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-   Archive through September 23, 2004 (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=192984)
-   -   doesnt look sexy, but put your damn helmet on!! (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=188650)

mjmurphy53711 08-31-2004 8:42 PM

normal wake2wake toeside, fell, and somehow the damn board came down on my head.....six stiches later.....im pulling the helmet out of the dusty closet and you should too! oh yea and it was the a-wing on a tfd

jarrod 09-01-2004 7:04 AM

ouch! But I'm still not wearing a helmet! Just for saying that, I'll probably split my head open this weekend <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0>

airrantz 09-01-2004 8:47 AM

mike did the same thing a couple weeks ago, wasn't riding real hard but board came off and split my head open. Luckily no stitches just liquid bandage but it's discouraging. I'm throwing down the helmet this weekend see how it feels.

projectely4 09-01-2004 8:53 AM

did the same thing 3 years ago. started wearing a helmet all the time. now only when hitting sliders

scottyb 09-01-2004 9:34 AM

It might be a good idea but i just hate helmets.

jonm 09-01-2004 10:40 AM

I only ride in open water (no sliders). So 2 or 3 people a year get a small cut on their head from the wake board hitting them. Big Deal. I will remain helmetless.

jorellz 09-01-2004 11:05 AM

I was told by one of the boardshops up here that if you are wearing a helmet while trying flips etc you are actually at more risk of injury. <BR> <BR>Increased surface area = increased resistance = more chance of whiplash/neck injury <BR> <BR>I was told only on sliders or else you are just asking for trouble...seems to make sense. <BR> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by jorellz on September 01, 2004)

catalyst 09-01-2004 11:36 AM

thats true to a sense but also if the helmet has ear flaps you have a lower chance of bursting your ear drum. Thats the main reason i bought one cause i know it is becoming a common wakeboard injury.

tuneman 09-01-2004 12:59 PM

Sorry, but having an increased risk of injury with a helmet on is a bunch of garbage. To date, I've had four concussions including two this year. I'm wearing the helmet full time now and have worn my helmet on and off for three years. Always a concussion saver, never a whiplash maker. <BR> <BR>I've come to find that your head can only take so many hits until you become a veggie, so I need to wear one.

jonnyrotten79 09-01-2004 1:14 PM

i have a sick pointless helmet...

loren 09-01-2004 1:29 PM

Last time I wore a helemt, it slipped down over my face when I wrecked hard and i split my lip open. I haven't split my lip open not wearing a helmet. Oh yeah, and the helmet was on pretty dang snug.

puckinshat 09-01-2004 2:23 PM

I tried a wakeskate rally as in WBM and bailed hard, when I came to the surface, the skate hit me square in the forehead. I had a huge bump for a good week. Thats all I got...

rock_n_boardin 09-01-2004 2:49 PM

Saw a demonstration on bicycle helmets. They took a grapefruit and held it head high and dropped it. Of course it burst open, then they strapped one in a bicylce helmet and did the same thing. Grapefruit had no damage, but the helmet cracked as it was designed to do. I thought that was a pretty cool demonstration.

jonm 09-01-2004 3:29 PM

French, were they dropping the watermelon in water or on the cement? <BR> <BR>Plus, has anyone done a study on whether or not a helmet prevents concussions caused by wakeboarding. I just can't picture it helping at all. The only 2 arguments I can see for wearing a helmet are ear protection and hitting objects.

cheeseinaz 09-01-2004 3:38 PM

Just blow out your ear drum one time and get water in your inner ear and I guarantee you that you will start wearing a helmet. The intial pain isn't bad but when water gets behind your eardrum, you have no sense of balance at all. It's like someone just spun you around 200 times and then plunked you in the water face down. You don't know which end is up, you can barely get yourself above water and you feel like you are gonna puke. Then after about an hour, the pain is so bad you'll want to rip off that side of your head. Oh, and it also means you're not doing any riding for about 2 months. THAT's the worst part.

jetgofish 09-01-2004 3:43 PM

Time and time again we have had this very same discussion. Helmet or no helmet. More surface area causing more risk of injury. It seems to me that this topic comes up at least once a month. Doctor Octagon has chimmened in many times with his opinions, so has Peter Chandler as well as myself. <BR> <BR>I'm going to have to say it again, just as I have a million times before and I know that what I'm about to say is going to cause a huge debate, but then again we are all here posting our own opinions and sharing our own experiences, some good some bad. <BR> <BR>I myself have been a victim to concusions and getting hit with a wakeboard and many of you who know me and who have riden with me know that I don't ride without my helmet. Every one has said it won't happen to me only to have it happen to you later down the road, I call that karma. Last year I was riding with my helmet on, took a huge wake to wake and didn't pull out of it. I took a header and had a moderate concusion, I had my helmet at the time. A few days later I experience a speech impedement and loss of mobility to my hands. I have since bought a new helmet. <BR> <BR>Lets not forget about the young man out of Sac who was a firerighter/paramedic and lost his life at Folsom from a concusion. <BR> <BR>I think most of neglect the fact that water is just as hard as concrete and many of us walk the fine line every time we wakeboard .... all I have to say is, I'd rather be safe than sorry and wearing a helmet might look goofy, but I would rather have a board bounce of my helmet than to spend 4 hours getting stitches!

09-01-2004 3:48 PM

I got some nice whiplash from wearing a helmet, but I was just "back-boarding" you may say. It's pretty fun to just grab the handle and lay on your back but don't wear a helmet, it hurts. I have an ear infection right now, and I wouldn't imagine wakeboarding with an ear infection since moving my jaw even hurts, but the ear-flaps will allow me to keep boarding. Another thing, a guy I know woke up with blood all over his pillow. He had busted his eardrum wakeboarding the day before and he won't wakeboard without one now. I'll assume that whiplash is better than having a blown eardrum. I'm a huge advocate for the helmet, even though I look like a queer in it.

buzz_grande 09-02-2004 5:07 AM

Bottom line: A helmet is harder than your head (well for most of us).

tuneman 09-02-2004 7:21 AM

Jonm, I have first hand experience that helmets prevent concussions. I have gotten two mild concussions from attempting the same trick this year. When I crashed a certain way, I just knew I had gotten a concussion. I have since crashed the same way attempting the same trick with my helmet on. Not even a scratch. I know that I would have had a concussion without the helmet.

jonm 09-02-2004 8:20 AM

Tuneman, I am all about safety in my boat. When you start getting four or more concussions I would recommend slowing down a bit. As said before concussions can have serious consequences. Don't put all your faith in a helmet. I think avoiding situations that are causing the concussions may be a safer alternative. <BR> <BR>I think I posed this question in an earlier debate with no response. What would happen if a diver jumped off the tower and dived into the water headfirst (not putting their hands out)without a helmet on versus with one on. I would rather not have one on. I think I might break my neck if I was wearing one. <BR> <BR>PS: Teri, if water was as hard as concrete I would have never started this sport. That is a fact.

nikki 09-02-2004 8:30 AM

mjmurphy- the exact same thing happened to me. You made a good choice with the helmet i am always preaching helmets now! Atleast while you're trying new things bc that is when you fall the hardest. It makes me ride better too because im not scared of cutting my head open again!

512boarder 09-02-2004 6:50 PM

a helmet wil break the surface of the water before your head goes under. without a helmet it is just ur head breaking the surface of the water. the surface of the water is what is like concrete, once you break it you are good to go. so with a helmet on, you break the surface of the water with it instead of your head, meaning the helmest absorbs alot of the shock which means you are probably less likely to have a concussion

psych3060 09-02-2004 7:49 PM

Ok on Monday, I went to a workshop on a topic called Traumatic Brain Injury. The things that I learned from that 8 hour presentation lead me to decide that I will not wakeboard without a helmet anymore. Lets just say that each bump on the head maybe leading to some later loss of skills. The choice to wear a helmet is a very personal one and each individual needs to make their own decision.

09-02-2004 8:09 PM

You know that people who work on bridges are taught that if they ever fall off of the bridge, to throw their hammer in the water right before they hit to break the surface. A guy did it, fell from a bridge (not your typical 15 ft. bridge) and he only suffered minor injuries. Water is like concrete until the surface is broken.

wake_boarder49 09-02-2004 8:24 PM

i went boating with our friends and they kneeboard and dont wakeboard and my board was at my cabin on a different lake and i kneeboard once in awhile to and i did a w2w jump and i nosedived and the board came around and hit me in the jaw really hard that was a month ago and i still have a lump there

columbiatch 09-02-2004 8:42 PM

Evan, did you see the mythbusters on the discovery channel where they disproved the hammer in the water thing? A hammer isn't large enough to really break the surface tension. <BR> <BR>Nick was getting there with the whole hardness of the water. <b>The most pressure is exerted not on impact but on the deceleration</b>. Meaning that the faster your head slows down, the more devastating the blow to your head. The helmet and it's padding act as an intermediary between the water and your head. The outside of the helmet smashes into the water first and decelerates the fastest. Your head will also decelerate but not at the same rate. The compression of the padding will allow your head to stop at a slightly slower rate, and thus it is relieving some of the impact for your head. <BR> <BR>The only real danger of a helmet is when you fall backwards and it catches water like a bucket. <BR> <BR>I'll trade a concussion for stiff neck muscles any day. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by columbiatch on September 02, 2004)

edward 09-02-2004 9:06 PM

i've been hit in the head with my board, did sort of a reverse powerslide on the landing with my old adjustable low bindings the heels sliped out and head hit the board. no stiches but some pain. decided i was too advanced to be trying tricks like that on low wrap types. got some high wraps and did the same thing but the board didn't come offf and hit me and i was ready to go. i don't wear a helmet i will if and when i decide to hit sliders. i skateboard without a helmet and the concrete is proven to be as hard as concrete, hit my head a couple but nothin big, the only times i've hit it hard was when wearing a helmet at a park that i was forced to and i belive i fell those times because of the constrictiveness of the knee pads so the saftey stuff did as much saved me from what it started. its all opinion tho i don't wear one when boarding and thats it. also i've boarded with an ear infection, i got it from boarding and then i just got some ear plugs that fit good and went on boardin.

shutupandboard 09-02-2004 9:12 PM

SO. Does that mean that one could say glass(calm water) would potentially be "harder" than rough water. Because your head would hit waves first before it hit the main body of water to stop you?

columbiatch 09-03-2004 1:12 PM

Jeremy, "glass" is harder than churning water but thats because of surface tension. Having more surface tension on smooth water means that the water will act more like concrete than a liquid. I'm not sure that hitting the waves instead of the main body of water would have much of an effect. What really matters is the "force normal" of the impact (which depends on what angle you hit the water) and how much surface tension there is. <BR> <BR>All good competitive diving facilities have sprayers or bubble systems underneath the boards that break the surface tension of the water.

chocobeat 09-03-2004 8:01 PM

same thing happened to me last weekend, somehow my metal fin came and smacked me in the head on an indy glide... [IMG]<a href="http://forums.wakeboarder.com/files/dsc00904_764.jpg" target="_blank">http://forums.wakeboarder.com/files/dsc00904_764.jpg</a>[/IMG] <BR> <BR>(Message edited by chocobeat on September 03, 2004)

mjmurphy53711 09-05-2004 6:12 PM

im wearing my helmet, with stiches in my head.....and got my first backslider with handle pass on the slider today.....so.....must be a confidence builder

rypayne 09-06-2004 12:33 AM

shoot, I look sexy with or without a helmet. ha

dococ 09-06-2004 1:37 AM

As Teri noted, this topic gets recycled regularly, but that's fine because it is important. It's also a bit amusing to me that everybody seems to become physics experts whenever we have this discussion, but again, that's fine, because the goal is for people to try to figure out what personal decision they will make regarding helmets and wakeboarding. I just don't have the energy right now to get all into it yet again, so I'll just add that the comments of Melissa and Scott (at least in his first post) ring most true based upon my training and experience. <BR>Edward, if you wanna keep knocking your head on the concrete by skateboarding without a helmet, that's your decision kiddo, but odds are you will live to regret it sooner or later.

98air 09-06-2004 5:24 PM

I had two or three concussions and decided to wear a helmut and the next time I went out...got a concussion from the whiplash effect of catching an edge while sliding backwards- while I had the helmut on. If I could prevent concussions by wearing a chicken on my head I would!

dococ 09-06-2004 9:12 PM

Oh well, can't say you didn't try... <BR>Man, Rob, that profile pic is hilarious! <BR> <BR>Anyway, I maintain that it is like the seatbelt argument or the smoking argument. Sure, everybody knows somebody somewhere who escaped death in a car crash because they were not wearing their seatbelt and got pushed to the floor board when the roof was crushed in. And everybody can probably point to somebody somewhere who lived to be 90 while continuing to smoke regularly. BUT, these cases are the minority, and the odds are always against it. Until somebody publishes a scientifically controlled study demonstrating otherwise, I'm gonna infer what we know from other high impact sports and maintain that your odds of sustaining a head injury while wakeboarding are reduced while wearing a properly fitted helmet.

peter_c 09-06-2004 10:08 PM

We need pictures of blood and such to drive home the point. Where are the pictures from Dave's boat of the Wakeworld shirt covered in blood? I have posted the one of my friend from the ER before. <BR> <BR>I know three people that have had stitches/staples in their head from the board hitting them. All were preventable by wearing a helmet. I have had many more get hit in the head by the board but never had to have stitches, although they all had headaches. <BR> <BR>Concussions are a common wakeboarding injury and I have had a few myself, twice wearing a helmet. Once was on a shifty three that was thrown way lazy...landed on my back from a good height wearing a Pro-Tech and got knocked silly. It was the only time I have ever opened my eyes under the Delta water for fear of blacking out. The second time I was throwing a switch TS 5 and over rotated sending myself face down, and wound up with a headache for days. That time I was wearing my Gath. <BR> <BR>I have blown four ear drums in the past before wearing a helmet, and not one since I started to wear a helmet. This was the original reason I wore a helmet wakeboarding. Then I quickly figured out it helped out on crashes, especially when going down backwards. At this time I will not ride with anything but my Gath, even though it has almost no padding, as the bucketing is what I would swear caused one of my concussions. <BR> <BR>Now go do what you are going to do but don't go and sue a wakeboard or boat manufacturer because of a decision YOU made.

anim8or 09-07-2004 10:38 AM

Drat....now I'm not sure what to do. My friend and I are going to start attempting (may I stress *attempting*) backrolls soon and he ordered a top-of-the-line kiteboarding helmet for this purpose (and sice we're gonna take kiteboarding lessons soon). Should we still use it while trying flips? Pro-Helmet guys, do you think its a good idea?

wakeshoe 09-07-2004 11:48 AM

anim8or, <BR>If it matters, my son was taking a lesson from Billy Garcia this summer, snagged an edge on a w2w and did the scorpion thing, banging the board backward into his head. He was just getting warmed up in prep for working on a backroll. Billy was going to have him put the helmet on for the backroll, but didn't even get there. Billy called from the boat to have me meet them at the dock. Huge gash, 5 largely spaced stitches and no riding for two weeks. In addition, the doctor dictated that he couldn't ride without a helmet for a month after that. In addition, Billy now has most of his students use helmets, especially for working on inverts. BTW, Billy just took first place in the Master's division of the Vans.

wakeboarder123 09-18-2004 9:21 PM

may not look too sexy with a helmet on but i mean come one how sexy will you look when ur puking in the water becouse u have a concusion.

baldboarder 09-19-2004 9:02 PM

My board popped off and hit me in the head at Lake Powell last year. Not deep enough for stitches, but it sure blead all over. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/angry.gif" border=0> After a day of recovery and patching up, I was out wakeboarding again. Since then I have been wearing a helmet. I have had no whiplashes since I started wearing a helmet, whereas whiplashes were a fairly common occurence before. Since I have protective headgear, I find myself to be even more aggressive and confident than before. I will continue to wear one. <BR>

jetskiprosx 09-21-2004 10:24 AM

My little brother had a bad crash earlier this summer and ended up with 26 stitches and 1 tied off artery. If he would have been wearing a helmet there would have been no way for the board to cut him. The next day we ordered a helmet and we wear one everytime we go out. <BR>

jonm 09-21-2004 11:43 AM

I taped $70 to my head and so far so good. No concussions or cuts. Mind you, I had none before the money was taped to my head. But I'm sure it is working.

tammygirl 09-22-2004 10:20 AM

Where are you getting your helmets? What kind are you wearing?


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