protection gear

[winged surfer]

hi,
do you have any recommendation for the best protection gear?
i normally use a Gath helmet which i find very light (but very expensive) and i also find very confortable but bulkier the Side on Helmet (only 20 usd).
I'm thinking to buy also an impact vest, i was looking for the new Combat Foil Vest from Neilpryde which seems not so bulky and confortable. Has anyone tested it or have some other suggestions?
i also use a 2 mm full wetsuit even in summer time to avoid cut on the skin from the foil
thanks

[Dwight (DW)]

There is less whiplash with the Gath, than the common helmets. We used the NP helmet when kite foiling, but the whiplash from the very high speed crashes could be felt versus no helmet. So we went searching for less mass. The Gath helmet, while expensive, felt better in crashes.

Winging crashes are slower, so not a concern.

[surfcowboy]

I bought an O’neil impact vest (shredder?) and love it. Hell I’d surf in it as it’s easier on my ribs. Can’t see a reason to not wear a vest if you’re already in a wetsuit.

[PonoBill]

I like the ion zip front vests. Whatever vest you get you need to pay some attention to how you're going to keep it from pulling up and potentially covering your face in a crash. I have firsthand experience with this--and I'll tell you that a vest around your head is the last thing you need to be struggling with when you're leashed to two large unruly devices in grinding surf. I used a key to poke holes next the zipper a few inches up from the bottom that I tie my boardshorts through. the vest still rises up in the back, but that's just uncomfortable, not dangerous. Don't use a knife to make the hole, a thin slit creates a potential tearing line.

I have a lot of helmets, and I tried several for the first few days of foiling. I didn't think they were a positive addition at the time, but I'm probably wrong. I've hit the water hard enough to give me a headache and make my arm go numb. As a longtime motorsports racer with a penchant for research, I've dug deeper into the protection calculation for helmets than most people would care to delve. There are a set of conditions during an accident that helmets help, and a set of things they worsen. Heads are heavy and poorly supported to begin with. Adding weight and surface area to your noggin is not without consequence. In a race car, on a motorcycle or bike, the risk/reward falls totally on the side of wearing them all the time. Yes, there will be occasions when they cause more harm than they prevent, but that's down at the level of occasional anecdotal statements that simply relate to the fact that no protection against a dynamic environment is absolute. "When he hit the tree, the heavy helmet broke his neck". Yup, it happens. But generally, if you aren't wearing a helmet when you're tossed to the pavement you splash your brains everywhere. If you see that happen once you'll wear a helmet if you're moving your bike a few hundred feet. I've seen it twice.

in water, however, the calculations probably shift a bit. There's less research on the efficacy, and the medium is 1000 times denser. So I just don't know where this comes down unless I manage to hit the foil with my nose, like Jim Winneman recently did on Maui. A helmet might have helped, or it might have braced his head to let the foil cut deeper when the head couldn't rebound away from the foil. To prevent that accident it would need a faceguard.

That's a lot of words to say "I don't know, but I wear a vest."

[Wetstuff]

"pay some attention to how you're going to keep it from pulling up and potentially covering your face in a crash."   Sorry you had to learn that for the rest of us, Bill ...but glad you mentioned it.

Jim

[Caribsurf]

I find more contact with the foil carrying in and out of the water than any crashes. I was pretty nervous when I first started , but 14 sessions later and a number of crashes, I can say i never even came close to the foil.  Still i am wearing a helmet and padded vest, but crashes are few now and may l reconsider much to my wife’s objection.

[radair]

Dredging up this old topic instead of starting a new one. Just wanted to say I used a bump cap for the first time today. Not a substitute for a real helmet, but it fits nicely under a hood, bucket hat or baseball cap and provides a thin shell of protection. I'll keep wearing it.

Looks like it's currently unavailable - https://www.amazon.com/Ergodyne-Skullerz-8945F-Universal-Baseball/dp/B09D16Q74W?pd_rd_w=CiiRo&pf_rd_p=306cc3dd-f716-4afe-8aeb-47781d60c63f&pf_rd_r=1BMSCRHY1MD11EAFSG3E&pd_rd_r=b4e48a75-6a17-420d-9c68-3d851b80c073&pd_rd_wg=gwXay&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_csi_vtp_0_t

[FedorBOS]

I went no helmet for a while, but have gone back. Not so much because of concern about head impacts, but because it allows me NOT to worry about head impacts. On winging falls I can just hold onto the wing and let it pull me as far from the board as possible and with a helmet and impact vest I'm not worried about hitting the water hard, so I can stay focused on not destroying my gear. Surf foiling (SUP) I have been doing just wetsuit, but it probably makes almost more sense there to do vest and helmet as you are more likely to find your board with your head/body.

My search for the ultimate helmet continues. I have not bit the bullet on a Gath, but based on comments above I think I will give it a try. The new Simba helmets look very cool... unfortunately a little too cool for my skill level, so I don't think I can pull it off. The Pro Tech Ace is a reliable go to, and light, but does not fit my head right. I think my current helmet is NP - comfortable, but a little big and could be lighter. Have tried a swath of kayaking and other water helmets, and they are all WAY too heavy.

https://simbasurf.com/

[Badger]

I like how the Simba Helmets look and how they protect your face a bit but I'm not going to pay $200 for one.

[PonoBill]

I have one you can have. I look like a complete idiot in the thing. Normally I don't care about how I look, especially helmets and other protective gear, but that thing explores new levels of dorkiness. It looked even funnier on my brother.

[Fishman]

One reason I wear a helmet is the color. Sounds strange but it may be a bit location dependant, and partially my own phobia of being hit by a boater.

On our busy lake the contrast in color so a boater can better see me in less than optimal overcast conditions gives me some peace of mind. If you ever have a wing blow out in middle of a big piece of water the a little color of orange, white or yellow can make you a LOT easier to spot. I guess my fear comes mainly from spending many hours looking for people in the water. Sometimes it's a bit like finding a needle in a hay stack, and that's when your actually looking for them.

[Dontsink]

One reason I wear a helmet is the color. Sounds strange but it may be a bit location dependant, and partially my own phobia of being hit by a boater.

On our busy lake the contrast in color so a boater can better see me in less than optimal overcast conditions gives me some peace of mind. If you ever have a wing blow out in middle of a big piece of water the a little color of orange, white or yellow can make you a LOT easier to spot. I guess my fear comes mainly from spending many hours looking for people in the water. Sometimes it's a bit like finding a needle in a hay stack, and that's when your actually looking for them.

+1 on the color.
I normally go basic black but next helmet will be white or orange.Even white makes you twice as visible.

That Simba looks superprotective but too much Trojan Wars for me

No Gath Neos L size in Europe until March 22,  supply and production chain is reeling in all sectors.

[FRP]

I have one you can have. I look like a complete idiot in the thing. Normally I don't care about how I look, especially helmets and other protective gear, but that thing explores new levels of dorkiness. It looked even funnier on my brother.

Bill,
Is this your brother??

[PonoBill]

Yes, though mine is bright yellow because other colors weren't quite geeky enough.

[dns]

For OP, I have and really like the Forward WIP 50N impact vest. Super comfy, doesn't ride up, works with a harness, solid impact protection, extra flotation so my old ass can rest without inhaling water, and it has nice pockets for those big downwind epics that I aspire to do.