Packing a step-thru

[hongkongluna 0]

The thread about freq of canopy malfunctions got me thinking about this...

How can you possibly pack a step-through? Just wondering how you let it slip by so that i dont do it. It SEEMS like it would be difficult considering all the opportunities during your pack to notice something as apparently huge as that. Wouldnt you notice at the very least when you put the bag in the container?

I'm very new myself so i'm sure theres something i'm not considering...

-Rainier

Sparks Brother #1 // "I vaguely heard someone yell "wait!" but by that point i was out the door." Quote from dz.com somewhere

[NWFlyer 2]

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The thread about freq of canopy malfunctions got me thinking about this...

How can you possibly pack a step-through? Just wondering how you let it slip by so that i dont do it. It SEEMS like it would be difficult considering all the opportunities during your pack to notice something as apparently huge as that. Wouldnt you notice at the very least when you put the bag in the container?

I'm very new myself so i'm sure theres something i'm not considering...

(Moving my reply over here since you started a new thread)

I did it, in fact when I had about the same number of jumps as you. I have no idea how I did it; I guess chalk it up to newbie packing stupidity, not paying enough attention, etc. It must have seemed normal enough when I packed it.

I was on a Spectre 230, I opened, did controllability checks, realized the problem, it still met my landability criteria (square, stable, steerable, flared fine, and it wasn't a situation that was going to change during my descent) so I landed it with no problems.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[tombuch 0]

A step through can be missed if you are packing quickly. Here's a good excercise---on a rotten weather day get together with a trusted rigger and open your rig, add a step through, and then try to pack it. See what you notice, and where you notice it. Try grabbing the lines and slider at different places when you start the pack job and see what it takes to miss this malfunction-in-waiting. After you finish that trial, clear the step through and loop the rig through a steering line and see what that looks like to pack. Spend some time messing around with other problems suggested by your rigger friend. Then, when you are finished playing/learning, do a complete line check with your rigger, and pack it back up for keeps.
.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[billvon 2,991]

>How can you possibly pack a step-through?

Here's the easiest way:

Run the slider up to the stops when you land.

Drop the rig on its back. At some point flip it over onto its front by rotating it away from the canopy, keeping the risers loose.

Now grab the top of the risers and run the lines up. Chances are you have a twist in at least one of the risers below the links. If the main lift webs are spread out, it may look like only half a twist since the inverted MLW's allow the risers to rotate 180. So if you get a twist in both risers and you see the half-twist in the risers caused by the MLW's being rotated (and thus assume it's OK) I could see someone packing a step-through.

[pincheck 0]

could also happen when the canopy is in the d-bag and the bag gets rotated 360 on lifting to put in the container which to me seems the easiest to do.would only take a seconds distraction to do ?.

Billy-Sonic Haggis Flickr-Fun

[fcajump 164]

Billvon has the trick... almost did it myself a couple times...

If you do not straighten out your risers and ensure things are straight below the links, you can easily leave a step-through in during a packjob.

This is one of the reasons I tie my base rings (the biggest ring in the 3-ring set) together with my pull-up cord during packing. This ensures several things:
- the yoke is even
- the risers are starting out even
- I can check to ensure the 3-ring set isn't flipped through the base ring
- by starting here, I then ensure there is no twist below the links
- finally I have a pullup cord when I need one

There is little chance of this being left in as you then use the pullup cord to close the main. Besides, putting on the rig with the base rings tied together is... difficult. (I'm sure SOMEONE will manage it, but I never could.)

Just my trick...

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[billvon 2,991]

>could also happen when the canopy is in the d-bag and the bag gets
>rotated 360 on lifting to put in the container . .

Yep. Although the easiest way to make that mistake is to rotate it in the roll axis (i.e. along the line of the PC attachement) which just gives you line twist. To give you a true stepthrough once the canopy is in the bag you'd have to either rotate the bag and then pull the PC through the risers (which would clue you into something being wrong) or rotate the rig.

[hongkongluna 0]

thanks for the input. Tom, I'll have to try that. I have been very conscious of how my canopy falls to the ground in relation to my rig & lines, when i land. Trying to prevent this stuff when i pack. I imagine that i would notice a step-thru when i flake my canopy out, look back at my lines, put the bag in the container, secure the risers. Will have to sim this & make sure tho...

-Rainier

Sparks Brother #1 // "I vaguely heard someone yell "wait!" but by that point i was out the door." Quote from dz.com somewhere

[lespaul980 0]

I'm pretty new to the sport and I was just wondering, what is a step-through?

[JohnMitchell 16]

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I'm pretty new to the sport and I was just wondering, what is a step-through?

That is where the rig has been passed under one of the lines while unpacked on the ground. it commonly happens after you land and everything falls down around you. It's easy to "step through" (under, actually) a line that draped on your shoulder. The same thing happens with sloppy handling of the rig before packing.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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I imagine that i would notice a step-thru when i flake my canopy out, look back at my lines, put the bag in the container, secure the risers.

You may or may not notice it. Better idea? Always check that the lines are straight on any canopy before you pack it. Do that, set the brakes, cock the pilot chute, and make sure the slider is up when you bag it. It will probably open just fine.

Best method to check for straight lines is to run the steering line up or check the 4 line groups pro-pack style. Ask a rigger for more info.

[dorbie 0]

There wouldn't be anything to notice if you fumble your bag when doing up your stows or when dropping it in the container and it somehow falls through your lines. You just get your line groups going from your risers to a stow where they're all one wad of lines.

To know any different you probably have to unbag to the grommets, so even if you have a niggle that there's a slight chance of a step-through, on a hot day I'd bet there are many who would be tempted to take a leap of faith, literally.

P.S. you drop your bag or it slips between your knees, and you retrieve it. Your lines look a bit messy so you tension them to see what's going on and straighten them out. After this they look just fine, but when you pulled your bag to tension the lines to the risers you just pulled the stepthrough up near your last stow where you'll never spot it.

[JENNR8R 0]

Recently, I packed three stepthroughs in five packjobs. I'd packed a couple before that too. I was getting really good at landing them. It was getting very frustrating because I am a very careful packer, and I've done a bunch of pack jobs.

I finally discovered what I was doing wrong. I was leaving the last stow undone and had a lot of line left over. I would put the bag behind the container while I arranged the risers in the channels. The unstowed lines were long enough to allow the bag to roll. I'd put the bag in the container and have my stepthrough.

I spoke to a rigger, and he told me what he thought was happening. Now I stow the lines on the last band and set the bag in the hole it's going into while I arrange the risers. I haven't had any further problems.

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.

[pchapman 279]

From the posts by dorbie and jennr8r:

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There wouldn't be anything to notice if you fumble your bag when doing up your stows or when dropping it in the container and it somehow falls through your lines.

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I would put the bag behind the container while I arranged the risers in the channels. The unstowed lines were long enough to allow the bag to roll. I'd put the bag in the container and have my stepthrough.

These are interesting examples of how to give oneself a step through. I'd like to note that the pilot chute & bridle should normally be a clue that something is amiss, even when one can't tell whether the lines themselves have a subtle twist where they go into the line stows on the bag.

Even when the BAG has flipped through, the BRIDLE & PC haven't yet.

The exception is if one had the bag, bridle, and PC all together and fumbled them together into a flip through.

But in most cases during the packing process, the bridle and PC are laying stretched off somewhere away from the bag. (And if the bridle does cross the lines, it is sitting ontop of the lines.)

In this sort of normal case, when the bag does its somersault through the lines, the bridle will now be trapped underneath the lines (and/or bag) at some point. That's the clue. To get the bridle and PC to the normal spot, one will have to pull the full length of the bridle out from under the lines, to fully complete the step through. One should be thinking, "How did the bridle get under the lines? That's not how I pack; something's wrong."

(This addresses the step-throughs of the two posts quoted, not the step-through that billvon mentioned where a step-through exists before the pack job starts, but is not noticed.)

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

Like folks have said up-thread, it can happen.

I've seen a pack-rotation packed and jumped on more then one occasion.

[brianfry713 0]

I packed one after a few too many 's.

Mine was as I was putting the bag into the container. I had to pull the P/C and bridle through some lines, so that should have clued me in that something was wrong.

It took slightly longer to open, but was controllable and landable enough.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Recently, I packed three stepthroughs in five packjobs. I'd packed a couple before that too. I was getting real

As you're working with the bag, stows, etc., leave the pilot chute and bridle stretched out on the floor, away from you. I call it a logic anchor of sorts. No matter what slips and drops of the bag you may do, if the pilot chute and bridle stay above it all, the canopy and lines remain straight, except for a few line twists, perhaps. If you let that pilot chute go slipping through the lines, you'll always have a step through, or worse.

[phoenixlpr 0]

I have not packed a step-thru yet.

I had some step-thru's, but I noticed them in line check.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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I have not packed a step-thru yet.

I had some step-thru's, but I noticed them in line check.

Perfect. Yes, if you skydive, you will eventually get a step through. That's why you should never pack without doing a continuity check.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Perfect. Yes, if you skydive, you will eventually get a step through. That's why you should never pack without doing a continuity check. Cool

I have packed twice without setting brakes. I noticed and corrected.

[Katz 0]

I did the same exact thing. Although when I actually did go to put the bag into the container I thought something looked odd. Couldn't figure out what it was. Had someone else look at. They thought it was OK. Packed it up and jumped it. Had the twist at the risers. It flew and I landed it. I've been verrry careful ever since.

PMS #330 MB #4014

"Be who you are and say what you feel...Because those that matter...don't mind...and those that mind...don't matter."

[dqpacker 7]

I know of a step-thru story by the way of using a packing hook(instead of over your shoulder). It was a tandem rig and the person didn't run up the lines before placeing it on the hook. Packed it up and bam step thru.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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I know of a step-thru story by the way of using a packing hook(instead of over your shoulder). It was a tandem rig and the person didn't run up the lines before placeing it on the hook. Packed it up and bam step thru.

Once again, thou shalt not pack unless you check that the lines are straight first.

[MarkM 0]

It's pretty easy to do, just don't pay enough attention when packing. Done one step through so far, no brake fires yet though.

[Cloudi 0]

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tie my base rings (the biggest ring in the 3-ring set) together with my pull-up cord during packing.

That's exactly what I do for all the reasons you mentioned except for having a pull-up cord to close the container. Part of my "ritual" after I have made sure the slider is open, the risers are untwisted, & the brakes are stowed properly, is to hook my packing tool to the closing loop so it's there when I go to close the container. Then, I do the line continuity check (again making sure my risers are not twisted) & flake.

Once I have the "cocoon" on the ground, the rest of my ritual is to untie the pull-up cord, remove the weight that's holding my rig in place, check my rubber bands, and cock my pilot chute.

So far, so good!

Kim
Watch as I attempt, with no slight of hand, to apply logic and reason.