What is the most common cause for malfunctions?

[jasonRose 0]

Me being the super newbie to this sport I am currious what the most common cause for a malfunction.

In my limited knowledge of this sport it seems like one of the major causes are improperly stowed brakes.

The reason I am asking is so I can avoid others mistakes during my jumping career.

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

[Hooknswoop 19]

Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

[JohnRich 4]

In my opinion, the most common problem from which people have to cut-away is: a high-speed spin on a high-performance elliptical canopy, often for no apparent reason.

Stick to a larger 7-cell, and you won't have nearly that kind of problem.

Flame away.

[jdfreefly 1]

I have no problem with this statement. On my last three mals, had I been flying a more conservative canopy, I most likelywouldn't have had a cutaway.

But I think, since this is coming from a newbie, the answers of gear maintenance, body position and packing are more appropriate.

Methane Freefly - got stink?

[EvilLurker 2]

I think if you count hard openings as a "malfunction", the primary cause is poor packing. This would include collapsible pilot chutes not cocked, line overs, misrouted bridles, handles too far in the pouch to find, improperly stowed brakes, most bag locks and tension knots. Probably some of the premature deployments could be traced to packing, also. If you're flying a canopy that's not a radical elliptical design, and you pay close attention to packing technique, you'll most likely be able to make a LOT of jumps without a malfunction. Part of the packing technique is a good inspection to find equipment problems before they lead to a malfunction. That;s what I saw, anyway.

[riggerrob 643]

Yeah, whatever Evil Lurker said = sloppy packing.

[speedy 0]

How about "bad luck" ? Parachutes even when properly packed can fail to open. I think we are trying to find a reason too often.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[ChrisL 2]

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How about "bad luck" ? Parachutes even when properly packed can fail to open. I think we are trying to find a reason too often.

You are right, sometimes they just dont work no matter how careful we are.

That doesnt mean that we should just accept all mals and not try to figure out why they happened.

Thats just plain silly.

__

My mighty steed

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

Straight out of just about every first jump course sylabus I have ever seen.

[jasonRose 0]

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Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

Straight out of just about every first jump course sylabus I have ever seen.

Man I am in trouble I cant pack for shit, always have bad body position and use rental gear that is border line worn out. No mals thus far, knock on wood. Has there ever been anyone that has made it past 1000 jumps without a mal?

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

[lawrocket 3]

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Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

The latter two factors indicate that the human brain is probably the cause of the most malfunctions. Specifically it sounds like overconfidence, laziness and lack of discipline.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[jasonRose 0]

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Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

The latter two factors indicate that the human brain is probably the cause of the most malfunctions. Specifically it sounds like overconfidence, laziness and lack of discipline.

Bravo! That puts things into perspective!

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

[huka551 0]

I met a guy over the weekend...16K jumps, no cutaways! His wife said he landed some shit he should have cutaway!

Muff Brother 3723

[JohnRich 4]

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I met a guy over the weekend...16K jumps, no cutaways! His wife said he landed some shit he should have cutaway!

What was his name? There are only a very few people in the world with that many jumps. I am highly skeptical...

[kenneth21441 0]

I went over 160 before my first cut. Maybe they were talking about 160 jumps.


hahaha.

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[jumper03 0]

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Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

To simplify -

Human Error.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[Superman32 0]

Assuming your gear and body positions are great and the only factor causing the mal is shitty packing.
What things should I look for when packing? What am I going to miss or not do that will result in a cutway?

P.S. I understand that this may be an over simplification, and that there may be many factors that lead to a cutway, including skill, confidence level and maneuvers. Talk to me as if I were I great skydiver but crappy packer.

Inveniam Viam aut Faciam
I'm back biatches!

[EvilLurker 2]

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What things should I look for when packing? What am I going to miss or not do that will result in a cutway?

What I learned to watch for (from asking my rigger long ago) was to:
(1) Tie your risers together at the big 3-ring to keep them even until you make the last line stow
(2) Avoid pulling any suspension lines around when dressing your stabilizers to avoid a line-over
(3) Make sure your slider is quartered correctly and tight against the stops as you make the first S-fold, then keep your knees on it until it's bagged
(4) Make sure you clear the fabric around the D-bag/PC grommet so you don't get a friction burn in the top skin
(5) Check your kill line to make sure you have it cocked just before you close the main flap
(6) Take care with your PC folding technique and use a sequence that isn't going to "ball up" and get stuck in the pouch. Don't have any excess bridle flopping around and replace any worn velcro that secures your bridle before it gets unreliable
That's about all I can think of, at 120 mph that canopy really wants to open.
Edited to add: Always take the twists out of your brake lines to avoid tension knots and pay attention that your brakes are set correctly and the excess line is neatly stowed.

[RogerRamjet 0]

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I met a guy over the weekend...16K jumps, no cutaways! His wife said he landed some shit he should have cutaway!

What was his name? There are only a very few people in the world with that many jumps. I am highly skeptical...

It should be a pretty short list. I know Carl Daugherty is on it with about 16,500. I'll have to ask him if he's had any mals though (I'm betting yes).

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[kosanke 0]

and don't pack your hackey handle inside the pouch.i don't believe there is anyone out there with 16500 jumps on rental gear with no malfunctions, even with good body position.

[axelwolf901 0]

I like what EvilLurker says here about having good packing habits. Great help. Just wanted to though this out there and see what YOU guys think... Would you say that, a "jumper" jumping a conservative 7 cell, properly maintained and average packing skills. Probably would "almost never" have a mal? Looking at how realiable reserves are. Know ALOT of guys here in Michigan w/o a single reserve ride. And that have around 1000ish jumps. Its a BIG deal for us when someone does have to go for silver.
haha

[Bertt 0]

One reason reserves are reliable is that they are inspected and packed very carefully. In my opinion, the root cause for bad packing and poor gear inspection is getting in a hurry; throwing everything back together to make the next load. How much would you trust your reserve if the rigger packed it in 10 - 15 minutes while carrying on a conversation and eating a snack?

You don't have to outrun the bear.

[Baksteen 84]

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Poor body position, poor gear maintenance, and poor packing.

Derek

The latter two factors indicate that the human brain is probably the cause of the most malfunctions. Specifically it sounds like overconfidence, laziness and lack of discipline.

and as a result of this, lack of gear knowledge.

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[JohanW 0]

I would fully expect it to open, though maybe not on heading.

Reserves are not only packed carefully, they are also designed carefully, with different priorities than mains.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[beowulf 1]

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How about "bad luck" ? Parachutes even when properly packed can fail to open. I think we are trying to find a reason too often.

The "bad luck" malfunctions are extremely rare. If you avoid sloppy packing, actively maintain your gear and avoid small HP canopies you can expect to have a very low malfunction rate.