Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

Funny you should post this. I was just thinking the same thing the other day. I'm also strapless and rarely stack it anymore. I've ditched the impact vest I wore religiously for the first 6 months I was learning, but the helmet has stayed. I was out yesterday, and during an attempted flying foot swap, I ventilated the foil, went over the front and got donged in the scone by my board. Not hard, but a reminder of the fact that foiling has some ongoing risk.

I'm a religious helmet wearer. Which is probably a good thing because I like to do silly activities. Helmets have saved my life at least 5 times over the years.

I haven't actually been hit in the head yet with the foil. No the less I still wear the helmet. After a while you learn to crash in a manner where the foil doesn't get you.

However, I have whiplashed my self several times with high speed smack downs. I wonder for the foil vent smack down if a helmet is actually worse for whiplash because it gives your head a larger surface area to push through the water than normal?

Got hot in the head with the board yesterday.

Wear a helmet +1

Hothead hey?

Strapless too. Wear the helmet mate, you never know what's coming and it is not predicable. Found myself coming off clean and nice assuming the foil will just sit where I left it only to realise that it continued riding, taking a nice little U turn and coming straight at me (the board not the foil hitting me). So while it may aim at your face, it sometimes comes from behind or the side. Those ear flaps also offer some protection for your ear drums I recon.

Blew a gybe today, fell forward, foil came and hit me on my helmet. Also great for sun protection.

Helmet keeps my hat on tight and good excuse for having go pro on top ??

Helmet? Absolutely. The board folliws you when you come off the front. Until you have the skills of Mr Drexler of Cloud kite fame, it's a must.

Gath helmets is what we all use. Mine is 3 years old and still going well having raced around the world

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jackforbes said..
Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

I don't think anyone could say wearing a helmet has no value but once you have spacial awareness of the foil, helmet wearing for foiling offers similar things to helmet wearing for twintiping or wave kiting. Do you wear a helmet twintiping?

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dorothyinste said..
Hothead hey?

Hit. Autocorrect honest

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snalberski said..

jackforbes said..
Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

I don't think anyone could say wearing a helmet has no value but once you have spacial awareness of the foil, helmet wearing for foiling offers similar things to helmet wearing for twintiping or wave kiting. Do you wear a helmet twintiping?

Nah. The TT doesn't leap out of the water and go flying at my head.

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Kamikuza said..

snalberski said..

jackforbes said..
Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

I don't think anyone could say wearing a helmet has no value but once you have spacial awareness of the foil, helmet wearing for foiling offers similar things to helmet wearing for twintiping or wave kiting. Do you wear a helmet twintiping?

Nah. The TT doesn't leap out of the water and go flying at my head.

I got smashed in the moustache area full force, end on by a TT whilst attempting backroll transition with kite loop earlier in the season, and the only helmet that would have made a difference would have been a gridiron or ice hockey goalie mask, which is not such a bad idea.

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snalberski said..

jackforbes said..
Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

I don't think anyone could say wearing a helmet has no value but once you have spacial awareness of the foil, helmet wearing for foiling offers similar things to helmet wearing for twintiping or wave kiting. Do you wear a helmet twintiping?

I did get hit on the head by my twintip last week, but that was when it fell on me when i was trying to get the Gerni out from the back of the shed. I'm thinking after ten years of not using it that it might be time to get rid of it!

This kind of sums up my question though, i don't wear a helmet normally kiting, i haven't been hit on the head for several years, so its a low risk profile for me. But if there is a credible risk of it cleaning me up along the lines of russkraut's and emmafoils comments, then it seems like the way to go.

So it seems like a soft 8 on the 1-10 scale at the moment!

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jackforbes said..

snalberski said..

jackforbes said..
Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

I don't think anyone could say wearing a helmet has no value but once you have spacial awareness of the foil, helmet wearing for foiling offers similar things to helmet wearing for twintiping or wave kiting. Do you wear a helmet twintiping?

I did get hit on the head by my twintip last week, but that was when it fell on me when i was trying to get the Gerni out from the back of the shed. I'm thinking after ten years of not using it that it might be time to get rid of it!

This kind of sums up my question though, i don't wear a helmet normally kiting, i haven't been hit on the head for several years, so its a low risk profile for me. But if there is a credible risk of it cleaning me up along the lines of russkraut's and emmafoils comments, then it seems like the way to go.

So it seems like a soft 8 on the 1-10 scale at the moment!

(unimportant and off topic clarification of above, I am thinking of getting rid of the twintip, not the Gerni, which i use regularly)

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snalberski said..

jackforbes said..
Did a forum search and didn't find any real hits on this...

Helmet while strapless foiling on flat water - is it necessary, on a scale of 1-10? I've had a couple of sessions on the foil and not really seeing where the risk lies.

Not in it for the glory but would rather wear my wide brimmed hat!

I don't think anyone could say wearing a helmet has no value but once you have spacial awareness of the foil, helmet wearing for foiling offers similar things to helmet wearing for twintiping or wave kiting. Do you wear a helmet twintiping?

Regardless of how skilled a foiler you are, there are inherent risks to foiling that are different from kiting with planing boards. There are many, but 2 obvious ones are the foil shoots thru the water when you fall off (unlike a twintip) and if you make a mistake with roll control, the foil can "jack knife" towards you (unlike a twintip).

Fallen off foil 3000 times, hit hard in head once. Glad I was wearing my helmet

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oldbones said..
Fallen off foil 3000 times, hit hard in head once. Glad I was wearing my helmet

Epic session!

I have been hit on the head too with the foil and fortunately had the helmet then.

Now I don't wear it anymore because of too many whiplashes and when I fall off my first reaction is to put my arm in front.... It really comes down to your level of confidence.... I still occasionally bash the foil mast on my shins....