Closing Loops ( White) Five Pack

It’s always fun to watch the blood drain from a rigger’s face when a jumper walks up with a broken main closing loop and asks for a replacement. A closing loop that breaks on a skydive can cause several dangerous situations, including a horseshoe malfunction, where the main bag trails out of the container but still attaches to the pilot chute pouch and risers, creating a whipping mess of suspension lines, bridle, and bagged canopy above the jumper’s back. Using a closing loop until it breaks equals flying an airplane until it runs out of gas.

Category C students in USPA’s Integrated Student Program inspect the main closing loop before each jump to ensure they wear it no more than 10 percent. Nobody has ever formally disagreed with “10 percent” since USPA first published that advice in the 2001 Skydiver’s Information Manual, based on advice from Virginia rigger Harry Schoelpple. There’s no telling where he got it, but it seems sound.

A closing pin is a curved piece of stainless steel metal used in skydiving. The pin attaches to the bridle, a 7 to 10-foot long piece of nylon webbing connected to the pilot chute. The closing pin passes through the Closing Loops Five Pack, securing the main container of a skydiving rig and preventing the parachute from deploying prematurely. When the skydiver throws out the pilot chute, it catches air, pulls the closing pin from the closing loop, and releases the main parachute from the container, allowing it to inflate.