billbooth

This is a draft of a section of an article I have been asked to write for a skydiving magazine. I am not a skydiving photographer, so this should not be considered instructional...it is only my uneducated opinion. Since it's a question I'm asked all the time, and there are a lot of photographers with real experience here, it thought I'd throw it out for comment and try to learn something. "Some photographers tell me that they don’t want any kind of RSL because one, or both, main risers might be entangled with their camera equipment when they have to breakaway, and they want time to deal with the situation before they fire their reserve. Think about it. If you breakaway from a 3“G” spinner with helmet entangled risers, you just transferred three times you body weight onto your chin strap. If it holds, and if your neck isn’t broken immediately, exactly how much time do you think you have before you pass out and strangle to death? That’s why most camera helmets have quick releases (which by the way, probably won’t work with much load on them, which is why if you fear you have an entanglement, you must release your camera helmet before you attempt a breakaway). So, if you helmet is entangled, but unbuckled before breakaway, it will leave with the broken away main, and there’s no reason why you wouldn’t want your reserve ”right now”, is there? If I were a photographer, my greatest fear, especially with those great big burble-producing wings a lot of you wear, would be a reserve pilot chute hesitation, with 15 feet of freebag bridle dancing around next to my camera helmet. Talk about an entanglement waiting to happen. (How many of you have a lot of jumps on an internal spring loaded pilot chute and remember how to "break the burble" at pull time to avoid hesitations?) There are no pilot chute hesitations on a Skyhook breakaway, which means, just like everyone else, you are probably a good deal better off with a Skyhook than without."

Most "accidental" shackle releases I have heard of were on the "old" brass shackles with weak springs. The stainless shackles we have been using for years have stronger springs, and are far more secure...plus we check every shackle for spring tension and pin length, before it goes on a Skyhook lanyard. The chance of one of our shackles accidently releasing is way less than a main canopy malfunction.

The North Pole at 4,000 meters, in April, it's about -50C. I've made 6 of those. At 10,000 meters anywhere in the world, where the military jumps all the time, it's even colder than that. That said, we do not let our gear get really cold before we jump. Nothing works when frozen solid...nothing but an ice cube, that is.

I have waited. This ad was released nearly 3 years after the Skyhook was introduced. Until now, we have done very little print advertising for it. Instead, we have taken it around to boogies, and let jumpers try it for themselves. About 300 have. And yes, there has been an "epidemic" of low pulls lately...two died at Rantoul alone. The "normal" number is about 3 a year in the US. If you think the "no-Skyhook" cartoon was a little long, watch the end of the Skyhook video. The jumper took nearly 5 seconds to locate and pull his reserve AFTER breaking away. At the speed he was going, that's at least 600 feet. In this case the ad was meant to be at least a bit instructive. It can, and probably will, take you a lot longer than you think to pull your reserve after riding a bad spinner on you back. Also notice that it took him a full 4 seconds to locate and pull his breakaway handle after he started reaching for it. That's 9 seconds total AFTER the decision to breakaway was made before the reserve was pulled...and this guy had a LOT of jumps. How well are YOU going to do the first time you breakaway from a 3 "G" spinner that can scrambled you brain in just a few seconds? The Skyhook is not for when things go right. Just like an AAD, it is for times when you have already forfeited your life because of poor planning or execution of your skydive.

Sorry I didn't answer this thread earlier. I just got back from a long overseas trip, and haven't even seen the Parachutist ad yet. From what I hear, the ad I approved, which was full of text, was cut way down by my marketing people. Of course I would never advocate scrapping your emergency procedures just because you have an RSL. (By the way, does every Cypres ad include emergency procedure instruction such as: "You still should pull your reserve ripcord, even though you jump with an AAD." It was an ad. Would you seriously prefer all parachuting ads to read, "Please buy my rig...even though it won't work."? That said, if this ad runs again, I will add a disclaimer of some sort. However. it hard to tell anyone not to alter their emergeny procedure, when you don't know what particular emergency procedure they were taught. For instance, I, (CAUTION: This is my personal opinion, and should not be taken as instruction by anyone) would never (depending on altitude) have my hand on a reserve ripcord handle, or even be looking at it, when I cutaway. Two reasons: 1. I want to be sure that both risers leave before I pull the reserve ripcord. 2. I want to be "stable" enough (especially if I was just spinning on my back) to safely deploy my last canopy...and to get stable as quickly as possible I will need my eyes on the horizon to determine "which way is up", and I will need both arms outstreched to position my body.

It you really want to cut your chances of being injured on a hard opening, don't jump "no stretch" lines. Get Dacron instead. Read the current "gear and rigging" thread for more info.

Unfortunately, all the "micro-lines" are also "micro-stretch". Specrtra is the worst, because it is also slippery (less slider friction). The harness is made of Nylon, which is even more stretchy than Dacron, so it does stretch a little to absorb opening shock. Trouble is, the harness is thick and not very long, so it doesn't have very much stretch to offer. Although nobody thinks about it, longer (Nylon) risers can also help absorb opening shock. However, risers are really short nowadays so that people can reach up and pull down their sliders. Also, I think hardware that slips a little can help. Try this: Fall down on a solid concrete floor. Now fall down on the same floor with a 1" gym mat on it. You are applying the same force, but I'm willing to bet that the bare concrete floor hurts more. Now do that same test 1,000 times (as in a thousand jumps) and tell me you still want to jump micro line. One more good reason to avoid "micro lines". When lines entangle with grommets and flaps, they're always "micro lines". The thickness of Dacron lines keeps them from getting stuck under things.

If that underage person gets hurt, Bill Booth, Relative Workshop, PD, and Crypes will probably be sued out of business...not to mention USPA and the drop zone. Is it reallly worth it?

If your 3-rings are correctly made, and maintained, your cutaway will be very easy too. Hard pulls are inexcusable, because they are almost always the result of lack of preparation on the ground.

It doesn' t matter which color pattern you choose...as long as it's a Vector. (Shameless plug)

I did pull tests years ago to determine if you could pull harder with a stainless ripcord handle than you could with a solid core pud. Everybody could pull over 60 lbs. with both hands. Most men, well over 100 lbs. One of my female riggers beat everyone with a two handed pull of 185 lbs. The point is, you won't even notice a 22 lb. pull. By the way, people could generate roughly the same forces with either kind of handle. The main trouble with pud reserve handles is that they are harder (take longer) to locate, and are nearly impossible to pull with an injured hand. So make sure you have a definite need (cost vs. benefit) before you go to a pud reserve handle...especially if you wear gloves or a helmet that obscures your downward vision.

For over 20 years, we have had only one civilian tandem reserve, a 360. Our max suspended weight is based on the capabilities of that canopy.

Not if you want the kill line to work.

??? I might be a stupid dutch guy but what is a "no-stretch line tandemcanopy" (I usually jump BT80

I've been packing tandems for awhile and notice they twist both directions. Jump Tandem drogues have to be made to extremely tight standards, or they will spin...right or left. Just a change in the thread tension in the sewing machine...even changing bobbins...is enough to do it. Think of it...it's a tiny round parachute being pulled through the sky at 120 mph for 60 seconds at a time. I'm kind of amazed they all don't spin, yet only a few do. If you have a bad spinner, we will replace it for you.

Anything can be done, but it will cost you. Some of these innovations are easier to retrofit than others. The main flap shouldn't be too hard, but the harness is a major re-work. Just don't jump no-stretch line canopies, and your current harness will be just fine.

I think that most people dip their left shoulder to look over their right shoulder during opening. This can cause the left line groups to appear "shorter" than the right line groups, causing a spin in one direction most of the time. Just a theory...

The military is now using our tandem systems with up to 1,000 lbs., while jumping out of jets at 30,000 feet, so these rigs are made to much high standards than our sport rigs. We have decided to build some of these tougher specs into our sport tandem rigs too. So, the Micro Sigma has a new harness with a main lift webb "pulley" setup that is stronger, makes adjustment easier, but still doesn't slip. (People are putting tandem mains, and even reserves, with no-stretch line into our systems, and this scares me...thus the tougher harness.) The Micro Sigma also has a way more secure main cover flap. There are also a few other subtle changes. All these will soon be built into our other tandem rigs too.

Actually, he's not even related. I just slipped him $20 for the plug.

I met Adrian on my third North Pole expedition in 1994. He was an instantly likable, as well as impressive guy, and we have been friends ever since. His re-creation of the da Vinci parachute was brilliant. This is a tremendous loss to all of us. Adrian was a wonderful spokesman for skydiving, as well as a great motivational speaker. (He "wowed" my Rotary Club just last year.) I can't believe I have lost 4 good skydiving friends in less than a year: Gus Wing, Egon, Piers (Plane crash in the Keys), and now Adrian. Please be careful out there guys.

Sorry you're having trouble. Sometimes our spam filter get a little bit aggressive. Try rosi or mark@ relativeworkshop.com, or I'm here now.

I never realized that the Skyhook could also be used as a vehicle to teach proper English...not that I am not enjoying this. I was such a geek in sixth grade, that I actually enjoyed diagramming sentences. PS. The DZ.con dictionary does not have the word "geek" in it. Can you imagine that?

just to set the record straight, this concept had been researched by Eric Fradet and Advance in the early 90's... But Bill was indeed the first to put it on the market. The basic idea is "old as the hills". My first test jumps on a Skyhook-like system were in the mid 80's. It just took me 18 years, and three false starts, to put together a system I thought was safe enough to market. I work on lots of systems that I never market because I can't solve all the problems involved with the design. I experimented with three other single point release systems before I finally came up with the 3-ring. I put a lot of work into a double reserve pilot chute system, later marketed as the "Catapult" by someone else, before I realized it was a bad idea, and dropped the project. For a long time, I thought the Skyhook was never going to see the light of day. But, one by one, the problems were solved, and now we have a workable system.

How could an unstable body position possibly cause a bag lock? Body contact with the deploying bag, because of poor body position, is the easiest way to get a bag lock I can think of.

Yes. The Skyhook II has been in production for a while now. By the way, I want to thank all of you who have defended my right to make a living. I know I'll never get rich in this business, but it has given me a pretty good life so far. Making money is nice, but it is nowhere near as satisfying as inventing something useful, and then having one jumper e-mailing me to say thanks.