on cutaway that
    a)never found the reserve, or
    b)had the snap shackle fail on the RSL

    No procedure is flawless, but all work if done the way they were taught.

    That's the crux of my origional post.

    Do what you were taught. If you are unable to perform under pressure and so cannot do what you were taught, don't bullshit yourself that you can. In this sport, something will go wrong. It may be on jump 9, or jump 4529, but it will happen at some point, and when it does, you need to be ready.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  4. No, I didn't talk to him other than the usual questions like "Who are you?" and "Where are you?" and "Did you lose conciousness?" and "Do you have any alergies?" and "What's your bloodgroup?" and "Don't move. Just relax as much as you can. The ambulanc is on it's way." He was really struggling to breathe and was very winded, so the answers were not chatty ones, but the responses were good.

    It's pretty pointless asking them what went wrong right after the incident. It doesn't really matter. What matters is keeping them alive.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  6. Last Thursday I was invited to dinner by a former AFF student of mine, who's now a close friend. He's Italian, and in his mid 50's, and coming up on 1000 dives soon.

    At dinner, at an Italian restaurant, I met the Italian owner, and later, after dinner had a chance to look through his photo album. He's D 7 in South Africa. C 3. B 1. Looking at the pictures of the gear, and the planes, and the youth of people we only see as old was inspiring.

    I have much to learn about life, but I think I'm on the right path.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  7. This past Saturday I arrived at the DZ late, and due to a few thunderstorms, jumping was done for the day.

    I did an AFF L1 briefing for a new student, had dinner and went to the bar.

    It was really quiet, and as I nursed my 1st beer, I started chatting to 2 guys on the static line program - both of whom were to do their 1st freefall the following day.

    These 2 men were very different.

    One had prior military experience, was quiet, and a little worried about how he would perform the following day. He'd listened carefully to the 1st freefall briefing, and had determined the best course of action would be to approach the dive exactly the way he had done his last practice pull. He reminded me a lot of the way I felt late in February 1985 when I was about to do my 1st freefall.

    The other was louder. And unconcerned about the following day. He drank more, and faster. He made fun of his friend for stopping drinking at 21h30 and ordering 4 bottles of water. He felt that his 1st freefall was "nothing" and that there was no change from SL at all.
    I looked around to see if there were any women he may be trying to impress, but no, that was not the case. A few people with 100 jumps, a packer, the woman who manages the bar and is like a communal mom - and me. He left at 22h00. Shortly before 22h30 we were winding things down when he returned, and wanted more beer. He wasn't drunk but at that point in the evening I couldn't see the benefit of an extra drink, (I'd had 2) and neither could anyone else. I explained murphy's laws of combat, and told him not to be the low guy in the morning. (Murphy's always looking for the low guy..what's the worst that could happen?) Bar's closed. See you in the morning. Unhappily, he went to bed.

    The following day both men did their 1st freefall.

    Quiet guy did OK. Good 3 second delay, clean deployment, good pattern and landing.

    Noisy guy not so much. Went unstable, pulled, had an induced spinning malfunction, fired his reserve, then cut away, but not before the pilot chute had wrapped around the lines of the main and the reserve bag had wrapped around the reserve lines. Interestingly, at times it looked like a 2 out, but as he decended, the freeflying main began to drag the reserve bag further and further up the lines, choking it more and more.

    I started running when he was at about 1000ft, and the ambulance was called around the same time. It was about a 400m run to his impact point, and I got there maybe 25 secs after he hit, having made no attempt whatsoever to do a PLF. As far as injuries go, his failure to PLF saved his legs from injury. His torso, however, never faired as well. He has a crushed T12 but no nerve damage, a broken Pelvis, a broken sternum and badly bruised lungs and heart. He'll probably make it. Doubtless his story will differ from mine.

    I chose to post this in Safety and Training rather than incidents because I don't think this is something that happened to a skydiver. I think this is what happens when someone bullshits themselves that they're better than they are, and then make mistake, after mistake, after mistake in an environment which is very unforgiving of even small mistakes. I think this man is an events cascade. He'll probably think he was unlucky.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  8. I had a gunsmith friend who used to make .357 and .44 Magnum barrels to drop into a 12 guage shotgun to fire those rounds instead of slugs. I'd imagine a 12 guage sleeve dropped into a 10 gauge flare gun would do the job. When entering a foreign port as long as the sleeve is kept somewhere else on the boat, I doubt the authorities would question you much, although the ammunition may cause a problem.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  9. Read the thread. All the concerns are mentioned. Wear on the slinks that may fail as a result, wear on the brake lines, damage to slider grommets resulting in accelerated line wear or damage, misrouting/mis stowing the brakes resulting in malfunction, etc, etc.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  12. USPA blah blah jumping years from now, blah blah, spoiling the sport for me blah blah.

    You chose to reply to me - why I don't know. My post was factual. There was no debate.

    There's more to skydiving than the USA. Look at the profiles of the people saying they have jumped with under 18 kids and you'll see the bulk of us are not from the USA. We're from the world - that's the part of the planet that's not the USA.

    My child has spent 13 years on a DZ and has more DZ experience than you will have for another 12 years.

    Go enforce your own rules, and leave those who are not breaking any of their laws alone, or alternately lets chat again when you're in your 40's and have a lifetime in the sport, and your own kids.

    That's the way I feel, anyway.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  13. Quote

    out of curiousity, for those of you who use this set up how long are your risers?



    There was a prior tendency I noticed for people to use very long risers - and in so doing moving the ring further up the riser to allow the same feel.

    I'm using standard 20" risers from Mirage.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  17. It looks like it cos only the loop comes through the ring. That way the toggle doesn't have to get past it, and the ring still provides the integrity to take the load required during opening without jamming the toggle.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  19. Quote

    Ja T

    just watch for small nicks and dents on the inside of your slider grommets.



    You sound like a prophet of doom.:)
    Some people still have great big metal links up there that are a lot more bashable that a free floating ring.

    I don't have grommets. Since I have a removable slider I only have rings, but I'll keep an eye out for wear. These lines are being replaced every 300 jumps or so, and as I mentioned earlier, a new set is going on with no such damage to the old set - but thanks for the warning all the same.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  21. Quote


    Wow! What a brilliant idea!



    Agreed.

    I'd like to point out at this time that it's not MY idea, and that I'm shocked that so many really good CP's have not seen it before.
    This is not new. It's been around here in SA for at least 2 years.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  22. Brake set shows the brakes stowed, with the steering line coming through the top ring and the loop through the origional ring set on the riser.

    Top ring shows the ring set through the slink and the brake line passing through the ring.

    This lineset is 500 HMA and is end of life. I have the riggers making up a new lineset for me and it should be installed within the next 2 weeks or so. Wear on both the slink and the brake line is negligible.

    Remember, after unstowing the brake the toggle will travel up to the top ring and not through the origional brake ring, which is used only to secure the loop when the brakes are set for the deployment. The benefit is huge, particularly for feel on the rears, and non interference with the tail when on fronts.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  23. Congrats on surviving your 1st! Tension knots are no fun. I've had to chop them on Tandems several times, and have had one tension knot malfunction on a Tandem reserve that had me very worried till I got it sorted.

    My 1st malfunction was at around 750 jumps. The canopies of the day were very similar to the big reserves of today, and were not really prone to malfunction. It was on a Pintail (Later nicknamed the Spintail) which was a 1st generation "performance" canopy and the malfunction was a bowtie type config caused by the bridle looping and choking off the canopy after a hop and pop. The gear was borrowed, and I think the reserve was a Hobbit - that worked just fine.

    After that, things get a little blury, and in fairness, I've been jumping 22 years, so they happened a long, long time ago.

    Blue Skies,

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  24. Not being from the US I don't know if it's local to South Africa, but cannot imagine that's the case. It also allows full leverage on the top of the rears, and no tail interference when reaching or pulling on the fronts - all with manufacturers trim. It's a big gain, but one must be mindful of wear from the brake line on the slink.

    Peej's comment about the brakes being set as normal isn't wholey correct though, as only the brake loop is passed through the origional brake ring set on the riser, much the way the 3rd riser on trips was set up.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.