score one for the helmet and impact vest
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:47 pm
I had a kitemare due to my own clumsiness and incompetence yesterday, and my helmet and impact vest made a big difference in the consequences, so I thought I should post this to share the experience.
I was coming to shore riding beachbreak in gusty winds of about 30 mph (flying an 8 an not overpowered at all) . We had been out about 3 hours total and I admit I was pretty tired. As I kicked the board off my feet I hit a small escarpment of sand and tripped. When I fell I failed to keep good control of the bar, and the kite powered up bigtime as I was falling. I got jerked into the air horizontally and flipped over onto my back. I hit the hard sand by the water on my head and lower back. The impact was so hard it rattled my teeth and left me dazed for a minute or two. The kite had landed on a side of the window and was stable once the bar was released.
There are a lot of things I should have done to avoid this, in particular paying more attention to the kite and being ready to release the bar as soon as I tripped. I also should have been thinking that small kites in 30mph are a lot different thana 12m in 20 mph!
What I wanted to stress in this post is that I took a big impact on the back of my head, and while my neck and scalp are sore I am fine and do not have a concussion. I am pretty sure the helmet made a big difference this time. The impact on my lower back ripped the fabric off my impact vest (it is pretty old) but I think it also helped me from having a lot more impact bruising or possibly even disk or spine damage.
So while I know helmets and vests won't always save you, and while I TOTALLY agree is is best not to f$%k up like I did in the first place, this incident was worth the years of riding with a helmet and vest where I never needed them once. It certainly made me determined to wear a helmet all the time and a vest in any remotely difficult conditions.
I was coming to shore riding beachbreak in gusty winds of about 30 mph (flying an 8 an not overpowered at all) . We had been out about 3 hours total and I admit I was pretty tired. As I kicked the board off my feet I hit a small escarpment of sand and tripped. When I fell I failed to keep good control of the bar, and the kite powered up bigtime as I was falling. I got jerked into the air horizontally and flipped over onto my back. I hit the hard sand by the water on my head and lower back. The impact was so hard it rattled my teeth and left me dazed for a minute or two. The kite had landed on a side of the window and was stable once the bar was released.
There are a lot of things I should have done to avoid this, in particular paying more attention to the kite and being ready to release the bar as soon as I tripped. I also should have been thinking that small kites in 30mph are a lot different thana 12m in 20 mph!
What I wanted to stress in this post is that I took a big impact on the back of my head, and while my neck and scalp are sore I am fine and do not have a concussion. I am pretty sure the helmet made a big difference this time. The impact on my lower back ripped the fabric off my impact vest (it is pretty old) but I think it also helped me from having a lot more impact bruising or possibly even disk or spine damage.
So while I know helmets and vests won't always save you, and while I TOTALLY agree is is best not to f$%k up like I did in the first place, this incident was worth the years of riding with a helmet and vest where I never needed them once. It certainly made me determined to wear a helmet all the time and a vest in any remotely difficult conditions.