Re: [sinjin] Fatality in Belarus, 28.02.09
(Hi All, I post this as information, please feel free to move it if it is inappropriate to this thread.)
I have been the main "exit monkey" for our UK boogies and have watched 100's of h/h jumps in the last three years. We had 1 pc/bridle entanglement (which cleared and ended well) but we watched all the hand held stuff really closely after that to try and see a cause, and it was obvious once we knew what to look for.
The "mushroom" method is great in nil wind and short delays, but was often used with big loose loops of bridle in the hand and this can cause problems. A loose "mushroomy" pc should still have nice small folds of bridle within the palm of the hand (these seem to spring apart much better as the pc inflates and lifts,) and a nice pitch helps the system start separate. The worst two jumpers we saw in this regard both had big loops of bridle hanging out of their fists, a big loose pc cap floating and didn't pitch, but just released the lot to float away and it looked messy to say the least.
In a tailwind (we had this a lot as most of our jumping was crane based so we moved the exit to where we wanted it) this was much worse, and this is where we had our close calls. The entanglement was a full-on loop job, and we saw bridles "nearly" catch several times through the season once we were watching for it.
The guys that folded everything into the hand (even the mesh/cap/etc) and had a nice little pitch action got a much cleaner bridle stretch and inflation, but of course it does take a little longer. I never saw any potential entanglement problems with this method.
What do I do now?
Low freefalls h/h = short bridle folds/small mushroom*/firm pitch
Higher h/h = fold the lot, ending with cap upwards, firm pitch
Tailwind/breezy = fold the lot/longer delay/don't jump/go for ice cream
* The big floppy h/h mushroom (i.e. the whole fabric topskin out) never seemed to be any faster than a neater "some-fabric-out" jobbie, but was more inclined to flap in the breeze and slow the pitch down more. We know it IS faster (thanks to Greenies 147' f/f videos) but unless you are low I don't think it's worth the hassle.
Other "Scary shit" we saw was loose bridle stows getting involved with helmets (not just cameras - have a look at helmets and their fastenings), people who go h/h then wave their arms about and of course, the good ol' h/h gainer...
I tell people now to think it through, have more than one method and use the best one for the job. "I always do it this way", "it always worked in the past" and "get stuffed nazi rulemaker, just because this is an event it's still BASE yeehaa fuck the man" are not adult responses to input based on focussed study, but I've heard them.
It's only information, feel free to delete.
Dave M