Why no visor?

[bofh 0]

I'm reading the FAI competition rules for canopy piloting and among the general rules is:

Quote

4.1.1 Hard-shell protective head covering must be worn by all competitors. Full-face helmets
must have the visor removed.

What's the rationale behind this?

[AggieDave 6]

The first guy I saw hook in would have drowned in his own blood if the S&TA hadn't opened the visor on his full face.

Anyways, not all full face helmets have a flip up visor and a water landing (chow) could go bad if the visor won't go up and you can't get the helmet off (or don't want to remove the helmet due to trauma). Especially if that person is getting rescued from the water and is unconscious.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[bofh 0]

That's a good reason.

As a wearer of glasses, I would have liked an exception for flip-up visors though as I can't fit my goggles over the glasses and inside the helmet. Oh well, perhaps time to get yet another helmet.

[ShayneH 0]

Also, the anti-fog layer tends to wear off the shields rather fast as well.

I have a factory diver helmet with a visor that cannot be flipped open. One cold day, as I was half-way through my final turn when my visor fogged over on me. I had to bail out of the landing. The scariest part was not being able to clearly see my new path or any traffic in my way (since I was now landing crosswind in a full traffic pattern).

[ianmdrennan 2]

Quote

I have a factory diver helmet with a visor that cannot be flipped open. One cold day, as I was half-way through my final turn when my visor fogged over on me. I had to bail out of the landing. The scariest part was not being able to clearly see my new path or any traffic in my way (since I was now landing crosswind in a full traffic pattern).

Happened to me on my first jump and practice run at the SA WC 2009. Sucked, hard. That visor went bye bye asap.

Performance Designs Factory Team

[RichLees 0]

Sheesh, you guys are so much cooler than me - I don't breathe from brakes off to touch-down.

What's the trade-off between open face and full-face?
- Open-face: easier to kiss the ground after a safe return. It also allows easy access for pramedics, but you might get a major facial.
- Full-face: protects the chin, but impedes the paramedics and I think it might also increase the risk of neck injury by digging into the water and wrenching the head forward. Rapid forward or, worse, backward motion can wreck the upper vertebrae and kill/maim.

As groovy as it looks, perhaps the scorpion freestyle trick should be outlawed? http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1327987796411

[bofh 0]

I've had a few cases of frosted visor, but it happened higher up and I just opened up the visor. Makes it a bit harder to see with tears flowing from the eyes though.