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tb62871

A little advice please

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With jump season coming up in about 6 weeks and me looking into buying gear i got to thinking about what would be better. glasses under goggles, prescription goggles, or a full face helmet with my glasses behind a visor? any help will be appreciated.


--TB
Welcome my friends to the show that never ends.

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I wear glasses, and for now, I have glassses-under-goggles, BUT, I'm thinking in buying prescription-goggles.

I personally don't like full-face helmets, I believe they restrict you field of vision, just my opinion.
__________________________________________
Blue Skies and May the Force be with you.

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With jump season coming up in about 6 weeks and me looking into buying gear i got to thinking about what would be better. glasses under goggles, prescription goggles, or a full face helmet with my glasses behind a visor? any help will be appreciated.



I've had all three over the years I've jumped. With glasses under goggles you save the most amount of money for buying anything new. BUT, if you get hit or don't tighten them enough you could lose them outright.

Prescription goggles are nice. But I had the plastic frame snap on me at one point and just never replaced them. I don't jump like a maniac so maybe all told I put 200 jumps on them. Didn't last as long as I would have liked.

Helmet with glasses under visor: I have the Bonehead Havoc now. I like it alot. It makes you look a bit like Darth Vader but protects you in a full face helmet. It's the only helmet that I can fit my glasses under. I tried the Z1 and Oxygen. Nothing fit right without making me feel like my glasses were going to snap in two. But the Bonehead Havoc has the hole face section flip up not just the visor. My glasses fit under the face section without touching the visor. It also has two pockets for audible altimeters. But the drawback of the Havoc is the $300 price tag. It fits great. I love it. And thankfully it was a birthday gift. Thanks Renee.
Chris Schindler
www.diverdriver.com
ATP/D-19012
FB #4125

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I wore glasses under goggles for years. My glasses were small enough to use regular goggles. My preference has always been flex-z goggles. Either regular or mini.s My last pair of glasses fit under the mini's.

Prescription goggles are expensive. Regular goggles aren't. Goggles take a beating and it's an extra thing you have to deal with. Some users are diligent about that sort of thing.

I've never liked a visor. But also didn't give them much of a chance.

My vote is for Lyle's Flex-z goggles over glasses. The smallest size that will fit over them.

(no I don't get free goggles :P )

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

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I did the glasses under "Kroops for the blind" goggles for my first 45 or so jumps then bought a Z1. I looked into prescription goggles but found out they don't make them as powerful as I need them (the company that advertises (or advertised) in parachutist only handles very small corrections). I hated the over the glasses goggles. They're so big they catch a lot of air and would lift off my face a little all the time, no matter how tight I had them. Some people wear certain brands of normal goggles over very small glasses, but I've never found a pair that would fit for me.

The Z1 works great for me. Fits fine over my glasses. Make sure you try on whatever helmet you're thinking about buying before ordering one though. Whether or not glasses will fit under it depends a lot on the size and shape of your head.

The downside of a full face is that it can fog up and it blocks some of your vision. I can't see my handles wearing mine (I can see where they are, but I am looking underneath my glasses), so that changes my emergency procedures.

You might want to start with a simple protec and goggles, then later go for a full face.

Dave

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I bought some nike sunglasses with the autotintin lenses. I am wearing them in the pic to the right. they fit under my z1 without touching the visor. z1 with low profile glasses in my favorite combo. It's all personal preference though just jump a couple different combos.

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I use the sky-system goggles (with the tube-stow material) over my glasses. This combination works fine for me (see picture to the left). I ordered a full-face helmet, and the only one which fitted over my glasses was the oxygen, the z1 really didn't work (for me!). So the best way to go is: try before you buy!
Don't underestimate your ability to screw up!

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I ended up selecting new frames to fit under my Oxygen.
The lenses are small ovals about the size of my eyes. The ear pieces go straight back from the edge of the lens to the outer edge of each eye socket and then conform to the curve of my head. Very snug and fit perfectly under my full-face.

I've thought about getting prescription sunglasses from Oakley for my bonehead but I'm not convinced their frames will stand up to freeflying conditions.

My vision isn't that bad but I've decided I like seeing the earth in focus at decision altitude when I'm swooping.;)

Ken

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

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I don't wear glasses so I may be way off here but have you thought about contact lenses? I know it's another cost but my wife wears the disposable ones and they're pretty cheap...just a thought

milney
If at first you don't succeed..don't try skydiving

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I've only jumped with two options: plain goggles, (squinting to see the @#$%^ windsock at 800 ft.), and prescription goggles, (from Sport RX) . I like the wind in my face, and I've had absolutely no problems with the RX goggles. They were about $115, as I recall.
If I wore contacts, I'm sure I'd have looked at a full face helmet, but that poke-yourself-in-the-eye bit gives me the heebie jeebies :). Whichever way you decide to go, it'll to be better than doing without.
Blues!
Luke

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Over the last 25 years of jumping, I have tried a wide variety of glasses and goggles including: contact lenses under goggles, regular glasses with a strap, regular glasses with over-the-glasses-goggles, small glasses under regular goggles, gas-mask glasses, racketball glasses and basketball glasses.

For the last decade I have mostly worn basketball glasses. The provide great visibility with minimal fogging. The primary reason that I wear basketball glasses is all the loving students who jam my head into the &^%$#@! door frame! That is the same reason that I wear a hard shell helmet.

There are two reasons why I don't have a full-face helmet: first, very few manufacturers make helmets that fit my extra-extra large jaw and secondly I just cannot afford them on a professional skydiver's salary.
though I have been looking lustfully at Bonehead's HAVOC ever since I saw the prototype.

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I don't wear glasses so I may be way off here but have you thought about contact lenses? I know it's another cost but my wife wears the disposable ones and they're pretty cheap...just a thought

milney



I pulled so many dried up contacts from the inside of my googles over the years that I finally went and
got the R.K. surgery...
In extreme cold weather jumping...I once had my croops crack...and the contacts 'froze' my eyes OPEN!
I was looking like Marty Feldman for 20 mins...










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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I have worn prescription lenses since I was a kid,,,
So when I started jumping,, I wore goggles over them,,,, but did not like it..[:/]...My glasses have always had large lenses, in aviator style frames,,,with self darkening lenses...I wear an elastic or a cloth strap,, which holds them to my head very well,,, I jumped for many years,, without a helmet,, and without goggles... the wind blast doesn't really bother me.... and I only lost my glasses one time,,,:|:(... I was on the tail of a 4 way diamond,, going off the back of a Casa,,,, and as we got headdown at exit,,, the glasses blew up and off my head...Oh well,,, it was worth it.. the dive was great...;):):)

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