TitaniumLegs

I've had my A3 for 4+ years, and put probably 500+ jumps on it.

I disagree that there's a big problem with visors opening in freefall. Sure it may be happening to some people, but it's only once happened to me, and don't think Steph's (regular Oxygn) has ever opened in freefall. Others I know have the same experience. People with regular problems either have a bum helmet, visor or ratchet, or it isn't installed or closed correctly. It's really easy to put the ratchet in wrong, which may also explain some people's difficulty in closing the visor. I know a number of people with the Z1, and have made a few jumps with a demo myself, and the Z1 has worse problems opening in freefall. The Oxygn visor is easy to open and close with one hand, even under canopy. I did have to work it a bit with one of the visors, but it didn't get progressively looser after that.

What does suck about the visor is how easily it gets scratched to the point of translucence. Even the water-only washing they recommend does not work after a while, and you end up replacing lenses fairly regularly. Part of this is probably due to how hard you have to push and having to push right in the middle to close it. I'm working on making my own visors to solve the scratch issues. I'll probably have to use an anti-fog spray, but I might be able to get a more scratch-resistant Lexan or something.

I like the Velcro tension strap neck closure or whatever it's called. Easier than chip straps used on other full face helmets, tightens around your whole neck (and therefore holds on better) and keeps the wind out better. Downside is that the loop/pile/female part of the Velcro does eventually wear out just like any other application of Velcro. Shouldn't be too hard for a rigger or other sewing-machine-capable person to replace. Again comparing to the Z1, a friend of mine lost a Z1 in freefall (they later found it). I don't know anybody to lose any model of Factory Diver.

For those who have had fit problems: There is no reliable standard for measuring a head to fit a helmet. You need to try on the helmet. That goes for any kind of helmet.

In hindsight, I really don't like the idea of mounting my audible outside. Even though some A3s have a cover for the audible, it's still pretty vulnerable. The inside pocket is better, and actually easier to get the audible in and out.

Somebody made a comment about wanting to take it off under canopy. I assume the complaint is that there is no way to hang it from your chest strap, since there is no chin strap. Well, you could undo then reconnect your chest strap. However, given that landing accidents are more common than canopy collisions, you are better off wearing the helmet until you land.

I agree that the "documentation" is pretty weak, including incorrect sizing info and no useful info on mounting the audible (but they give all kinds of micro-bungee and ties).

I didn't deal much with support, but when they dinged my credit card twice when I bought Steph's helmet, Kira (Sky Systems) was very helpful and got it straightened out pretty quick.

Another really cool thing is that my MP3 player sounds really great in freefall in a full face, and the Factory Diver neck closure holds the cable nicely.

So in summary, don't buy the A3. Buy the regular Oxygn.

I bought the Evil-ution 2000 a couple months after they became available in the US. After a year of use, it started going off at wrong altitudes then making random noises. I had already replaced the battery, but I replaced it again anyway. That didn't fix it. So I opened it up and found a component, which I suspect is the pressure sensor, was loose (the solder had broken). I tried contacting Cool&Groovy via email and their web site (which no longer has anything on it), but no luck. I registered on-line twice. Emailed (got a useless reply once).

Here are my thoughts on this P.O.S. before it broke:

Setting the beeps is pretty easy. Three beeps for breakoff, dump and flatline. Cool. Except that it routinely flatlined as much as 5 seconds after I had a fully inflated canopy.

You can't set the time or the timezone - it's permanently set to GMT. They say you can adjust for this in software when you upload the data, but that doesn't work either. So for people jumping on the West Coast of the US, that means your jumps all appear to have happened 8 hours after they really did. Any jump made after ~4PM logs as happening the next day! I didn't care about the time so much, but at least get the DATE right!

The graphs are a cool concept, but they don't work either. The fall rate graph was all spiky with speeds that varied from 600 (mph or fps - can't remember which) to -200! Wow! I was falling UP!

The Evolog has some neat features, but is very awkward to use. Some of the features you need are buried deep in the menus. It uploaded some jumps two or three times. You have to use the software, however, to get at the data because there is no on-unit display.

The batteries don't last nearly as long as advertised. C&G says they last 2 years - I got less than 1 year out of them.

Scoring:
Features: 3 of 5
Usability: 3 of 5
Reliability: 1 of 5
Service and Support: -2000 of 5

Overall: 0 of 5.

If anybody sees George Pilkington, he owes me $280 - or a ProTrack.