Dealing with Dislodged Handles in Skydiving

Kevin Kierce, a Bigway flier and organizer (Top Flight) based in SoCal talks about what happens if a handle (cut away or reserve) handle becomes dislodged in freefall. Even with properly maintained gear and good safety awareness, it’s possible that a handle will become dislodged in the plane, on exit, etc. It’s important to know what to do in those situations. Ted Farnsworth (Master FAA rigger) helped me in the demo section.

[@smellyelle8422]

Really good advice. I'm hoping to get back in the sky after a long lay off and I've never thought about this - thank you👌

[@gohstex]

Always framed and with good lighting!

[@senna6547]

very informative! Im a brand new skydiver just off AFF.... in an instance where you try twice to pull your pilot chute and cant find it, do you cut-a-way then go to reserve, or do you go to the reserve directly? my thought process is cut-a-way and go to reserve as you dont know if the pilot chute is already deployed and you have a back-lock situation...safest to just cut-a-way just in case....is that correct? or do you just go to reserve directly? thanks!

[@GalenStielstra]

Your RSL will also deploy your reserve if you can't find your cutaway handle.

[@shadeland]

That’s assuming you can find your cutaway handle. Of course it’s usually where it should be, but if it becomes dislodged you might have trouble finding it.

[@GalenStielstra]

@@shadeland Yes! Don't use this to make things worse.
Another situation to prepare for is if your pilot chute handle has also vanished - so all 3 are gone and your hard deck is approaching.
This is especially important of you're not flying an AAD for some reason.