helmets - health and safety

[john -]

Just got my first helmet.....judicious editing....... Figure it's worth protecting my most valuable asset.

- protecting valuable assets - in cricket we call this a "cod protector"

[K-man]

Mullet mania? Good common sense,yer right

[john -]

nearly 10 years wearing a helmet 99% of the time

no major incident to report

today after not wearing it as regular lately (1% of the above) planted my forehead into the reef at point impossble

lucky i had it on cos it could have been very very ugly

i stopped wearing it consistantly due to lack of incident and to keep cooler in summer

think i will be very regular from now on...on reefs anyway...also a guy just missed having his head speared today after anothers leggie broke sending lone board flying through the wash

[fooj]

After wearing mine for about 6 mos, I've had some minor contact with hard objects (board, not reef-knock on wood) that probably would have inflicted some pain at least, stitches at most. At $130 copay for an eroom visit to get 4 stitches (my lip, before helmet use) the helmet has probably already paid for itself. I've probably got about an 90% usage rate, I find it nice to NOT wear it. One less considered benefit: it gives excellent sun protection.

Something interesting from Rivendell Bicycle Works winter 04-05 catalog:

"Ride as if your brain is in a flimsy sack (fs)
Helmets don't guarantee safety, and it's with mixed feelings that we even offer one. Most of here wear one almost always. Whether you wear one or not is up to you, but if you do wear one, pretend it's not there. If you wear one with the idea that now you're safe, you may be in more danger than you'd be without it-because the feeling of safety tends to make people compensate, and take more chances. This phenomenon is called "risk compensation," and it is common in downhill skiing, rock climbing, and other sports where protective gear is common."

The Gath hat took some time to get used to but now it is just about a standard piece of equipment for me. Wearing it makes me feel beyond cool, like some marginalized freak but isn't that what us half men are?

[john -]

get well Scott...can be worn during recovery

[KED]

For those of you with a helmet that has a visor... a stand up surfer paddled over to talk to me a few years ago I was on a waveski and we were both wearing a Gath helmet (with retractable visors). He told me about a product called Rain-X. You can find it at Walmart or an auto parts store. Anyway, it is for spraying onto the windshield of a car during rainy weather. Water rolls right off the windshield...hardly need the wipers. Anyway, it also works on the visor of a helmet. Lasts for a few sessions and then you just spray on another dose. So now, instead of trying to see through the crusty salt water marks that like to stay on the visor, I get to look through a clear visor. Cool stuff.
Helmets? I have two Gaths... keep one in the car and keep one in the truck. Will not surf without one. No helmet, no go Nothing can permanently ruin your life faster than a head/brain injury.

[nstatman]

Helmets look dumb and are uncomfortable - no argument there. They protect you from head injuries/trauma. They keep you warmer in the winter and protect you from surfers' ear. They keep the sun off your head in the summer protecting you from sun damage/cancer.

I am 56 and have had two ear surgeries , many skin operations and a concussion from an errant longboard. Don't know about you but I don't care what some addled teenager thinks of my appearance.

[KED]

Have been waveskiing for about 10 years and kboarding for about four. Always surf w/ a Gath helmet. Got slammed in the back of my head by my own board in some big surf a week or so ago... and it hurt even though I had a helmet on Would most likely have been knocked out had I not been wearing a it. Also... when I wipe out, the first thing I do is pull the visor down to protect my face from the board. I sometimes surf with Derek Ho (won the Pipeline Masters a few times) who lost an eye due to being hit by a board. I'd rather look weird than lose an eye or some teeth.

[MJ]

No arguments here. I've been wearing a gath hat with visor for about 12 years. One plus I find with the visor is it protects your eyes from spray when the wind is howling and from the sun as well. After surfing for 30 years I get ear aches in the water when I surf without it unless the water is warmer than 20 degrees, which is rare down here. For me its a preventative, hopefully, I'm 41 and when you speak to guys in their 50's who have had the ear op I don't particularly want to go there if I can avoid it. Still, most guys avoid them.

[KED]

You are absolutely right about the visor helping to deflect spray and sun. A product called Rainex helps to make the water just roll off of the surface of the visor... it's a car/windshield product that some people really like. But I still don't pull my visor down until I wipe out because I just do not like to compromise my visibility when I'm on a wave. But that is just me. I feel a whole lot safer when I pull down the visor when I'm in the wash though.... cuz in a wipeout I never know where the board is or what direction it may be coming from.

[MJ]

Never heard of Rainex, might see if the auto shops in Oz stock it or something similar. In general I only really ever used the visor like the peak on a cap. I'm short sighted so can't see that well normally let alone with a full visor obscuring vision that little bit more.

[james]

KED, I'd be wary of being hit in the visor by the board, the visor looks like the kind of plastic that could shatter into sharp shards if hit hard enough, it's not made from the same shock absorbing material as the helmet itself, so you could end up with worse injuries from the sharp plastic being driven into your face than if you were hit by the board

Maybe worth checking with Gath to see what they have to say about it.

James

[KED]

"...Maybe worth checking with Gath to see what they have to say about it. James"
_________________

Will do. Thanks for the suggestion.
~ KED