likearock 2 #1 September 9, 2008 Last Sunday at the Ranch, I finished up a 2-way FF jump, went flat and deployed. My Crossfire's openings are usually very soft, but this one was hard enough to ring my bell. I felt my neck snap backwards and figured I probably had a minor whiplash but I could still move my head and was not in too much pain. I kicked out of a bunch of line twists and was able to land normally. After I landed, I noticed that my right hand was covered with blood but the hand itself wasn't bleeding. That spooked me so I took off my gear in the middle of the LZ, left it there, and walked over to the guy I just jumped with. He took a look at me and said it looked bad, I should go and wash it off. After I did so, I took a look in the mirror and saw that I had a 3 inch gash at the top of my neck just under the chin. Later, I drove to the ER in Poughkeepsie and got stitched up. So what happened? From what I remember, I knew something was wrong as soon as I threw out the PC. The d-bag spun up inducing line twists down almost to the connectors. What must have happened is that, just before line stretch, I pendulumed back from flat to a stand and somehow the risers were in front of me. Then at opening shock, the right riser caught me under the chin and dug into the flesh. I definitely think it was more of a packing problem than body position - I remember being flat and not tracking at deployment. I also remember being very careless with the pack job. You know the feeling when you say to yourself, "Maybe I better repack this thing?" But then you think to yourself about all the crummy pack jobs you've done in the past that have opened perfectly and you just go with it. I think I'll have a different perspective on that going forward. Up until this happened, I naively figured that at worst a bad pack job could lead to a cutaway. But when you get a riser that close to your throat at linestretch you tend to think differently. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #2 September 9, 2008 QuoteI remember being flat and not tracking at deployment I deploy from full flight with wing suit, but i don;t have hard opening. I wonder why. My guess is the slider placement. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 35 #3 September 9, 2008 Man, it's a good thing you didn't nick your jugular vein! I had a bad opening one time where the risers slapped my left temple so hard (no helmet) that it swelled out at least an inch. "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
