Wearing pants over your legstraps

[LearningTOfly 0]

I've seen this is the fad for tracking dives in BASE- and the standard for ws jumps due to suit setup.

Does anybody out there jump often, say wearing shorts, donning your rig, and putting on pants afterwards?

...I have in mind the interesting situation of what could happen if the said pants came unbuttoned...

[jakee 1,596]

Well the PF track pants and Prodigy bottom half, as well as the BM Pantz are very securely closed - zipped, snapped and buckled. I would be very surprised to find any of them coming undone.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[mattjw916 2]

Quite a few people wear jeans, BDUs, or motocross pants over their legstraps during swoop comps to protect them from abrasion damage.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[MB38 0]

I guess the biggest question is what are the potential dangers?

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[moonglo 0]

I've had the pants part of a prodigy come undone in flight, and it was not a problem since it was held up by the arm wing snaps. By putting my legs together I was able to collapse the pants and hold on to them for a normal deployment.
Even undone I don't think there was any way it could have interfered with my reserve if something funky did happen and they somehow got in the way of my boc. What other "interesting situation" were you thinking of?

[happythoughts 0]

Quote

I guess the biggest question is what are the potential dangers?

What are the situations where you would want to rapidly get out of your rig?

No in the air, of course. The only scenario that comes to mind is a water landing where the water is deep and you want to get out of the rig.

[LearningTOfly 0]

As for interesting situations- I was thinking, say BDU pants were worn... seeing how they can be done up pretty snug without a belt- okay, I guess I'll have to add that these BDU's have a zipper too- so they're BDU-jean hybrids. You're tracking along and the button comes undone- and soon after the zipper.

I would assume that the jumper really wouldn't notice much until the pants start to come off. The interesting part comes as part of the wonkyness of trying to fly stable with a pair of pants around your ankles. Might not be an entirely dangerous situation if you have altitude to work with- but it would certainly be out of the ordinary and something to think about beforehand. Probably would look hilarious on video... come to think of it, I think there is a video out there somewhere on which just that happens.

[LearningTOfly 0]

...and if you knew you were going to land in water, you'd probably have enough time to remove your er... pants. So I'd guess that that's not such a big issue, but relevant nonetheless.

I see another potential issue re-adjusting straps in the plane prior to exit. I find that one of my legstraps always seems to loosen a little, and adjust the two to symmetry as part of my ritual on the ride up. Having pants on would make this awkward.

[councilman24 37]

Quote

...and if you knew you were going to land in water, you'd probably have enough time to remove your er... pants. So I'd guess that that's not such a big issue, but relevant nonetheless.

Don't count on it. If your not planning on landing in water you will be trying to miss it. You will probably be much too low to do anything about pants or anything else once you screw up and can't make land. If it's a river you may be in trouble. If you don't have water gear you may be in trouble. If it's surf you may be in trouble.

These days an unintentional water landing is rare. Unfortunately not rare enough to prevent a fatality in Hawaii recently.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[mr2mk1g 10]

Quote

I guess the biggest question is what are the potential dangers?

Not being able to gear-check yourself fully (with ease) or have others gear-check you.

Not putting your legs through the leg straps and only discovering when your pants start to tear on opening...

(that's not quite as far fetched as it sounds... I was on the DZ once when someone did just this with their birdman suit... harder with pants for sure but if you can think it, someone will do it).

[jakee 1,596]

Since the wingsuit incidents have been well publicised hopefully most people are aware of that possibility and will prevent it from happening again.

As far as gear checks go, for people with wingsuits or track pants just ask them to shrug their shoulders - if the leg straps are on properly they'll feel it (unless they have a very loose rig).

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[riggerrob 643]

I find that one of my legstraps always seems to loosen a little, and adjust the two to symmetry as part of my ritual on the ride up.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sounds like a rigging problem to me.
Show your leg straps to your local rigger and ask him/her about sewing on an extra layer of Type 12 webbing - similar to the recent Aerodyne Icon Service Bulletin. The extra layer of Type 12 webbing will "bulk out" the buckle better, reducing chances of it slipping prematurely.

[jsaxton 0]

Probably don't want to do this with an ROL system

[brianfry713 0]

One more reason is for naked jumps, you can put boxers over your leg straps and then take them off in the plane before exit.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[LearningTOfly 0]

Quote

Probably don't want to do this with an ROL system

Point noted...