I'm guessing we're on the same page. In any event, since this thread is
low-risk to morph into a "dreaded technology monster" discussion (PLB's noted,
ha ha), and, I happen to think some of the safety-related things it touches
upon are of very real & serious importance to every glider pilot, and hoping
to not be beating a moribund horse, I'll chance expanding on a few items...

On 1/6/2016 1:05 PM, kirk.stant wrote:
On Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at 9:56:20 AM UTC-6, Bob Whelan wrote:
P.S. Also, and probably showing the different influences between
military and sport-flying worlds ( :-) ), it was commonly held in the
gliding world that hanging onto the D-ring was preferred, to avoid the
$15-or-so you'd be charged for a new one if you ever had occasion to take
your deployed 'chute in for repacking! At the risk of triggering a burst
of internet-enabled expert-outrage and superciliousness, my brain
imagines that inserting the loop of a D-ring betwixt thumb and index
finger thereby retaining same while also retaining normal hand function,
would be trivially easy to do while only marginally increasing one's
under-canopy risks.

Hmm, so now you are trying to PLF on some rocky slope or grab a tree as
you let down into a forest, while hanging on to a useless $15 D-ring?
Sorry, that seems like a bit foolish to me.
It does to me, too (although "a bit" may be too kind)! That's why I would've
had no qualms ditching mine (pardon the pun) when for a while it looked like I
was going to land in a big mountain reservoir. As it was, I saved it with no
D-ring-inflicted injuries despite landing in the county dump.

We aren't talking about a controlled landing on some nice smooth LZ, this
is an emergency descent onto unknown territory! I can see several ways that
D-ring could cause some serious pain and damage to your hand in a rough
landing, too. If you are really cool under pressure, drop it at the last
moment!
Murphy is real, so, "Roger all that!"

Seriously, while this may all seem a bit trivial, the process of bailing
out of a glider and successfully completing the descent under canopy needs
to be carefully thought out before it happens!
100% "Roger THAT!!!"


Cheers,

Kirk 66 (Airborne, Ft Benning 1971, plus AF free fall training, 1973).
Thanks for your military service!

Bob - no broken bones yet - W. (extensive kiddie 10'-porch-jumping, book
l'arnin', ultimately BTDT PLF 1975)