brent@poseidon.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (11/05/85)
In <476@spice.cs.cmu.edu> Dean writes: >I have an unrelated question for the group. I currently have 21 jumps and >am doing 20 second delays on T-10's. We are taught NEVER to try to cut away >under any circumstances -- in fact the instructor tries to avoid even having >the students know where the capewells (is that how you spell it?) are. The >idea is that it is far more likely that a student will panic and cut away >from a minor malfunction and/or cut away too slowly and too low. Instead we >are supposed to manually deploy the reserve (which has no pilot chute) by >throwing it down and away from us, and into the direction of the spin if we >are spinning. Recognizing that capewells are a relatively slow and tedious >way to cut away (two motions with both hands), and that serious malfunctions >on a T-10 are very rare, this procedure still worries me. Does anyone know >how safe it is to deploy a round reserve (with relatively short lines) while >under a Mae West on a T-10? How about a streamer? Wow! Are you allowed to pop a Capewell if you're getting dragged ? That's what they were invented for. I've had experience with both systems and I definitely favor cutaway training. If it's good enough for experienced jumpers, why not for students ? With a Stevens cutaway system or equivalent reserve lanyard system its much safer than hand deploying the reserve. While involved in training the old method I witnessed two cases of serious injuries after the reserve entangled with a spinning malfunction and one fatality where the reserve entangled in a horseshoe malfunction. Hand-deployment of a reserve is no easy job. As soon as you pull the ripcord you have a huge UNMANAGEABLE mass of nylon spewing out of the reserve container. It's certainly not an easy bundle that you can toss in any direction as your instructor might have you believe. It so much easier for a novice jumper to pull a one-pull-does-all handle, get under a nice steerable reserve and get the hell away from a nasty malfunctioned main. I'm a firm believer in student tandem gear with a one-pull-does-all handle and a lanyard assisted reserve. -- Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ {ihnp4|mtuxo|pegasus}!poseidon!brent (201) 576-3475