Finger trapped in steering line

[mccordia 74]

A couple of jumps ago (after doing a 4 way RW dive with video) my chute opened, I checked around for other jumpers, and after that released my toggles from the brake-setting.
But while doing this my right hand got caught in a loop/knot that pulled tightly around my middle-finger.
The line had somehow formed a sort of loop that just managed to catch my finger.
I think I put my finger 'in' the stored break-line, when releasing it, but I'm not sure how it happened.
I tried to pull my finger out, but it only pulled it in tighter.

As I needed my other hand to release it (it hurt like hell), I had to let my left toggle go, which started a slow turn.
Luckily the other people on the jump had noticed me as I was wrestling my hand out, and everyone was a nice distance away and had had nice on-heading openings.
But still...I think it could be dangerous if it happened again..in case of an emergency (potential collision) steering with a hurting finger is always an option ofcource...

I've never experienced this before, and since then sorta pay extra care to grab my toggles with all fingers clear of the stowed break-line...

I also tried to 'catch' my finger in there again on the ground, but couldn't succeed in doing so...

But I'm curious...has anyone ever had this happen too? And if so..what might be the cause..

Is it just Darwin at work (just getting 'lucky' poking my finger in there) or is it a packing-error I might have made?

Any views or similar experiences on this?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Ron 10]

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I also tried to 'catch' my finger in there again on the ground, but couldn't succeed in doing so...

One reason is that when in flight the loop is held open and right by the toggle...I have heard of this a couple of times. It is this reason I don't grab for anything I don't see.

I don't even stow the extra line...I just make damn sure to clear it before I grab my toggles.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[karlm 0]

I see this often on video and through conversations with jumpers, once open they just grab and pull on the toggles.

It is only time before you get yourself into a situation like the one above.

Always once open, use back risers to steer clear of any traffic, then look and check all is good (no excess lines wrapped on toggle, through brake line & riser etc), then release and fly home.

If you have to spend a few seconds just fixing the misrouted excess line, which i have had you do a few times, due to packers packing the left brake with the excess stowed to the right (inside of riser) and then getting mixed up with the brake line and toggles.

The basic rule here is to be more heads-up all the time with the whole skydive.

Better never to have met you in my dream than to wake and reach for hands that are not there.

[riggerrob 643]

How are you stowing excess brake line?
If you are using old-school Velcro or most of the line stow pockets on modern risers, the loops should be too small to accidentally catch a finger.

[mccordia 74]

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How are you stowing excess brake line?
If you are using old-school Velcro or most of the line stow pockets on modern risers, the loops should be too small to accidentally catch a finger.

It was on my 'old rig' (new one should arive next week or so:):)) and the line is held in place by velcro, I think I'm not making the loops too big.
It's only about 1, maybe 1,5 cm...but I gues that was enough to poke a finger into..

Not sure how the breaklines are stowed on my new rig (vortex II) but something to watch for the future...thanx...

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[catfishhunter 2]

thats funny that same thing happened to me YESTERDAY. Weird. it really sucked as we opened way out. I turned back towards the DZ then got my finger out. Not sure what I did but I think when I went to grab my toggles I put my finger up through the lines and then pulled. Felt like one of the Chinese finger puzzles. the more I pulled the tighter it got.

Oh and just to add the rig I jump has velcro stows

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[FrogNog 1]

I hate it when that happens.
I just do what I can to reduce the likelihood of brake line ickiness when packing and when unstowing.
And I try to unstow relatively soon after opening so I have more time to analyze, fix, and/or chop.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[mccordia 74]

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I try to unstow relatively soon after opening so I have more time to analyze, fix, and/or chop.

Am I alone when I think that chopping a canopy with your finger caught in the steering-line could be a painful exercise (taking the term 'chopping' a bit literally)

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[mjosparky 4]

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I try to unstow relatively soon after opening so I have more time to analyze, fix, and/or chop.

Am I alone when I think that chopping a canopy with your finger caught in the steering-line could be a painful exercise (taking the term 'chopping' a bit literally)

No, you are not alone thing this. If you did cutaway in this situation, you would be doing it all with one hand. If a cutaway were called for this would be the time to use your hook knife on the brake line. If the canopy was ok and you could not clear your finger quickly, before hard deck, go to your hook knife.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[ZZTopless 0]

Ok. Two weeks ago I had the same thing happen to me as well. However, I was unable to get my pinky finger out of the break line and ended up landing with it. Once I got on the ground and got the tension off of it I was able to get my pinky out of the brake line, but it scared the shit out of me at first. And my poor little pinky was purple.

p.s. I have velcro toggles too.

[Maxim 0]

im a newbie so this is just a guess. but would grabbing the rear risers and collapsing your canopy take enough tension off the brake lines to release your finger?

Life is Great. Even Greater what we do with it.

[Dumpster 0]

Happened to me once last season - I couldn't seem to get my finger out at all and really needed to concentrate on getting to a landing area, so I took a wrap around the other brake line to even things out. Note: I always wear gloves, and the loss of circulation wasn't bad. Don't know if I'd do that bare-handed.

Easy Does It

[WeakMindedFool 0]

yep...happened to me awhile back. Now I stare at my toggles for a min, and touch them like they're energized with electricity till I got them unstoed.

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
-Eric Hoffer -
Check out these Videos

[mjosparky 4]

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Happened to me once last season - I couldn't seem to get my finger out at all and really needed to concentrate on getting to a landing area, so I took a wrap around the other brake line to even things out. Note: I always wear gloves, and the loss of circulation wasn't bad. Don't know if I'd do that bare-handed.

Do you carry a hook knife?

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[freakflyer9999 1]

My best friend had a similar incident 5 years ago. The result was he spun his canopy into the ground and was killed by the impact. Two pilots who witnessed his 1000-1500 ft spiraling descent stated that he appeared to be unconcious. We're not sure whether he passed out due to the spin and was therefore unable to take corrective action or if something else disabled him and he just happened to jab his hand through the brake line loop. Either way the spin resulted in a high speed impact with the ground.

[Dumpster 0]

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Happened to me once last season - I couldn't seem to get my finger out at all and really needed to concentrate on getting to a landing area, so I took a wrap around the other brake line to even things out. Note: I always wear gloves, and the loss of circulation wasn't bad. Don't know if I'd do that bare-handed.

Do you carry a hook knife?

Yes, I do and,

Why would I start cutting lines if I don't have to?

Easy Does It

[mjosparky 4]

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Quote

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Happened to me once last season - I couldn't seem to get my finger out at all and really needed to concentrate on getting to a landing area, so I took a wrap around the other brake line to even things out. Note: I always wear gloves, and the loss of circulation wasn't bad. Don't know if I'd do that bare-handed.

Do you carry a hook knife?

Yes, I do and,

Why would I start cutting lines if I don't have to?

You were the only one there, and I don't think anyone is in a position to second guess your decision. I just asked if you had a hook knife.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Dumpster 0]

Sorry if I misunderstood ya, my friend!

Easy Does It

[petetheladd 0]

Yea, it happened to me when I first started jumping rigs with the excess brake line flopping all over the place

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=489641;#489641

Teachs you
A) look before you unstow
B) Should'nt have loose string flopping around in the breeze

Beats me why riser manufacturers dont give you someplace to stow it.

No, Not without incident

[NoShitThereIWas 0]

I guess its nice to know that I am not the only one this has happened to. Can one technically classify this as a malfunction? I don't think so but it is something that could be enough to create a problem . This exact scenario happened to me the first time I tried out the Stiletto

It happened a while back and I do believe the toggles were velcro toggles. I was wearing tacky gloves and my left index finger was caught in the brake line. My first instinct was to try and "pull my finger" out of it only to find myself radically spiraling and losing lots of altitude. So trying to pull my finger out wasn't working.

Then I thought, if I pull down with equal force with both toggles, maybe I can use my other hand to help get my finger out. No luck. At that time I did not carry a hook knife and don't think I would have used it in an instance like that if I did (but good idea to whoever thought of that) all I could think about is how am I gonna get my damn finger out of this contraption. Cutting away was not a real good option for obvious reasons so I just tried to keep my toggle pressure balanced all the way to the ground working with the situation until I finally got my finger free. Afterwards I remembered thinking, good thing I didn't panic, it did catch me by surprise but I can see how panicking in a situation like that could make someone turn themselves into the ground.

Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires."

Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

[NicoNYC 0]

This happened to me last weekend too and I was also wearing gloves as well. The next time, I made sure I was looking at my handles and grabbed them with a closed within my fist before I released the brakes. It's going to be a force of habit for me from now on.

How many hits of adrenaline can you take?

[jaymundo 0]

broke my second finger (six places) ....had gloces on and it was cold.....I forced the finger out of the brake line...which I think made the injury worse.My hands were kinda numb.....UNTIL I LANDED!!!! Had some elastic material sewed on for stowing excess.

[winsor 236]

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I try to unstow relatively soon after opening so I have more time to analyze, fix, and/or chop.

Am I alone when I think that chopping a canopy with your finger caught in the steering-line could be a painful exercise (taking the term 'chopping' a bit literally)

I assure you, it is.

On a camera jump about 10 years ago, I had a lineover due to a partially corrected botched pack job.

Waffling forward in a slow turn, I decided to try to clear it by burying the toggles and letting them up briskly. Bad idea - it turns out that leaving the toggles stowed and hauling down on the risers on the affected side is the hot tip.

When I let the toggles up briskly, the left (affected side) steering line did not retract immediately, leaving a loop. When the line did snap taut, it threw a half-hitch around my left hand above my altimeter, going between the base of my thumb and my ring finger.

I had lost my Zak knife in an orange blur on the previous dive, and thus had no way to cut the 1000# microline lashed around my hand, and was now spinning wildly on my back.

Sometime in the third rotation I quit trying to clear the line and cut it away. In order to avoid having fingers snipped off by the steering line I effected a gunslinger cutaway, pulling both handles at once. The footage shows the freebag barely clearing the trash as the two spun past each other.

After kicking out of four line twists my goal was simply to stay alive, so I left the steering line attached to my hand with my trashed main trailing behind. Because I couldn't flare properly with all that drag, I arrived very solidly indeed.

The nerve damage sustained by my left ring finger has mostly recovered, and I can feel with that fingertip again.

I try to have two hook knives on my person on every skydive these days. It's like a gun - it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, since if you do need it you need it badly, and if you don't have it you may never need it again.


Blue skies,

Winsor