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My name is Rob,
Ive been reading threads, RE base helmets. I am a composite engineer of 14 years experiance, skydiver and tunnel instructor.
I have been working alongside skydivers for the last 3 years manafacturing helmets (and custom parts) for specific requirements. It has interested me to read all of your educated observations on protective headgear, and would like to offer my services, and perhaps come up with a range of BASE specific helmets designed on your collective input of knowledge.

So if this interests you, please give me some feed back, with a view to making a protoype.

Carbon fibre for starters,maybe with some kind of custom built moulding system like the formula one seats or indy cars if you are a colonial...i have a pumpkin sized head so a lid thats built for my cranial cast would be perfect...oh yeah and some kind of chin cup deal thats comfortable,as removable as a normal chin strap but as fucnctional as a full face...or as close to that as possible...

thats a few to be going on with..

My criteria:

1) Protective: Must be able to take hard knocks from all directions. This includes the back of the head. I've seen many skydiving helmets that ended high up on the back of the head, leaving some exposure there. Should take impact as well as a Pro-Tec or better.

2) Re-usable: Shouldn't get destroyed by the force of impact. I understand that this is a trade off (because one of the ways helmets cushion you is to absorb the shock themselves), and it's less important than the actual protection, to me. However, if possible, I'd like the helmet to be able to take some abuse (from landings, etc) without needing to be replaced.

3) Non-restrictive: Should allow full vision and hearing. The helmet should allow peripheral vision and normal hearing (something that most skydiving helmets suck at, and many other helmets aren't terribly good at either). Being able to yell without being muffled would be a plus, too.

4) Snag Free: The outside of the shell shouldn't have any snag points.

5) Light: Should be as light as possible, so that you don't end up with whiplash from hard openings.

6) Aerodynamic: The helmet should be aerodynamic for tracking and/or wingsuit flights. This may be at odds with the "full vision and hearing" in number 3, so this might mean a different helmet for that kind of thing.

7) Quick: You should be able to get this helmet on and off in a hurry. Nothing is more frustrating than fighting a buckle or strap while trying to ditch gear to avoid a bust.


I'm sure I'll thin of some more, and I'll add to this when I do.

BASE WIKI has a page on helmets that may have some advice too.

I can vouch for robs ability - his helmets are EXTREMELY light and comfortable.
(rob - i can point u in the direction of someone who could give you some good ideas on this - hopefully see you tuesday!)

which often gives less protection..

Personaly i like many snowboard helmets...theyre much like the protrack

Rob,one thing you has to bear in mind is low cost helmets.. looking at snowboard and skater helmets they offer much more protection than a skydive helmet,and cost LESS....

Gotta agree there. One thing that would put me off a BASE helmet entirely -- regardless of what else it offered -- is poor crush material. Carbon fibre is snazzy, but at the end of the day it counts for nothing if the liner sucks.

Polystyrene foam (a la most snowboard helmets) gets top marks. The softer foam in a ProTec is a distant but acceptable second. The quarter inch of pillowy softness found in most skydiving helmets is worse than useless in a BASE environment.

Skydiving helmets are pretty much useless in a SKYDIVING environment as well. Sure, then look great and have a nifty face shield. But I found a $10 Barbie helmet down at Walmart that offers better impact protection.

Forget about how cool a helmet has to look and let's examine exactly why we wear them. IMPACT PROTECTION. I know too many guys who either weren't wearing a helmet, weren't wearing a FULL FACE helmet, or were wearing a helmet that offered nothing more than a thin layer of material around your head.

If someone offered a full face jumping helmet that was able to offer suitable impact protection, then I'll be the first buyer (or test jumper). For now, my helmet collection is getting into double digits as I'm currently trying out a mountain bike helmet. I've only got one head, so I guess I'd better protect it....

Here is what I jump:

Boeri Tactic - Snowboarding helmet $140
http://www.boeri.com/tactic.html

Doesn't look the coolest but its comfortable and it will work great if i wack my head on a rock or something. It also has a great system for cooling along with ear pads to keep my ears warm on cold winter nights.

Coco

My thoughts on helmets are almost identical with yours. The best helmet for impact protection that I've ever seen is the good old fashioned full face motorbike helmet.

I've never seen anyone use one in BASE and I suspect that there are two reasons:
1. You'd look like a knob
2. They're (possibly) a bit too bulky.

The thing that is drummed into everyone buying motorbike helmets that you must replace them after the slightest knock is true: the impact protection is clearly compromised.

But having said that, I've seen the damage to the internal foam after the rider slid into a pavement (translation=sidewalk (?)) and whilst certainly compromised, it'd still kick the arse out of any skydiving helmet I've ever seen.

They're not that heavy, or expensive: my Shoei XR1000 (RF1000 in the States) is 1.3Kg:
http://cgi.ebay.com/...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(for a current example of price)

I'm not keen to use my motorbike helmet for the aforementioned reasons, but mainly the latter.

With any protective gear, it does need to be fairly user friendly, especially in our self regulated sport. Make protection enough of a trial to carry around, put on/ take off and we simply leave it at home after a while.

I use a full face Bonehead because it is compact enough not to catch too much gaining access to objects. I understand that whilst the full face construction will hopefully maintain the integrity of my skull during a full on object strike, the force of the impact is likely to be transmitted directly to the soft squishy bits inside; which is a very bad thing.

It's not perfect; but better than no helmet.

I think that the perfect BASE helmet would keep the dimensions of a compact skydive helmet and without gaining too much weight, blatantly copy the liner/foam design of a motorbike helmet.

How about something with some type of small light on it.