full face helmet & digital altimeter

[kmzamani 2]

is there any minimum jump number for using full face helmet and digital altimeter ? 

[BMAC615 205]

On 4/17/2022 at 12:30 PM, kmzamani said:

is there any minimum jump number for using full face helmet and digital altimeter ? 

USPA recommends standard equipment until licensed and/or trained for transition. Check with your local S&TA for their policy.

[chuckakers 369]

On 4/17/2022 at 12:30 PM, kmzamani said:

is there any minimum jump number for using full face helmet and digital altimeter ? 

Many drop zones put students on digital altimeters from the first jump. I was using digitals on first jump students at my DZ in 1997 (yes, there was a digital back then).

As for full face helmets, many DZ's approve of them after a student is no longer using a radio for canopy control assistance.

[pchapman 261]

I have seen a DZ (here in Canada) start out as "no full face" until say jump 50. After all, nothing wrong with having a cheap "standard" open face to start with before buying expensive equipment. But in recent years they relaxed that rule once people started coming to the DZ from the tunnel who already had had bought super pricy full face helmets. Added into the thinking is that modern full faces with big visors don't obscure vision of handles like some of the old designs.

Searching the USPA SIM (the current '21-'22 one) I see no mention of "full face" or similar, other than that it can be more awkward to communicate in the case of canopy collisions.

Similarly searching the SIM, I see no mention of any particular sort of visual altimeter suggested for any students or novices. No restrictions there at all that I can see. (Section 5-3 is the one that goes into details about altis.) They do recommend avoiding audible altimeters until a student already has altitude awareness.

So if there are any recommendations by the USPA, they would have to be somewhere else, that I don't know about not being a USPA instructor.

I'd be interested to hear other DZ's experiences.

[MickPatch 44]

In the UK you need to have a B License to jump with a full face helmet, to be honest it is probably the motivating factor for most to get it and, as you have to do additional canopy training and Jump Master, that is a good thing IMHO.

We have no limitation on digital altis, indeed some DZs start their students off with them from day one, the rationale being its what they will buy so lets train them on them. Some DZs still insist on analogues but thats most likely as they dont want to invest in the new kit.