Re: [wasatchrider] Injury in AZ
The canopy won't surge forward on toggles if they are released properly. This can be a bit of a misconception. That surge that is usually seen during toggle release is caused by the toggles being released without pressure on the control line. If all that line that is stowed away is suddenly released without being tensioned, it will result in a surge.
Think about it this way; your canopy, prior to the release of the toggles, is flying in some state of braked flight. Now what happens when it goes from that braked flight to full flight immediately? It will surge. The same thing happens if you are flying in half brakes. What happens in that scenario when you aggressively raise your arms up? The canopy will surge and dive.
The fix to this is proper toggle release technique. Instead of just grabbing toggles and pulling them free of the velcro, you pull the toggles down to the point where there is no slack in the lines and from there, push the toggles out and away from the risers (arms outstretched and that point in the control stroke that matches your brake setting).
What this does is maintain steady flight and will minimize altitude loss and prevent a surge. It is something that should be practiced on every jump. Your go-to stressed response needs to the action that allows you to fix a problem, not one that creates it's own problems.
The key above all else with it is understanding your gear and environment: your brakes, your control line length (toggle setting), your weight, your specific canopy, the object, the weather.
I see people argue all day long over deep vs. shallow but at the end of the day, either extreme is a problem. If your brakes are too deep, your canopy will become unresponsive to riser inputs, slow to turn, and likely to lose altitude from sink. The extreme end can include depressurizing and backsurging. It will also be problematic in tailwinds and can lose excessive altitude as it transitions into flight. Couple this with improperly setup toggles and a lazy toggle release, and the problems compound.
The other extreme is just as problematic. Extremely shallow brakes cause poor inflation with the canopy diving forward and seeking. A canopy in an uncontrolled dive is a canopy you are *not* in control of.
A canopy will need some kind of forward movement/ energy to respond to control inputs but that doesn't mean it should be diving at everything it opens towards. Extremely shallow brakes tend to cause excessive altitude loss, just like extremely deep brakes. The problem is that your movement towards an object is much greater. If you couple this with a poor toggle release, you will only magnify the surge and guarantee a hard wall strike.
It's all about balance. Find the sweet spot where your gear works for YOU. Manufacturers have done a good job on figuring out that approximate point. That is why you buy a canopy with your ideal wingloading and jump it in the way it was designed.
The caveat to that is that EVERY canopy (manufacturer, model, size, DOM, wear) will behave slightly differently. It isn't a black and white of this manufacturer does this or they do that. It changes. You have to be aware of that. If you are testing your gear in a sketch environment, you are effectively removing the margin of error that needs to exist in every jump, especially a test jump.