LiveLifeGoJump

It was a true Cypres save, my point was I was scared & I was on the ground not jumping that day. Just seeing it was enough to make me think again about what I would do under a main mal. For that & other reasons deployment height is still 3k. Also reminded me that altitude awareness is very important (not that I needed reminding). Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

That's why I say, there are ocassions when a second or 2 delay MAY be the safest option. It all depends on the circumstances. I once saw a Cypres save, I was on the ground & I was scared. At that height it's a 'do or die' situation. No time to blink never mind think. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

After the chop he ended up under another jumper and rolling. Track & deploy reserve gave clearance. He had the altitude to do this, Reserve may not have mal'ed but other jumper so close that he could well have went into reserve. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

My post was in reply to a spinning mal. No one can say in what orientation you will be when thrown of a spinning mal. It is therefore posible that if the reserve is deployed immediately that you could induce line twists of worse still get wrapped up in the lines. It is for this reason I suggested that a slight delay (1 or posibly 2 seconds) to get stable (or at least reduce the spinning effect) would help PROVIDED you have the altitude. Bear in mind that your vertical speed could well be below terminal as you would have some canopy above your head. If you do not have the altitude then 'owt is better than nowt' then go silver and ARCH after. I did not suggest a minimum altitude, below which you should not delay, that is up to the individual based on experience and/or advice from instructors. If you are you advising that after chopping a spinning mal and being flung off in a VERY unstable position above 2k you should go straight for silver regardless' then I personally would prefer not to follow that advice. I hope that, if ever I am in a 'mal' situation, I react to it in the best way I can to suit the situation. I agree to 1, 2 & 3 100% Regarding the 'advice', the first part was a suggestion, the second part was advise & I don't need to be an instructor to tell people to relax & enjoy it. In reply to Jimbo. Yes 2500+ jumps does mean something & I do trust the information given to me by instructors with upto 6,000 jumps. I have read & learned from the advice given by the likes of Billvon, mjosparky & others, most of which confirms or adds to/improves what I was taught and would always recommend that low timers seek the advice of the instructors at their home DZ as the instructor is more able, in a 'face to face' briefing, to assess whether the recipient has fully understood the advise/procedure explained to him/her. That said the amount of information on DZ.com is vast, mostly good and can serve to educate. PS. I HAVE seen a spinning mal where going for silver immediately after the chop had well over a 50% chance of a serious (potentially fatal) reserve mal. A delay was necessary for safety, luckily he had the altitude & knew it. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

But not if the canopy is new & slippy as it will then spread under your knees as you kneel on it. With an older or less slippery canopy it may not spread then making it the width of the bag is correct way. I know a number of packers who start narrow with newer canopies. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

Yes. sorry my thinking was off at the time. I was thinking that all risers had a section where the front & rear risers where stitched together for several inches and that it was this part that was shortened (can't think at the moment where I got this idea from as I KNOW mine seperate just above the '3 ring circus'). As for shorterning the brake lines this may have to be done in order for someone with short arms to be able to carry out a full flare. GET A RIGGER TO ADVISE BEFORE ATTEMPTIN THIS AS IT WILL/MAY ALTER THE TRIM. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

Ah but a Protec isn't 'COOL' and only uncool students wear them! I think it may be polyproperlene but don't quote me. As for being the safest, perhaps is was when it was first manufactures and for the situation it is used in but no open face helmet protect you from a 'boot in the gob'. As the sport & technology developes then new designs come out to extend the range of protection (tempt the skydiver & line the pockets of the industry). Helmets are designed to flex and absorb the force of any blow so the material does matter. It may be a small part but it is an important part. Wearing a strong & ridgid helmet is more likely to transmit the force to the head (as would a thin or solid padding). There is no perfect helmet but a full face has a number of advantages (and probably disadvantages too) over open face. Just remember, most helmets come in boxes marked fragile for a reason. I have a 7 year old Z1 but need to replace it soon. I would consider another but cost is an issue as they seem to be overpriced in comparisson to others. Decide what's best for your type of skydiving. Think about getting 2! Helmets don't make skydiving safer, they just help if & when accidents happen. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

I learnt to flat pack Manta 280s before pro-packing (we have lots of S/L students at our UK DZ) and these are easy to bag. It's when I got my Sabre the problems started (slippy ZP) so I developed this method. 1: Make the 'sausage shape' as thin as posible 2: S fold it's length as quick as posible 3: Put bag over as much as you can 4: Stuff the 'spare bits anywhere there is a space 5: Stow the first bit on line in the first bungy 6: Repete 4 & 5 until all the mouth lock line stows are done 7: Repeat 4 Works for me. Funny thing is I don't get asked to pack Sabres for others, I wonder why. I was going to learn the psycho-pack but as mine looks like a psycho has packed it I didn't bother. I work on the assumption if it doesn't what to go in in the first place then it ain't going to stay in when it get a little taste of freedom on deployment. Best advise I can give is to squash out as much air a possible, make it VERY narrow before the S folds, keep it under control with your knees and don't take too much time bagging it. It also helps (helps me anyhow) if the canopy is warm & packed on a carpet (helps stop material sliding about). If all else fails, CHANGE JOBS to one that pay a lot more then pay a packer to pack for you while you go off and jump your second kit. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

I learned to pro-pack on a Stilltto 150, the jumper was over 12 stone (not sure how much), jumped camera and often pulled around 2k2. It was the easest canopy I've been asked to pack. He had no problems of hard openings that I can remember even when I trashed packed it once (an off day, he was in a hurry to jump video again, I just said "don't ask just dump high" he did [2k5] and had one of the best openings he'd ever had). Can't ever remember him having twists, prahaps the odd of heading by 90 degrees but that's all. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

Is riser length not set to suit the container rather than the canopy? Are the risers on ALL container made for a 120 the same length? Are the lines on ALL 120's the same length? As the "short" come off the bottom BELOW the V divide between front & rear risers it should not affect anything, other than brake line length, much, if at all otherwise risers would need to be designed to suit the individual and the canopy their intend to use etc. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

If you are under a spinning mal and have the altitude then a slight delay after the chop to get stable before the pull would help. If you don't have the altitude then the next stage after pulling silver is (as I was taught) ARCH (or recover, same thing) as this will help stop the body spinning as the reserve deploys reducing the risk of twists etc. One bit of advise I would give everyone is to relax & enjoy it, the more you worry the more you tense up & the more tense you are the more likely you are to cause a problem. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

Yeah. 1: If all else fails 'grab the grass 'cause it's the bounce that kills'. 2: Pray. 3: Flap arms. 4: Blow hard (or suck if you are on your back). Seriously. If things are bad you'll try anything but best NOT to let it get that bad. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

I heard about a C182 emergency, jumpers were told to get out so they launched a 4 way. On another emergency when a loud bang was heard coming from the engine the pilot turned to call 'aircraft emercency' (another C182) only to see the last pair of heels disappearing out of the door. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

I felt like a 'real' skydiver the first time I managed to deploy face to earth (S/L progression) but feeling was short lived when I started to do other things wrong. I'm a 5' 8.5" male, I KNOW I can carryout out EP & that I have more that enough strength to cope even if the pull is more than the max 22 lbs but still think 'I going to have the strength to cut away & extract the reserve pin' (will I have the presence of mind to even try). The answers are yes, yes & YES but until you have been in that situation you still wonder! You've been there, done that & bought the tee shirt, you can stop wondering now. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.

On one jump I had over 1.5 mile freefall drift, dumped 0.5 mile downwind of DZ but made it back without too much effort. Still had a long walk back to hanger (500 yards). Would do it again but would try to take the spot deeper. In the UK I believe 1.5 mile from DZ cross is the max. exit point limit. Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.