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Amad85

New skydiver: helmet or jumpsuit ?

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Greetings everyone,
I am a new skydiver with 40+ jump and I started thinking about buying a helmet or a jumpsuit. I found Cookie G3 to be the most popular but should I buy a new one or old ? Would I still to drill a place for go pro mount or can I buy one with mount on it ? I feel jumpsuit is a waste of money especially I don't like the tightness of these suits ( except in cold weather off course)! Any advice here ? Thank you.

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Advice? That every opinion that you expressed and action you said you were considering is wrong.>:(

Buy a protec helmet, buy goggles buy a used jumpsuit, forget gopro cameras exist, buy an altimeter.
Jumpsuits not only aid in flying they offer protection and prevent clothing from interferring with your equipment.

BTW you need a loose jumpsuit in the winter so you can wear winter layers under it.

Start talking to instructors instead of reading newbies on the internet.:S

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

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CM24 speaks the truth! That $350.00 GOPRO holder ISN'T what you need, they offer ZERO protection and someone with LITTLE experience should embrace feeling/hearing the wind and use it as a learning tool... What kind of disciplines do you plan on getting into? For you the right answer should be: BELLY, BELLY, BELLY! Don't get good at it, get great at it and then think about getting rad and shredding the sky ;) OR just do a fuck load of hop and pops and get right into that WS!!!

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councilman24

Advice? That every opinion that you expressed and action you said you were considering is wrong.>:(



:)Newbies can be so hilarious, no fault of their own. They don't have to be devious trollers or have comedic skills, although sometimes it is hard to tell if it is a troll or a true newbie.

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pchapman

***Advice? That every opinion that you expressed and action you said you were considering is wrong.>:(



:)Newbies can be so hilarious, no fault of their own. They don't have to be devious trollers or have comedic skills, although sometimes it is hard to tell if it is a troll or a true newbie.

Well, ignorance is ok. We can fix it. Stupidity and extreme overconfidence are a different issue.

To the OP:

Forget the GoPro for a while. If you are interested in video (even casual POV stuff) go read the sticky in the Photog & Vid forum. Yes, it applies to GoPros too.

I'd suggest a ProTec helmet for a first one. Cheap, durable and it actually offers protection, unlike the "fancy" ones. I'd suggest a Benny too, but Skysystems is gone. You might find one used.

Your own goggles are nice to have. Keep them in an old sock for protection and they will stay scratch free (really).

Your own altimeter is nice to have. I'm a fan of mechanical analog for simplicity and reliability (some of which isn't as true as I would like). Others like electronic digital. Much of that depends on what you are used to and prefer. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Jumpsuits are pretty useful. Big & baggy slows you down, tight speeds you up. Grippers are good for taking grips (go figure), booties give a lot of power for turning, moving forward & tracking.
Having your own suit (eventually more than one) is nice, because you don't have to wonder who wore it last and when it was last washed.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Also keep in mind that, unless you want to do solos for the rest of your sky-career, a jumpsuit appropriate for the discipline you're choosing is required for any middle-sized group that is even vaguely organized, skill-camp, etc. etc.

So it really makes sense to invest in a jumpsuit that fits you well, if you want to jump with others.

Ask to do RW with 40 jumps, without a jumpsuit with grippers, and you'll find that most groups are "sorry but we already have a dive plan", show up with a proper suit and willing to learn and... "yeah, sure, I'm sure we can adapt the dive flow to include you somewhere".
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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Di0


...Ask to do RW with 40 jumps, without a jumpsuit with grippers, and you'll find that most groups are "sorry but we already have a dive plan", show up with a proper suit and willing to learn and... "yeah, sure, I'm sure we can adapt the dive flow to include you somewhere".



Most of the people I jump with would ask "where is your suit?" If the answer is "I don't have one", then the necessity for one when doing RW would be pointed out.

It wouldn't get sugar coated.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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pchapman

***Advice? That every opinion that you expressed and action you said you were considering is wrong.>:(



:)Newbies can be so hilarious, no fault of their own. They don't have to be devious trollers or have comedic skills, although sometimes it is hard to tell if it is a troll or a true newbie.

I say ole chap, visions of nippleboy.

Of course buy the helmet, ever seen a GoPro screwed to a jump suit?

"exit fast, fly smooth, dock soft and smile"
'nother james

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A jump suit is the one piece of equipment that will affect your flying most. A helmet might keep from sitting in a chair drooling the rest of your life. A Go pro will do nothing but nothing but take away from you focusing on learning to fly. jmo

Michael
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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mjosparky

A jump suit is the one piece of equipment that will affect your flying most. A helmet might keep from sitting in a chair drooling the rest of your life. A Go pro will do nothing but nothing but take away from you focusing on learning to fly. jmo

Michael



Sparky's close.
A jump suit will make you look ridiculous.
Nothing will keep you from sitting in a chair, drooling - eventually.
A Gopro will keep us laughing.
So... all of the above are acceptable. ;)
Every fight is a food fight if you're a cannibal

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man. - Anthony Burgess

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I think a full face helmet is a must have. If you jump in 40F your face will get too cold in an open face helmet.
Also googles fog up, a visor can be opened.
I recommend a helmet with a visor that can be opened.

I recently went from an analog to a digital alti and truly enjoy more detailed height below 1k fett.

However, for what it's woth i only have 40 jumps myself, but beeng umping my own gear since jump 16...

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timrf79

I think a full face helmet is a must have. If you jump in 40F your face will get too cold in an open face helmet.
Also googles fog up, a visor can be opened.
I recommend a helmet with a visor that can be opened.


I agree with this, it's just a damn shame the BPA says you need a B license to jump a full face. What a joke, can't make your own decisions, even though there are plenty of full faces with good visibility.
timrf79


However, for what it's woth i only have 40 jumps myself, but beeng umping my own gear since jump 16...


Including rig? Do they even let you if you're a student over there?

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radical_flyer


I agree with this, it's just a damn shame the BPA says you need a B license to jump a full face. What a joke, can't make your own decisions, even though there are plenty of full faces with good visibility.



Thing is, you really can't make an informed decision at this stage. There is more to wearing a full face helmet than "good visibility".

For example, only a few weeks ago we did a jump in a cold humid day that got the dew point just right where you don't want it. One of us had his full face's visor fully fog up at 7000ft, and he couldn't see any of us or his alti through the clag.

He knew he needed to get the fuck away from us, but didn't know which direction to track without causing a collision (good thinking brought in by experience). So he started waving his arms off rather manically to indicate to us to break off and to let us know he had a problem (good thinking number 2 brought in by experience).

After we got a safe dstance away from him and kept watching him, he started doing a pull time wave off repeatedly to make sure we were aware he was going to pull (good thinking 3 brought in by experience).

We were at around 4000ft when he finally pulled, and we then observed him flying downwind away from the dropzone for a good few minutes. His visor was still fogged up and couldn't see where he was, where we were, or where the PLA was, and he was having problems trying to open his visor with gloved hands that had no feeling due to the cold, so he decided to not do any inputs on the canopy again to prevent a possible collision (good thinking 4 brought in by experience).

He was at just under 2000ft by the time he managed to take off a glove and open his visor, and at this point he was so far downwind from the PLA that he wasn't even sure where that was, so ended up landing off close to 2 miles from the DZ.

Had he not had enough experience to make the calls he made, we could have had a mid-air collision, a canopy vs freefaller collision, or a canopy-canopy collision.

You dont have to be hugely experienced, but be able to think and make decisions in the nick of time. Someone with under the 50 jumps required for a B license could possibly have had too many things on his plate to have dealt with it properly.

Tjhen landing off in an unfamiliar place far from the DZ, you really want to have a modicum of accuracy if that's a posibility, and the CH2 requirement for a B license addresses that.

I can assure you he was glad he had the experience he had (75 odd jumps and B license) when this happened, and the situation is not a one off "and there i was, thought i was gonna die" thing that happens rarely, but it's actually more common than you may think if you jump a full face in winter.

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A lot of good points there. I don't think anything short of deregulation will change that so it's pointless to argue, but my position on it has been changed. I think there should be some exceptions, like if you're doing solo FS, or with others (with FS1) as long as it's not fogging conditions, with some DZ discretion. Presumably specifying allowable helmet models is not viable (I think the kiss has buttons on the side to open the visor). They always send up load one to check the upper winds before manifesting students, they could also check for fogging conditions. I didn't realise it could result in a situation in which having CH2 would be beneficial. My landing accuracy hasn't been very good. Last time I had a shit downwind landing (because you have to follow the pattern regardless) What about JM1, can you see how that makes a difference? If your visor is fogged up you can't check the spot anyway (dos one spot with visor up or down? I can't remember). In 2008 STC had a proposal to change it to 50 jump minimum only. I don't imagine it's been discussed since.

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timrf79

I think a full face helmet is a must have. If you jump in 40F your face will get too cold in an open face helmet.
Also googles fog up, a visor can be opened.
I recommend a helmet with a visor that can be opened.

I recently went from an analog to a digital alti and truly enjoy more detailed height below 1k feet.

However, for what it's worth i only have 40 jumps myself, but been jumping my own gear since jump 16...



Ummm...

40F? Really?

I jump an open face. I've jumped when it was 40F on the ground and -10F to -20F when we opened the door (yes, temp at altitude was twenty below). I'll wear a balaclava to cover my neck, but that's it. You aren't exposed to it long enough to really matter. And I usually don't feel the cold until I open.

I've never had a problem with goggles fogging in the air. Either in freefall or under canopy. Others have had issues with full faces. Not sure opening the visor in freefall is a good idea.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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jumpsalot-2

Agreed. The coldest that I have exited multiple times is -07 f. Open face helmet (always). Cold, but not bad. My advice, for what it's worth ...... protect your hands in cold weather. They seem to be most vulnerable.



Agreed - I have also done quite a few jumps where the ground temperature is minus 25 celsius or lower (minus 13F I think, and much colder at 13,500 feet) and always use an open face helmet, albeit with a motorcycle style face mask. And it's not just me - plenty of other jumpers do the same, so a full face helmet is not an essential item.

Totally agree that keeping hands warm is the real challenge in such temperatures, especially under canopy. The cold really causes my hands to hurt, at times, despite winter gloves and liners (neither so bulky as to interfere with feeling for the hacky sack, getting my hands on handles etc).

***********************************************
I'm NOT totally useless... I can be used as a bad example

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You are at a very dangerous point in your jumping carrier. You don’t have the experience to know what it is you don’ know. Rules governing what you can and can’t do are not there just to make your life miserable. Believe it or not there are reasons for them.
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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