Do you jump a full-face on tandems?

[jerry81 10]

I just bought a full-face mtb helmet for BASE...pretty low profile, about the same size as your average rw helmet, and now I'm considering wearing it with tandems as well.
It doesn't have a visor so I'm not particularly worried about communication problems. On one hand, I like having my face protected, on the other, a full-face helmet still sticks out more than just my bare chin and I definitely don't want passengers to be hitting their heads on it (under normal circumstances, that is).
Right now I'm using my ff helmet which has a built-on camera box...don't like that too much.

Experiences and other pros/cons very welcome.

[tonyhays 86]

Yep, I wear a factory diver with the visor removed and don't have any problems with it. Occasionally the student can bump his head on the chin part but so far it's been pretty rare.

It's a nice helmet to wear when it's extremely cold, OTOH it isn't so nice when it's a 100 degrees out.

“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

[birddog 0]

why wear a helmet on tandems period???

Deal with it

[jerry81 10]

Main reason? I normally jump a tailgate (An-28) and exit facing the rear with a backflip. You take extra care to just step out with little or no rotation and let the wind flip you, but I've seen our most experienced TI (16 years in sport, 3000+ tandems) open up the back of his head when he hit the edge.

Plus, head protection is kinda cool...

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I don't. I have a Z1, but I have always worried that it will impede communication too much. The way I wear mine my mouth is covered by the face guard. I have never been hit (hard) by the student's head on a tandem (although one managed to punch me in the face on opening yesterday ). That would be the only reason I can think of for needing one.

[riggerrob 643]

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why wear a helmet on tandems period???

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Risers trying to tear my ears off???

[riggerrob 643]

It's a nice helmet to wear when it's extremely cold, OTOH it isn't so nice when it's a 100 degrees out.

[CReWGEEK 1]

When I first started doing tandems I wore a leather frap hat. One one jump I ended up with 11 stiches in my ear. Now I wear a hard shell helmet.

[johnny1488 1]

Same reason I wear one when I skydive, to protect my head. It's better than nothing.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[cpoxon 0]

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why wear a helmet on tandems period???

Why not?

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[livendive 8]

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Main reason? I normally jump a tailgate (An-28) and exit facing the rear with a backflip. You take extra care to just step out with little or no rotation and let the wind flip you, but I've seen our most experienced TI (16 years in sport, 3000+ tandems) open up the back of his head when he hit the edge.

Adding a full-face helmet seems to me to be a poor fix to the problem. An exit in which you're not particularly concerned about braining yourself would seem to give you more bang for your safety buck. Personally, I'd opt for accident prevention over injury mitigation, especially given the relative lack of protection afforded by skydiving helmets. Just a thought.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[jerry81 10]

I was actually just wondering if there's any downsides to having a full-face on a tandem jump that I haven't thought of yet. Using a helmet was not even an issue- I prefer to wear one regardless of the aircraft/exit type or other factors.

[livendive 8]

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I was actually just wondering if there's any downsides to having a full-face on a tandem jump that I haven't thought of yet. Using a helmet was not even an issue- I prefer to wear one regardless of the aircraft/exit type or other factors.

Well in that case, I think this guy's choice of headgear is particularly fetching. It works well for AFF too. I'm told I'm still in the dark ages because I wear a frap hat on tandems...I'll probably move up to to an open-faced hard-helmet soon, but whatever I get, I want easy communication with my student.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[NSEMN8R 0]

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why wear a helmet on tandems period???

I love jumping without a helmet too, but I think I'm going to start wearing one. Never had a problem before, but the last two weekends in a row I've had an ear bloodied by the risers. It sucks.

[vanessa 0]

Hey buddy,

I've got a handycam vid that can show you the exact moment I decided to start wearing my full face for tandem jumps!!! Ha!!!

It doesn't pose a problem at all when communicating with my passenger, nor does it bang against there head. I wear it with the visor still on, usually lift it open under canopy but they can hear you either way.

Smile & Laugh everyday, if you're not, change something..Life is now...

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

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why wear a helmet on tandems period???

I know an instructor whose life was saved by wearing a helmet on a tandem. He was exiting a Casa using the "walk forward, then big step out" technique, and the big step didn't work so well... insead of leaning him forward, they got leaned backward. The TM's head hit the tailgate HARD. The helmet was cracked in half, and he almost lost conciousness in freefall. Without a helmet, he'd probably have had his skull crushed.

That exit technique has since not been used at that DZ, but it just goes to show that you never know what can happen.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."