It's not that simple. The last rigger to pack it is at a different drop zone from where I was jumping. In order to re-tack the hat to the pilot chute the reserve has to be popped open so you can work through the open bottom of the spring to put in new tack cord. You can't just do it while the reserve is still closed. And a rigger who is different from the one who last packed it would have to re-pack the entire reserve to certify it in his name. Riggers don't really want to give up jumping on a busy Saturday afternoon to repack a reserve. So, it was more than just a quick easy fix. The better solution is to go back to the other DZ where the last rigger works, and have him fix it. Since it's already his repack, he can pop the reserve pilot chute out, re-tack the hat, stow the cord, re-seat the pilot chute, and do all that without a complete repack. Making it more quick and simple, and cheaper.
It also wasn't wise to just tuck it back in and go jump again. It came out once, and it could come out again. Having a main canopy deploy with a foot of loose line dangling back there in the same vicinity is a recipe for trouble. The root cause of the problem needed to be fixed, and that's one missing tack and one loose tack, side by side with each other, which allowed that length of cord to snake it's way out of there.