Time for helmets?

[LloydP]

Does any use, or require helmets for wakeboarders? This story appeared in the Raleigh N&O today. I personally carry a large umbrella liability policy, but am beginning to think I should start requiring people to wear helmets. I know of several people I ride with who have gotten concussions.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/01/712962/death-puts-focus-on-wakeboarding.html

[tg0824SSVGG]

My wife is a hydrofoiler - and she ALWAYS wears a helmet, and we encourage the same
for everyone else. ...

Todd

[jet]

My wife switched over to wearing one, and Im following. I finally getting to the point in my riding when I need one. lol. You can use the skate boarder types and pick them up at any sports store. Its on my list to do. Jet

[Okie Boarder]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here...


White, 22, was being pulled on a wakeboard behind a boat filled with friends when she fell off and hit her head against the water. The impact caused her brain to slam against the inside of her skull and bleed. She had no bruising or broken bones.

How would a helmet make a difference? I can understand if your head hit something like a rock or a rail on a slider where your head received blunt force trauma, but how is a helmet going to prevent your brain from bouncing around inside your skull?

[LloydP]

I thought about that too. But then again, wearing a helmet certainly would cushion a blow, and you would have a much better chance of avoiding brain damage that way.

[Okie Boarder]

Again...devil's advocate.

If a helmet cushions a blow effectively, why are you seeing such a push for rules to not hit helmet to helmet in football?

[tg0824SSVGG]

We wear helmets to protect ears when crashing to the side, or in case part of the 35 pound death blade were to hit your head. Concussion can still happen

[Fman]

I am also a big fan of helmets, most people who wakeboard on my boat use them, or at least I recommend them and they are available. My 8 year old always wears one, he has caught an edge a few times this year and withouta doubt it has helped soften the blow when hitting the water.

IMO, here is the BEST helmet available money can buy.... roughly $130, but they are great and the ear protection is the best on the market. Once you wear one of these all other helmets feel like they dont fit properly.

http://www.gathsports.com/productsingle.php?id=107

[tg0824SSVGG]

Alison like ProTec but ShredReady makes nice helmets too bad also have an older Gath

[Fman]

Again...devil's advocate.

If a helmet cushions a blow effectively, why are you seeing such a push for rules to not hit helmet to helmet in football?

I dont think comparing Football to wakeboarding is a real good comparison of head trauma. The NFL is protecting players from high speed collisions that are causing head trauma even with helmets on.

Bottom line is you will definitely help your chances of not getting hurt wearing a helmet, then not having one on. Its not a 100% guarantee, but if you have ever caught an edge and slammed into the water at 23 mph, it hurts like hell, and you can easily get a concussion from it not wearing a helmet.

Helmets like the GATH are very comfortable, and super light weight... not really uncomfortable wearing one of these.

[docdrs]

The head is a valuable tool and I use mine every day.........the worst blows as i have experienced are to the back of the head to the water blows at 37-40 mph .....all my front head to water blows usu resulted in only my eyelids being turned inside out, when I didn't close them fast enough.......and these were at 40 - 45 mph......these blows were all sustained in barefooting......lucky I have never hit the side of my head at these speeds but I have heard of guys blowing ear drums out........ not sure if a helmet would help with this...as far as wakeboarding it is the knocking the wind out of me that i have always hated ...as far as the article " White was a beginner"? then there was probably an underlying condition because if as a beginner just crossing the wake she sustained a blow that killed her.....then i should have had 20 or more deaths behind my boat and off the boom in the last 10 years........there is more to the story than what we are hearing.......its newspaper sensationalism........I truly feel sorry for the girl and wish it never had happened but common sense needs to be taken rather than a litigious one. Helmets for rails, jumps and such definitely, but to mandate them for tubing skiing wakeboarding ...I think not.....never would i discourage anyone from using one but I believe it should be a personal choice.
I also wonder if everyone wore one what would be the increase in neck and spinal cord injuries as the bucket on your head might increase torquing on these.

just my opinion and one not to jump on the bandwagon

[Okie Boarder]

Todd,

I can see a lot of logic using the helmet for your application.

I could also see a lot of logic using a helmet wakeskating since the board isn't attached and could thump the melon. There could be an argument for that with respect to wakeboarding too. We have a friend that got hit in the head with her board while it was still attached.

Fman,

I understand what you are trying to say. My point, though, is I've yet to see any evidence for wearing a helmet wakeboarding to prevent a concussion. I understand the other injuries. If we were mandated to wear helmets we would still be in the same shoes as the NFL players. We would still be getting concussions due to a high speed collision; head hitting water rather than a helmet to helmet contact.

[LloydP]

Thanks guys. This is a good discussion. I think I will end up buying a couple helmets (in different sizes) this winter, and start encouraging folks to wear them next season.

[Fman]

Todd,

Fman,

I understand what you are trying to say. My point, though, is I've yet to see any evidence for wearing a helmet wakeboarding to prevent a concussion. I understand the other injuries. If we were mandated to wear helmets we would still be in the same shoes as the NFL players. We would still be getting concussions due to a high speed collision; head hitting water rather than a helmet to helmet contact.

Has anyone had a concussion wearing a helmet? I know people who have concussions with them not on, but have yet to hear of anyone who sustained a concussion with a helmet on.

I also think people take a "concussion" lightly, like its not really a big deal. It is the swelling of the brain, which can lead to a bleed/stroke. People have died because of them, or sustained brain damage. Nothing to be taken lightly. Great idea on the helmet purchases, again, another bump for the GATH.... worth the $.

[Okie Boarder]

You mean JUST wakeboarding?

[Fman]

You mean JUST wakeboarding?

Yes, just wakeboarding not sure what other watersports people would wear a helmet with (except for airchair). Have never seen anyone slalom skiing with a helmet on.

[LloydP]

I have never seen anyone wearing a helmet skiing either. Of course, I have never had a fall on a slalom ski that came close to those where I catch an edge on a wakeboard!

[Okie Boarder]

I'm not sure any exhaustive studies have been done to determine whether the helmet prevents concussions or not. I'm not convinced that a helmet will prevent them. I think they are a great idea for sliders, and other features that you could hit your head on. I also think they are a great idea for the air chair in case it hits you in the head. I even think it isn't a bad idea to consider for wakeboarding because the board does have some potential of hitting you in the head. But, not for concussion prevention.

There are plenty of other sports out there that use helmets to protect the head, with good reason, but even those don't prevent concussions. I just don't see how a wakeboard helmet would be any different. I mean, do skateboarders who wear helmets not get concussions? I doubt they are hitting much harder than a nasty edge catch side faceplant.

[Squeeg333]

I can see another side of the coin to this discussion: the false sense of security that a helmet can bring. I can speak first hand on this, at least, from a snow sports perspective.

I grew up skiing, and switched to snowboarding in high school (to be with the cool kids). Busted myself up pretty good a few times, and figured since I'd alreayd had 3 concussions, I should try to prevent another. 'Prevent' being the key word. So, snagged a helmet. I can vouge that it softened the blow in hard crashes, and I would guarantee prevented at least one concussion. But, I can also attest that it gave me a false sense of security. It made me feel a little more invincible, and thus, busted myself up even more!

Now it's similar, but different in wakeboarding and watersports in general. Water gives a little, but really, not much when you think about it. I had concussed once wakeboarding, and it was from a hit to the back of the head. Would a helmet have prevented this? I couldn't say. But it might not have hurt. Though, if we were mandated to wear helmets, I could see an increase in the injuries of other parts of the body, because people may feel they are safer, and can try more/harder tricks thinking the helmet will protect them.

I fully agree, in any sport, it's a personal decision. The Tour de France didn't used to mandate helmets, now they do. Hell football didn't start out with helmets, now obviously they do!

It's a to-each-his-own decision I think. I, personally, won't on the water. But in snow sports, for sure. It's more of self preservation than protecting from hard spills, as I don't do that hard core riding anymore.

I say ride how you feel comfortable. Go big, go small, spin, flip, or just rid in the wake. Whatever gets the stoke on is cool in my book! Just have fun, be safe, and if something goes south, learn from it. Hindsight is always 20/20.

[tg0824SSVGG]

I borrowed this from the hydrofoiling forum. This was part of a thread written
about wearing helmets hydrofoiling.

At last years (2009) National Championship, which my wife and I run, one of the
pro riders was knocked unconcious on a crash -- came out of his ski and was
face down in the water (and blue when we got to him) -- anyway, one of hte people
there is a good friend of mine that is a neurologist wrote the following in response:



We have had this discussion on a number of occasions over the years. Luke Steele and I have made some really pungent observations about people who don't wear helmets. We had some pretty good beer-fueled arguments about helmets around the camp fires, for that matter. The helmet is undeniably good for something solid hitting you in the head. It may prevent a laceration or a skull fracture. I know from dealing with snowboarders, skiers, and bicyclists professionally that helmets will keep you alive but still leave you with your bell well rung. The key word is ALIVE. Will the helmet PREVENT a concussion? Probably not. Will it Minimize the skull fracture or laceration? Absolutely! If you would like, I can up load a paper my daughter wrote/researched for an engineering class she took at Colo. School of Mines. It is highly technical but it concludes that helmets do help protect you.

So ask yourself: Should I wear a helmet and look gay (or like a dork or whatever) or should I go without the helmet and risk splitting my head open on a log or a foil? Nothing is going to protect you 100%. Nothing will eliminate some of the risk. You might fall on the dock and get a worse concussion than you will ever get foiling. Your ex-best friend my punch you out and you can get a concussion. But riding without a helmet is a risk. You can live long and well with a little precaution, or you can live as a drooling idiot. Some of you no longer have to worry about that choice. So use your head for something besides a battering ram, wear a bucket.

[rustey]

I would imagine you would want a helmet specific to the sport, in skiing and bicycling the helmets absorb the impact lessening the blow, one or two good falls and the helmets no good. In football they use denser foam and it doesn't absorb the energy as well. The skateboard and wakeboard helmets use a less dense foam that absorbs some impact but not allot as its not very dense to begin with, it's filled with air and returns to its original shape. The severity of the falls in wakeboarding always surprises me, last one rattled my head and ruptured an ear drum. It find it hard to believe me that water can be that hard, I was thinking maybe it's not the impact of the water and that a mouthguard might help. At any rate a helmet that covers your ears and a mouthguard might do the trick.

[JMVOTTO]

I were a helmet on a bike, i wear one snow skiing, after a few eye lid peelers i now have one for wakeboarding. smart to protect the ol peanut...