Fogged & Frozen Face Shield

[jfields 0]

A member of a skydiving e-mail list I subscribe to wrote up the following account of a jumper who was injured. I'm posting it here to get additional feedback and suggestions, and as something to learn from.

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Here is the sequence of events, as I understand them.
The ride to altitude was uneventful and the exiting began at normal altitude 13-14K.
During freefall everyone's helmet shield fogged/froze over.
At this point everyone handled this problem in their own way.
I will continue with the jumper who became the only casualty.
This jumper broke off somewhere around 4000 Ft and proceeded to track blind.
Due to concern a for not being able to see to clear his air space he continued his track. By the time he pitched he was low enough for his Cypress to fire, note that an experienced jumper Cypress fires at around 750 Ft. He is now low with two canopies out and blind. At some point the dual canopy out situation developed into a down plane. At this point he opted to cut away. Then soon after the cutaway he had to flare to land. Since he couldn't see he flared to high and it is suspected that he stalled the canopy too high. It is suspected that he fell to the ground back first putting his hands behind him to break his fall, instead he broke his wrist. He complained of some back pain also which was later diagnosed as compression fractures of one or two vertebrae.
Comments: Jumping in low temperatures with high humidity you run this risk. Flying blind, not a good idea, do what you have to to see. Loss of altitude awareness, major no no but happens very easily under stress. Using your main when anywhere near your Cypress fire altitude, pre establish your own procedures here, myself, anything after 1500 I'm pulling my reserve. Piloting a canopy while blind, not a good idea, do what you have to to see, even if it means losing the helmet! Never put your hands behind you to break your fall, learn and practice a good PLF, it has saved lives on many occasions and many broken bones.

Justin

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

The person that let this happen was definitely more concerned about the piece of equipment than his own safety. This goes right along with the dude that died at Quincy last year because he didn't want to lose the borrowed skytube he was jumping. LET IT GO AND SAVE YOUR LIFE.
As for helmets fogging, here is how I prevent it:
The rare times I wear my bug hat (factory diver), I do not ride the plane up with the helmet on or turned around backwards on my head. Do that and your helmet will get very hot and humid, just begging to fog immediately upon hitting cold air. I put the helmet on and tighten it down immediately before moving to the door. With the helmet on my head, I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. Immediately upon canopy opening, I loosen the cinch and pull it up slightly. I also leave the bottom center edge pulled out slightly to aid in ventilation. Using these simple methods, I have never had one fog/ flash-freeze up on me. Still, if it did, I would rip the face shield or helmet right off and toss it. This is another scenario that people jumping bug hats in cold weather might want to practice for. I rarely wear mine except for when it's very cold outside, so I am especially cognizant of fogging/ freezing.
Chuck
My webpage HERE

[Jimbo 0]

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Comments: Jumping in low temperatures with high humidity you run this risk. Flying blind, not a good idea, do what you have to to see. Loss of altitude awareness, major no no but happens very easily under stress. Using your main when anywhere near your Cypress fire altitude, pre establish your own procedures here, myself, anything after 1500 I'm pulling my reserve. Piloting a canopy while blind, not a good idea, do what you have to to see, even if it means losing the helmet! Never put your hands behind you to break your fall, learn and practice a good PLF, it has saved lives on many occasions and many broken bones.

Comments: If you're flying blind then fix the problem, in this case by peeling off the face shield on the full face helmet. What a jackass.
I'm happy to hear that this guy is alive, hopefully he learned a valuable lesson here, if he didn't then I hope he doesn't take anyone with him when goes in.

[cloud9 0]

I use an antifogger/cleaner on my full face and it has never fogged up. This is one reason I like the flip up lens though. At least he could have moved it. In the case of no flip up then tear the thing off. All things considered a face shield is fairly cheap. But the easy way is to get some anti fogger.

[Dumpster 0]

What do you use and where do you get it? I haven't been able to find anything that works --
Thanks in advance!
Life begins at 14,000' - Shut up and jump!

[rgoper 0]

check with bonhead on there website.
Richard

[weid14 0]

it was a Z-1 helmet the jumper in question was wearing. why he didn't flip it open is a question only he can answer.
an accident is a series of bad decisions executed to perfection.

[kallend 2,026]

<<around backwards on my head. Do that and your helmet will get very hot and humid, just begging to fog
immediately upon hitting cold air.>>>
The worst fogging I've had was on a hot humid day when making jumps from high altitude (21,000ft). The helmet/visor were cold-soaked at that altitude, and on descending into the humid air at around 4,000ft the whole thing just misted up instantly.
I jump in N. Illinois in the winter whenever the DZ is open, and I've never had serious fogging problems in cold weather.

[cloud9 0]

I use sight saver, I get it at work its for cleaning safety glasses. However you can get the same type thing at any saftey store and I'm not sure but I think most eye doctors sell the same type stuff. Also you can find it at scuba shops for anti fog on the mask.

[billvon 2,990]

A former student of mine experienced a fogged faceplate on a Factory Diver while jumping at Perris, and broke his femur when he tried to land blind. Some comments that resulted from that accident:
1. Keep faceplates in good condition. Most faceplates come with anti-fog that gets less effective with age and abrasion. Follow manufacturer's directions for cleaning/replacement of faceplates.
2. Flip-up visors can help with fogging problems, both by allowing a jumper to "crack" the faceplate to unfog it and by getting it out of the way.
3. If the helmet does not have a flip-up visor, practice taking it off under canopy. Usually it can be done quickly with one hand. If necessary make sure you are willing to drop the helmet - medical care is usually a lot more expensive than even a nice helmet.
-bill von

[Dumpster 0]

Thanks for the info on anti-fog, guys!
I jump a Z-1 also, and it's no problem to crack it to keep it from fogging under canopy- It's become part of post open routine, right after checking traffic and collapsing the slider----I notice keeping it off mt head as long as possible helps too.
Life begins at 14,000' - Shut up and jump!