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By magicpotato
#404923
Looking to get a new helmet, one for going fast and going far. Any pilot testimonies would be much appreciated! I also discovered Lubin brand helmets recently, but they look more for paragliding. Any thoughts on using these for a HG?
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By Paul H
#404924
It all depends on what you are looking for in a helmet, real protection or just something to keep the wind out of your hair.
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By magicpotato
#404925
I'm guessing you're referring to a full face vs. a shell helmet. Of course, aerodynamics is a primary concern in this case, but comfort, safety, reputation also factor in. This is more just to gather testimonies and what other people fly with and why.
By Roadrunner71
#404926
It always Blow my Brain-Injured Brain how Pilots when discussing Helmets use the Terms : Hang Glider Helmet, Motorcycle helmets , Football Helmet. Anything but why we wear helmets for. WE, I am referring to Pilots now. But this applies to anyone who puts their Skulls in motion with the possibility of your Skull encountering a sudden stop. As in sustaining a sudden stop due to say a having an unwanted contact with the Ground. Therefore subjection your Body, and more to the point that I am trying to make here. Why is it that Pilots due not talk about "Said Helmets" said Helmets ability to defuse the G-Loading that is encountered by a Person due to an unwanted impact to the wearer of "Said Helmet"

Even though a Helmets ability to defuse the G-Load that a wearer of a Helmet experiences that information even though that that information is quantifiable it is withheld. Why is the information withheld? Well Pilot X believes that it is because a Crooked Layer would be sicked upon the MFG that made the statement that Helmet-X woulds reduce a X G-Force down to a - X load.

Well these have been my Post-Brain damaged Thoughts on the subject of Helmets. What are Yours?
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By miraclepieco
#404927
Lubins a PG helmet? Hardly. Lubins have been used extensively by serious HG pilots who are looking for every competitive advantage.
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By DMarley
#404929
I've never ever come close to nicking the ol' noggin', even in all the crazy shiiit that I've done in my life.
Not saying that couldn't ever happen to me.

If I was in need of a new helmet, I'd take a long hard look at Kali helmets.
https://kaliprotectives.com/technology
It appears that Kali don't sit on their laurels, and nearly every year they come out with yet a better shock-absorbing structure.

Their Shiva 2.0 with their nano-tube tech (1050 g) is about 61% heavier than my current helmet (Charly no limits - 650 g), which is a big leap in weight when prone for hours, but JDietch has a fix for that, or merely work-out more with some good neck exercises, or both.

I like my Charly... it's super comfy on my head, and reasonably light weight, and it has a retractable wind shield/visor for the cold conditions. But some will wince at the thought of wearing a Charly or their clones, believing that they are barely adequate, or not even so.

I purchased the No Limits because the jaw protection was noticeably stiffer than the Charly Insider, plus the added bonus of the visor which I haven't had the need for, yet.

Kali stuff would be an iffy sell for me because of the extra weight and neck strain, but I'd likely wear one if it was a good active day. I know I would have to rig some sort of noggin suspender system, though.
By Roadrunner71
#404933
I have experience with a Helmet that I can not award a F, for I am still alive. That Helmet is my Charly Insider. But I seriously will award my Charly Insider a D minus. I have more experience in recovering from Brain Injury than I ever would have imagined that some Day I would when I took up the Sport where I encountered the situation that caused my Brain to experience more of a G-load than it ever should have been subjected to.

Hell, and to think. I am lucky enough to be able to maintain an ongoing recovery. I do realize that on March 28th 2010 it could have been worse.

P-S, For Sale: ONe CHarly Insider Helmet. No, not For Sale. But I will pay someone the undetermined at this time. Well i will pay a pilot a significant amount of money to take my Charly Insider off my Hands. My HElmet has only been used once.

Chris McKeon CCMCK@GOLDSTATE.NET . - . 925-497-1059

Good By Chris
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By raquo
#404934
Get a proper damn full face helmet...

My friend now lacks a sizeable part of his skull from one blown launch and an unluckily positioned boulder. Him using an open face helmet directly contributed to the extent of his injury. He is still in hospital, almost a year later. He will not be flying again anytime soon, if ever.

I know a lot of pros like to look cool or feel the air or whatever in open face helmets but you don't have to borrow someone else's risk management level just because they're famous, especially if you have different priorities and skills.
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By DMarley
#404941
Nikita, what helmet(s) do you wear? How much does it weigh?
Heck, it could be educational if pilots would list their helmets and weights and rate them for their (defined) style of flying, fit and feel for their head-type (spherical / oblong / egg / etc.).
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By remmoore
#404943
I had the opportunity to weigh my buddy's Charley No Limit, size large, on my company's postage meter - 860 grams, including face shield. My Kali Shiva, with face shield and radio headset, came in at 1045 grams. That's less than 200 grams difference for DOT-certified level of protection. No meager EN-966 rating, with paltry foam protection, the Shiva has state-of-the-art impact and rotational force diffusion. I've heard the old saw, "Tell me what kind of crash you're going to have and I'll tell you what kind of helmet to wear." IMO, the Shiva is the best option for virtually any type of crash we may expect to encounter.

The Shiva is also very similar in size to the Charley helmets. Here's a comparison photo of my size XXL Shiva, next to two size L Charley helmets - virtually the same.
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By raquo
#404944
Looks solid. How's the visibility? Can you see any part of the helmet when wearing it?
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By mgforbes
#404945
Paul Gazis had a pretty good write-up on helmets quite some time ago, which prompted me to buy a full-face motocross helmet. Mine is a Shoei VFX-2, now replaced by the VFX-W. You can get it in plain white, or an assortment of fancy colors. The visor comes off.

For me, it's all about brain protection. I can still earn a living as long as I don't break the brain. Even a mild concussion would be enough to seriously screw up my career, not to mention the rest of my life. The additional weight is insignificant, and if I'm that worried about the aerodynamics, I'll focus on keeping myself aligned with the airflow. But I'm not. I fly for fun, not to prove anything to anyone.

MGF
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By remmoore
#404946
raquo wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:42 pm Looks solid. How's the visibility? Can you see any part of the helmet when wearing it?
Overall, visibility is excellent. The only part of the helmet I can see is the top of the nose bridge, but it's kind of like seeing your own nose. Looking to one side, one of your eyes can see a bit of the bridge, but other eye can see past it.

I would much rather have this unobtrusive piece of helmet protecting my nose/teeth than be without it.

RM
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By magicpotato
#404947
I was scourging the forum and was lead down several different rabbit holes. My takeaway from what I have found from a safety point of view is getting something with enough foam to keep your noggin from absorbing all the deceleration. I don't get why they are using stronger materials and thinner padding. A lot of companies advertise using the same materials as bullet proof vests. Think about that, if something is strong enough to take a bullet, then the energy is just passed through to whatever is underneath the helmet. A carbon shell helmet with ballistic gel instead of really thin foam sounds much more ideal. Anyways, I found this helmet brand:
http://www.plusmax.de/products/helmets.html looks like a nice combination of shell armor and foam.

From an aerodynamics point of view I can relate it to the argument of all the racing harnesses: sure the parachute being behind the arms is a little more sleek, but is it worth not having that extra padding to cushion your vital organs?

Anyways, keep the ideas coming!
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By mgforbes
#404948
Distance. It's all about distance.

Your head needs to decelerate from Vflight to Vboulder (0) over some distance. That requires an acceleration to be imposed on your noggin. The longer the distance over which that takes place, the lower the acceleration that's required. No amount of fancy foam, memory gel or carbon fiber changes that basic fact. A bigger helmet is generally going to be a safer helmet, because it gives your brain more room to get stopped.

Details matter, of course, and I'm generalizing. But physics dictates that a smaller helmet with less distance between your skull and the boulder is going to result in a higher deceleration value to get that skull stopped. Your brain can withstand some pretty severe transient loads, but beyond a certain limit you WILL suffer serious brain damage. A skinny helmet with minimal foam thickness cannot protect you as well as a bigger helmet with thicker foam.

MGF
By Jakub
#404949
The other day I was looking on longboarding videos and realised that their fullface helmets would work for us too.

They lean forward and keep their head up (they are in same position as we are during flight) so it should work well from aerodynamic point of view.
They impact road in quite a speed so I guess they are pretty safe as well.

They might have poor ventilation though as they probably don't care as much. I was thinking about going to a specialised longobarding shop just to see what they got.
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By remmoore
#404950
mgforbes wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:39 am Distance. It's all about distance.

Your head needs to decelerate from Vflight to Vboulder (0) over some distance. That requires an acceleration to be imposed on your noggin. The longer the distance over which that takes place, the lower the acceleration that's required. No amount of fancy foam, memory gel or carbon fiber changes that basic fact. A bigger helmet is generally going to be a safer helmet, because it gives your brain more room to get stopped.

Details matter, of course, and I'm generalizing. But physics dictates that a smaller helmet with less distance between your skull and the boulder is going to result in a higher deceleration value to get that skull stopped. Your brain can withstand some pretty severe transient loads, but beyond a certain limit you WILL suffer serious brain damage. A skinny helmet with minimal foam thickness cannot protect you as well as a bigger helmet with thicker foam.

MGF
Mark,

I certainly wouldn't disagree with your assessment when it comes to traditional helmet design, which seems to include about 95% of all helmets on the market today. The more EPS foam the better. One can simply compare a typical HG helmet to a typical MX helmet and see the huge difference in the amount of EPS foam for each helmet. In creating the EN-966 standard, someone decided HG pilots don't need as much brain protection as a dirt-bike rider, and HG helmets were made with up to half the EPS foam of a MX helmet. Crazy stuff.

For over a decade, however, Kali Protectives has been working on developing new methods of diffusing both impact and rotational forces. This has allowed them to design a smaller, lighter, helmet which still meets the superior DOT certification standards. Their website offers much more detail on the engineering behind their helmets, but I'll include a graphic that shows the progress they've made since starting in 2006. Unlike most helmet manufacturers - and certainly HG helmet makers - these guys are all about the advancement of helmet safety.
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By Takeo77
#404953
I fly a Kali Shiva 2.0 Fiberglass, it's a little bit on the heavy side but works very well. There have been people that have expressed concern over visibility but I have never encountered an issue with that, since I'm pretty head-on-a-swivel to begin with. I am looking at JD's helmet suspension as it can be hard on the neck during long flights. So far I'm pretty satisfied with it.

Here I have mine modded with a face shield per Renmoore's recommendations (primarily for aerotow).
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By remmoore
#404959
Takeo,

Nice to meet you and your wife a few weeks ago. Good job on the face shield installation - looks great.

Yup, good protection in a full-face helmet is going to weigh more than the typical HG helmet. The Shiva, however, is the most compact and lightest DOT-certified helmet I've found. As I stated earlier, though, it's not that much heavier than a Charley No-limit.

I did find the perfect helmet for pilots unconcerned with good head/brain protection, but like to look fast. This beauty is feather-light, with a sexy Italian-inspired design, and even has a tinted flip-up face shield...
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