haylee 0 #1 April 9, 2003 I've been packing pilot chutes pretty-much the same way since I started packing - now, all of a sudden, 3 hard pulls in a row! The first one I actually packed for a friend - who ended up having a reserve ride. The second came out after 2 tugs - but wasn't too difficult. The third came out after I, somehow, managed to get my left hand over to my right and pull with both hands (I've tried to duplicate on the ground and can't.). All of this on the same rig. After the 3rd hard pull, a rigger examined the boc. He noticed some extra stitching constricting the boc 5/16 of an inch. He recommended trying a new p.c. packing method before removing the stitches. The new method of packing the p.c. but it is terribly loose and I'm worried that a bad exit or bump in freefall could cause a premature deployment. Any recommendations?Haylee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #2 April 9, 2003 what kind of rig is it?? spandex pouch, or cordura later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haylee 0 #3 April 9, 2003 Dolphin Spandex pouch Collapsable p.c. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #4 April 9, 2003 QuoteDolphin Spandex pouch Collapsable p.c. that's really odd that you haveing hard pulls with a spandex pouch. how did you used to pack you pilot chute. can you kinda explain a bit, and maybe i or someone on here can help change it a bit later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haylee 0 #5 April 9, 2003 pc=circle fold pc in half=semi-circle accordian fold bridle fold pc in 3rds along 1st fold (flat edge) fold pc in half - hackey to exposed bridle roll pc in toward bridlestuff it it boc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #6 April 9, 2003 Quotepc=circle fold pc in half=semi-circle accordian fold bridle fold pc in 3rds along 1st fold (flat edge) fold pc in half - hackey to exposed bridle roll pc in toward bridlestuff it it boc maybe you could take that step out. i know that's how i used to pack the studend rigs at my dad's old place because they where pretty tight. and make sure you are rolling it really tight, they may help too. later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygod7777 0 #7 April 9, 2003 or you should try this this is (or i do a bit easier way) how i pack pilot chutes on all rigs, unless someone asks me to pack it different. later Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skycat 0 #8 April 9, 2003 QuoteQuotepc=circle fold pc in half=semi-circle accordian fold bridle fold pc in 3rds along 1st fold (flat edge) fold pc in half - hackey to exposed bridle roll pc in toward bridlestuff it it boc maybe you could take that step out. i know that's how i used to pack the studend rigs at my dad's old place because they where pretty tight. and make sure you are rolling it really tight, they may help too. later That is how I started to pack mine after I was having hard pulls when going from a cordura BOC to a spandex BOC.....I used to think the same thing that it was to loose and would come out, but it isn't an issue at all. Stuff everything in just leaving only the monkey fist exposed and have never had a problem.Fly it like you stole it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #9 April 9, 2003 Haylee, Drop by the DZ tomorrow, I'll be there from about noon till after dark. I'll show you how I pack PCs and I'll also show you a couple other methods that I've used and trust. Maybe that'll help you out.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haylee 0 #10 April 9, 2003 The way the rigger recommended is basically what I did previously minus the step you've all highlighted. Guess I'll give it a try. Thanks for the info! Thanks for the hands-on offer Dave! I may not be able to make it out tomorrow (depends on work), but I'll be there Thursday and Friday after work for sure - how's that sound?Haylee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #11 April 9, 2003 Sounds good to me, I'll be there every day (as usual). --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nacmacfeegle 0 #12 April 9, 2003 "Any recommendations?" Have a chat with Aggiedave, or Hooknswoop..(Derek, rigger at Waller). Both are in your vicinity, and will, I imagine, be more than willing to show you the way.-------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RozeAY 0 #13 April 9, 2003 Once you get the PC in the BOC you could always just pound it with your fist to flatten it. Then give it a light pull to make sure it will come out. This is what I usually do. Or you could try packing the PC a different way like everybody else has suggested. Just find what works for you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujie96 0 #14 April 9, 2003 I pound the hell out ofm min after I pack it, but I also have a cordura pouch. I haven't managed to give myself a hard pull yet but when someone else left me one I braced my right elbow on my container to give me the leverage I needed for my one last yank. Just keep swimming...just keep swimming.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arlo 0 #15 April 9, 2003 I had a couple hard pulls last year resulting in reserve rides. One was during the last round of a competition meet and the other was at the womens record at Perris. I was not a happy camper. What I found points to a combination of PC packing and a slightly "loose" spandex pouch. I don't believe either of these (in my case) would have caused a hard pull by itself, but the combination was enough to cause me grief. The mouth of the pouch was tighter (relatively speaking) than the rest of the pouch. This in no way implies the pouch was saggy or anything like that, but it was just loose enough that the PC would be "given" room to relax a bit as it was being extracted. One option is replace the pouch with one that is spandex, but a "slippery" sort of spandex. The one I have feels like the spandex on the arm of the tony suits (very slick and thicker than the older spandex pouches). This allows for smoother extraction. Another option, if you don't do this already, place the pilot chute into the pouch with the "solid" side away from the rig. After you fold your PC, it looks like a hotdog bun. place the open side of the "hotdog bun" toward the main container. This leaves a slick surface that won't catch on the lip of the pouch. Yet another thing to consider: perform a few practice pulls on the ground and actually throw out your pilot chute. if your throw isn't directly out to the side of your body, you could be extracting your pc more towards the inside corner of the pouch lip and it could be bunching up a tad bit there. These are just a few things that you may want to consider... blues, arlo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #16 April 9, 2003 One thing I have noticed after a substantial time packing PC's the same way is that some people, myself included, get lulled into a sense of complacency when it comes to actually pulling. A change of PC, bridle length, or BOC pocket will all change the pull force of a "same" PC packjob. I have been caught off guard before at the bottom of a very-fast 4-way dive in competition where my arms were so smoked that I barely had the strength to pull. I couldn't believe it. Likewise, I found myself last year having delayed, then spinny openings. I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. I just happened to see one of those openings on video and realized that I was just barely tossing the PC, thus it was not giving me sufficient snatch force to ensure a clean deployment. From then on, I started grabbing that son-of-a-bitch and yanking and throwing like it was my last chance. Violence of action during the pull will ensure that the PC gets out of the pocket and, thusly, into clean air. Adding a foot to the length of my bridles (for BirdMan openings) in no way hampered my "normal" openings, but it DID make my PC pack bigger; much like jumping a larger PC would. Another option for the original poster, and anyone else having this problem for that matter, is to simply downsize pilot chute size. There is not a single parachute out there on the market that needs a 36 inch pilot chute, yet there are plenty of people jumping PC's that big in old rigs. Current "standard" size from Eddie Spears is 30 inch ZP. If you are not willing to do that, then you may just want to workout those "pull" muscles. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hooknswoop 19 #17 April 9, 2003 Actually I haven't been in TX since July of last year, moved to COHook Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eWave 0 #18 April 9, 2003 Could you give some URLs to good online pilot-chute packing manuals, if there are any? I've seen that Brian Germains "mushroom-pack", but is there any other? I'm trying to learn the best way for me, so I would like to try as many as possible Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Danne 0 #19 April 9, 2003 We had a girl at our dropzone with a similar problem that had two reservrides because of hard pulls. She had no problems at all pulling the PC on the ground. Turns out she was so flexible that, when arching hard at pulltime, she actually squeezed the spandex real tight with the backside of her legs/ass, making it to hard for her to pull... The rigg was maybe a little big for her aswell, but really not that big. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
