Head Gear for TI?

[WatchYourStep 0]

Well I took the TICC this past week with Jay Stokes at Skydive 35, more to come about that later.

Saturday (if the weather holds) will be my first day of taking real students!!!!!

At my DZ 2 of the TIs wear frap hats and one of them wears a soft hat that covers her ears. Similar to this
Clicky

What do you guys wear and why?

I'd really like to jump without anything but have heard those risers slaps can be brutal so I want to protect my ears.

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[peek 20]

Quote

I'd really like to jump without anything but have heard those risers slaps can be brutal so I want to protect my ears.

I have heard likewise, for example, an ear nearly cut off. Yikes!

Now here is a question for you. Why would you not want to wear a helmet? It's not much trouble and even when it is hot, there are helmets that are open enough that they don't add to the heat.

I suggest head protection for your student as well. Again, there is little disadvantage.

[WatchYourStep 0]

I guess I'd like to jump without a helmet for the same reason some people like to jump without shoes, to feel the wind.

I'm not going to, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to. I was just wondering what everybody was wearing and why.

Why a hard helmet over a frap hat, etc.

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[slotperfect 7]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=603593;search_string=tandem%20poll;#603593

Arrive Safely

John

[RoryJ 0]

I was jumping without a helmet when I first started throwing drogues, but then after more than a few students liked to stand up a bit too much in the door way, sending my now-bloody head into the sliding door, I started to wear one. Having the dytter in there was a nice bonus, too.

Better safe than windy.

Not again!

[livendive 8]

I've worn a frap hat on almost all my tandems but will be switching to a hard helmet in the very near future, mostly on the advice of people whose opinions I trust, not because I've found myself wishing I'd had on something more substantial than a frap hat. Nothing at all is bad for the ears...I do it occasionally, but it's definitely not my norm.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Riser slap can be a bitch. That is a much bigger issue with the Strong system than UPT (narrower yolk). I do have one friend who got several stitches allong the bottom of his ear while wearing a frap hat. I have always used an open faced hat and put a frap hat on the student. The frap hat gives your nose protection from his head.
Last year a riser removed my optima during opening (L&B replaced it, what a company) so I started using my Z1 full face. I thought it would cause communication problems but it hasn't.

[sid 1]

I started Tandems wearing a Gath with an audible on the outside. A riser sliced it (my brand new Optima, first jump) in two, having realized that could have been my ear (oh yeah, thanks L&B also) I vowed never to do tandems without a hat of some kind. I switched to a frap because of space considerations as most of my tandems are out of a C182. There really is a difference AND the audible is on the inside now........

Pete Draper,

Just because my life plan is written on the back of a Hooter's Napkin, it's still a life plan.... right?

[SkydiveMO 0]

I say, let it all hang out when your jumping on your own. When you are acting as a tandem instructor you are the pilot in charge and responsible for the safety of your passenger. Wear a helmet!

Never forget that a tandem skydive isn't for you it's for the student.

[sdctlc 0]

I went for a long time not wearing a helmet as I liked the wind in my hair! but have moved to an open face hard helmet now and am pretty happy with that. I have had some riser slaps that left my ear or side of head sore but nothing too bad nor worse then if the pax was not wearing a frap hat to cushion the top of his head to the bottom of mine.

Basically I have them wear a soft frap and I wear a open face hard.

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[scdrnr 0]

Quote

What do you guys wear and why?

Protec. You'll see.

[jerry81 10]

I normally wear the full-face mtb helmet that I use for BASE jumping. The cameramen here hate it because it apparently makes my head look to big and obscures my face. Not that I really care how good I look on a tandem video- it should be about the passenger. I did switch to a Gath last weekend for a jump with some actor who was gonna use the footage for his show (so I had a reason to look good ) and sure enough, it was the first time in about 200 tandems that I got a face full of head on opening. Thought my nose might be broken for a second or two, but it was ok...no bleeding either, thankfully.

But yeah, riser slaps notwithstanding, I definitely prefer some kind of head protection on a jump where I'm responsible for another person's life besides my own.

[diablopilot 2]

Quote

it was the first time in about 200 tandems that I got a face full of head on opening.

Try looking up at your canopy, it helps avoid that.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[steveorino 7]

I usually wear a semi hard hat. Mainly because it houses the protrack. In the summer sometimes I attach the protrack to my sunglasses. However I see a few scratches on the top of my helmet and it makes me wonder.

steveOrino

[riggerrob 558]

Yes!
Even when wearing a Pro-Tec, riser slap (on Strongs) is still uncomfortable!
I shudder to think what my ears would feel like without a hard shell helmet.

I have done three tandems without helmets.
IT WAS WAY TOO LOUD FOR COMFORT!
Besides, my hearing has already suffered enough from too many years of working around loud machine guns and loud aircraft.