Hard opening ruined me.

[sub1427 0]

So I just got my A license 3 days ago... Ive been packing my own parachutes since my solos. I rented gear from my DZ and jumped it today, had one great opening, nice long snivel and soft opening, it was a sabre 2 210. My second opening was not so good. I pulled and what felt like .2 seconds later i was at a total stop 120 to 0 in a second, the inside of my thighs are black, my double knotted shoelaces both came undone (done know it it was from the jump or the opening but anyway) my helmet strap came up over my nose and almost flew off my head. I had the slider properly placed and uncocked.

I think I figured out the problem maybe someone else would be able to help clarify... Since I'm a newbie packer i have a hard time keeping the nose of the cocoon tight when im pushing all the air out of the canopy... by the time I go to do my S-folds the top of the roll is almost always undone and the lines are 3-4 inches apart and I distinctly remember it being loose and messy that pack... up until that jump I havnt had a problem. Do you think that could have been the reason it opened so hard?

I'll be lucky if I can walk tomorrow.

That sucked.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Ouch my life.

Get High, Blue skies.

[denete 3]

(never mind this post, I just re-read the OP)

:)

SCR #14809

"our attitude is the thing most capable of keeping us safe"
(look, grab, look, grab, peel, punch, punch, arch)

[AggieDave 6]

The large majority of hard openings in my experience are caused by a lack of slider control during packing. The slider needs to be all the way against the stops and even or it can result in what you experienced.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skydveraz 0]

Quote

So I just got my A license 3 days ago... Ive been packing my own parachutes since my solos. I rented gear from my DZ and jumped it today, had one great opening, nice long snivel and soft opening, it was a sabre 2 210. My second opening was not so good. I pulled and what felt like .2 seconds later i was at a total stop 120 to 0 in a second, the inside of my thighs are black, my double knotted shoelaces both came undone (done know it it was from the jump or the opening but anyway) my helmet strap came up over my nose and almost flew off my head. I had the slider properly placed and uncocked.

I think I figured out the problem maybe someone else would be able to help clarify... Since I'm a newbie packer i have a hard time keeping the nose of the cocoon tight when im pushing all the air out of the canopy... by the time I go to do my S-folds the top of the roll is almost always undone and the lines are 3-4 inches apart and I distinctly remember it being loose and messy that pack... up until that jump I havnt had a problem. Do you think that could have been the reason it opened so hard?

I'll be lucky if I can walk tomorrow.

That sucked.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Ouch my life.

I've got a Sabre 2 170 that I have jumped since they came out with them.
Two out of every 10 openings will nail you! The old Sabre 1 only nailed me once in 50 jumps. I plan to replace it with a Safire 2 Very shortly. This has been discussed here before.. No more Saber 2's for me!

Arizona only has two seasons, Hot and HOTTER!

[cocheese 0]

Hard openings happen. Welcome to skydiving. Had a bunch of those with rental gear and even my own gear no matter who packed it.

My slider now has a pocket or lip on the edge that catches air and slows down the opening.

Had a Diablo that would just snivel all day til ya threaten to chop it.

My hardest opening ever, i thought my feet snapped off. Had to look to see if they were still attached.

Meanwhile, get ALL the info you can from your instructors about packing a slower opening.

[peggs82 0]

Had one happen to me the other day that resulted in a 3 foot blowout on my canopy. I know how you feel. If you cruise on over to this thread, there is an interesting discussion on Bill Booth's opinion of Riser cover tuck tabs and their possible contribution to slammers.

They happen, I don't think the problem is related to any one type of canopy. That particular thread talks about Pilots, here we talk about Sabre2's, others the original Sabre. They are all very very popular canopies, so it does not surprise me that we here about them more often. I suspect slider placement, uneven riser deployment, and line dump to contribute to the phenomenon.

Be glad your bones are still in tact, be even happier that you are still alive. All are possible outcomes with slammers.

Took me a few jumps to get over my hesitation of going to terminal

[madhatter 0]

Were the brakes still stowed after the opening?

Just asking, as I've seen some canopies renowned for soft openings SLAM when the brakes are left unstowed or not stowed properly...

A VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
D.S # 125

[superwoman8433 0]

I jump a Sabre2 150 and downsized from a 170 and I have gotten slammed on the 170 but not the 150. I think you nailed it on the head. The roll is not as important as keeping the slider against the gromets, quartering the slider, and tight line strech. It sounds like when the you lost control of the roll, it moved the slider.

Also, I may be wrong someone correct me, Don't the larger Sabre2 (170 up) have less consistent openings then the smaller (150 down) As I said before, I have been slammed on a 190 and a 170 but not a 150. But I LOVE my sabre2 and wouldn't trade it for anything but maybe a Katana when I am ready. PD all the way baby!! Hope this helped.

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Like you, I had a handful of hard openings at about your jump numbers (not very long ago.)

In addition to the comments above, don't forget the important role that body position at deployment plays.

This article helped me stop hard openings by learning better body position at deployment time: http://www.canopyskills.com/Docs/BodyLanguage.pdf

In addition to careful attention to body position, I learned to psycho pack. I find psycho packing gives me much less chance to lose control of the slider. Here is a video which is an introduction to psycho packing (aka: precison packing).
http://www.precision.aero/packing/mvc-002v.mpg

If you want to learn to psycho pack ..... talk to a rigger to get supervised practice.


Stay safe, have fun.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[darkwing 5]

While it may have been due to a specific packing error, it also may have been "just one of those things." It can happen, even if you do nothing wrong.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[tdog 0]

Quote

I've got a Sabre 2 170 that I have jumped since they came out with them.
Two out of every 10 openings will nail you! The old Sabre 1 only nailed me once in 50 jumps. I plan to replace it with a Safire 2 Very shortly. This has been discussed here before.. No more Saber 2's for me!

And.... I have a Sabre 2 170 that never has slammed me. Check your line trim, if your canopy is old, it could be the line trim. My friend's (excessively out of trim) canopy known for butter soft openings started to slam him often too.

[Nukrites 0]

I had one, really hard, almost lost my conciseness, after I landed, was scared to go up again, but did another jump right after, other wise would not be jumping anymore. Same canopy Sabre 2 170, I think my problem was slider and as I remember I did not slow down, dumped from track. So later on I was making sure about the slider and slowing down. Now I have Crossfire 2 139, the openings are like a dream, I dump from a track and don`t have to worry about nothing. Sabre 2 is a good canopy, just watch what u doing, I hear that S1 is more of a slammer.

[tdog 0]

You know, the Pilot is known as a soft opening canopy, right? Well, my worst opening ever, the one that left marks all over my body for a month, was on a Pilot. Sometimes crap happens.

The "once in a thousand" hard opening is different than the "one out of every 5." One is a "skydiving thing" the other is a "canopy thing". I have NOT had any hard openings statistically significant enough to say the Sabre 2 is a hard opening canopy. Sounds like you have not either.

Quote

Sabre 2 is a good canopy, just watch what u doing

That is with EVERY canopy.

[mircan 0]

Quote

I've got a Sabre 2 170 that I have jumped since they came out with them.
Two out of every 10 openings will nail you! The old Sabre 1 only nailed me once in 50 jumps. I plan to replace it with a Safire 2 Very shortly. This has been discussed here before.. No more Saber 2's for me!

Last weekend I had a slammer with my Safire 2. The canopy is new (~30 jumps), to that point it opened for 700-800ft. I was bragging how soft my openings were. Even while I packed for that jump I was explaining to a fellow jumper how to pack for slower opening, so I`m pretty sure that I did everything right when packing. It just slammed me. And with loaded Flat Top Pro on my mellon, I can tell you that it was not pleasant experience.

My point is that sometimes it is just "skydiving thing" (like one of the previous posters said) and not the canopy.
Still the next jump went fine, nice and soft...

dudeist skydiver #42

[tkhayes 348]

1. Buy parachutes that habitually open slow and soft
2. Stop being afraid of slow openings and learn to enjoy them (open higher)
3. pack carefully and learn the best method for your system. Stick to it, and pay attention to the little details, like line stows and slider placement, etc

An opening can kill you, disable you, and over 20 years can ruin your back, neck and degrade your life considerably. It's important, and most people seem to write hard openings off as part of life.

When you are 20, you will get over those openings very quickly and you may not even notice them that much.

By the time you are 40, you will feel every fucking one of them every time you get out of bed.

Just an opinion from an old guy that did thousands of hard openings....

[agent_lead 0]

yeah dude i remember hearing you talking about this on sunday...hows it healin up? still sore as shit?

--------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com/agentlead

[CazmoDee 3]

"By the time you are 40, you will feel every fucking one of them every time you get out of bed. "


Can I get a ,"YOU NAILED IT!" ?

I'm behind the bar at Sloppy Joe's....See ya in the Keys!

Muff 4313

[ntrprnr 0]

Something like this?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-758246946842293301&hl=en

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[squarecanopy 0]

In addition to the comments above, don't forget the important role that body position at deployment plays.

This article helped me stop hard openings by learning better body position at deployment time: [url]http://www.canopyskills.com/Docs/BodyLanguage.pdf

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

In addition to the comments above, don't forget the important role that body position at deployment plays.

I deploy my Triathlon 160 from full wingsuit flight.
I got no bruises, pain or what so ever...

[DougH 270]

Quote

Something like this?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-758246946842293301&hl=en

That video makes me giggle, it sounds a lot like my commentary from my hornet openings when I was first shooting video. *WHHHHHHACK* F&*%&* MEEEEEE!

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[gravitysucks 0]

Just make your next canopy a Spectre and be done with it. Every day when I pop my neck I think about that damn Sabre2 I USED to own.

[Sletzer 3]

Nice video.

I like it when he calls it "insta-canopy"

I know that shit must hurt. To the OP, hang in there man. It happens to everyone eventually. Hope won't happen again to you for a loooong time.

I will be kissing hands and shaking babies all afternoon. Thanks for all your support! *bows*

SCS #8251

[jdatc 0]

Quote

Nice video.

I like it when he calls it "insta-canopy"

This is what I call insta-canopy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmlS0sDpFo

I was playing with different packing techniques seeing what the canopy is capable of for openings.

However, there are 'situations' where having a fast opening canopy is desirable....

For technical stuff for those wondering-

The canopy is a flik 182 with a composite ZP top, spectra lines, utilizing the tailpocket and a small mesh slider free-packied in my G4 for wingsuiting....

Nose was packed wide open, No rolling of the outer cells, 1 wrap of slider with a rubberband on the inboard c line and a double wrap on the tailpocket primary stow....

Bridle is 9', with a 32 inch ZP vented non collapsable pilot chute.

Full flight pitch in my V2....

_justin

[Lindsey 0]

Quote

"By the time you are 40, you will feel every fucking one of them every time you get out of bed. "


Can I get a ,"YOU NAILED IT!" ?

and not only will you feel every one of them when you're 40. you'll feel every one of them that happened in your 20's when you're 40. How may skydivers have neck pain????

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail