Helmet, Altimeter, Audible: The Accessory Buyer's Guide

Before you buy your first rig, you need your accessories. Learn how to choose the right helmet, altimeter, and audible to stay safe and aware.

For newly licensed skydivers, the rush to own gear is almost always focused on the container and canopy. But before you buy your first rig, there is a separate group of life-saving tools you must acquire. This definitive accessory buyer's guide explores the three vital pieces of personal gear that keep you aware, protected, and communicating in freefall: your helmet, altimeter, and audible altimeter.

While these tools are categorized as "accessories," they are critical to your altitude awareness and physical protection. In a sport where seconds separate stable flight from a high-impact incident, choosing the right accessories is a serious, safety-critical decision.

Let's break down the technology, the certifications, and the configuration steps you need to make an informed purchase.

1. The Helmet: Open-Face vs. Full-Face & The Certifications

A skydiving helmet serves two main purposes: protecting your skull during hard landings or aircraft exits, and providing a stable platform to mount altimeters and communication gear.

When shopping, your first choice is between an open-face and a full-face helmet.

Open-Face Helmets (The Visual and Cultural Choice)

Open-face helmets (like the Cookie Fuel or Tonfly ICE) leave your eyes and mouth exposed.

The Pros: Excellent peripheral vision, natural wind sensation, and easy communication under canopy or in the plane. They are highly recommended for student training and early licensed jumps because they don't block your visual field.
The Cons: No protection against cold wind, eye-watering speeds, or flying debris. You must wear separate skydiving goggles.

Full-Face Helmets (The Modern Standard)

Full-face helmets (like the Cookie G4 or KISS) feature an integrated polycarbonate visor that seals your face.

The Pros: Complete wind protection, eliminating the need for goggles. They keep your face warm in cold weather, reduce wind noise in freefall, and protect against collision impact (e.g., from a freeflyer's knee or knee-knock during an exit).
The Cons: Visor fogging can occur in humid weather or during cold morning loads. They can also slightly restrict peripheral vision.

Crucial Safety Factor: Impact Certifications (CE EN966)

Do not assume every helmet marketed for skydiving is an impact helmet. For years, the industry standard Cookie G3 was not formally certified as an impact-protection helmet; it was simply rated as a "parachute helmet" designed to prevent minor scratches and line snags.

The newer standard, Cookie G4, is certified under the strict CE EN966 (helmets for airborne sports). This certification guarantees that the helmet has undergone rigorous shock-absorption and penetration testing.

CE EN966 Standard: Tested for shock absorption, resistance to penetration by sharp objects, and chin-strap retention under extreme load forces.

If you plan to jump in the wind tunnel or participate in high-density group freefly jumps, buying a CE EN966 certified helmet is highly recommended.

A Note on Helmet Cutaway Systems

If you ever plan to mount a camera (like a GoPro) to your helmet, you must install a helmet cutaway system. A camera mount is a significant snag hazard. If your main bridle or suspension lines wrap around your camera during deployment, a standard chinstrap will trap your head, leading to fatal neck injuries. A cutaway system allows you to jettison the entire helmet with a single pull of a release loop.

2. The Altimeter: Analog vs. Digital Wrist-Mounts

Your altimeter is your primary visual link to the ground. Without it, you are flying blind. There are two primary technologies available on the market.

Analog Altimeters (The Bulletproof Classic)

Analog altimeters (like the Alti-2 Galaxy) use a mechanical, barometric needle that rotates around a physical dial.

Why they are great: Zero battery requirements. They are incredibly robust, and the sweeping needle design is easy to read using peripheral vision. You don't need to "read" numbers; you simply know that when the needle is pointing to the orange wedge, it's time to pull.
The limitations: They are bulkier, sensitive to zero-point atmospheric shifts (you must manually calibrate the needle to "zero" on the ground before every jump), and lack logging features.

Digital Altimeters (The Precision Standard)

Digital altimeters (like the L&B Viso II+ or Alti-2 Ares II) use an LCD screen to display your exact altitude in feet or meters.

Why they are great: High precision, digital logbook integration (recording exit altitude, deployment altitude, freefall time, and speeds), and automatic zero-calibration on the ground. Many models feature backlighting for night jumps.
The limitations: They require battery management. A dead battery on a flight load is a dangerous distraction. Additionally, some jumpers find reading digital numbers harder than scanning a moving needle when flying under high-performance canopies.

No matter which type you choose, ensure you include it on your first rig checklist so you are comfortable reading it during your early jumps.

3. The Audible: Your Acoustic Safety Net

An audible altimeter (or "dytter") is a small electronic unit designed to slide inside a dedicated pocket over your ear inside your helmet. It emits high-pitched, acoustic alarm tones at pre-set altitudes.

Crucial Warning: An audible altimeter is a backup tool, not a replacement for your visual altimeter. It is designed to wake you up if you lose track of time during a complex skydive; it is not a primary altitude indicator.

Setting Your Alarms

Modern audibles (like the L&B Solo, L&B Quattro, or Optima II) support up to three distinct freefall alarms. Here is the standard, safety-recommended configuration for sport jumpers:

[4,500 ft: Break-Off] ➔ Tones beep. Stop working, turn, track away.
[3,500 ft: Pull Altitude] ➔ Rapid tones beep. Pull your pilot chute.
[2,500 ft: Hard Deck] ➔ Flatline tone. Emergency! Pull reserve if main is not open.

Alarm 1: Break-Off (e.g., 4,500 Feet)

A slow, pulsing beep. This signals that it is time to stop the skydive, turn 180 degrees away from the center of the formation, and track (fly horizontally) to gain safety separation from other jumpers before deployment.

Alarm 2: Pull Altitude (e.g., 3,500 Feet)

A rapid, high-pitched beep. This signals that you must immediately pull your pilot chute.

Alarm 3: Hard Deck / Alarm Limit (e.g., 2,500 Feet)

A continuous, solid siren tone (flatline). If you hear this tone and are still in freefall, you are rapidly approaching the firing altitude of your automatic activation device (AAD). If you do not have a functional main canopy over your head, you must immediately initiate emergency procedures.

Advanced Features: Canopy Alarms

Some premium audibles (like the L&B Optima II) feature a separate set of canopy alarms. These emit subtle tones at low altitudes (e.g., 1,000, 600, and 300 feet) under canopy to help you time your landing pattern (downwind, base, and final approach) consistently.

Key Takeaways

Impact protection is verified by CE EN966 certification (e.g., Cookie G4). Older models like the G3 protect against line snags but lack formal impact ratings.
Always install a cutaway system on your helmet if you plan to mount a camera to prevent fatal line-snag hazards.
Analog altimeters require zero batteries and are easy to scan peripherally, while digital altimeters offer precise numbers, automatic zeroing, and digital logs.
Audibles are backups, not primary tools. Never rely solely on an audible to tell you when to pull.
Configure your audible with three distinct freefall alarms: Break-off (4,500 ft), Pull (3,500 ft), and Hard Deck (2,500 ft) to maintain altitude awareness.

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Sources:

USPA Skydiver's Information Manual (SIM): Section 5-2 (Personal Equipment and Accessories)
European Committee for Standardization (CEN): EN966 (Helmets for Airborne Sports)
Larsen & Brusgaard Support: Viso II+ & Protrack II User Manuals
Alti-2 Technologies: Galaxy and Ares II Technical Specifications