experience/comments on sixsixone fullface helmet?

[5.samadhi 0]

anybody jump one of these or have experience with them? Positives? Drawbacks?

I like that it is actually rated for impact unlike pretty much all other skydiving fullfaces I have been researching.

I would remove the visor (held in with screws) and jump it with glasses.

http://apexbase.com/product.php?product_id=267

[davelepka 4]

For what? BASE? Apex says it's the shit for 'low airspeed jumps wth a close proximity openings'. They also suggest losing the visor, like you mentioned.

Sounds like a good deal for low airpseed jumps with close proximity openings.

[Hellis 0]

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Sounds like a good deal for low airpseed jumps with close proximity openings.

So you suggest two-way hop n' pops?

[5.samadhi 0]

for skydiving (terminal) in case of hard impact with ground, plane, or human bodies/canopies.

all I can find online is people jumping them terminal off big walls and saying they work. terminal is terminal i guess so that answers whether they can be taken terminal decently.

I will contact Apex and ask them about their experience using them in skydive environment. And then I will post their reply here.

i am mainly concerned with peripheral vision.

I do other sports also (downhill mtb and eventually want to start base jumping again) so a multi-purpose helmet wouldnt be bad. But I want one that will work good skydiving.

[davelepka 4]

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But I want one that will work good skydiving

Then buy one designed for skydiving.

Here's the thing about being 'certified'. if you hit the groudn hard enough to need a 'certified' helmet, you're going to have a host of other problems.

The majority of motorcycle related crashes involve an impact with the ground with a low-ish vertical speed, where the helmet works wonders and let's guys get up and walk away. When the severity of the impact goes up, or you introduce a wall or tree or car, and there's a high energy impact, often times the helmet has reached it's limit of protection, the the body recieves severe injuries as well. This is how bikers end up dead.

In skydiving, nothing is going to help you if you go in. The helmet in the skydiving environment is closer to a pair of gloves. It provides comfort and protection against 'casual' contact, with the helmet also being light, low profile, and providing a good field of vision.

Buy a skydiving helmet for skydiving, and do your best to avoid needing it for anything.

[5.samadhi 0]

well one scenario i thought was what if you deploy your main malfunction, chop, deploy reserve and get caught over trees, go down through trees and smack your head on a large branch. wouldnt it be better to have a helmet rated for an impact rather than a skydiving helmet???

just one random scenario that popped into my head...there are others though that are conceivable that wouldnt involve straight going in (obviously a helmet isnt going to help!).

another: what about a high speed stall while swooping? Isnt a rated helmet going to be beneficial here?

Obviously dont high speed stall! but mistakes happen...why not stack the deck...

[davelepka 4]

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go down through trees and smack your head on a large branch. wouldnt it be better to have a helmet rated for an impact rather than a skydiving helmet???

Don't make the mistake of thinking that no certification means that a skydiving helmet is useless. They're tough, much tougher than your head, and will provide protection.

Understand that a certified helmet, like a motorcycle helmet works on the basis of energy absorbtion. They have what is essentailly a 'styrofoam' liner that is designed to crush as your head hits the inside of it. This crushing is what allows your head (and brain) to slow down more gradually than an 'impact'. For this reason, those helmets are 'one shot' deals, so once you have an impact and crush the liner, the helmet is junk. Likewise, if the helmet gets too old, the liner begins to break down, and the helmet is useless.

The shell, on the other hand, of a certified helmet is simialar to that of a skydiving helmet. It will protect you up to a point. Once you get to the point that the EPS (foam) liner is going to make the difference between a helmet being 'good enough' or not, you're going to have some huge problems.

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another: what about a high speed stall while swooping? Isnt a rated helmet going to be beneficial here?

Not really. If you have a high speed stall while swooping, you're going to land on your feet/ass, and crush your lower body.

Keep in mind that the majority of impacts are going to be from an upright position, hence the number of lower body injuries in skydiving. You're upright (ish) and you hit the ground. Your head is the last thing to make contact.

[Southern_Man 0]

Why would you buy a full face if your intent is to remove the visor? Just asking.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[Hellis 0]

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Why would you buy a full face if your intent is to remove the visor? Just asking.

I believe the "visor" is not a plexiglass sheet as you normally have on a fullface when we are talking about skydivinghelmets.
The visor on this helmet is probably the "baseballcap" thing sticking out at the forehead.

And the reason is obviously chinprotection.

[5.samadhi 0]

yeah chin/jaw protection

the little flimsy plastic visors arent going to do anything if you slam into a tree branch or ground or a body. i dont think anybody is operating under the premise that the visors on factory divers or Z1s are going to save them I hope not at least

[Southern_Man 0]

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yeah chin/jaw protection

the little flimsy plastic visors arent going to do anything if you slam into a tree branch or ground or a body. i dont think anybody is operating under the premise that the visors on factory divers or Z1s are going to save them I hope not at least

OK, that makes sense. I am not too familiar with base helmets.

I do not count on the protection in any helmet to save me, but one of the advantages if I were to get a full face would be doing away with my goggles+glasses combination I use with my current helmet. Also the shield would contribue to the noise-dampening effects and help with warmth in winter time. All advantages of a full-face.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[5.samadhi 0]

yeah true southernman

i never had have a problem with cold though...everybody else seems like they are miserable during winter but i thrive when its cold...dunno why cuz im pretty thin too! :)