Comments on: Friday Freakout: Student’s Bag Lock… To Pull or Not to Pull?

By: Darren Briddon

Darren Briddon — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:22:00 +0000

@gfell82. Thanks for sharing. I did AFF full 7 years ago and about to retake next year. Video’s like this are so useful and I just know I’d have been the same as you. I remember when I used to get debriefed after a dive and could never remember anything. I was concentrating so hard and each Jump went very well no drama’s. I did used to sit at home just doing cut away pull for hours just to train my Brain that was the procedure if the shit hit the fan but in the back of mind I always used to think i’d be slow to react with a malfunction. Glad your all fine and dandy to tell the tale my friend.

By: Halina Elise

Halina Elise — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:48:00 +0000

I just went through an AFF class and had my 1st IAF jump… I was in such disbelief that it was time to pull…It is so overwhelming. I can see how 9 seconds went by so fast. Happy you are safe… I was going straight to my 2nd AFF jump instead of my 2nd IAF… I think I might do another IAF just to better acclimate my brain to FF.

By: Jonathan Morrison

Jonathan Morrison — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:50:00 +0000

@ Greg Quinn – He did give the student a chance to cutaway. The student was looking right at the bag and not reacting. Dump his reserve and get out of there is all he can do. It would be stupid to reach for the cutaway because you could make this situation even worse if the you and the student flip while you’re reaching for the cutaway.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 01:48:00 +0000

Very happy Gfell82 landed under good “silk”. Also glad to have these videos to review. No doubt that playing image-enhanced “What If?” will make us all more worldly, safer jumpers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Alright, so here’s the deal…I could have easily ended up a statistic in this one.
This was actually my second jump total…it had been about 3 years since I’d jumped, so I had to go through the AFF training again and all. My first jump, I had a pretty slow opening…when I looked back, I thought this was just another slow one. WRONG! I knew the emergency procedures, and didn’t just freeze up…I def found out that it’s real easy to lose track of TIME during FF. when I saw the vid, I couldn’t believe that I’d lost 9 seconds! As for Cobin popping the reserve…he did the right thing. Options were limited, and Earth was coming fast! Shortly after the reserve deployed, my 2-out turned into a downplane…that was the exciting part of my ride! Cutaway, and rode reserve back to Aerohio DZ.

By: Liv Schindler

Liv Schindler — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:39:00 +0000

if i hear the full story by you yourself…i am glad you are alive and safe!
stay safe!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Alright, so here’s the deal…I could have easily ended up a statistic in this one.
This was actually my second jump total…it had been about 3 years since I’d jumped, so I had to go through the AFF training again and all. My first jump, I had a pretty slow opening…when I looked back, I thought this was just another slow one. WRONG! I knew the emergency procedures, and didn’t just freeze up…I def found out that it’s real easy to lose track of time during FF. when I saw the vid, I couldn’t believe that I’d lost 9 seconds! As for Cobin popping the reserve…he did the right thing. Options were limited, and Earth was coming fast! Shortly after the reserve deployed, my 2-out turned into a downplane…that was the exciting part of my ride! Cutaway, and rode reserve back to Aerohio DZ.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:24:00 +0000

If he was a student I’m assuming he had an RSL attached so if I was the instructor I would have pulled his cutaway handle if at all possible not his reserve handle but the reserve would definitely be pulled if after only 1 try at the cutaway handle. That could have turned out bad!!

By: Randy Learninghowtofly Smetak

Randy Learninghowtofly Smetak — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:20:00 +0000

and this is why they pull at 5500 for the first few jumps :)

By: Greg Quinn

Greg Quinn — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:21:00 +0000

Surely giving the student a chance to cutaway first is preferred over going straight for the reserve as the instructor?

That probably is the better option but the doubt is on whether the student will be in the right mindset to do his drill correctly before it’s too late, which could endanger both the student and the instructor.

By: Daniel Bagg

Daniel Bagg — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:20:00 +0000

Proceed to poo my pants

By: Darren Briddon

Darren Briddon — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:07:00 +0000

Arghhhhh. Its so easy as a student to forget the reserve. Your Brain is so fixed on trying to get everything right you freeze. Freeze too long though and shit. Good job he was not on his own or suchlike he may have just kept looking at it until he heard a crunch. Blue Skies.

By: Darin Ninness

Darin Ninness — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:04:00 +0000

Not much you can do. The container is open, the bag and lines are above the student. Its not like you can reel that shit in first. I’ve seen this video before, I think the instructor made the right call in giving the risers a little shake (options are limited) before grabbing the student’s silver handle.

(I don’t think we cover this enough in the AFF course: yes, the reserve side is supposed to remain with the student once the bag has launched for assistance and stability, but *then* what? In the case of a baglock like that, the reserve side has zero option to get to the cutaway or anything, so the only option you have to help the student is pulling silver and hoping like hell it clears the mess.)

Bad ju-ju, thats for sure.