IamAdam

The vast majoity of accidents in any sport don't involve head trama. I've never needed my helmet in decades of skiing and cycling. The problem is, the ones that DO require head protection are impossible to recover from. I was reading the fatality reports and it looks like a lot...maybe 20% of those guys, would've benefited greatly from an actual helmet, not to speak of the people who didn't die but suffered permanent head injury. A pro-tec offers good protection, but I'm looking for something full-face. As far as getting them off quickly, most ski and bike helmets I've seen are easier to remove than some skydiving buckles I've seen. It's the motorcycle helmets that are finicky to get off. Something else with helmets is that fit is critical- not just the size, but the shape. The less it moves around on your head, the better it stays in place in an incident. Getting something a size bigger and adding more memory foam is an idea, but it'd be a gamble on fit, and memory foam from Oregon Aero won't stay put as well as rigid styrofoam. Good point on the market being small (my USPA number is still less than a third of a million), so perhaps we need something from a different market. This snowboard helmet looks good, although it doesn't offer a drop-down visor. http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/wear/headwear/ruroc-rg-1-core-snowboard-helmet/

Well, the styrofoam itself weighs next to nothing, although it does make the helmet a little bigger. Still, a full-face visor weighs a lot more than goggles and people make that tradeoff. I'd like to trade a few ounces (my Giro Seam is under a pound) for some actual impact protection. It doesn't have to be DOT or SNELL rated- just has to have a styrofoam crush-zone, if anything is out there. In the mean time, any reasons not to use the ski helmet?

I just finished my AFP, and the first piece of gear I intend to buy is a helmet. I love all the full-face options out there for comfort and face protection, but I notice most of them are just a basic shell with a comfort liner, with no impact-absorbing Styrofoam inside like all my other helmets (bicycle, ski, motorcycle). What gives? Would that make them too draggy? I'm thinking of just jumping my ski helmet until I find a full face, but I'm not seeing much out there. Any suggestions for a full-face helmet with an actual crush-space? Do you see a reason to not use this Giro Seam ski helmet in the mean time?

No...I heard people have been making wingsuits for ages. It is only recently that they have been living to tell about it though :) We have now entered the age of the non-suicidal wing suit!

This is normally a rude question, but the poll is totally anonymous, so I figure why not. Skydiving is definitely an expensive sport, and I'm just curious as to how my income stacks up against the typical jumper.

Come on...you know what I was talking about. Any activity you take up can last a lifetime, so that isn't an issue. What is an issue (to me, at the moment) is paying $25 for 40 seconds of freefall. That is about a dollar every two seconds! I could hardly pull the bills out of my wallet that fast! Of course you get a few minutes of canopy time as well. Not saying I won't make that sacrifice- only that it is an issue. Conversly, with paragliding the only recurring expense is the drive to the hill, and you can fly for hours per day. I'm leaning towards jumping at the moment though. I need to decide if I'm going to pay for my dogs chemotherapy before I'm sure if I can afford either though.

My wife is fine with me diving, and even went up on an observation ride before I did my tandem (with an agressive pilot who beat all the divers down, I might add). But for some reason, she has no desire to dive herself. I'd really like it if this is something we could share, but don't know how to get her to try it. She gets scared of things too easily, so this would be good for her to conquer her fears, open up new horizons, etc. etc. Also, I was wondering...we were talking about how jumping is much more dangerous than skiing or horse riding. How does it compare to motorcycle riding or hang gliding? Anybody know?

Thanks a lot. Great points. Would you elaborate on these last two, if at all possible, though? Also, I'm guessing you jump and glide, right?

Yeah...that is the delima Jerry- I want BOTH, but that is just too much time and $$$. I originally wanted to become a pilot- since I was 10 years old. Joined the Air Force, but my color vision wasn't good enough. But flying civil aircraft isn't a practical transportation-oriented endevour. You do it for fun. If you are only flying for one, I reasoned, why not just pair it down to the minimum and get a paraglider? But then, as long as I'm getting something like that, why not get that absolutely awesome perma-grin inducing RUSH of freefall, and feel like you are flying without any equipment whatsoever? Having a dropzone 10 minutes away, while the flying hills are over an hour away, is an issue. My two biggest hang ups with jumping is the recurring cost of the plane rides and the short duration of the actual flight time.

Hi guys. Given the nature of this board, I already know what the answer to the poll will be. I'm just wondering if anybody else has gone through this same delima, and if anybody can answer any of my questions. I've been on one tandem jump about 5 years ago with my grandpa (Pat Moorehead), and it was AWESOME. Jumping has GOT TO provide a much bigger thrill. The tradeoff is that it only last seconds, while in a paraglider you can potentially stay up for hours. The expense for training and equipment is roughly the same either way, so that is a wash. My biggest hangup about skydiving is the recurring cost of rides up. What is the average now...about $25? Of course the tradeoff there is in a paraglider you have to have somebody give you a ride up the hill, and then come down, find you, and pick you up after you land. What a PIA for the victim. Also, the nearest paragliding school is down in Santa Barbara- about 1:15 away. There is a drop zone here in Lompoc CA (anybody know anything about it?) that is only about 10 minutes from me. Another problem with paragliding is that if I move somewhere without hills (I'm in the military, so I move every 3 years), my only options are to stop flying, or to pay $5000 and get a motor unit. $5000 will pay for a lot of skydive rides! And even when you do have hills, you need to be very picky. They need to have nice, big, open takeoff and landing areas, need to be facing into the wind, and you have to be VERY picky about weather conditions- more picky than jumping I believe. Safety is hard to quantify. I probably stand about the same chance of getting hurt either way. However, with paragliding, the injury rate per hour of flight time has got to be WAY better. You can get several hours of flight time in a day rather than a few years. I'm not sure what to do. Any comments or suggestions?