chopping?

[medster 0]

Just a quick question
what goes through your head when your about to chop?
I never had to chop, but just thinking about it scares me!
I'm only new to the sport, around 42 jumps so far, so not sure how well I will handle a chop if I ever have to.
how do you people get over this fear?
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[FallinWoman 1]

I think that the time you are least scared is when you are doing it. I have only chopped once, and I was thinking, "No way I'm gonna land this shit.....CHOP!!!"
Then I felt overwhelming relief even before I pulled silver...just knowing that I had made a choice and that I was not gonna have to land an uncontrollable canopy.
The fear and doubt crept in way later.....during I was calm and focused, as you will be!
Blue skies,
Anne
"by stitches, cloth, and cord,...a god of the sky for those immortal moments."-Lindbergh

[Kelly 0]

mine happened so quickly that it wasnt until i saw my S.L. PC and freebag falling away and i was under my reserve (only a couple of seconds) that i realized what i had done. It was an instict, no thought about it. But that was with a high speed mal, so i didnt have a few seconds to look up and analize what i was about to do...
i was screaming in joy, kicking, fists pumping, yelling as loud as i could. i cant remember a time where ive been that happy, felt that safe, or felt so alive as i did at that moment.
but i like scary shit, so the whole situation was the kind of adrenalin rush that gets me going the most.

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[dove 0]

I've only had to chop once - first jump off student status - jump #8 for me. You are too busy taking care of business to be scared. Once you are under canopy you are so pumped on what a kick-ass job you did. The only fear I had was on the next jump at pull-time. But that wore off pretty quickly. If you practice your procedures in your head and in a harness your brain and body will take over so you don't have to worry about your emotions getting in the way. Cheers!
dove

[freeflir29 0]

114 free falls....72 military static lines....0 reserves opened. Well.....except one that just mysteriously opened just as my main was fully inflating but that doesn't really count. Riding two to the ground was a bit scary though. Long ride from 2400 Ft. The one time I had to grab my handles was a fairly high speed mal. I had severe line twists and although the canopy was out of the bag I was still going really fast. I instinctively grabbed the handles but I was having a little trouble wrapping my fingers under the pillow. I looked down to make sure I had it and the canopy slammed open. Still had 2 line twists but they came out easily. I kept my hands on the handles while I evaluated the canopy. What really sucked is it was the second jump after a 6 month break. I did fine and most likely would have lived.......Although I had a 5 cell reserve in my rig. That was the scary part but a good 5 cell reserve beats a "ball of shit" 9 cell main any day!!!! "I got some beers....Let's Drink em!!!"
Clay

[cptnstratn 0]

I didn't have to think about it too hard. First mal was a line-over, after deploying on my side (checking above me after a funnel at break-off). Fairly low speed. Open at 3,000', hmmm, something doesn't feel right. Look up to see the left end cells closed and looking a little weird. I was in a slow left hand turn, and remember thinking "what happens if I release the breaks?" So, I tried it, and when I felt/saw my feet going horizontal, and the turn increasing to a spin, I knew I wasn't going to land it. Procedures and training kicked in, I pulled the handles, and whew, a nice reserve parachute is over my head. At the time, it was smaller than my main, so I was worried about landing it, but I actually had a better landing than normal. Afterwards, when I had time to think about it, I still didn't get too freaked out. Everything happened the way it was supposed to. The only thing I was told, was I should have followed the main and free-bag down. At that time I was concentrating on landing, and never even thought about where my gear was coming down. Fortunately, my friends on the load followed it down for me. Even though it was pretty low-speed, everything happened so fast I didn't have time to panic. Practicing the emergency procedure over and over ingrains it enough that when the time comes you do what you need to. Before it happened, I wondered how I'd handle it, just like you. Remain calm during your practice, and hopefully, you'll remain calm during the real thing.
Blue Skies,
Steve

[nws01 0]

I just had my first one on Monday and it was just reflex. We were all trained on how to do it and we think about it probably every jump because we had not had one. I tried to get the line twists out and I looked at my altimeter and I was at 2k so instincts kicked in and I just grabbed my handles and cutaway. I went back into freefall for about two seconds, looked up and my red pd reserve was the best thing I can remember seeing for a long time. I was not that freaked. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. Just go through the drill during your dirt dive and in the plane before exit and it is just natural. You don't even think about it.

[airann 1]

Looks like everyone has had the same experience.
I had a bad one, my hands couldnt get to the handles due to the force of being swung around at such high speeds.
But still, at the time I remember being really calm and knowing exactly what to do. And I remember hearing nothing.
http://www.AirAnn.com
Ugly Girl #6

[Aviatrr 0]

Quote

what goes through your head when your about to chop?
I never had to chop, but just thinking about it scares me!

The first time, nothing.....it all just happened..
The second time.... "WTF?! Damn, this thing is spinning fast....ok, grab the risers....get rid of these line twists........ah, fuck it! I have a reserve!"
The third time..... "Son of a bitch! Not again!"
Mike

[riggerrob 643]

"Ng!, Ng!
Finally got the main ripcord out!
It's pulling me upright, good.
Wind is still past me awefully fast!
Look up.
Lines are straight, but the stabilizers are all knotted together.
Look down.
Can I land this?
Yes, but you will break a lot of bones.
Look at silver handle.
Grab silver handle with right hand.
Press left hand against chest mounted reserve.
Pull silver handle.
Toss silver handle.
Start feeding reserve out by hand.
My that inflated quickly!
That dirty white 24 flat doesn't look very big.
Look at plowed field I am going to land in.
Clamp knees together really tightly and roll in the dirt.
Walk back to DZ with canopies in my arms.
The shaking didn't start until we were driving home."

[skymama 37]

If you review your emergency procedures at least every time you go to the dz, I don't think you will have a problem...that muscle memory is an amazing thing. Mine was on jump #26, I got twisted up with another person, and I waited a few seconds to see if he could clear us. When he yelled to me to cut away, even though I was scared to death, my hands immediately went to my handles without another thought. I pulled right, and pulled left, even though my rental rig had the RSL hooked up. I do think those few seconds between the time it took for the main to cutaway, and the reserve to open, were the longest of my life though!
Andrea
The brave may not live forever, but the timid may not live at all.

[airann 1]

Whoa, that is amazing!!
The idea that I would have anothers actions to think about too would be ..ewe, icky..
Its good to think about the encounters of other people. I am a fim believer in the sharing of experiences. I believe it helps when we are faced with situations.
http://www.AirAnn.com
Ugly Girl #6

[jumpervali 2]

riggerrob you just gave away your age. Hand feeding out your reserve sounds pretty cool, way to go!
jumpervali

[freeflir29 0]

"riggerbob you just gave away your age"
Not necessarily. I used that type reserve on my first military jumps in 1996. I remember my Dad laughing because it's the same equipment he had used 30 years earlier in civilian skydiving.
"I got some beers....Let's Drink em!!!"
Clay

[flyhi 24]

Quote

riggerrob you just gave away your age. Hand feeding out your reserve sounds pretty cool, way to go!

That's not giving away your age. Ask him if he remembers shot and a half capewells. That's giving away your age.
flyhi

[mikefarmer 0]

Quote

what goes through your head when your about to chop?

If you are too low when you go to chop, your ass goes through your head.
"It's better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool."-Marlboro Man

[freeflir29 0]

"If you are too low when you go to chop, your ass goes through your head."
Saw that one on a Mike McGowan video this weekend. Some tool cut away from a canopy collision at about 100-150 feet. The round reserve wasn't even close to inflated by the time he splatted......sad shit.....
"I got some beers....Let's Drink em!!!"
Clay

[dove 0]

There was a fatality on video? For sale or did you somehow get raw footage? I don't think I'd ever want to see that. EVER!

[freeflir29 0]

"There was a fatality on video?"
I don't know if it was a fatality or not but I can gurantee the guy didn't get up and brush himself off. It's some Mike McGowan video that has footage from his entire skydiving career. Sorry....I don't remember the name of it.....It is a produced and publicly sold video as far as I know.
"I got some beers....Let's Drink em!!!"
Clay

[chopchop 0]

As everyone has said, everything just becomes really, really clear. My first one I had a ton of altitude, cleared my line twists but had a tension knot that sent me into a spin. It all seemed slow. Like, OK, clear the twists, twists gone, OK, hmmm, that's not good. RIP!!! Ah, that's better. Beautiful baby blue PD reserve taking me home. The next one (the next day) violently spinning mal, also very clear, Goddammit, not again, unhook RSL, can't get it, screw it, pull pillow, stuck, both hands, RIP, woohooo, shit, where'd my stuff go... never to be found again. Anyway, time slows down under a mal as your mind starts going through the process very quickly.
chopchop
PD makes canopies all day long, you only have one life, when in doubt, cut away...

[mikefarmer 0]

Mike McGowan's Greatest Hits, and the dude was supposedly really torn up, but lived. I'm pretty sure most reputable video guys wouldn't sell a vid of a fellow birdman going in. Emphasis on reputable...
"It's better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool."-Marlboro Man

[freeflir29 0]

"Emphasis on reputable..."
Them sounds like fightin words......
"I got some beers....Let's Drink em!!!"
Clay

[canopycudler 0]

[ PD makes canopies all day long, you only have one life, when in doubt, cut away... ]
That is a great way to look at it...

[SniperCJ 0]

Well lets see...
the first one I had was on jump 29. I worked on the mal for a few seconds, looked over my shoulder at the ground (I was spinning) and thought to myself "I aint got time for this shit any more" and cut it.
The second one was on jump 98. A line twister with a spin. I thot "Shit, here we go again. Lets do it better this time". On the first one I cut away and started falling backwards butt first. This one I made a concerted effort to arch hard as I cut and fell away in a perfect arch.
Its a tense moment, but its what we train for. Youll do fine when your time comes. Just keep your wits about you.
JC

[Kris 0]

Let's see:
Mal #1, 70-ish jumps: I didn't think, I just did it. I can still clearly remember the sound of the velcro peeling and the clanking of the three-rings on my Talon as they separated. Since it was a spinner, I had a hellacious arch going and my feet tucked up against my ass when I pulled the cutaway (Dammit! I just had the reserve repacked two weeks early the weekend before!). It worked as I swung out cleanly onto my belly as I pulled silver.
I arched so hard that my stomach hurt for three days. Our emergency procedure here is:
Look, Grab (both handles), Arch, Right, Left, Arch.
While I was under the reserve I was very calm as I tested the non-existant flare on my Raven Dash-M 249 loaded .9:1, selected my landing area, tracked my main & freebag, stuffed my handles down my jumpsuit and then landed like a SCUD missile as the reserve stalled.
Once my feet touched the ground is when everything changed. I couldn't stop giggling for a smooth 30-minutes. (Maybe that's why my stomach hurt... Mal #2 (6-weeks ago): Violent spinner on a line-twisted Heatwave. Still calm but pissed this time as it was my first jump on my brand new Heatwave. I also remember looking up at my deformed & spinning custom-colored canopy and thinking, "Great color choice! Now, where's those handles..." I also REALLY felt that Mirage reserve PC launch off of my back this time. The spring on that damn thing is amazing.
That reserve was a PD-176R (loaded 1.4:1). I got a 20-30 foot surf out of it and popped it up for a nice no-step standup on a hot no-wind day at 1000' MSL.
Kris