Step Through Cutaway

[EOCS 0]

Hello,

This Saturday I experienced a very nasty step through that cost me a reserve ride. This happened at the Estonian event Parasummer. The rig in question had been daisy chained and put in the trunk of my car the evening before after a hard days jumping and then in the morning packed by a friend of mine who had arrived earlier as I ate breakfast so we could make the first load. This turned out to be a big mistake. I am usually particular about who packs my ring and this guy has packed for me 10s of times and I for him. He remarked after the jump that he did notice that something seemed funny about how the pilot chute was during the pack job but just pulled it straight and went on. We suspect this is where it came from.


Comments on the first Video:

0:22: Already could feel that something was wrong. At first I thought it was line twists and while the camera sees that its not I was focused on the red canopy that is in the left side of the screen and getting ready to kick my way out fast.

0.27: By now I thought I had kicked the twists out and when they didn't come out I checked closed to find that I was in for an extra canopy ride, this is also the time it started to dive

0:30: Reached both handles and took a good grip

0:31: Pulled the cutaway and right after the reserve handle. You can see from the video that the RSL was almost instant, while I've always known that this was the point I was still surprised at how much it beat my pull by.

0:33: Can start to feel the reserve snatch force

0.37: Reserve is flying and the world is again a very beautiful place.

18 sec later is the first time I checked my altimeter and it read 585 meters. According to my protrack I ''deployed at'' 650m, This has to be the reserve open by altitude.

After a control check and a well tempered reserve ride I landed without further incident.

Pics: http://imgur.com/a/9IG7N

Videos:

Cinematic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-Dhsz6HCk

Slow Motion : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5-Rfbv5EU4

Please feel free to use videos or pics for training or whatever really. I hope someone learns from this without having to go through it.


GEAR:

Harness: Infinity SN-22
Reserve: OP-143
Main: Zulu 112 (awesome canopy by the way)
AAD: Vigil 2 (which luckily I've never needed to see in action)

[JohnnyMarko 1]

EOCS

The rig in question had been daisy chained and put in the trunk of my car the evening before after a hard days jumping and then in the morning packed by a friend of mine who had arrived earlier as I ate breakfast so we could make the first load. This turned out to be a big mistake.

Which part is the mistake?

[chuckakers 426]

A step through like that should have been painfully obvious during the packing process. Reconsider your packing service options.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[Bluhdow 31]

Run the lines.

Apex BASE
#1816

[EOCS 0]

Hi, to me the mistake was the insistence of being on the first load. Generally I like to avoid short calls but thought I had got around that rule by having a friend pack while I ate instead of eating, missing the first load, and then just packing myself.

As mentioned a step through should be damned easy to spot during a line check and I think I would have caught it. on the chance that I did not then it would not be another person who packed my mal but myself.

TLDR; my mistake was being in a rush

[fanya 3]

EOCS

Hi, to me the mistake was the insistence of being on the first load. Generally I like to avoid short calls but thought I had got around that rule by having a friend pack while I ate instead of eating, missing the first load, and then just packing myself.

As mentioned a step through should be damned easy to spot during a line check and I think I would have caught it. on the chance that I did not then it would not be another person who packed my mal but myself.

TLDR; my mistake was being in a rush

Your mistake was not packing your own gear.

[JohnnyMarko 1]

fanya

***Hi, to me the mistake was the insistence of being on the first load. Generally I like to avoid short calls but thought I had got around that rule by having a friend pack while I ate instead of eating, missing the first load, and then just packing myself.

As mentioned a step through should be damned easy to spot during a line check and I think I would have caught it. on the chance that I did not then it would not be another person who packed my mal but myself.

TLDR; my mistake was being in a rush

Your mistake was not packing your own gear.

Thank you

[Andy9o8 2]

The cure for careless packers is simple: once a day, they must take a high-performance canopy with a high wing loading, pack it (come hell or high water) within 3 minutes, and then jump it themselves at terminal, pulling no higher than 2500. That'll learn 'em some religion.

[JohnMitchell 16]

EOCS

TLDR; my mistake was being in a rush

Been there, done that. I packed a "flip thru" once. I was halfway thru my pack job when some friends wanted to see the video I had shot. When I came back my stuff had been kicked around but it looked okay(ish), so I finished it up. Next jump. . . cutaway from step thru.

Hey, a couple of tips on cutaways.

1- Put your feet on your butt and ARCH as you're reaching for the handles. Much better to fall away stable, belly to earth, as your reserve deploys than to fall back to earth with your feet out in front.

2- Wearing a camera? Consider tipping your head way forward as you cutaway to give as much room as possible between your deploying reserve and that snaggy little GoPro.

3- For many years we used ripcords on our main parachutes to deploy them, and we held onto the handles every jump. I've never heard a GOOD reason to automatically throw away either handle when you cutaway. Why not hang onto them?

[Southern_Man 0]

Andy9o8

The cure for careless packers is simple: once a day, they must take a high-performance canopy with a high wing loading, pack it (come hell or high water) within 3 minutes, and then jump it themselves at terminal, pulling no higher than 2500. That'll learn 'em some religion.

You pay your money, you take your chances.

don't want to take your chances--pack it yourdamnself.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[Lukasz_Se 2]

I know many people that had this malfunction, me included. It's actually pretty easy to do. In my case I was in a hurry and I left way to much slack in the lines before putting the bag in the container. Line check was fine. Here is a picture of mine in the attachment.
Here is a video (in swedish) how it happens (look carefully).

https://vimeo.com/133882369

On my home drop zone we call this malfunction a T-rex. If you are ever in Sweden at a Stockholms dropzone near Gryttjom you can ask around ;) It's actually a pretty funny story

[JohnMitchell 16]

So, I saw what you did. It wasn't so much the slack in the lines as it was the mismanagement of the pilot chute during packing. I always leave the pilot chute and bridle stretched out above my rig while I put the bag in and close the container. I consider it a "logic check" in the whole process. I never pull it down like you do. There's no reason to and good reasons not to.

BTW, after closing my container, I then quickly yank the pilot chute towards me to positively check that it's properly cocked. I don't really care much about the "blue windows" when I can check it directly, every time.

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

I've never heard a GOOD reason to automatically throw away either handle when you cutaway.

With "piggyback" equipment (both main & reserve on back), agreed.
Back when you & I were trained on chest-mounted reserves (which were free-packed, to boot), my DZs taught students to throw away the main ripcord before reserve deployment to avoid possible reserve entanglement with a main ripcord still partly in its housing.

[JohnMitchell 16]

Andy9o8

Quote

I've never heard a GOOD reason to automatically throw away either handle when you cutaway.

With "piggyback" equipment (both main & reserve on back), agreed.
Back when you & I were trained on chest-mounted reserves (which were free-packed, to boot), my DZs taught students to throw away the main ripcord before reserve deployment to avoid possible reserve entanglement with a main ripcord still partly in its housing.

You jumped that old crap too?
Yes, you're very correct on that. The one time I pulled a front mount reserve, the main handle hung up in the housing so I landed with it anyway.

And there are unusual emergencies that require chucking the handles, such as hard pulls, power line landings, etc. But too many people train themselves to chuck the handles for no particular reason.

[tred 0]

JohnMitchell

BTW, after closing my container, I then quickly yank the pilot chute towards me to positively check that it's properly cocked. I don't really care much about the "blue windows" when I can check it directly, every time.

can you explain this better I don't understand. how do you check it with out opening the container?

[JohnMitchell 16]

tred

***BTW, after closing my container, I then quickly yank the pilot chute towards me to positively check that it's properly cocked. I don't really care much about the "blue windows" when I can check it directly, every time.

can you explain this better I don't understand. how do you check it with out opening the container?

When you yank the bridle to bring the pilot chute to yourself, the pilot chute should inflate like, of course, like a pilot chute. If the pilot chute streamers instead of filling with air, it hasn't been cocked properly. Was that the question you were asking?

[tred 0]

ahh that makes sense I was imagining the pull force coming from the other direction causing the container to open. thanks for clarification

[obelixtim 150]

Golden rule:

Land.

Pack.

Then you are always ready for the next load. Never leave your canopy unpacked. And pack it yourself.

Always!!!

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[JohnMitchell 16]

obelixtim

. And pack it yourself.

Or do what Vskydiver does and have your husband pack for you.

[JohnnyMarko 1]

JohnMitchell

***
. And pack it yourself.

Or do what Vskydiver does and have your husband pack for you.

Rewind 4+ years or so, when my boyfriend and I just started dating. I was a packer at the DZ and convinced him to come down and do a tandem with me. It was quite the trust builder when he asked who packed the parachute, and I told him it was me

[jimjumper 25]

Or just use a bungee pilot chute. It sometimes surprises packers but you don't have to remember to cock it.

[hookitt 1]

jimjumper

Or just use a bungee pilot chute. It sometimes surprises packers but you don't have to remember to cock it.

I'm so glad those are out of style.

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

[jimjumper 25]

I still love mine. For the average jumper they are easier to install, pack, and maintain.

[jimjumper 25]

But then again, I also loved my SOS system. That also freaked out the newbies when they couldn't see my cutaway handle!

[hookitt 1]

jimjumper

But then again, I also loved my SOS system. That also freaked out the newbies when they couldn't see my cutaway handle!

That's always funny.

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