fraphats - what's the point?

[skreamer 1]

OK, maybe this should have been posted to one of the other forums, but it appears to be a 'life-style' choice so I am posting it here. Why do skydivers (particularly the ladies) wear fraphats? If it is because they keep your ears warm and your hair in place then why not just wear an open face helmet? It's bad enough seeing chicks wearing them, but when I see blokes wearing a fraphat I want to give them a fishing rod or wheel-barrow and stick them in my front garden.
So why do you wear them - they look stoopid.
/s

[Hellian 0]

well, unless i'm mistaken, you have to wear a helmet to jump in england, and they're the cheapest one i would think

[OmriMon 0]

well, they make u look "COOL"!
what next?, shower caps??
Free Skies,
Omri

[skreamer 1]

Cheaper than a Pro-Tec?
Offers more protection than a Pro-Tec?
I don't think so! My intention was not to troll (OK maybe just a bit), but I seriously don't understand why people wear fraphats. They don't offer any real protection and they make you look like a misplaced WW1 flying mole! I like my Bonehead (Ilikeitalot), but a Pro-Tec would be my next choice.
/s
PS btw you need 100 jumps before you can wear a full-face helmet in the UK and I *think* the same applies to fraps.

[sangiro 26]

Quote

PS btw you need 100 jumps before you can wear a full-face helmet in the UK

Why's that?
Safe swoops
Sangiro

[Iflyme 0]

A friend of mine was jumping in Arizona about 2 years ago, wearing a frap... bumped heads with her partner on exit, saw stars for the next 30 seconds. She got a full-face helmet that afternoon...

[skreamer 1]

Because it is in the BPA Ops manual!
Here it is (taken from section 6)
3.1. Helmets
3.1.1. Student and Intermediate Parachutists must wear a suitably sturdy open faced, hard protective helmet without a peak.
N.B. The ‘Raleigh Burner’ helmet is not acceptable for use by Student Parachutists.
3.1.2. Student Tandem Parachutists must wear a ‘French Type’ ribbed helmet.
3.1.3. FAI ‘B’ Certificate (Red) holders may wear hard protective helmets acceptable to the CCI/Team Leader.
3.1.4. FAI ‘C’ Certificate (Red) holders may wear headgear acceptable to the CCI/Team Leader.
So, what I gather from that is that you can only wear a frap-hat after 200 jumps (FAI 'C' license), so maybe that's why they wear them - an image thing (but they still look stoopid!). It would also appear that you have to have your 'B' (so minimum of 50 jumps) for a full-face and that it is then at the DZ CCI's (DZO's) discretion as to whether or not you can wear a full-face. (at my DZ the rule is 100 jumps)
/s
PS

Quote

‘French Type’ ribbed helmet

WTF???? If that was a condom I'd buy a family pack! (and wear them inside out)

[n2skdvn 0]

i dont know why they wear them mabye they like the coneheads or somthing:P i like my bone head helmets(one for camara one for regular freeflyin') but its a good idea to wear a helmet!!!!
have chute. will fall.

[skymedic 0]

I always figured they wore them to keep there hair down(thats about all there good for)...
Skreamer, when ya coming to FL?

[flyingferret 0]

Don't you guys have any sense of nostalgia? I don't wear a frap hat, but I don't think they look stupid. No more than I think rounds or crossbow containers look stupid. I just think it is a different style and often generation. I am a belly flyer that wears an open face helmet and everyone thinks that is weird. Well I tell you what I think is weird, is bunch of skyivers 'flying' all cut off from the wind. Skreamer have you ever jumped with a frap hat? They feel pretty cool :)
Malachi

[skreamer 1]

Dude, I'm arriving Friday 29 June, driving to Skydive Naples (via liquor store) to get my NEW rig, then its drink, pass out, skydive, drink, pass out, skydive, drink pass out, skydive etc etc. I don't know exactly where else I will be going (maybe Lake Wales). Flying back on Sunday 8th July.
If you know of any good social stuff happening lemme know!
/s

[skreamer 1]

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Skreamer have you ever jumped with a frap hat?

Yes, the chick inside it was kinda cute too!

[sangiro 26]

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Because it is in the BPA Ops manual!

I figured that much! I wasn't really interested in the source as much as in the rationale...
Safe swoops
Sangiro

[skreamer 1]

I know what you meant the first time, I was being a clever dick. Rationale???
The thinking behind the policy? Don't think that's covered in the manual...
/s

[wingnut 0]

okay i gota add my 2 cents in here!!!
having jumped with skreamer, benw, and moose, i got to hear about the bpa rules. some i think are good and some would make me not jump in england(i would have to suffer but i would jump!). i guess the bpa is just trying to be carfull. i was talking to them and untill you get this little sticker to put into your log book you can't jump with anybody else besides people that have this sticker. then you need a sticker for sit/stand and another one for head down, probly one for crw too. all in all i like how they want you to be safe doing it and that's probly where the helmet thing comes from but i think they should let the individual decide once they have thier license! as for me i soemtimes wear my stylish protec and sometimes i wear nothing, it all depends on what i feelike and who i'm jumping with ect....ect...ect.....
now this brings me to a question of my own...how many less deaths does the u.k. have compared to the u.s. when you factor in population diffences.? (deaths/jumps)

"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows

[huffermoose 0]

"I know what you meant the first time, I was being a clever dick. Rationale???
The thinking behind the policy? Don't think that's covered in the manual..."
a dick yes but certainly not clever
bwahahahahaha
mooooose

[skymama 37]

Hey Skreamer-
You should check out some more of our lovely dz's here in FL. There's also Sebastian, Z-hills, Titusville and Deland to name a few. I'll meet you somewhere, and I'm sure Marc would too since he was asking. Don't forget there's PLFXpert (Carrie) and her boyfriend Billy here too! Besides, then we could get some free beer out of you-new rig, new dz...what else could we add?
Andrea
"Up high, I feel like I'm alive for the very first time"...Creed

[cloud9 0]

Skreamer Where's your sense of style? Frap hats rule! . Pro-tech ugly and I mean UGGGGG...LY.
Why wear a Frap hat? because its as close to no helmet as you can get. They are easy to carry, you can fold them. They hold your goggles on. I would look real funny with an audible duct taped to my head and they do protect against things like sharp objects sticking out in the plane screws things like that, and most important riser slap, that hurts like hell. Of course the girls like to keep their hair out of the way. Long hair can be a real bummer in freefall, well i guess this applies to some of the guys too.
They don't do much for the sky missile that hits you in a track, but thats why I have and cypress and a gun! (NRA lifetime member).
So when you get to the states, be cool wear a frap hat you'll fit right in!!
Bleau Skies

[PhillyKev 0]

note to self....if i find myself tracking near cloud9, shoot him before he draws his weapon /s

[Pammi 0]

I know at least a couple of us girls who call 'em 'dickheads' :)
Some newpics.

[cloud9 0]

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I know at least a couple of us girls who call 'em 'dickheads' :)

The hats or the people who wear them?

[skyhawk 2]

its to hold the brains in stupid duh

[AggieDave 6]

Hey, Fraps are kinda like a skydiving tradition, like beer and the stories that get better with each beer and each telling. (Sorry Doc... Long story short: I think their great not because of their fasion or functionality, but because of the history involved with skydiving. I would hate to see the day that I don't see Fraps, Rounds and PCs at the DZ (yes, actually those are very common sights at my home DZ).
Blue Skies and Gig'em
AggieDave '02
-------------
Blue Skies and Gig'em Ags!
BTHO t.u.

[des 2]

good thread!
as a tm i only wear a fraphat for aesthetic reasons.i'm pug ugly without one,so i only wear one when i get videod. i kinda like the dytter too,but aesthetics is the only reason i wear one. p.s sunnies really help too.
no vid,no fraphat.
them protecs look ridiculous tho ,don't they?
why do some american tm's wear those suckers?i'd like to hear a reason----------- any body?
des

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Well, fraps are better then nothing, and as someone said, they do pack real easy....plus... they look the part!!! (I'm not that old, but frap were the only way to go when I started.. it was the kewl headgear to have... I guess I am that old after all)
Even since I had my full face, I still used the frap when dispaching IAD students (this way, you show the good exemple of wearing a helmet, and you still can talk to them). Maybe a velocity type helmet would do that too, but I dont have one, and maybe it would be harder to hear them...
And would you trust your JM if he/she was wearing a Protec? lol (no offence to all the nice Protec wearing people out there)