If a = b and b = c…

Posted onAuthorBen Nelson

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In math, if a = b and b = c, then a = c

In life, if riggers = people and people = sometimes make mistakes, then riggers = sometimes make mistakes

The jumper spotted this rigging problem after he landed

A friend of mine sent this picture to me. This did not happen at Spaceland and had nothing to do with our riggers, but there is a great lesson to be had here…

He recently had a reserve repack and had some minor work done on some of his main canopy lines. When he got his rig back he didn’t do a double check of his gear and after landing from his first jump he discovered this little problem.

What would have happened if that had worked its way completely out, especially if he was low, like on final landing approach?!

Two things:

  1. Riggers are people, just like you and me. Just like you and me, riggers sometimes make mistakes.
  2. Double… no, triple… no, quadruple check your gear. For some of you that are new, it may mean that you don’t even really know what to look for. This means that you really need to spend some time with experienced people who can help you become familiar with ALL aspects of your gear. Find time to get with a rigger or an instructor to talk gear. It’s why God invented weather holds and rainy days.

Article by Ben Nelson, written for the excellent Skydive Spaceland Houston Students and New Jumpers Facebook Page

More articles by Ben Nelson

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Meet: Ben Nelson

Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, with a background in Emergency Medicine and Occupational Health and Safety, Ben currently lives in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. He is the former DZM of Skydive Spaceland Houston and Skydive Spaceland Dallas, and former half-DZO of Skydive Awesome. With over 12,000 skydives Ben has attended, both as a participant and sometimes organizer, most of the major vertical formation world records since 2013. Ben is a former big wall rock climber, but he is currently working on pushing the limits of Extreme Relative Work (XRW). When he is not flying parachutes, you can find him flying paragliders and miniwings, SCUBA diving, or BASE jumping. Ben is the owner of Full Nelson Skydiving and Parachute Rigging Services and, in between military contracts, he currently spends his time roaming the USPA Northwest Region as an instructor and S&TA-at-large. If you want to get on Ben’s good side, he enjoys IPAs.

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