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Bodhisattva420

RSL Packing Errors

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I was reading this on another thread and it sort of sounded like me! On my last jump one of my instructors informed me that I had packed my RSL equipped student rig improperly. He fixed the error in my packjob but I don't remember what exactly he changed regarding the RSL. I was just wondering if there are any common mistakes I need to avoid while packing. Any advice would be appreciated. Here is the post I was reading by Andy9o8:

"my first DZ (was) partly responsible for the death in the 70s of a student there, who I'd gotten friendly with. He was a nice, but small, timid and bookish kind of guy who was very out of place at that DZ, and most of the established up-jumpers there didn't want to have much to do with him. He also fucked up a lot, and that should have been a red flag to the DZO, instructors and experienced jumpers that he needed close supervision and mentoring. Instead, because he was a "turkey", he got the opposite. On his last jump, he packed the hook end of his Stevens System RSL lanyard into his main container. I have no idea whether anyone ever taught him how the RSL worked or what to do or not do with it. Compounding this, he was being jumpmastered by an older guy, also a bit of a nerdy goof-up, who also was kind of an "outsider". This guy (the JM) wasn't very competent himself, and probably had no business jumpmastering students (he jumpmastered me on my first freefall), but he was kindly and accomodating toward students. Obviously neither the jumper nor this JM caught the error in a gear check. Anyhow, the mis-packed RSL caused a main horseshoe/baglock, from which he (predictably) didn't cut away, and when the reserve deployed, it entangled with the mess and he went in. As far as I'm concerned, if he'd been properly mentored overall, and properly supervised on the jump, that accident wouldn't have occurred. Now, that's a worst-case scenario, but it's one that actually happened. "

Is he just saying that the metal hook got snagged on something inside the container ?

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I was reading this on another thread and it sort of sounded like me! On my last jump one of my instructors informed me that I had packed my RSL equipped student rig improperly. He fixed the error in my packjob but I don't remember what exactly he changed regarding the RSL.


I would suggest that you need to find that instructor and re-acquaint yourself with whatever he did to fix your pack job and not pack again until you understand it.

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Sit down with someone who can show you the ins and outs of your gear entirely. Once you understand everything, you will be incredibly more safe and you'll feel the same way too. Not to mention, the RSL system isn't that complex, once you figure it out you'll be golden.
Stay high pull low

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