Deployment altitude

[atsaubrey 0]

At what altitude to you deploy? I was just reading in the incident threads and this was somewhat discused. Im interested in students and A-B license holders comments. I did a five way last aunday and ended up going a bit low and deployed in the 3k range and ended up with about a 1000ft snivel that scared the heck outta me. I currently (with 36 jumps) dont like to go lower than 4k. My hardeck is 2500ft by the way and yes red/silver came to mind when the ole "flatline" on the Neptune went off at 2600ft.

"GOT LEAD?"

[Albatross 0]

I deploy at about 3100 or adjust it so that I am trypically in the saddle by 2300 so that I ahve time to cutaway. I think that you BLEW it. You have a FLATLINE as the point that you should know that you ahve a good canopy. AT 35 jumps you need more experience to know that a snivle will be ok.
I am glad that youa re good but I think that you should have cut and gone reserve as a general rule

Chris

[towerrat 0]

pull altitude is delegated by a number of things.
type of dive
size of dive
gear used
experience
comfort level
I'm sure you'll think of more.

I typically pull between 2 and 3,000 ft, depending on what's going on.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

[Frenchy68 0]

Pulling at 4,000ft, hard deck at 2,500ft. I've had a 1,200 ft snivel once on a Spectre... Now I usually get about 500ft of snivelling on average, which still leaves me enough time to kick out of routine line twists (never had any, so I must be due!) without having to chop.

Nick

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[skipro101 0]

I initiate pull at 3.

When freeflying, I breakoff at 5 or 4.5, then track and wait to slow down till I hit 3k. then its reach, pull throw...


When deploying from slower speeds, I am willing to break off by 4, to pull at 3.


I have an A license. And if im correct, according to BSRs i must deploy by 3.


Im not sure if this means initiate pull or be in the saddle.


Actually, sometimes I find that im scared to pull because I weigh 220. With gear thats 240 at least.
Force=weight TIMES speed. so every little pound means much more forced at deployment.

Sometimes I pull alitttle too soon after a FF dive and get spanked hard...

usually after these dives I find myself hesitant to pull at 3k and end up waiting "just alittle bit longer" till I slow down some more....one time this lead to me being open at like 1400. Since then, I have always made it a point to pull at 3k even if im not slowed down...

but if i do that, and know i just did FF dive, I always wince, because I know its going to hurt like a b***.

[Ruffles 0]

Pull at 4, hard at 2500, but it's unlikely that I'm going to be looking at my altimeter again if I look up at 3700 and see a nasty-ass canopy or bag-lock, so 2500 is kind of a mute point for me sans line twists.

[newsstand 0]

Wave off at 3500 and then pull, generally in the saddle at 2500, at least according to the alti screaming in my ear.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[pccoder 0]

I like to throw at 4k. I feel it gives me plenty of time to initiate emergency procedures if need be and still be high enough to not try to look like a superstar being open under my inflated reserve 100 feet off the ground (saw this crazy shiat in a video)

PcCoder.net

[cvfd1399 0]

I like the 4k idea, but when you advise the people getting exit order right they are like "woah that is high". I hardly ever get put in the same exit order. Kallends(?) FF simulator shows that lighter persons should get out first. Every time I run it based on a similar jump that I did getting out first the simulator shows 124' seperation. If I get out after a slow faller the simulator shows 1224' seperation.

[pajarito 0]

With a D, I can take it to 2000ft. However, I typically pull at 2,500ft. Some days, I pull at 3,000ft. I just don't see the point in pushing it. I like the time and altitude. It likes me too. We're friends.

[billvon 2,990]

Depends on what I'm doing, but usually 2000-2500 feet. The smaller the canopy or the more snively the canopy the higher I tend to pull; the larger the formation the lower I tend to pull (trading altitude for separation.)

[SkiD_PL8 0]

I turn and track at 5k, pull by 4k. That is the plan anyway sometimes I go low but always try to pull by 3500.

Greenie in training.

[Jen1129 0]

I break by 4500, pull at 3500. I have just over 100 jumps and I want the extra time to react if I see something unusual above my head.

[bigway 4]

there is a post by a guy called 'par' the post is 'did i choose right'
now he said he made a mistke and had to pull low.
people responded.
a few days later he writes back and says everything is cool and i just did a 4 way from 5000ft and pulled at 1600ft.
does anyone know this guy? he seems to think at 75 jumps it is all good to pull at an alttidude that most of us would call hard deck.
someone talk to this guy before we read about him in fatalities.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[Peej 0]

Like some of the others have said, it depends largely on the type and size of jump but on most we plan to break off at 4500, i track for a few seconds, perform a barrel roll to check there's no one above me, wave and pull.

My dytter alarms are set for for 4500, 3000 and 2000 so i'm normally in the saddle just below 3000.

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[Vimes 0]

I jump a spectre and it typically takes about a 1000ft to be fully open I wave at 3200 and I under a canopy by 2000. I break off at 4.5 for fs jumps haven’t really done more than coached ff jumps and they break off at 5000.

I always have a quick look at the ground at 5000 as im tracking anyways to see if im too deep if I am I will deploy a bit higher to help get back, this has got me back to the dz a few times when the wind, or spot is different that what it should be

[DanG 1]

I'm suprised to see so many people saying they break off at a certain altitude, and pull 1000 feet lower. At belly speeds that is only five seconds to turn, track, clear airspace, reach, and pull. If the posters here can do all that in five seconds with only about 100 jumps, then I am impressed.

I suggest some of you move your break off altitude up by 500 feet or more, to ensure you have good separation, and are actually pulling at the altitude you think you are.

To the freeflyier who wants to pull at 3000, but sometimes waits longer to slow down more, why don't you try breaking off a little higher? Seems to solve all your problems.

My 4-way team usually breaks at 4000 and we pull around 2500. When I'm doing video, I try to pull between 3000 and 3500.

- Dan G

[meltdown 0]

I jump a Spectre, and I usually dump at 3500. A few jumps ago, I had major line twists followed by a tangled up slider. I messed with it down to 2k, then chopped it. I was under the reserve by 1500, and had no problem getting to the DZ and landing. On a side note, the ground crew at Skydive Dallas ROCKS for tracking down my canopy and freebag, and picking my canopy out of a tree with no damage.

• Quote

[Chrisky 0]

Relevance to this thread?
Why don't you just PM him what you think of it.

If you think that the original poster of this thread should have chopped, please say so.

Aubrey, I think at 35 jumps going through your hard deck with a snivel, being not sure to tell if it will work or is just a ball of crap, you should have chopped. Even though the altitude you were in the saddle was acceptable, you did not stick to your selfset safety margins. That is a situation he sould try to avoid.

The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

[bigway 4]

i guess you are jumping student gear or dz gear? why dont you look at your packing, if it continues dump at 3500. i enjoy long openings and that is where i tend to dump. i want to be dumped by three at the latest unless doing a hop'n'pop, when i would have packed for a faster opening.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[bigway 4]

belly fliers should always get out first because of drift.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[mjosparky 4]

Hey Bro,
Get rid of the neptune and get a pro-trac. You threw your PC around 3100/3200 and were in the saddle by 2600. It was not a snivel but a asymmetrical opening, the right side opened and then the left. Things seem to happen fast at the altitude at first but you will adjust as you get more time in the air. Nice 5 way.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[MarkM 0]

I have a Triathlon which doesn't snivel too bad. I like to prep for deployment at slightly above 4k: I turn to face where I want to fly after the opening(towards the LZ and facing away from anyone else) and mentally calm down. My set pull altitude is 3500, but I'll usually start a relaxed throw between that and 4k. I figure if I total I should notice something wrong by 3k and that'll give me 10 seconds of useful time to figure out the problem and deal with it.

Usually by the time I flip up my visor, collapse the slider and turn towards the LZ and unstow my breaks I'm at 2500. That's worked real well for me in getting back to the LZ on long spots and allows me to pick a pattern that's traffic light. If I see everyone doing a right hand pattern, I'll fly over and set up for a left hand one.

If I'm in a group dive I prefer to break off 1500 feet above my deployment, but even breaking off at 5k sometimes means I won't make a 3500 pull. Sometimes one of those will have a deployment go a little low towards 3k, which doesn't bug that much. I'll do a 3k, I just prefer 3500.

[WeakMindedFool 0]

Quote

I deploy at about 3100 or adjust it so that I am trypically in the saddle by 2300 so that I ahve time to cutaway. I think that you BLEW it. You have a FLATLINE as the point that you should know that you ahve a good canopy. AT 35 jumps you need more experience to know that a snivle will be ok.
I am glad that youa re good but I think that you should have cut and gone reserve as a general rule

So wait...You're saying you think he should have choped a snivling main because his neptune said to? He knew full well he was dumping at 3k or so and there was no way most mains these days would be inflated and flying by 2600 where his flatline was set. Consider that to get an A you have to do a 3500 H&P, which means that most likely he would have been under "his" hard deck of 2600 before his main was out. So should he have gone for silver first in these situations?

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
-Eric Hoffer -
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[mjosparky 4]

Quote

and there was no way most mains these days would be inflated and flying by 2600 where his flatline was set

That is a pretty broad statement, do have any idea what his main is?
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals