just wondering if a helmet really reduces impact on water...on sliders i can see wearing one...but just wakeboarding...im not sure...any info or factual info on this subject would be great ..and thanks..

See "Austin Hair's head injury" post

I am a 45 yo female. Just a rec rider. I started wearing a helmet after I took a couple of bad spills. Had a headache and nausea for a couple of days. It felt weird at first. But now I will not ride without it. My husband also wears one now. We figured we needed to save all the brain cells we could since we were not making money at this.. However we also sky-ski and are jumping pretty high and it makes a huge differance.

search this topic. there have been several posts about it.

Kuz...right on...I agree and i do the same thing. I NEVER ride without a helmet. I want my 11 year old to have a mom growing up.

Im sorry I must be old school but when I see people wearing helmets it makes me laugh. I know they can save you from serious injury and maybe even your life but I cant bring myself to wear one. Growing up nobody ever wore helmets when they rode bikes...now all the kids and adults wear them.....its just weird to see how things change so quickly....then again back when I was a kid all the cool kids played football basketball and baseball now its soccer when did that happen?

I have been pondering this topic lately.....How much of a difference would a helmet actually make and would it be more of a neck hazard then actual protection?

I just started wearing a helmet . . . too many concussions in my past, and now I have a soft head<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0>. My first time out with the brain bucket, I took a pretty good back plant, and the bucket did good . . . The helmet should be a good thing for myself. <BR> <BR>Cheers.

I use to think that about snow skiing and snowboarding but now you see a lot of people wearing them on the slopes.

You are going to find arguments, and valid ones, both ways. I'm concussion prone, took a big nasty digger 2 years ago and it put me off the water for 2 months. In fact, I still get 'tingly fingers' when I sleep on my left side. So I bought a helmet...last year took a hard heelside edge with my helmet on and re-concussed myself. Now I wear one about half the time because I believe my problem is getting the whiplash effect (which a helmet doesn't prevent), not so much my head hitting the water. My advice is to do what you are sure is safest for yourself. If you think helmets are lame, but safer...grow up and wear one, cause I for one am not into this sport to impress people, I'm into it because I love it and want to keep riding as long as possible.

Ding Ding Ding, Fight! <BR> <BR>This topic usually starts heated fights!

I get used too it during the winter. I like it in the winter b/c it keeps my head warm. During the spring and summer it seems to come off, and once you stop wearing itit never goes back until the winter. So far it is still on. It should prevent the eardrums from being blown out if not anything else..

Andy...so far it's been civil...give it a chance to stay that way!!

just started wearing one this season. I have not noticed any difference yet. took a couple of hard falls, and felt normal. the ear flaps are a plus for me. less chance of blowing an eardrum. <BR>Dan - you should try it out. it might give you that little boost of confidence you need to get you wake to wake!

i just got a helmet due to having a couple concussion's from different sports and my mom's making me wear it but haven't tested it out yet

i think i hurts more were one int comps makes you wear one it sucks

I have not had any concussions or whiplashes since I started wearing a helmet. When I first started wearing the helmet, it felt strange. Now that I am used to the helmet, I almost feel naked without one. It's probably because I'm bald.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/biggrin.gif" border=0>

popped my eardrum 3 times in 5 years... started wearing a helmet, no eardrum problems... In fact, helmet=problem solved.

to all the nay sayers...car air bags kill people and seat belts are uncool. Those are the reasons I have heard to not use them. Now it is the law kinda like INT's rules of wearing a helmet.

By Loren (helix_rider) on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 6:44 am: <BR> <BR>You are going to find arguments, and valid ones, both ways <BR> <BR>Loren I think you are right about saying there is a valid (key word valid) argument for wearing one;however, I dont think there are valid(once again key word valid) arguments for not wearing one. <BR> <BR>I dont particularly wear one myself but I do work in the medical field and i have never heard that a person got hurt b/c of wearing a helmet. On the other hand if you have ever worked in a hospital or medical field you would know that helmets have saved thousands of lives where no helmet can lead to severe brian damage or death. Im not just talking about wakeboarding im talking about sports in general. Baseball, football, hockey, snowboarding, ski flying and hundreds of others. Most recently with the deaths of several riders, Kite tubers exc. I think it would not hurt to wear one. <BR> <BR>on the other hand I dont think everyone needs to wear one. How many riders do you see on the lake that bust raleys, mobes or even double ups for that matter? Not very many. Wakeboarding for most of our population are RECREATIONAL riders. AKA WEEKEND WARRIORS. I myself will perhaps in the near future strap one on. I have taken beatings learning tricks. I have been knocked out trying Raleys off the Double up and never wore a helmet. Why b/c it wasnt cool. But neither is driving back to a rider that in knoced out. Wakeboarding is not "COOL" I ride for myself. I dont ride for anyone else but myself. (and Sponsors.) but Its not a image its a lifestyle. and the best lifestyle anyone can ask for. I hope people drop the hard core image that people think wakeboarding has and just ride. If you think people look like a tool for wearing a helmet than you might be the tool.

Thinking about looking into getting a helmet what brand would you guys recommend and what store online , Thanks

If you do decide to get a helmet, the Shred Ready Shaggy is nice. It's pricey, but once you strap in on it stays in place. It doesn't look too bad either. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.shredready.com" target="_blank">www.shredready.com</a>

i only wear a helmet dirtbiking... or if i'm forced to like when i skateboarded <BR> <BR>or doing something extremely stupid, but no, i probably won't even wear one when i try sliders this summer, if i get to try em

i personally dont like them. i've been hurt wakeboarding. but i'd honestly rather be hurt than look funny. i'll only wear one at owc, and if im trying something i never tried on a slider. if its just the usual on a slider i wont wear one. but if you are reading this. dont take my advice and sue me after you get hurt

<a href="http://www.shredready.com/products/phly.htm#" target="_blank">http://www.shredready.com/products/phly.htm#</a> <BR> I think this helmet is pretty tight.

If not looking "cool" means the difference in riding the rest of the day or having to be helped into the boat and watching (but not remembering), then I'll take my chances with the helmet. Besides, if you're worried about what others think, you're too dumb to have an opinion.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0>

if someone feels they need to wear a helmet then they should. <BR>i personally will never where a helmet unless its a comp. its water. not concrete, not wood, not dirt, not ice. water. wakeskating/boarding are some of the safest "action" sports. there is a higher chance for you to hit your head getting your board out of the trunk of your car then while riding. <BR>ive ridden with a helmet and i was not into it. <BR>i dont not wear a helmet because its not cool. if i did things because i wanted people to think i was cool i would stop wakeskating and strap up and hit some sweet raleys as i watch the girls take off their topsand then drink some beers with the bros. <BR>do things for yourself. <BR>dont worry what other people think. <BR>if you feel that you need to wear a helmet, go for it. as long as you feel safe and are smiling. thats what counts.

I just got a helmet the hyperlite one, and wore it for the first time yesterday. I was told if I wanted to wakeskate I had to wear a helmet so I got one and it seems odd at first but really isn't that bad. Also I wore it wakeboarding when I was trying 3's for the first time and I think it made a difference in the pain of the landings.

Helmets do carry a bucketing risk. This is where your head hits the water, and while bare, it would just skip off the surface, but with a helmet, the lip catches and yanks your neck in odd directions. <BR> <BR>Impact is impact. It may protect your ears, but so do earplugs, and earplugs wont bucket your neck. The only place a helmet really has a certain benefit is when you come in contact with solid objects. So if your hitting sliders or riding in a stumpfield a helmet increases your safety. Landing on your head produces the same impact no matter what you wear. Yeah, it may help you avoid a stinger or headache, but you also risk a neck breaking bucketing.

Great info <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0> <BR>"its water. not concrete, not wood, not dirt, not ice. water. wakeskating/boarding are some of the safest "action" sports. there is a higher chance for you to hit your head getting your board out of the trunk of your car then while riding." <BR> <BR>So the board with sharp fins is made out of water? Huh? <BR> <BR>Have you not seen the pictures posted on here of people with stitches and staples in their heads from contact with the board? I have personally seen it happen 4 times, heard about it many more, and three of my friends have spent the afternoon in the hospital. One was a beginner and wound up with a nice slice from a simple wake to wake jump. We patched him up with a first aid kit I kept on the boat, then sent him off to the hospital before he bleed all over. <BR> <BR>Wakeskating is even more dangerous than wakeboarding. <BR> <BR>Edit: I started wearing a Gath years ago after blowing my ear drums 4 times and loosing 1/3 of my hearing in my left ear. The benefit I noticed was less impact to my brain when slamming the water. The Gath is small and tight to the head and I have never experienced bucketing. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by Peter_C on May 07, 2007)

If you get a bucketing effect it means the helmet is not fitted properly to you. <BR> <BR>Hitting the water at 20+mph is like hitting concrete. Water can take on an effect of being similar to a solid. Its why we stay up when the boat pulls us in the first place... That first contact with the water is what you're protecting against, not the subsequent bounces. <BR> <BR>I got the pro-tec ace wake helmet. Havent been out yet this season, but was easy to order from REI. <BR> <BR>Only normal excuse not to wear a helmet is because it doesnt look very cool. So unless you're in high school, no good excuse <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0>

Maybe a little photo evidence will help! Board to head when doing wake to wake jump. A helmet would have fully prevented this injury. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/444956.jpg" alt="Upload">