Helmets - SUP surfing

[coldsup]

Sad Story
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2013/06/12/452989_gold-coast-news.html

very sad indeed.

Not many folk surf SUP at all where I am and I'm often out on my own or away from crowds so reckon I might look at a Gath. I reckon it's just a thing that surfers rarely wear them.....but in all other watersports they do and I have done so .....so I'm puzzled as to why I don't! Problem is I wear a 5 or 6 mm hooded suit most of the year so not sure it will be practical

[getsupngo]

Crazy how I almost always wear one when I sup now but don't when windsurfing as others seem to do the opposite.

I had an incident windsurfing where some kook landed his forward loop a few inches from my head. Wow! you can loop, and you're a kook. A friend was close by and said the kook saw me in the water but still went for the stupid loop. Kook apologized as I advised him that he almost killed me, helmet or not. I get mostly concerned about the dangers of some dangerous kooks riding out there. I learned to quickly figure out who they are, always keep track of where they are, and keep safe distances in the impact zone. Sometimes it turns into a high speed chess game out there in the waves.

         

[GizzeeNZ]

I can't possibly imagine why many of you can fail to grasp the concept that our heads are fragile structures protecting our brains....us humans are fragile creatures........cast aside your "I am the Wonderman" or Wonderwoman concepts and start living in the real world......wear a helmet

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

I wear a helmet when windsurfing. I was sailing in 20 mph winds and I fell backwards, then then the mast came down right on my head. I saw stars and was a little dazed. I floated to one of our recovery points on the Hudson, so I was okay. As I floated and got pushed by the wind, a flock of about ten vultures circled overhead. That was sure reassuring.

After that I got a bright yellow helmet, the better to be seen when in trouble. I don't wear it when I SUP, but I'm mostly on flat water or little waves. I don't think it's necessary then, but if I saw the need I would wear it.

[Wetstuff]

I'm with downwindave.. My 'surf helmet' are my two arms - even before I try to figure, which -end-is-up, the back of hand is in front of my face the other arm over the top of my head. It's a programmed reflex.

That bill on that baseball style cap looks like a neck fracture waiting to happen.

Jim

[SUPflorida]

"I think I'd rather risk the one in a million chance of injury"

"So your saying Iv got a chance" ...Dumb & Dumber

[spookini]

I live in a non-crowded surf environment (New England), maybe if the local spots were chock full of OPB (other people's boards), I'd consider it.  IMO, a SUP helmet is not akin to a bike or ski helmet... it's closer to wearing a mouthgaurd during those activities.  (You fall of your bike, you're very likely to hit your head.  And yes, you POSSIBLY could damage your teeth...)  So do you automatically reach for a mouthgaurd when heading out on the bike?

To each his own -- if you wanna wear one, go for it.  Here's a contrarian thought -- if you're concerned about knocking yourself out, maybe consider an inflatable?  I surf one, and it's pretty much removed the danger factor from self-inflicted kook injury.  (Bouncy board and rubber fins.)  Also, many ppl are undergoing "sup reduction" -- shorter shapes, which I think would be safer in a controlled wipeout.

National health-care  should get the government into full regulation mode as soon as "they"  have to pay for our injuries.  

'Creek, they (we) are already paying for it.   When Joe the uninsured skater (who flips burgers) gets rushed to the ER...  (Whoops, wrong thread.  )

[spookini]

"I think I'd rather risk the one in a million chance of injury"

"So your saying Iv got a chance" ...Dumb & Dumber

Florida, pre-SUP I was a rather serious road cyclist; since 1986 I've always worn a helmet on rides.  Never wore a mouthgaurd though!  

[SUP Viking]

Most of our SUP buddies in Okinawa wear helmets. Mostly because waves break on shallow reef and that seems to be much more of a hazard than the board it self.

(blurry pic)

[SUPflorida]

Spookini...My comment was just for fun in response to the trigger.. " one in a million"  

I don't wear a helmet for water sports...never came close to needing one except in two instances...hard backside bottom turn on a 6'-0" short board ...fin broke loose and it came around and hit me right under the left ear...I semi-blacked out...that gave me a broken ear drum...same board did that 50 times before and I always caught the nose with a inside middle block right before it hit me...that time I just wasn't quite fast enough...the second time was when I was riding a wave ski and rolled on a shallow sand bar....sand never felt so hard I am more concerned about breaking my neck than getting bopped on the head for the most part.

Everything in life is a risk...getting out of bed is a risk....I don't want to do stupid things but I also don't want to live in fear. One of the biggest gifts my father gave me was to down play injury...I was constantly getting cut, bruised, battered by the things I did...when I would come home to get patched up he would always tell me "That's nothing....should of seen what I saw in the war". No sympathy....To this day I still hear him. So glad he didn't let me grow up to be one of those people that are afraid of their shadow...

[SteamboatBORN]

 

[SteamboatBORN]

Everything in life is a risk...getting out of bed is a risk....I don't want to do stupid things but I also don't want to live in fear. One of the biggest gifts my father gave me was to down play injury...I was constantly getting cut, bruised, battered by the things I did...when I would come home to get patched up he would always tell me "That's nothing....should of seen what I saw in the war". No sympathy....To this day I still hear him. So glad he didn't let me grow up to be one of those people that are afraid of their shadow...
[/quote]

Kids nowadays are kinda pansies! They go to the hospital for a cut or cough! Parents wash their hands after touching anything making them sterile. I prob should have gone to hospital for a lot of things growing up, but you rub some dirt in it, put on your big boy pants and do it again. Scars were a badge of childhood in the mountains. BUT I am no child anymore and things hurt and ache a lot more. When I get to the shore later in life I won't use a helmet for surfing, but on river its a must. I am very biased towards helmets and have no experience with SUP surf. Totally depends on what you sup, where you sup and what conditions you sup in. 

[SUPflorida]

Yes...my wife is anal about the anti-bac wipes, but my grandfather told me that "everyone has to eat a peck of dirt before they die"...that's about 8 quarts or 2 gallons.

[WingSuit]

I live in a non-crowded surf environment (New England), maybe if the local spots were chock full of OPB (other people's boards), I'd consider it.  IMO, a SUP helmet is not akin to a bike or ski helmet... it's closer to wearing a mouthgaurd during those activities.  (You fall of your bike, you're very likely to hit your head.  And yes, you POSSIBLY could damage your teeth...)  So do you automatically reach for a mouthgaurd when heading out on the bike?

To each his own -- if you wanna wear one, go for it.  Here's a contrarian thought -- if you're concerned about knocking yourself out, maybe consider an inflatable?  I surf one, and it's pretty much removed the danger factor from self-inflicted kook injury.  (Bouncy board and rubber fins.)  Also, many ppl are undergoing "sup reduction" -- shorter shapes, which I think would be safer in a controlled wipeout.

National health-care  should get the government into full regulation mode as soon as "they"  have to pay for our injuries.  

'Creek, they (we) are already paying for it.   When Joe the uninsured skater (who flips burgers) gets rushed to the ER...  (Whoops, wrong thread.  )

er uh, I think the difference is that teeth can be repaired, your brain cannot .... 

[SteamboatBORN]

er uh, I think the difference is that teeth can be repaired, your brain cannot .... 


[/quote]

Thats a NO BRAINER!

Had too, sorry!