Kris 0 #1 September 2, 2002 I went on a beautiful sitfly dive with some friends yesterday. As I came in for a dock on one of my friends, he bobbled a bit, lost a little altitude and drove forward. So I burble-hopped him, popped down to his level and did a 180 to face him again. When he rotated into view I was presented with a really nasty image just 5 feet from me... It was the sight of his PC and bridle wrapped around his arm. I immediately backed off 20-30 feet while frantically throwing him the breakoff and pull signs. Luckily, it only took him a couple of seconds to notice and he was able to clear it with the PC ending up behind his arm instead of in front which would have been a really ugly deployment. He ended up under canopy at 6000 feet. When we got down on the ground we looked at his rig and the spandex BOC pocket on his original Vector was pretty-much see-through with barely any elasticity left. Your gear is your life. Repeat that to yourself. Now repeat it again. This could have been a lot worse if he hadn't had a clean deployment or if we didn't have great separation from the load behind us out of the Otter. If you've been putting off any maintenance on your rig, if you think that ratty velcro or spandex is okay for "just one more jump" before you have to throw it to your rigger, please reconsider. It won't hurt you to wait out the hour or so for the work to be done on your gear and then jump, but it may hurt you if you don't. KrisSky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallinWoman 1 #2 September 2, 2002 Kris...fabulous reminder...... QuoteYour gear is your life. Repeat that to yourself. Now repeat it again. And remember that it isn't just your life..... We had an incident today where one PC popped out while two guys were in a sit together.....Mr. Premature's canopy passed inches from the other jumper face....that could have been really ugly! Take care of your gear for your own safety and for the safety of those who jump with you! Anne ~Anne I'm a Doll!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rgoper 0 #3 September 2, 2002 Kris: excellent post. this is probably one of the most overlooked items on a container, all brands. complancency can kill. take care, be safe.--Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #4 September 3, 2002 Same thing happened to me - jump #46. Sit flying with a friend and the loose spandex on BOC allowed the pilot chute to come out. Luckily, it went behind me and resulted in a premature deployment at 7,000 feet. That's what I get for sit-flying rental gear!! BTW - this was a good excuse to buy my own rig. That rental gear is dangerous! I currently have a vector 2 and have had it modified with velcro on the two inches where the bridle is exposed between BOC and closing flap.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #5 September 3, 2002 Lately I have been sewing extra "bridle hider flaps" to the bottom flaps of Mirage Astra, Vector 2, Sidewinder and older Javelins. The bridle hider flap is a copy of the Javelin current production pattern. so it hides the 2 or 3 inches of bridle exposed near the mouth of the BOC and it also prevents the bridle from hooking around the corner of the bottom flap stiffener. It serves the same function as the extended side flap on Atom Millenium, Vector 3, Mirage, Wings, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernokaikkonen 0 #6 September 4, 2002 Could you post a photo? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
