AFF Rigs: What is that OTHER ripcord?

[jtlmd 0]

Something is causing me to lose sleep: It seems dangerous to me on AFF rigs that a reserve rip cord handle is exposed on the student's left side. Why isn't that rip cord hooked to the main? The biggest disaster I can imagine is an unintended RESERVE deployment in the plane, in the door, on the step, etc. because that's the one chute that cannot be cut away. Doing reserve pin checks just tells you that the pin is in place. It does nothing to mitigate the risk of activation from moving around, leaning on the board in the front of the poor old 182, etc. etc. etc. Why on earth do we have an exposed reserve rip cord handle on these AFF rigs? That's apparently what is used where I train. I find nothing in any book about this. Nobody at the DZ ever said anything about that to me either. All I have ever heard is the ritual "don't let your ripcord get dislodged". The focus of that is the MAIN. I cannot recall ever being told what that ripcord handle on my left butt is all about. Maybe it is secret knowledge found only in the AFF INSTRUCTOR books ?
After viewing a video of my AFF level 3 jump where I was about to go through 3200 with nothing out, and my main side JM pulled my ripcord when he thought I was not seeing his finger, I noticed that the reserve side JM had placed his right hand over the rip cord handle on my left side. Was he about to pull my reserve ? This raises a final question then, and I have not been told about this at my DZ: Is the idea here that a reserve side JM might pull for you if you had a bag lock or any high speed mal. and did not react ? I notice in lots of AFF videos from all kinds of DZs that reserve side JMs always seem to lurk around a second or two during container opening while the main side JM is long gone....

I really feel that there should not be an exposed reserve rip cord handle on a student's left butt. The SOS "handle" on the left chest is well protected. Not so for the left butt. This is trouble waiting to happen. Somebody please tell me that I am all wrong and that both of these ripcords on AFF rigs go to the main. I don't think I am wrong.....I have watched these rigs being repacked at our DZ and I see only the right side ripcord going to the pin in the closing loop of the main container.

[hookitt 1]

You don't need to use that handle ever so it's not part of the training.

The SOS handle (single operation system) handle is the reserve ripcord handle. The handle at the bottom has nothing to do with the reserve.

If you don't pull the main, and the main side instructor doesn't pull your main for you, the reserve side instructor can pull that handle and deploy your main for you.

On single instructor dives, it gives the only instructor 2 sides he can deploy your main for you should the need arise.

Ask your instructor to explain it to you. It's a good device.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[mjosparky 4]

This is not meant as a flame, but most of what you posted does not make sense. If you have questions about the gear or the methods being used to train you, ask the people doing the training. If you do not like the answers you get, go somewhere else for training.

It seems you do not know what handles do what or what the instructors are doing but you have made up you mind it is not right. Independent action or doing it "my way" at your stage of the game would not be the smart thing to do.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals