After about 30 jumps on my Paratec FreeZR, I'm quite pleased with it.
The helmet itself seems well-constructed, although I am not sure how much impact protection you actually get from these shells. The interior padding is quite comfortable and there's a fair amount of reinforcing foam. The interior padding has about five pieces (back of head, top of head, forehead, left cheekpiece, right cheekpiece) which are stowed with Velcro, so you can just pop a panel out and replace it with a larger or smaller one to semi-customize the fit to your head. This helmet is also most spacious. It's quite wide, which for people with big noggins like me is excellent.
Ventilation is pretty good, with two vents on the front and two pass-through vents on the rear (the front vents make you look a bit like a giant bug, but hey) give you pretty good ventilation in freefall. I haven't had any significant fogging even on fairly cold Virginia early spring mornings.
The real selling point, I think, on this helmet is the fact that the visor is actually big enough to see out of. The peripheral vision is incredible, whether you're turning points or flying your canopy. The visor release mechanism consists of two metal studs, one on each side, that fit through holes in the visor -- this sounds shadier than it is, the latch mechanism is very secure. You must actuate the latch on both sides of the helmet to get the lid open; it takes both hands or some practice. I can do it in gloves without trouble. The latching process has a very positive feel. I always jump with glasses and haven't had a problem (a big plus for nearsighted me).
The chin strap is pretty good, but there's nowhere to tuck the excess material, and it works itself a little bit loose after every few jumps. Unfortunately, you get no guidance from the manufacturer on anything. No visor replacement instructions, no manual, you're on your own as far as care goes...kind of suboptimal.
The one thing that I wish this helmet had was a way to snug the airflow padding on the bottom of it (the velcro side-tab system on the Oxygn A3, for example, works very well). I haven't had a problem, I just wish it was a little bit closer fit around the throat.
Other than that, great helmet. No complaints -- I love being able to see what's going on around me in freefall while still wearing a full-face.
FreeZR
-
-
-
-
-
in Helmets
The helmet itself seems well-constructed, although I am not sure how much impact protection you actually get from these shells. The interior padding is quite comfortable and there's a fair amount of reinforcing foam. The interior padding has about five pieces (back of head, top of head, forehead, left cheekpiece, right cheekpiece) which are stowed with Velcro, so you can just pop a panel out and replace it with a larger or smaller one to semi-customize the fit to your head. This helmet is also most spacious. It's quite wide, which for people with big noggins like me is excellent.
Ventilation is pretty good, with two vents on the front and two pass-through vents on the rear (the front vents make you look a bit like a giant bug, but hey) give you pretty good ventilation in freefall. I haven't had any significant fogging even on fairly cold Virginia early spring mornings.
The real selling point, I think, on this helmet is the fact that the visor is actually big enough to see out of. The peripheral vision is incredible, whether you're turning points or flying your canopy. The visor release mechanism consists of two metal studs, one on each side, that fit through holes in the visor -- this sounds shadier than it is, the latch mechanism is very secure. You must actuate the latch on both sides of the helmet to get the lid open; it takes both hands or some practice. I can do it in gloves without trouble. The latching process has a very positive feel. I always jump with glasses and haven't had a problem (a big plus for nearsighted me).
The chin strap is pretty good, but there's nowhere to tuck the excess material, and it works itself a little bit loose after every few jumps. Unfortunately, you get no guidance from the manufacturer on anything. No visor replacement instructions, no manual, you're on your own as far as care goes...kind of suboptimal.
The one thing that I wish this helmet had was a way to snug the airflow padding on the bottom of it (the velcro side-tab system on the Oxygn A3, for example, works very well). I haven't had a problem, I just wish it was a little bit closer fit around the throat.
Other than that, great helmet. No complaints -- I love being able to see what's going on around me in freefall while still wearing a full-face.