Folks,

I'd be interested in hearing what helmets people are using when kitesurfing. I've been using a Gath for sometime, but recently received a rather nasty smack in the head by my board. I had the Gath on at the time, but had a bad case of head spins after receiving the smack. It occurred to me that my Gath is really only useful for saving my head from cuts, but doesn't really provide much (if anything) in the way of impact absorption - which is more often than not the cause of serious head injuries.

I've seen a few photos of wake boarders who seem to be using a "proper" helmet. Any idea what they are using ?

Kieran.

I've been using a JOFA ( I think Svedish) for Hokey.It is more confortable and It provides much more protection for shoks, but it is not long as Gath on the neck.-
Cheers

I used a Gath with face shield for windsurfing which was fine for the occassional flyover mast crash. After seeing I guy dragged across rocks in Mexico, after seeing his mutilated face, I realized Gath's eggshell construction was not sufficient for the rigors of kiting.

I like the Predator full cut for about $60. Just about any whitewater kayaking helmet will do. There are lots of cheaper skateboarding helmets out there but you have to be careful with corriding components.

I have been using a Protec Ace Wake for the last several months. It has some of the best padding that I have seen on the market without making it excessively heavy or bulky. It also costs a lot less than a Gath.

For photos checkout:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/caribecatalog/protec.html

For guys that worry about appearences, it even looks good, sort of.

Rick Iossi

Hello kieran and kite-a-holic,

Your accident accounts sound like they carry some important lessons for the rest of us. For the longest time I was saying wear a helmet. For the last year or so I have been saying wear a good helmet. Your experiences point out the importance of this. I would like to add your accounts to the KIC. No names will be mentioned of course.

Please provide information regarding kite size, wind speed and relative direction, location, relative rider experience, safety gear as it relates to the accident and what exactly happened along with injuries and rehab. Please email the info to me at:
flkitesurfer@hotmail.com.

Thanks for your help in this. We need all the good input that we can get on these issues.

Rick Iossi

the best helmet :
http://www.3d-kite.com/produits/casquelightgrey.htm

I use my old whitewater helmet. My wildwater brand is $60 us and very comfy with full coverage except ears. I also have a fiberglass "POLO" style that looks much sharper though a little heavier. There are some excellent whitewater helmets out there and you can have them made with custom paints/sparkles/fades/designs or whatever with most of them less than $100 US. Lidds.com, rockhedz.com are examples. I can find more if anyone needs help.
Phil

Folks, many thanks for your replies. I've certainly got a few helmets to look at.

Rick, I will e-mail the full details shortly.

It's probably worth noting that after that incident I started using a buoyancy vest (yes I know very uncool). But I was very disoriented after the smack and certainly had trouble keeping my head above water (which was very deep btw).

interestingly, here in victoria (the australian state i live in) all kiters are required by law to use buoyancy vests.