Helmet for a newbie?

[Lolie 0]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking around on the forums for a couple weeks, and decided it's time to show my face.

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[AggieDave 6]

You can jump in the cold without a full-face with no problem. I personally don't like how closed in full-faces feel, so I jump with a Bonehead Mindwarp. When its cold, I have a Poly-Pro Bavalava that I wear under the helmet, it keeps me nice and warm.

For full face helmets I personally like the Bonehead Boomerang, but the visor doesn't flip up (it also has a smaller profile, it was designed with FF in mind).

Pro-Tec is actually one of the best helmets you can jump with, it offers the best protection on the market today.

Gath, stay away from it, it doesn't actually provide any sort of protection.

We've had a couple discussions about helmets and safety in the past, you may want to do a quick search and read them, lots of learning available on those threads, particularly in terms of safety.

Good Luck!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[councilman24 37]

Too soon to spend more than a few dollars on a helmet. In my 20 plus years I've went from motorcycle helmet to frap hat to protec. I've been looking at and trying a lot of the new helmets and I haven't found one worth the money. I didn't like the oxygen because I couldn't see me chest mount altimeter under canopy. I'm also not sure that I could have seen my handles. The boneheads, etc just aren't worth the money to me. Stick with a $40 dollar Protec for now. It'll give you the bump protection. Then try whatever your considering in the air before you buy it.

Terry

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[nws01 0]

I have an NVertigo X and l just bought the hat below from The North Face. This should be good for the winter. I like to feel the wind in my face.
http://www.thenorthface.com/code/assets/products/prod_photos/88246_mag.jpg

[Lolie 0]

Thanks for the quick replies! I jumped with a Protec during AFP, but I'm afraid my peaceful pink nose will be frozen in the cold. I read a bunch of the old threads about jumping in the winter, and I think it kind of scared me off.

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[AggieDave 6]

http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/tame.exe/agcatalog/level4c.tam?xax=24163&M5COPY%2Ectx=24598&M5%2Ectx=24598&M2%5FDESC%2Ectx=Headwear%20%2D%20Cold%20Weather%2C%20Fleece%2C%20Face%20Masks&level3%2Ectx=level3c%2Etam&BC3%2Ectx=Adventure%20Ready%99%20Clothing%20%2D%20Rain%20Gear%2C%20Foot%2C%20Head%20%26%20Handwear%2C%20Logo%20Apparel&BC4%2Ectx=Headwear%20%2D%20Cold%20Weather%2C%20Fleece%2C%20Face%20Masks&backto=%2Fagcatalog%2Flevel3c%2Etam

Go there to see what I was talking about for cold weather jumps.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Lolie 0]

Wow; that looks perfect! I MUST have one! Thanks for the link.

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

It also doubles as a holdup mask which you may need to use when you get short on cash and need to jump.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Lolie 0]

Wow! It's multi-functional! I like it!

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[Deuce 1]

Invest in a fullface so that you get proficient at RW before venturing over to the dark side

Before I started wearing my camera all the time I used my aviator open face. I also wore a full balaklava when jumping in the winter.

[councilman24 37]

I wear a silk balaclava thats thin enough to fit under my helmet. Always been more than enough.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[CanuckInUSA 0]

I recently started jumping with a Bonehead Boomerang and I really like the idea of jumping with a fullface mainly because I'm not all that kean on the idea of getting into a collision which could knock out some teeth and then still having to land. But the Boomerang's visor is fixed and I noticed I fogged up if I put it on too soon on jump run and it would have been nice to be able to raise it while you're under the canopy. So after talking with someone this weekend, I found out that the Oxygn A3's visor is pretty secure and that it can be used for dark side dives and now I really wish I had bought one of those instead.
Anyone insterested in buying a used (virtually brand new) XL Bonehead Boomerang? Make me an offer if you are. I'd be willing to sell it for a good savings to you ...

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[kallend 2,106]

Quote

You can jump in the cold without a full-face with no problem. I personally don't like how closed in full-faces feel, so I jump with a Bonehead Mindwarp. When its cold, I have a Poly-Pro Bavalava that I wear under the helmet, it keeps me nice and warm.

I didn't think you had cold weather in Texas. Not, like, cold like up here in Chicago in January. But I'm sure you think it's cold.

[coho21 0]

I have a Bonehead Mindwarp and love it. But lately, I have been thinking about the protection it actually provides for me. This has come up in a coup of different threads but I would love for it (and for that matter I think most other skydiving helmets besides the protec) to have more impact protection. What I mean is that there is very little foam/impact absorbing material inside many of the skydiving specific helmets I have seen. Isn't this the stuff that keeps your bell from getting rung?

Ok I'm off on a tangent know but if I were you your shoes and just starting to get a helmet I would get a Protec.

J
YSD#0009

[ChileRelleno 0]

Quote_________Wow! It's multi-functional! I like it!
I can tell she's gonna fit in just fine around here...
I like my Velocity by Skydance Photography, you can view my review in the Gear section. its a very good open face IMO.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[cloud9 0]

Well I have a factory diver with a flip up visor and a Bonehead mindwarp. I really like both and interchange them quite a bit depending on the dive. I use a defogger on my face shield and have never had it fog up. I find that in the summer on the light loads RW and freeflying I jump my bonehead. On the more intense Rw loads I jump my full face. In the winter I tend to jump with my fullface all the time, even though it really doesn't get that cold here most of the time.

[Lolie 0]

Sounds like the consensus is a Protec and some sort of face protection from the wind. (I like that that's the consensus, because it also happens to be cheapest.

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[Dumpster 0]

I've been jumping a Z-1 for almost a year now- Like yourself, I got it just off student status with winter jumping in mind. Absolutely love it! For RW it's saved my teeth at least twice, I've had two good kicks in the face this summer- I also jumped it all winter last year, no sweat- I have very good visibility, enough to see my emergency handles, and use them. It's easy to open under canopy. One problem I had early on was fogging in the cold weather- I take it off as soon as we get to 1,000', and after I put it back on I leave it open until just before exit. I've even left with it open, and closing it is a snap- literally! As soon as I'm under canopy I open it up again and have clear vision- Z-1 ROCKS! You can put some really awesome paint jobs on them too! If some one has a newer model you can try, I think you'll like it. The older ones had a problem with the collar coming unglued, but mine hasn't even started to come loose, so I guess they've fixed that. I personally don't like the idea of a fixed faceplate, or one that is difficult to open. The Z-1 takes a little practice, but with a little said practice I am able to open mine in a flash, with gloves on. (been doing it for a year now!)

Easy Does It

[Beachbum 0]

Quote

But I'm sure you think it's cold.

you're right about that ... it's all relative ... down here, we pull out the long johns when it gets below 40 ... LOL .. and that is still shorts weather for a lot of you folks up north ... but then ... you probably think 85 is hot ... and that's barely lukewarm to us ...

back to the question ... I use a ProTek, and wear a neopreme ski mask that covers my mouth and nose if it gets THAT cold, but have only needed it a couple of times even during our "winter"

As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

[Chief 0]

I jump a lot in the winter (Ohio) and I really like my Z-1.

[blazingcannon 0]

Quote

Gath, stay away from it, it doesn't actually provide any sort of protection.

ahhb but then again, neither does a frap hat but people still wear them for RW- a Gath is pretty much just a good looking, cheap frap hat that keeps your ears from getting caught on things in the plane : ) haha

"Spread your legs and fly"

[drenaline 0]

If you are going to jump in very cold weather I personally do not recommend the bonehead boomerang, it lets alot of air go inside the helmet, is the best thing there is for hot weather but not so great for cold weather. I have a boomerang and its great, it has so many holes in the visor that there is no way for it to fog under canopy or freefall and I use it for RW.

HISPA 21
www.panamafreefall.com