PiLFy

"let's talk again in another 200 FF-jumps of yours" Ooh, I'm sorry Mr.SkyGod. I hope my squeaking has not offended thee??? It's a curious thing. This friendly helmet debate has stirred some serious defensiveness in some. I've received a few PMs about this from people. It's kinda like mandatory helmet laws w/riding. The excuses of impeded vision, weight, shifting, yadda_yadda all get cited. We strive to increase the safety elsewhere in the sport. Why not something so simple? It wouldn't be a full-on M/C helmet. That would be too big N heavy. A strong carbon fiber shell, w/better quality pad sets, could dramatically improve protection for someforeseeable impacts. More protection w/o any appreciable detriment seems like a no-brainer to me. Y'all do what you want. Four pages of this was more than enough. I'm done w/it.

VB, that is a bike helmet in your avatar. Isn't it? Ever ridden on the track(pavement)? How about motocross? You're looking everywhere you can, not just in two dimensions. The slight loss of peripheral vision is compensated for by swiveling your head more. Hell, it might ultimately make some people safer. When I'm in freefall. I'm looking all over the place. I honestly don't see a problem, here. Now please go back in the factory, & make me some more Swiss Chocolate. I'm running low. Thanks, man.

I could have sworn it was 128 bit encryption... The rest of it sounds right. It also sounds like you're far more familiar w/this stuff than I am. Thank You.

Phew... For a second there. I thought someone might come back w/a useless, smart-butt reply. All just because we're in SC. I knew I was off. Hence the question marks. I was just curious if the person I replied to remembered, & would flesh it out for us.

You might know this, then. I remember reading about hi-powered banking encryption being cracked by a group who used linked-supercomputers(?) a few years back. I think it was 128 byte(?) encryption. Experts quickly issued a damage-control release stating that most hackers don't have access to anywhere near that level of super-computer(s). I had read that in a blurb of an article @the time. Ring any bells? If they can crack the highest encryption levels in existence? I'm betting they'll be reading his secret recipes soon enough.

Sorry Dave, but I need to disagree w/a couple of your points. "No helmet can save you from an injury that would inflict a severe TBI" Check out the attached pic. That helmet was worn by a Squid doing about 140MPH on the street. He lost it. His head hit the stamped sheet metal support for a road sign as he slid. They thought he was dead @the scene. He eventually returned to his life w/no known impairment. The problem w/that Arai, is the same as w/mine. You'd have to have shoulders like Andre the Giant for it to not get in the way of your risers. "as it sits now, with the very small percentage of incidents resulting in a TBI" "so again, it's a very small slice of injuries that would be prevented with better skydiving helmets" We don't know this. A case in point. There was recently an interesting article in Sports Illustrated (I think). It looked @better protection for football players regarding concussions. As well as the long-term effects of those injuries. That article cited research wherein accelerometers were placed in every helmet of a high school football team. Cognitive testing was done in the beginning as a baseline. Then, that testing was repeated once or twice throughout the season. The bar was set @80(I don't remember the force measure used). The Doctors said it took 80 whatevers from a hit to concuss a player. The researchers found significant impairment where they didn't expect it later on in the season. They found a number of kids who were never knocked out during the season. They only took regular, run of the mill hits during plays. The forces of impact were all below the 80 threshold. Yet, they all showed marked cognitive impairment. There were several kids showing this damage. The kids weren't always aware that there was a problem. Your opinion that better helmets would only help in a very small percentage of mishaps is, IMHO, mistaken. We don't know how many lesser brain injuries remain unreported &/or unknown. Your negating better protecting helmets due to lost peripheral vision doesn't fly. Motorcyclists & race car drivers have been overcoming the slight field of vision losses for decades. Weight & drag/width are real issues, but they're surmountable. Some premium M/C helmets are made light w/carbon fiber. However, they're designed for the track, & are too thick. They could be made a bit thinner, & still offer much better protection than what I've seen in skydiving helmets. Personally, if a helmet was available w/much better protection, & was only a bit thicker? I'd buy one. The brain is still holds a fair amount of mysteries. It's much better to not suffer any injury to it.

I hear what you're saying. I currently jump w/a Benny. The more expensive skydiving helmets I've looked at didn't impress me. Yes, they have harder shells. So what? That's not going to save me. A shell that's too hard is actually more likely to cause injury. Most MC helmets are too bulbous & heavy to be used for jumping. My full face Arai would definitely hurt my neck. There's a helmet on this sitehttp://www.hjchelmets.com/that might fill the bill. There's no direct link to it. It's called an FS-3. I shot them an e-mail query last night. It weighs 3.2 pounds. Call it an even three w/o the visor. I think my Benny weighs about one pound even. Put a camera on top, & they'd be about equal. It also doesn't look too wide. The truth is. MC helmets aren't as thick/bulbous as they need to be. They'd catch too much air if they did. As is, most of the good ones are too heavy & thick. It would be nice to have better protection for a mid-air collision. Let us know how your quest goes.

"Now having ALS *(like him-which is why he is on the vent[while my personal choice is not to 'go there' -on a vent- which is why I have DNR- but thats another issue)" I'm sorry. Continuous oxygen wouldn't work. My guess is they rigged a scuba regulator. "The TM admitted the combination of a similarly weighing customer, who was not arching, & the handicam being used for the 1st time by this TM created enough instability for the pair that it became difficult to gain a safe drogue deployment position until they tumbled for nearly 6,000f." Hmmmm....... A (qualified?) TI tumbled for several thousand feet? I find that troubling. "Thank you for the change to engage in this with you, and I hope it did give the hope for others to see that quite a large variety of disabilities can potentially be managed via a tandem sky dive." Anytime, GB. It was interesting. Have a great season

"As long as he doesn't need a ventilator." I stand corrected

That's awesome, but he didn't jump w/a vent. He rigged scuba equipment (a regulator & a tank) to force feed oxygen through his trach. It evidently worked well enough for the brief time he depended on it. I'm guessing he rode to altitude on a regular vent. Then, switched over just before jumping.

I'm happy for you, Adam

Oops, I meant a dremel. People love buying that sort of thing for decorating their gardens & such. You should do very well @your showing. Good Luck.

Those are very good, Steve

"I have asked my sister (who is fluent in German) to take a look..." ???, You do realize all you have to do, is cut-N-paste sections into Google Translate, right? You don't need your sister for this.

I remember reading about someone who lost an arm. He jumps w/o a prosthesis by choice. If I remember correctly. Try querying one-armed landings, or searches like that. The information is in here.

Yep. I don't remember where I saw it. There is a national corporation which lands contracts to supply many public school cafeterias. The quality of the "Food" is atrocious. It's big business. The documentary I saw it in was chronicling the negative health effects on the children. They documented negative behavioral effects, as well. Is the principle getting a kickback?

"...knows i won't jump another rig so she took mine and hid it."

"Did 7 jumps Sat and 5 Sun." On student status?! You lucky Shit!!

Lots of good advice already given, here. I'll throw in a couple of points: 1) Longtime tunnel rats sometimes have a problem when they do jump. Their tunnel sessions are often @least twice as long as a regular dive. So, their internal jump clock gets out of whack. They're used to 2-4 minute flying sessions. In the air, it's all over in 60 seconds. You've now a lot more tunnel time than sky time. You're just coming back from your injury. You've spent 45 minutes in the tunnel. What did you do, two minute sessions? Your internal clock is now set to two minutes. Even if you forgot to check your alti every five seconds or so. Your internal clock would have told you it's getting to be about that time. 2) I'm not going to tell you how I was taught to break a mad spin. You've instructors for that. I will tell you that once you've broke a really hairy spin? You'll not only not fear them. You'll enjoy them.

I was taught to check my handles the same as my EPs (two hands per handle). I expect I'm not alone in that.

Really? I've never seen a vent that wasn't awfully heavy looking. Even the "Portable" ones on wheelchairs look pretty heavy for free fall. I'm glad to hear they can make it work.

Aha. Uh_Huh... Andy, I've several black friends, plus Latino & Asian friends, as well. Sh*t, I even know a couple of lawyers that aren't too bad.

"So I wonder why, despite all of the training and practice of EP's, we chose to go one hand per handle?" My guess would be because one way simply seems more natural to some people. Personally, if the D-ring tends to shift during a cutaway? Why not grab the thing, & eliminate that risk? That way does seem more logical to me. Although I too was trained to use the two-handed method. Is it that hard to pull the handles under load? Will the harness shifting after a chop, cause the gripped D-ring to pop the reserve too soon? Is the two hands per handle method taught in order to prevent confusion (pulling the reserve first)?

You don't honestly believe the Civil War was fought over interracial marriage, do you? It was about money, like most wars. It was also fought about 150 years ago. Seventy years ago, most Americans believed the Japanese & Germans to be the most evil people on the earth. We now feel very differently. Edited to add: Oops, I forgot. This is SC. Y'all love to argue in here...

You might not yet have a problem. My ears used to take days to clear after my earliest jumps. They then got better @equalizing. By making four jumps back to back. You may well have simply done too much, too soon. Are you congested? Do you get seasonal allergies? Tis the season for it. You can try an OTC antihistamine/decongestant like Claritin-D or Zyrtec-D.