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A highly experienced skydiver and load organizer recently sat down in the back of the Super Twin Otter at Atlanta Skydiving Center, pushing his pin out of the reserve loop causing his Mirage reserve container to open. Thankfully this happened while the plane was on the ground and not moving. The jumper immediately grabbed his reserve pilot chute and headed back to the hangar. Protecting your handles and pins is something we teach and talk about to all of our students and young jumpers, yet it’s easy to get complacent as we excitedly load the airplane thinking about the skydive we’re about to make. From taking your rig out of the gear bag to landing your parachute, it is obviously very important to make sure only the handles you want pulled get pulled while the others stay in their place. Accidental handle pulls or pin displacements can happen to even the most experienced jumper as the above recent event shows. So here are some tips to prevent it from happening to you:
Complete a full gear check before putting your rig on your back before each jump. This includes making sure each pin (main and reserve) are sufficiently seated in their respective loops. Check that your main pilot chute is completely in the pouch, the bridle hidden or mated to Velcro with only the handle exposed. Verify that the reserve and cutaway handles are secure.
Protect your handles while boarding, sitting and moving around in the aircraft. Try not to rub the back of your rig up against the cabin walls or another jumper.
Check your handles one last time before exit. Ask for a pin check if you cannot do it yourself.
Check your handles once under canopy to make sure those you don’t want pulled are still in place.
Don’t let a lapse of handle protection cut short a day of skydiving.

Due to being short on time to get the “Rave” complete, lets just say the next 10 days will be a “Rave” for my wife and me. We’re headed to Anchorage for 10 days to relax, sightsee and even get in a few jumps. Skydive Alaska is holding its Summer Solstice Boogie and I’ll be able to catch the last day. I hope to get in on some great RW, freefly, high altitude and hit ’n chug jumps. The high altitude jumps are supposed to include some sightseeing of Denali that should be absolutely amazing. It’s the first time we’ve ever visited Alaska (beer) even though I lived in Seattle for 15 years. After jumping in Wasilla, we’ll spend a few days in Anchorage and then take a ferry to Kodiak Island. From there we’ll take a Cessna 206 to Afognak Island where we’ll do some sightseeing of whales, birds and Kodiak bears. We hope to get some deep-sea fishing in as well. After that it’s a ferry back to Homer and a short road trip back to Anchorage. The Rigger “Rant and Rave” will be up to full speed shortly after I return on July 1. Until then, the loft will remain open with Adam Wheeler, Chris Sears and Chuck Owen handling all of the rigging work. If you need anything completed while I’m gone, just call the loft at 770-684-9910. Cheers. :-)