Full Face / Impact Rated Helmets

[mccordia 73]

Anyone have any good suggestions for a good impact rated full face for (wingsuit) tunnel flying?
Especially in a wingsuit, your hands can't brace for an impact of the head, should there be any.

At the moment most sky helmets available are either impact rated open face (similar to most snowboard helmets), or the few fullface helmets around that pretend to be impact rated, are only CE rated (which essentially means its recognized as being a helmet, with no real heavy impact protection. Or "Intermediate category personal protective equipment" as the official statement reads). But it essentially is the same thin foam and a thin plastic or carbon shell, and not the same thickness and quality in padding you see in 'real' helmets. Mostly of course to keep the size down.

There are some good options around for motorcycling/paragliding, but often quite big/heavy.
Most suitable so far seems BMX helmets that combine lighter size, breathing/air channels (as skydiving full face helmets get quite sweaty during a full day in the tunnel) and also the much needed chin/face protection. But very few have a visor/face shield.

Curious to hear if anyone has found/used anything 'outside of our sport'

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[danwayland 0]

My Bonehead Rev2 is $$$money$$$

Just to reply to his post, I took a pretty good header into the tunnel wall with it. I'm happy to report that other than I'm embarrassed and had to make the OK sign at everybody, it's like nothing happened. Felt like next to nothing to my noodle.

Facemask seems more substantial / sturdier than some other helmets I've had / worn / seen as well.

Though I don't know that my face has taken a direct shot.

Downsides?
I don't know any impact ratings or even who hands those out.
And the track on the top of the Rev2 makes it bad for putting your head on the net, but in reality I'd probably not wear my nicest full face for that anyways because it can scratch the helmet up pretty good.
If I'm putting my head on the net, I'll grab my crappy old helmet or wear one of the tunnel's.

hope that helps,

--
Dan Wayland
http://www.danwayland.com

[c_dog 1]

http://icaro2000.com/Products/Helmets/SkyDive/SkyDive.htm

[lyosha 46]

c_dog

http://icaro2000.com/Products/Helmets/SkyDive/SkyDive.htm

That product is vaporware.

skyhelmets.de is the only skydiving manufacturer that I know that's trying to put some real padding into their helmet. When I asked them about impact testing a few moons ago the reply I got was

Quote

We are currently compliant with CE conformity, based on a qualitysytem with an tested FMEA riskapproch. We are in regulary contact with our Regional Council and we have a development joint venture with a Notified testing lab for developing a new setup.
I can not say details as we have a NDA. I can say that the FMEA shows that the existing normaty as EN966 do not fit to the Tunnel /Skydivesport, the requirements are against a sensible use of the helmet system therefore a new testing cycle has to be developed where we work strongly.

Two obvious downsides are that they are a startup so risk of non-delivery is high (make sure your credit card has a refund policy in the event of manufacturer bankruptcy) and risk of buying a product that stops being supported a short while after.

Apparently some people also buy the impact protection from these guys and stick it into their helmets themselves from here

https://www.oregonaero.com/helmet-upgrades/ballistic-helmet-upgrades-ordering

[mccordia 73]

CE is still the lowest rating possible. A Pedestrian/bicycle helmet standard at best. At the speed and dangers of impact in tunnelflying/skydiving, more heavy hit (transport) standards such as DOT, ECE 22.05 or Snell seem more meaningfull..

Might resort to some of the (bit bigger) BMX/offroad helmets for some testing on use ability..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

mccordia

CE is still the lowest rating possible. A Pedestrian/bicycle helmet standard at best. At the speed and dangers of impact in tunnelflying/skydiving, more heavy hit (transport) standards such as DOT, ECE 22.05 or Snell seem more meaningfull..

Might resort to some of the (bit bigger) BMX/offroad helmets for some testing on use ability..

Too bad Cookie decided to push their plastic G3 as "industry standard" and stop building "real" carbon fiber G2's years ago.......

[mccordia 73]

depending on how the matts are layered, plastic or carbon doesnt make that much of a difference. Its more about the protective layers inside, and there 2 mm of padding isnt doing the trick. But heard through the grapevine good things are coming..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Cookie 0]

Our M3 helmet open faced helmet has currently meet the certification standard of a new Skydiving Helmet Standard commissioned by the French Parachute Federation and AFNOR (French Government Standards)

Test for Impact under conditioning -20C, +50C, Artifical Aging and Room Temp. 5.42m/s impact lees than 250G. Sames as Snow, Bike and Paragliding Drop heights
Snag Resistant Test. Skydiving Related
Roll Off
Retention
Coverage
Quick release buckle 500N load one hand release
Materials that contact your face are also tested to ensure that cannot cause injury.
and a few other tests
Dont be fooled about ABS plastic. We did this with ABS and EPP foam liner and helmet weight in XS-LG was around 600grams. XL-XXL 650gr We also keep the overall volume just like a Skydiving helmet should be. Close fitting
With CE you need to reference standards tested to and a lot of other requirements including COP and REACH material certification. Markings on the product must show these standards along with Instruction manual and a Declaration of Conformity from the manufacturer to state it's compliance to EU regulations etc

It is not a Fullface however we have learnt a lot in the process. To include a faceshield on a helmet it must also be tested to a set of standards also, there is a test for optics and for antifog coatings etc. Our G3 helmet visor does well. It passed an impact test from an Airsoft pellet at 192m/s . Falls within the optics and deformation catagories and passes the antifog coating test.

The reason for me posting is to share some of our education processes in the working towards certified helmets. With out the French Government and FPF starting the process 4 years ago we would be know further advanced

I hope there is some valuable information above for you to digest. I donot frequent this site often so please forgive me if I donot respond to any queries you may have.

Cookie