Hi all I am contemplating getting a gath helmet. I have been sailing for 20 years and never hit my head on anything but a lot of windsurfers seem to wear them. I tend to find I am most comfortable when wearing as little as possible out there, I wasted money on 2 floatation vests and hated them and don't bother with them anymore just wondering if it would be the same story with a helmet. I only sail on flatwater in the same location and can't seem to bust through the 27kt barrier so nothing death defying there. just wondering what experience other sailors have had with them.

Love the Gath. Been using one for awhile and it feels wrong now to sail without one. Full face visor too with a dark tint. Started wearing one to keep the sand out of my eyes when sailing at The Pit on those big days. Also stops the sunburn on the face and the eyes feel better after a session in the sun.

I was wondering about those visors . How is the vision with water spray and or dried salt ?

If you're not used to them they can feel weird as they affect your hearing, and harder to sense what the wind and gusts are doing. I'd go for for the Gath surf helmet with soft ear covers, can be removed if you want, I found them easier to wear than the ones with the hard shell over the ears.

The Gedi Gath .is a great helmet ,as Dezza says the ear pieces can be removed ..I have the bolt on visor acts as a sun visor for the nose too .
if it gets to hot you can remove the two strips inside the top to give more air flow

I have had two Gath helmets. the original and the newer style. I didnt like either at all. They have a very thin lining and the shape of the helmet means that I have high pressure points on my head that get very uncomfortable after wearing for a short while, and there was very little or no scope for altering them to fit comfortably. .
On top of that, they were really only designed for surfing where they are (as I understand it) more designed to prevent cuts and scratches, and less for major impact protection. Now this is not really much of a problem for windsurfing either, as serious hard impacts to the head are very rare and unlikely in my long experience (unlike my experience skiing and snowboarding!), but worth noting. Helmets designed for skateboarding, canoeing, skiing and snowboarding have always proved to be a far better option for me. They come in Multiple sizes and shapes and have thicker linings. Many have no ear covering, or optional cloth/padded ear covers (which I prefer). They are almost always slightly bulkier than than the Gath helmets as they have thicker padding/impact lining, but the only downside of that I have noticed, is to your vanity. True, the thin, low profile Gath style are a bit better for duck diving under surf waves, but that is very rare when windsurfing compared with surfing. Most ski/snowboard style helmets also have far better warmth insulation for your head, which is surprisingly important if you sail in cold conditions with a high wind chill factor.

And the thicker lining of the ski/snowboard/skateboard type also often facilitates creating a convenient cavity for a small gps.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/Wearing-the-Motions?page=1#6

I've never used a Gath. I have used a Protec helmet for years. I think it's a wake boarding helmet, not sure. Saved me from getting knocked out at least once, but I'm only an average sailor. It's light, doesn't impede any aspects of sailing. One of the main reasons I wear it is for protection for the top of my head from the tropical sun.

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Imax1 said..
I was wondering about those visors . How is the vision with water spray and or dried salt ?

I spray it with Mr Sheen every couple of sessions to help the water bead off. Great sailing in the rain and hail too, no hurts

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kato said..

Imax1 said..
I was wondering about those visors . How is the vision with water spray and or dried salt ?

I spray it with Mr Sheen every couple of sessions to help the water bead off. Great sailing in the rain and hail too, no hurts

That was the reason I got the Gath. Face Protection in the sandstorms and hail!!

Now I use goggles and a Covid face mask.

My wife bought me a Garth helmet for Christmas 3 years ago. After sailing for 40 years without a helmet, I now feel naked without it on. It fits like a glove. You must have a strangely shaped head Sailquik! The ear covers are not a problem for me, but I haven't gone for the Star Wars look with the tinted visor.

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John340 said..
My wife bought me a Garth helmet for Christmas 3 years ago. After sailing for 40 years without a helmet, I now feel naked without it on. It fits like a glove. You must have a strangely shaped head Sailquik! The ear covers are not a problem for me, but I haven't gone for the Star Wars look with the tinted visor.

Correct!

Or is it you....

As a blind guy I have to wear prescription sunglasses with a strap. I use a Bern Baker kayaking helmet. Open ears, small sun visor (to keep the sun off my glasses), but no face plate. Besides the obvious benefit of noggin protection, the helmet is great for keeping my glasses on my head when I crash.

I started wearing my gath helmet when I started foiling. Now I wear it all the time. I like it for the protection (I don't think we need more protection against impacts/cuts than what the gath offers) but also because it keeps my head warm in winter, and in summer I can partially lower the visor to block the sun. I never really lower the visor all the way because I don't like to see through it though.

Accident in hookipa some years ago:
Boujmaa Guilloul hit the water leaving him unconscious. Klaas Voget and Ferdinando Loffreda quickly run to help him and lifeguards backed them up.
What about helmet in this situation?
regards,
John

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asturcon said..
Accident in hookipa some years ago:
Boujmaa Guilloul hit the water leaving him unconscious. Klaas Voget and Ferdinando Loffreda quickly run to help him and lifeguards backed them up.
What about helmet in this situation?
regards,
John

Are you talking about when he tried the triple forward? He said later at an interview that he will wear a helmet and impact vest to try it again. That was a nasty hit, coming from really high and with a lot of rotational speed.

Long time Gath user, with partial visor, painted bright red for visibility boost - sun protection, warmth, saved me numerous times from impacts with mast/foil etc etc - compulsory for foil racing with good reason!

I prefer the Neil pride one, better fit than Gath, more padding the right places. The gath ones I had were very minimal protection and the chin harness was poor.

I like the Gath and started wearing one when I started foiling as it is now a requiremenbt when racing. I wear a baseball type cap underneath it as the visor is a good sunshield and I get fewer water droplets dripping over my eyes. It has never felt uncomfortable and after one sailing session I found it had evodence of a hard hit on the shell which I didn't feel (I crashed regularly when learning ot foil). I've worn motorcycle helmets for years so I am used to having protective head covering.
A helmet also has another, for me, added bonus. I wear hearing aids and many times I got out on the water to discover I had forgotten to remove them. Salt water and unsealed micro electronics do not go well together. Before i got the helmet I had a piece of duct tape stuck to the board behind the mast track with "AIDS" written on it as a reminder. Wearing the helmet I no longer need that reminder because as soon as I put it on I get feedback from the hearing aids as my reminder.

I have a Shred Ready solid top, open ears, with a brim, use for the winter, and a NRS vented top with removable ear pads for the summer, both are impact rated for whitewater kayaking. Ear pads are nice in summer for sun protection. In the past banged my head on the mast, glad I had a hemet. Would not go out windsurfing or windfoiling without a helmet.

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Imax1 said..
I was wondering about those visors . How is the vision with water spray and or dried salt ?

I've had a clear visored one for about a year.
I'm on my second normal Gath helmet and bought the visored one for those rainy days to stop the rain pelting into my eyes. I didn't wear it for a long time because the visor makes it a tighter fit ( when the visor is up into the helmet ) and I had a cyst on the back of my head that it irritated. The cyst has now shrunk so I can comfortably wear it.
If you get one and are going to wear the visor both up and down get the next size up..It doesn't have as much padding as my open faced one although they could have changed the padding in more recent ones..
It felt a bit funny at first as you feel more enclosed than the open faced one but now I love it ..I'm trying to improve my gybes in chop so I feel safer with it on.. I'm not sure what would happen if my face hit the boom but I hope it will help me ' save face" ..
I've been cleaning it with rainex and also using a cleaning wipe that has an antifogging agent and it works fine.
I wouldn't sail without a helmet. The last time I whacked myself in the head with the mast was in 10-15kts. I'd just come into shore where the wind was a bit flukey and I caught a gust from the other side. It hurt like hell even with the helmet on so I probably would have done some damage without it.. I think on both my Gaths I can rotate the ear piece to open or closed. I have bad tinnitus that is aggravated by wind noise so I prefer it closed to reduce the noise.

Definitely worth trying as many helmets as possible to work out what fits you best, you won't wear it otherwise. Check out stores that sell white water kayaks & the like as well for other brands/options.

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Sandman1221 said..
I have a Shred Ready solid top, open ears, with a brim, use for the winter, and a NRS vented top with removable ear pads for the summer, both are impact rated for whitewater kayaking. Ear pads are nice in summer for sun protection. In the past banged my head on the mast, glad I had a hemet. Would not go out windsurfing or windfoiling without a helmet.

And both are white, if you are in hot sunny weather a white helmet will help to keep your head cool.

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morts said..
Definitely worth trying as many helmets as possible to work out what fits you best, you won't wear it otherwise. Check out stores that sell white water kayaks & the like as well for other brands/options.

+1.

I have a Gath helmet which I bought to use the visor on rainy days. But it gets uncomfortable on the back of my head after about 30 minutes, and I cannot wear my glasses underneath. Contacts are not quite as good when sun reflections off the water are an issue (which is most days).

I wear a simpler, lighter helmet all the time now. Started doing it occasionally for crazy speed days, and all the time for foiling (after landing on the foil with the back of my head the first time). It's comfortable enough that I use it for 100% of my sessions now, both foiling and windsurfing. An added advantage is that I can put my GPS on top, so I don't have to deal with arm bands or watch bands that like to disintegrate. Seems I am getting clumsier as I age, so there have been lots of times where I was glad to be wearing a helmet.

Most people I know including myself started with a helmet after needing stiches.

I think the original gath is good for windsurfing as it is very slim and is less likely to bucket water. But keep the chin strap tight. I had a headache for about 3 weeks after a failed forward where water shot up the front of the helmet cause it was loose and slammed the back of the helmet into my occipital region.

Mostly we just need protection from skin damage. For a sport like kitesurfing you need a helmet that has more closed cell foam like a bike helmet to aide in the rate of brain deceleration after a collision on land.

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John340 said..
My wife bought me a Garth helmet for Christmas 3 years ago. After sailing for 40 years without a helmet, I now feel naked without it on. It fits like a glove. You must have a strangely shaped head Sailquik! The ear covers are not a problem for me, but I haven't gone for the Star Wars look with the tinted visor.

Garth helmet a quality 90s product

When your sailing around tons of kiters and they are jumping, all it takes is one kite board to separate from it's owner in the air and strike you across the head as it lands. Sometimes it's the other people you need to look out for.

Seen one of these yesterday arvo, very impressed orded one yesterday evening. Hope this helps

Thanks Gary

Another option ... Protec .. well known to me from the skate scene ... but they do a watersports version ...

protecbrand.com.au/products/ace-water-mtmetblue-metallic-blue

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nudie said..
Seen one of these yesterday arvo, very impressed orded one yesterday evening. Hope this helps

Thanks Gary

please report back

I mainly use cycling helmets, light weight, ears unobstructed and the foam keeps your head cool

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morts said..
Definitely worth trying as many helmets as possible to work out what fits you best, you won't wear it otherwise. Check out stores that sell white water kayaks & the like as well for other brands/options.

+1, I agree with Morts. I bought the Neil Pryde Freeride model online without the benefit of first trying it on. It's fine feature-wise but the Eva padding is not a good match for the shape of my head. Need to find a sharp razor blade to shave down some spots where the pressure gets annoying over time.
The take-away for me was the importance of personal fit.-Jim