Why wear a Helmet?

[serge]

I wear one so people think i am a kook and they stay away from me on the water and the beach &&&

Ha , that is the reason I always wear my helmet. but wait I am a kook , damn !!!!

People stop wearing helmet when someone shows up with a camera ... funny how that works ;-)

All the world's a stage !

Since we're on the subject, what up with the shorts over the wetsuit , now there's a safety device ;-)


S

[fiddyfiddy]

Also glasses fog faster with reduced air flow so can't wear them at the same time.

I adjust my seaspecs strap to be loose when wearing a helmet which increases airflow sufficiently. The straps don't need to be tightened since the helmet will keep the glasses in place.

[uncle rico]

Helmet for me all the time.

Risk of looking like a kook is certainly higher than risk of head injury, but potential consequences of the latter make the trade-off worthwhile.

[knyfe]

only with helmet. It saved my butt MANY times over the last 12years.

There were also several "clinical" (so it needs to be so bad that you end up in the ER) studies on injuries from kite surfing and guess what - 90% of them could have been prevented with a helmet as most of the damage was done to the head.

G

[le noun]

I just wish I could wear that GoPro stuck to my forehead.

[dealbst]

I always were my helmet. And after seeing that kiter who got slammed into the log on the beach and air lifted to the ER yesterday, I will continue to do so. Sometimes looking a little dorky is not so bad. =

-SPD

[nbon]

+1 for helmet. Helps give me eardrum protection from botched landings and makes body dragging a little more pleasant.

I'm a dork anyway so people know what to expect when they see me on the beach. I have a Gath and really like it.

As for the shorts over the wetsuit, that enhances the dork factor! Actually there's a harness hidden inside which also takes up less space in the gear bag than a regular harness.

N

[adamrod]

how come almost nobody at 3rd uses the depower strap when launching or landing a kite? The frequenet launch method I see at 3rd always amuses me: depower strap at full power and very rapid ascent to 1 or 12 o'clock.

If you're using a bar with below-the-bar-depower, the depower strap doesn't actually change how much you can depower the kite. i.e. Imagine a scale where 10 is max power the kite can ever deliver and 0 is min power the kite can ever deliver. if fully powered up: sheeted out = 0 and sheeted in = 10, if you pull half of the depower, then fully sheeted out = 0 and sheeted in = 5. So, regardless of the position of the depower strap, I still have the ability to get the most depower possible.

this doesn't apply for folks with above-the-bar depower however...

[etxxz]

I think some people are just afraid to take a good hit so put tons of armour on, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it shouldnt be an excuse to be careless either. A board in the head isn't as bad as you think, no chop at 3rd ave can swing a board to your head hard enough to knock you out. Maybe bleed a little but you won't know cause ur wet and u'll still keep going. Wind and Water on my face and hair are one of the things i enjoy most about the sport. I'd rather bleed every blue moon.

...I probably should have worn one while learning though.

[sloughslut]

[quote

If you're using a bar with below-the-bar-depower, the depower strap doesn't actually change how much you can depower the kite. i.e. Imagine a scale where 10 is max power the kite can ever deliver and 0 is min power the kite can ever deliver. if fully powered up: sheeted out = 0 and sheeted in = 10, if you pull half of the depower, then fully sheeted out = 0 and sheeted in = 5. So, regardless of the position of the depower strap, I still have the ability to get the most depower possible.

this doesn't apply for folks with above-the-bar depower however...

:-k I am lost on this, if you shorten front lines above or below depower , same thing?