Checked two reserves today. Both could have been installed better. This 'mailon' above was all rusty by the thread and doubled the riser going to the shoulderstraps. It was bought in a regular hardware store. It was also not taped. I changed it by a maillon 7 mm., see foto below.


By another pilot I saw the maillon and part of the riser sticking out of harnass. The chute was packed recently in his club, and he installed the chute in his harnass himself. First the bag, then on top of it the risers, including the maillon. Of course it got all bulky and came out every now and then. When threwn it could the riser and maillon could easily have blocked the deployment. Bit scary how careless we are with part of our equipment which could be our life saver.