Safety of spring-loaded pilot shutes

[FreeDiver 0]

Hi,

A few jumps ago I pull the ripcord on my container with spring-loaded pilot shute and I heard the metal of the spring hit my head 3 times...

A few jumps later I felt the pilot shute hit my legs...


I'm wondering how dangerous this really is because I have seen a video of a guy jumping with a spring-loaded pilot shute going bad! The pilot shute fell between his legs and the canopy deployed between his legs/under his body... and I DO NOT WANT this happening to me as this would be my worst nightmare...

I fall pretty stable: no shaking, no turning. Maybe I should be a little more unstable on deployment ?

[Remster 30]

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I have seen a video of a guy jumping with a spring-loaded pilot shute going bad!

Substitute spring-loaded pilot shute with any other skydiving equipment and that statement will still be true.

I'm not a fan of ripcords and spring loaded PCs for mains (mostly for training reasons), but consider that every reserve fires that way when making that judgement.

Remster

[FreeDiver 0]

if I could rent a throw-out I would definately do so because I would rather have my PC in clean air than in my burble

[AndyMan 7]

Is a spring loaded pilot chute safe? I hope so, it makes up the core of every modern reserve deployment system out there.

Like every piece of gear, it needs to be in spected and maintained. If you're not getting good launches from one, the spring may be worn out, and due for replacement.

Also, I've seen far more throw-outs in a burble then I have seen spring loaded ones. Weak throws are very common.

Personally, I prefer throw-outs over spring loaded ones because of the lack of the ripcord, more then the behaviour of the pilot chute.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[mr2mk1g 10]

just roll your shoulders to get clean air onto it.

I hate spring-loadeds as it caused my first (kind of) mal. Student jump, canopy opened fine the but heavy metal spring caused the pilot chute to fall over the front of the canopy and back through the lines. It caused half of center cell and half of the cell to its left to collapse a little. I considered it flyable so rode it down.

No toggle turns and a straight in approach meant that I was fine appart from a really heavy landing as nothing much happened when I flaired.

I was told that it often happens and the DZ was logging every such incident for evaluation. They wrote down my weight and noted which kit I was using. Some of their rigs had a new lighter metal spring which was less prone to this but I was on one with a heavy bastard.

[riggerrob 643]

I have not liked spring-loaded main pilotchutes since I was a student in 1979. Maybe it was the 4-pin main ripcords that I really hated.
Fortunately most Canadian DZs replaced their spring-loaded main pilotchutes with hand-deploys about 20 years ago.
The rest of the planet is slowly catching up to us Canucks.

[rigging65 0]

While I agree with what most folks have said here, we all need to keep in mind one huge benefit that Spring Loaded P/Cs have over throw outs-- They are remotely activated.

That's the reason they remained on Student gear for so long, and that's the reason they're in your reserve systems. Once you pull that handle, you're done...it's all on the system now. There is no way to "hang onto" the pilot chute and keep it from functioning.

When we transitioned our Student Gear away from ripcords and into throw-outs, our greatest fear was that students already in the system would do what they'd always done and hold onto the main deployment handle...unfortunately, it would now be attached to the pilot chute.

All the instructors sat around and discussed how we would get the students white-knuckled hands opened and get that P/C into the air.As it turned out, with all the extra ground training we gave them, this really wasn't an issue...

Yes, Spring Loaded P/Cs have their problems, but they take one important failure point out of the loop (once the handle is pulled)...the jumper.

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

[mjosparky 4]

There is a big difference between the spring pilot chute system on a main and the spring pilot chute on your reserve. Most main pilot chutes are attached with a 36" bridle. When the spring is released it jumps to the end of the bridle and rebounds back at the jumper. On your reserve the bridle does not stop the movement of the pilot chute away from the jumper allowing it to continue out of the burble and into clean air.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Tonto 1]

Guess you're going to go untable before deploying your reserve, eh? Just to keep things safe?

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[FreeDiver 0]

I wonder about the case of premature deployment

Isn't a throw out much more vulnerable for a premature deployment because of the closing pin and hacky outside the container ?

[rigging65 0]

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I wonder about the case of premature deployment

Isn't a throw out much more vulnerable for a premature deployment because of the closing pin and hacky outside the container ?

I suppose you could make an argument either way with this one.

On one hand, on a throw-out you've got a handle sitting out in the wind that could get knocked around. The BOC mouth could wear out and allow it to slip out. Without good bridle protection, a bridle can get in the air and pull the pin causing a horseshoe. There are also a few other things that could go wrong.

On the other hand, you've got a relatively huge snag factor with a D-handle....and a pillow might roll under the harness. With the reserve loop being under pressure (and the pin being smaller in diameter) you're more likely to bend the pin or break the loop with an impact...etc. You also have to replace lost ripcords, worn out springs, etc.

I guess I'd agree with you, there are probably more chances for a prmi with a throwout than with a spring loaded system. I'm not sure which one is more high-maintenance though (I know that wasn't your question, but I think it's worth considering).

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

[kai2k1 0]

i hate to ask a dumb question, but what is a BOC?

There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan

[sundevil777 102]

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Guess you're going to go untable before deploying your reserve, eh? Just to keep things safe?

Head up, as in just after cutting away, is the best orientation for the reserve pilot chute to launch.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Tonto 1]

BOC

Bottom of container (deployment system)

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[billvon 2,991]

>Isn't a throw out much more vulnerable for a premature deployment
>because of the closing pin and hacky outside the container ?

A bit, yes. Comparing a BOC ripcord to a BOC throwout, the ripcord is a little less vulnerable to a premature deployment. Also, it's next to impossible to have an out of sequence deployment with a ripcord; once that loop is free the main is going to open.

[rigging65 0]

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Also, it's next to impossible to have an out of sequence deployment with a ripcord; once that loop is free the main is going to open.

Just like on a pull-out

...all you silly people with your throw-aways

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

[poohbeer 0]

Quote

Just like on a pull-out

...all you silly people with your throw-aways

And the difference between pull-out and throw-away is what exactly?

------- SIGNATURE BELOW -------
Complete newbie at skydiving, so be critical about what I say!!
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

[ernokaikkonen 0]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=519142

[rigging65 0]

The watered down version is that a throw-out (or throw-away) uses the pilot chute, which you deploy, to pull the pin and open the container up. In a pull-out system, you physically pull the pin and open the container, then deploy the pilot chute (which lives securely inside the container on top of the bag).

The main difference is that it's either you or your pilot chute opening the container.

I like the pull-out system because it's much more difficult (although not impossible) to have a p/c in tow or a horseshoe.

Only about 10-15% of skydivers use the pull-out because it has a bad history (due to bad designs that have since been cleaned up)...which lead to most everyone using a throw-out because "that's what everyone else uses".

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."