Bag locks -- Rigging wisdom and spoof

[patworks 5]

Bag-locks -- Their care and feeding -- Bag locks are caused by not paying you dues to the packing Gremlins which infest your DZ.

As proof, note that the bag lock never occurred much before about 1968. Then, to ward off the dread lock of bag, 99.43% of jumpers protected themselves by jumping deployment sleeves instead of deployment bags.

It worked!

Think about it. A bag is basically a pillowcase. In fact, the first bags I saw jumped ~'64 were pillow cases. Pillow cases get scared on opening. It is natural to them as they are bed stuff with feathers of foam for brains.

To avoid bag locks:
1. Talk to you bag as you stuff it. Be gentle. Tell it of your plans.
2. Try and assure that the bag follows the pilot chute. Bags are NOT leaders. When they lead the pilot chute,they choke and lock up. Even worse is letting the shroud lines lead the opening parade. Messy! (why do you think they are called "Shroud lines"? Eh?) . . A BOC and a pin-check will help this. Healthy stow-bands correctly used prevent the spread of this disease.
3. Jump a diaper or a sleeve.
4. Switch to a free-bag.

If you happen to LIKE bag locks, try this:
1. Use big weak rubber-bands
2. Use short stows
3. Have a wimp for a pilot chute
4. Do not THROW your pilot chute, rather just sorta wave it about like a flag and drop it.
5. Change the length of your bridle.

REMEMBER: If you plan a bag lock, get video. It is Always Exciting!

Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

[johnmatrix 21]

Thanks!
But what's wrong with short stows? I thought long stows were more of an issue - if one of the lines in a stow loops over a bunch in another stow I figure that can cause a bag lock...?

[woppyvac 0]

Stow loops should be large enough to get at least a finger or two thru the loop. Larger loops near bag opening and then gradually making them smaller towards the last stow helps ensure that the loops won't interlock.

Woot Woot!

[packing_jarrett 0]

has anyone ever intentionally tried making a bag lock malfunction? Its harder than you think. When we were doing some parachute testing for a reserve system we tried to simulate a 'natural bag lock' but couldn't recreate one. To satisfy the requirement we took cord and tied the grommets for the locking stows to the band holders. That did the trick

Na' Cho' Cheese

[jumpbum 0]

The only thing I can add on Bag Locks is not to try to stand one up.

[Bolas 5]

Always jump with a sombrero...

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1071847#1071847

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[DocPop 1]

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4. Switch to a free-bag.

How is that going to help avoid bag-locks? They still have locking stows.

My understanding was that freebags were to reduce the risk of horseshoes, not baglocks.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[JerryBaumchen 1,365]

Hi Jarrett,

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has anyone ever intentionally tried making a bag lock malfunction?

Yes

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Its harder than you think.

Yup

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When we were doing some parachute testing for a reserve system we tried to simulate a 'natural bag lock' but couldn't recreate one.

Yup, you were there when the first bag-lock test of the RAX System failed to keep the bag 'locked.'

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To satisfy the requirement we took cord and tied the grommets for the locking stows to the band holders. That did the trick

Actually, Andy F also tied that cord around the bag itself about 5-6 times; that did the trick.



JerryBaumchen

[3331 137]

With a Bag Lock your stand up vertical speed will remain the same or increase and your friends can continue to do "Formation Skydiving" or as it's correctly referred to "Relative Work".

Remember to Cutaway before the AAD fires, if you don't the reserve can and will wrap around the bag lock regardless of your RSL or whatever excess expensive variation on a theme of an RSL you have.

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[pchapman 279]

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4. Switch to a free-bag.

How is that going to help avoid bag-locks? They still have locking stows.

I still find baglocks a bit mysterious. But freebags only have one two stows, one on each side, so there's no way for a stow to catch over some nearby stow. That would seem to massively reduce the chance of baglock.

The few times I've heard of bag locked reserves, while I don't know all the details, I think it was more a case of an out of sequence deployment, where the bag somehow tumbled, bridle wrapping around the bag, itself, and the lines coming out of the bag.

I suppose it is possible to have lots of line stows and avoid bag lock type situations, if the stows are small and tight, even if all next to each other. That's what one has on diapered round reserves. You could easily have 20 stows all up next to each other. A little spooky even for me, who has used round reserves, but I suppose they have a good track record -- because they aren't packed fast and sloppy like main bags with stows.