borg2050

41. the El Camino 42. Khan riding a giraffe unicycle

I agree with you about smoking and driving. Not that I recommend smoking and driving, but they are totally different. Relative to alcohol, cannabis doesn't effect your driving. It mostly affects your sense of direction and not coordination/reaction speed. I know plenty of stoners that are very good drivers and have never had an accident. Also, there is one guy that I know that speeds whenever he doesn't smoke. However, I would not reccomend it for skydiving mainly because the skydiver may not recognize the landing zone, may forget something during a mal, black out because of the lowered blood pressure (especially during a bad spinning mal, I can only imagine), or loose altitude awareness. Its really just not a good idea. I should also bring up ciggarettes. Obviously, this doesn't apply to regular smokers. Does anyone remember the first time they tried one? Remember the sudden loss of coordination and lightheadedness that came with it? I don't see anyone questioning ciggarette smoking.

I had the same problem as you until I downsized and started renting non-student gear. Only then, did the slow flare make sense to me. I haven't had a bad landing since AFF. Do what feels right.

I would have to agree, considering that I forgot to pull on AFF1.

I haven't had that one, but something similar. One of my professors (pre-calc) thought that you had to hold your breath because "the pressure against the lungs would be too great when you open your mouth."

So that's why the packers at my DZ are always telling me, "Neatness counts."

This discussion is filled with a plethora of GOOD arguments. Throughout this discussion, I have noticed a trend. No matter how bad the RSL could possibly be, it seems that everyone agrees that people with jump numbers similar to mine should use the RSL. You may not use one, but you trust it with the life of your wife. I think that says something. Not to mention the very reason they were created: jumpers managed to cut away...but not pull the reserve. I don't know why that happens, and I really don't know how it happens to experts. As for now, I'm going to use the RSL until I can get the skyhook system. I am VERY thankful to ALL of the posters of this thread. I feel that DZ.com is a great resource and gateway to speaking with the experts of the sport.

Well... you never know what you're going to get when you deploy. Odds are high you'll get a good canopy, but don't get complacent because you have a light wingloading. I jump a Sabre2 loaded about exactly the same as your Spectre. I never thought my first cutaway would be from a violent spinner. Guess what? My first cutaway was from a violent spinner. It was chaotic, frantic, and frightening to me. I also had utmost confidence that I would execute my EPs without a problem. Guess what? I missed my cutaway handle twice before I pulled it. I also lost sight of my reserve handle and watched the RSL beat me to it as I located it under my chin. I'm not a bad skydiver, borg. I'm not slow physically or mentally. Bad sh!t happens to good people. Again... please consider the advice a lot of people who know a hell of a lot more than I do are giving you. Connect that RSL until you have first hand experience with a mal then give yourself a chance to re-evaluate. I'm swaying so much. Now it seems I want the RSL.

You wanna bet your life on it? Hrmm...No! Would I want to have my reserve out if I had one of those...probably. It would seem that one handle would be better than two in that situation because of the loss of blood to the brain under a violently spinning canopy. I think Billvon said something about that a few posts back. I've been jumping the student Spectres and now you tell me they aren't mellow.

Interesting...

I would have to agree with you on that. I mean, I can't see myself getting severe line twists with a wing loading of .96

I think that I'm adept enough to pull another large handle when required, but not adept enough to find that little RSL cable and disconnect it without accidently pulling on it, while having a malfunction that requires a disconnect.

I'm not so sure that all of those skydivers who cut away too low would have been saved by an RSL. If you are going to be cutting away so low, you still have to give the RSL enough time to deploy the reserve. It is nice to have if you are in the situation where you wouldn't be able to cut away and deploy the reserve fast enough, but are still high enough above the ground that you may live. That time period (I'm assuming) may not be any longer than 2-3 seconds.

On this we agree....And remember I don't like RSL's, so thats saying something. It makes sense to me that nobody wants to be the one who tells an inexperienced jumper not to use an RSL. I put more trust in myself than the RSL. I am assuming I will always pull my reserve after a cutaway (who wouldn't?). Howver, in the case of a canopy collision upon deployment, I wouldn't want my reserve out just yet. Again, I am putting more trust in myself than the RSL.

You don't know how an RSL works then. A low collision is one of the few times I would WANT an RSL. Also you have very little chance of an entaglement up high. No offense, I don't like RSL's one little bit, but your logic is bad here. You worry about collisions? Then look around a bunch under canopy. Two out? Maintain your gear. Err...did you read my posts? Its pretty obvious that I would want an RSL for anything that is low-altitude. But higher up, I would want a choice for cutting away without the reserve being deployed immediately.

The RSL just isn't for me. I worry too much about entanglements up high and the low collisions. Because the RSL wouldn't help me (the way I want it to) in those situations, then I'm better off without it. Perhaps I could use the skyhook, but I need to read more about it. Does anyone have a pro/con list about the skyhook?

Makes sense to me, especially if you don't know how you will perform during a mal. I think I saw a short article on that in Parachutist but had not bothered to check it out before. As I am reading the testimonials, it is looking better and better.

At higher altitudes I am in full agreement, but at lower ones (around 1,000ft), I'd rather take the risk of entanglement with the RSL than take the risk of cutting away too low and not being able to deploy the reserve in time. I suppose my mind may change about this when I do have my first mal, as others have said. I'm too impatient and would rather re-invent the wheel.

That does seem to be one of the differences in the reasons for or against the RSL. Billvon spoke of another equally valid situation, one where the parachutist loses track of altitude (beyond the hard-deck) while battling some line twists. Its best not to get into these situations, but when you do happen to be in one, the RSL could potentially repair your mistake. Then again, the RSL could make one for you (main / reserve entanglement).

I do know that RSLs combined with high altitude collisions are VERY bad. However, I have noticed that the sky traffic progressively gets worse and worse after deployment, just as I am losing a lot of altitude. I am assuming that if I were to have a canopy collision, it would be at or around 1,000 ft, just as I am making my landing approach. A canopy collision at that altitude or lower would probably require the RSL. Attaching the RSL at that altitude is sure to cause a collision because of the dropzone congestion and combined inattention. If only there were a better way to fine-tune these situations. I'd opt for 3 handles (1. reserve, 2. cutaway-with-RSL, 3. and then a smaller, cutaway-only, handel), but that might make things excessively complicated and lose its theoretical advantage.

I find it interesting that you don't use the RSL, but still recommend it. I have heard that it saves more lives than it kills. Some swear by it, others wouldn't touch it. Everything is situational and freak accidents aren't really freak accidents. You made the decision not to use it because you know how you will handle a future mal. The deciding factors of whether using the RSL is a good or bad idea are so ambiguous for me as of now. Its too bad there isn't an easy way to figure out which one is best for the individual. Just a thought(yeah...I'm somewhat of a geek): Of course, it would be interesting to see some machine learning algorithms try to make a classifier based on the traits of skydivers who use RSLs and those who don't. Then again, that could be applied to other ambiguities.

Well said. That is the tradeoff: accidently doing what I wanted to prevent. Hrmm...

Yes. Suppose the RSL were connected before the jump. If a situation were to come about where my cutaway was not immediately successful, the RSL would have two chutes out. My thoughts about cutting away and altitude went something like this: I may have to cut away my main if I have a malfunction upon deployment. The RSL is already disconnected, and I have plenty of altitude, so I have few worries. If my main is good, then I can connect the RSL in case I have to cut away at a low altitude because of some freak accident.

Okay...so its a bit goofy. At this moment it wouldn't bother me much to do it if it provides any advantage. As of now, I enjoy the longer rides down. But in 100 jumps...who knows. If I decide to pull lower, then I would probably just use the RSL.

I have read some of the discussions (arguments) about RSLs and would like a few opinions from both sides about this. QUESTION: Would it make more sense to leave the RSL disconnected (throughout freefall) until under canopy than to have it connected the entire time? I am thinking that this may prevent a high-altitude main / reserve entanglement, while preventing accidental death from a low cutaway due to: a canopy collision, canopy pilot-induced line twists (low altitude), etc... I always pull at 5,000 ft--so the RSL wouldn't make much sense, unless I had a low-altitude canopy collision.