Helmit and Pain
 

Never wore a helmet but after a couple good slams to the head I started to wonder. Do helmets take the pain out of catching an edge?

which came first the chicken or the egg?

i wear a helmet and it helps. don't see stars when i crash but it does nothing for the nasel injection problem.

I don't notice a difference in the pain factor with or without the helmet. It seems like it hurts in the neck more for me when I catch a hard edge. Could just be me. I would imagine it's always safer to wear a helmet anyways.

Rad Helmets Here:

http://www.shredready.com/site/products/

When it's not an extreme wipe out it's a bit more painful with the helmet on, I think because sometimes the water tries to pull it off and in other cases because it's a bigger surface area and where my head would normally just go right into the water it now seems to hit harder. Certainly saves me from another ruptured eardrum, though.

That's why I prefer a good fitting Pro Tec Ace. Ear protection, and water doesn't seem to "scoop" like on the SR helmet

Any helmet with a bill should be worn backwards to avoid the 'scoop effect' when riding boat. The surface area vs shock protection has been debated since the beginning days of wakeboarding and there is no real data to proove the overall benefit of helmets when obstacles are not part of the equation so you will just have to go with your intuition or gut. I tend to think a well fit helmet helps more than it hurts, particularly if you have had concussions in the past, but that justs my opinion.

We need to send this "Wakeboarding: Helmet or No Helmet" debate to Mythbusters!

Does it not take two chickens to make on good egg? Sounds like the problem is my brain hitting my skull not my skull hitting the water.

SR Skate helmet... no visor... also available with ear protection pads :) This is actually the lid most of our crew wears. I'm the only one rocking a bill at the moment.

Looks similar to this:

Sounds like it has happened a lot too.

2 Chickens won't make on good anything

hey folks, Shred Ready has about 9 models of helmets......with and without brims. check them out at. some good for wake others like the full face standard probably not really that good....
the skate style helmet, the super scrappy (brim) and the Stnadard full cut and half cut (small brim) are all good for wake.
what makes this lids different is the fit. all our helmets have a occipital stabilizing harness that helmets the helmet stay in place...
one system is called the Hand of God (HOG) and ther other is the HOT (hold on tight) system. We were the first water sports helmet manf. to put anything like this on water helmets. tested and true for over 13 years in some of the gnarlist whitewater every kayaked...100 foot water falls and stomping class V...

now bringing it to wake and cable....stay tuned.

check it all out at
Shredready.com

cheers
tom (aka Dr. Klause Von Der Sherburne)

Capix maybe, but there is no "scoop" with the SR. I'm rocking the Super Scrappy and as long as it fits you shouldn't see the "scoop".

Well, with my experience with the SR Standard Full Cut, with the adjustable sizing, the fit was not as good or could not be made good enough to avoid the scoop effect like what the Pro Tec Ace seems to do.

I have not worn the Super Scrappy, as the bill, either front or back, seems like it would have a scoop effect as well, or at least grab the water and torque some. So if you recommend that the Super Scrappy does not have any scoop effect, or grab water and toque the neck any more than the Standard Full Cut or Pro Tec Ace, that is interesting.

I like the SR helmets and that SR supports Wakeworld and wakeboarding. I have no affiliation with them, or any other helmet company. In my experience using both the Full Cut and the Pro Tec Ace, the Ace was a better helmet. I don't like bills on my helmets, and I do find it hard to believe that Super Scrappy would not increase any torque or force on the neck on certain falls. The helmet Luker recommends would be worth a try, but I have a hard time believing that the Super Scrappy would not have any type of scoop effect.

That said, go to your local shop or cable park and try them on, fit is the most important trait.

Some better pics of the SR Skater Lid:

This type of technology would counter all those who say a helmet doesn't help.

http://www.xenith.com/football/x1-he...t_10=135&size=

I better be careful about sliding too far down on the food chain.

Only wear helmets when riding rails... wearing a helmet behind boat = easier way to a concussion. your head has more swing weight with a helmet on... and more surface area. Which means when your head hits the water it will be moving faster, and stopping faster... bad idea!... unless you're on rails.... no brainer.

Apparently the helmet debate goes on regardless, but perhaps that's just because conclusive evidence remains elusive. I enjoyed the X1 video, but even I would be hard pressed to sport one of those on the boat. So my 2c on the topic is as follows. I'm 60, use by brain for a living and am kind of retarded on a wakeboard. I take some nasty falls, not so much as I used to thankfully, but they often seem to come when least expected. I had a concussion with some amnesia about 2 or 3 years ago at the end of the season and have been wearing a helmet since then for everything but wakesurfing. I also debated with myself about the wieght, surface area and increased risk of neck injury arguments before getting one, which is why it took a concussion like that to push me over the edge. I've got some degenerative discs in my neck so I took those arguments to heart. My experience with the helmet is that I've never since come close to another concussion and the fly swatting ollie 90 falls and W2W 90 or 270 falls just don't give me the headaches or neckaches they used to. For whatever its worth it has made a real difference for me.

"I'm 60, use by brain for a living and am kind of retarded on a wakeboard..." I Love this comment!!!! Me to... well, I am not 60, I am 41, but I am sometimes retarted on a wakeboard. Just yesterday I head planted hard on a trick I have never crashed hard on before. I planted the side of head square into the water. Crashes like this are why I wear it. I simply got back up and kept riding. IMO, that crash would have put 90% of riders back in the boat with either a blown ear drum, really bad head ache, or worse. A month a go, trying a switch scarecrow for the first time, my helmet bailed me out again. I swear by it.

-Uj

Yup... 44 here and yes, retarded on a wakeboard sums it up nicely. I took yet another backside digger last Sunday that definitely would have put me back in the boat, after vomiting of course. I too swear by it. A few good ringers but no concussions in 11/2 seasons wearing the lid. I left it at the dock last Easter, full frontal face plant and a four day headache. Never again. Thanks Pro tech.

I'm 49 and am also a retarded wakeboarding helmet wearer. The eardrum saves alone are worth it.

I think it depends on how you hit. My kid just came of her 2nd concussion in just over a year from wakeboarding. Helmet both times. The second concussion ended up in post traumatic seizures and a helicopter ride to the neuro trauma center. She is okay now, but can't ride anymore - we just can't accept the risk. I personally think the helmet increased the deceleration and also "bucketed" at impact. Video of the first crash shows the helmet being liftedeup off her head by momentum as she began to body whip her face to the water. We don;t have video of the second wreck, but I saw the helmet float up when she came whipping down on that wreck as well. So perhaps a better fitting helmet, or something with the occipital strap may have helped her avoid this, but maybe not.

Dan - So glad to hear that she is doing better. I would be curious to know the outcome if she was wearing something like the Shred Ready helmets. Hers just had that really thin foam inside with a thin plastic shell. I can't imagine that that helmet would help in any way at all except for maybe the board hitting you in the head. Who knows though...I think if you go down really hard it doesn't much matter what you are wearing.

Almost sounds like helmets should easily release upon impact and float. Once the impact is made why do you need it. The material could be a soft neoprene instead of hard shell with no strap.

Thanks Jarret - she is doing great, back at school and doing well despite a little difficulty with concentration, etc.

You're right about the helmet she was wearing - it was a skateboarding helmet with not much foam. Definitely designed for pretection from hard objects, not water impact. I tend to agree with your last statement though - I think the helmet contributes to the intertial whip and also to faster deceleration upon impact.