A couple of crashes with the board and it being pulled by the leash, and board hitting my head (hard helmet) have resulted dings on my board (possible caused by the corner on the go pro cam mount)

This made me to think whether its better to take a soft helmet, enough for protecting the head and the board.

What are your thoughts and what are the options? Of course head protection is paramount.

I just bought me the mystic softhelmet and use it for 2 weeks now. It a bit Thicker on the backhead. as it is soft it's very comfortable too and fits very well much better than hart helmet. Not so sure about the protection yet no incident so far

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Okkervile said..
I just bought me the mystic softhelmet and use it for 2 weeks now. It a bit Thicker on the backhead. as it is soft it's very comfortable too and fits very well much better than hart helmet. Not so sure about the protection yet no incident so far

This one, right? The impact cap? On their website its not clearly indicated that its soft. Only when comparing helmet vs cap one realises that the abs hardshell isn't on the cap. I wish they'd elaborate more on the benefits of the shell less cap, like snugger fit.

Love my Mystic Impact Cap. Very comfortable and save me from a couple of decent head hits now. Soft shell but absorbs hits well, actually seems to harden on impact

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MProject04 said..

Okkervile said..
I just bought me the mystic softhelmet and use it for 2 weeks now. It a bit Thicker on the backhead. as it is soft it's very comfortable too and fits very well much better than hart helmet. Not so sure about the protection yet no incident so far

This one, right? The impact cap? On their website its not clearly indicated that its soft. Only when comparing helmet vs cap one realises that the abs hardshell isn't on the cap. I wish they'd elaborate more on the benefits of the shell less cap, like snugger fit.

Yes this one but in black

I recently purchased the Oakley helmet, really good so far, very comfortable, was out on my second time using it and a guy proning knocked his head on his board came out of the water with blood leaking from his head, so this made me feel like my purchase was justifiable straight away. On my third session got wacked in the head by my board after messing up the pop up proning, hit my head so hard I'm sure if i didn't have a helmet on I would have been busted up or knocked out. Only thing it did result in a ding to my board, but I would rather a ding in my board than my head though, would be interesting to see how a soft helmet would perform in that situation as the force the board hit me was crazy certainly nothing like what I have experienced on the water before.

There is a half way house: Forward WIP WIFLEX www.forward-wip.com/produit/wiflex/
I've been using it for around a year. It's hard enough to protect the head from impacts, but not hard enough to ding a board.

Helmet weight is the number one enemy in my opinion. My hate goes back to 1999, my first year of kiteboarding. A flying superman crash caused whiplash when hitting the water flat. The whiplash was so severe, it caused my neck to swell and gave me a concussion.

The lightest helmet on the market is the Whip model that is nothing but super hard styrofoam. No outer shell at all. Just painted bare styrofoam. It's truly like wearing nothing on your head. Don't be fooled by the bare foam. It's super hard foam. No chance of whiplash injury.

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Okkervile said..

MProject04 said..

Okkervile said..
I just bought me the mystic softhelmet and use it for 2 weeks now. It a bit Thicker on the backhead. as it is soft it's very comfortable too and fits very well much better than hart helmet. Not so sure about the protection yet no incident so far

This one, right? The impact cap? On their website its not clearly indicated that its soft. Only when comparing helmet vs cap one realises that the abs hardshell isn't on the cap. I wish they'd elaborate more on the benefits of the shell less cap, like snugger fit.

Yes this one but in black

does the Mystic soak up water? Reading DWF comment (thanks!) about weight.. the last thing you want is a helmet that becomes heavier with water

I've also been using the new oakley the past month or so and I'm a big fan. Very light and doesn't hold water. I don't notice it when it's on and doesn't whip my head when hitting the water. Actually tested by a helmet lab too.If my helmet hits my board hard enough to cause a ding then I'd be extra happy I was wearing a helmet and would happily repair the board, not switch to a softer helmet

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DWF said..
Helmet weight is the number one enemy in my opinion. My hate goes back to 1999, my first year of kiteboarding. A flying superman crash caused whiplash when hitting the water flat. The whiplash was so severe, it caused my neck to swell and gave me a concussion.

The lightest helmet on the market is the Whip model that is nothing but super hard styrofoam. No outer shell at all. Just painted bare styrofoam. It's truly like wearing nothing on your head. Don't be fooled by the bare foam. It's super hard foam. No chance of whiplash injury.

This thread is right on time for me. I was trying to go fast the other day and ate it pretty hard. My head was like a clapper in a bell. Did not feel good. I thought that a lighter and more snug brain bucket would be better. This seems to be the case. Has anyone tried both the WIP and mystic?

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MProject04 said..

Okkervile said..

MProject04 said..

Okkervile said..
I just bought me the mystic softhelmet and use it for 2 weeks now. It a bit Thicker on the backhead. as it is soft it's very comfortable too and fits very well much better than hart helmet. Not so sure about the protection yet no incident so far

This one, right? The impact cap? On their website its not clearly indicated that its soft. Only when comparing helmet vs cap one realises that the abs hardshell isn't on the cap. I wish they'd elaborate more on the benefits of the shell less cap, like snugger fit.

Yes this one but in black

does the Mystic soak up water? Reading DWF comment (thanks!) about weight.. the last thing you want is a helmet that becomes heavier with water

No it (the Mystic) does not absorb water so does not get any heavier. The other benefit is it fits weird shaped heads (mine) being somewhat flexible. Have had plenty of stacks but so far haven't taken a head hit so can't comment on effectiveness. But for me it's better than a badly fitting hard helmet for sure.

Mine is not soaking water neither. It's a really nice helmet. it fits so well it looks like bespoke. Even the buckle is foamed. Only a little shield is missing

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Seastudent said..

DWF said..
Helmet weight is the number one enemy in my opinion. My hate goes back to 1999, my first year of kiteboarding. A flying superman crash caused whiplash when hitting the water flat. The whiplash was so severe, it caused my neck to swell and gave me a concussion.

The lightest helmet on the market is the Whip model that is nothing but super hard styrofoam. No outer shell at all. Just painted bare styrofoam. It's truly like wearing nothing on your head. Don't be fooled by the bare foam. It's super hard foam. No chance of whiplash injury.

This thread is right on time for me. I was trying to go fast the other day and ate it pretty hard. My head was like a clapper in a bell. Did not feel good. I thought that a lighter and more snug brain bucket would be better. This seems to be the case. Has anyone tried both the WIP and mystic?

They are heavy compared to the bare foam WIP

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DWF said..
Helmet weight is the number one enemy in my opinion. My hate goes back to 1999, my first year of kiteboarding. A flying superman crash caused whiplash when hitting the water flat. The whiplash was so severe, it caused my neck to swell and gave me a concussion.

The lightest helmet on the market is the Whip model that is nothing but super hard styrofoam. No outer shell at all. Just painted bare styrofoam. It's truly like wearing nothing on your head. Don't be fooled by the bare foam. It's super hard foam. No chance of whiplash injury.

I would assume that it's not so much the weight of the helmet as the additional leverage that's the problem here?

I usually ride with very little protection, a soft surf helmet or just a sun hat with a bump cap. For days when there's a lot of traffic on the water, I also have a Simba.

My biggest problem with hard shell helmets is combining them with sunglasses.

I use Gath RV in the winter over my hood. It is heavy but my neck muscles have become accustomed to it. It offers great protection. Having a pull down visor is great in rain/snow to protect the eyes. My summer helmet was a Gath Neo that I loved until it was crushed by an airport truck. Nice slim fit but also provides great protection. My replacement helmet is the Oakley which is super light and a great fit. The ear protection is not great. Also lost 1 of the ear protection parts on the water. Oakley does not have replacement parts unfortunately. You can wear sunglasses with this helmet too which is great.
When I started foil surfing in 2018 I received 4 staples in my head from a mast hitting me. Was wearing a 5mm hood and still split my head open like nothing. I used hard helmets because of this. Rather my gear take damage than myself.

I've never used a soft helmet.

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NikOnFoil said..

My biggest problem with hard shell helmets is combining them with sunglasses.

I took a knife and notched the tiny bit on the helmet that was hitting my glasses. Easy when the helmet is all EPS.

I wear Ombraz sunglasses now and they work with any helmet.

For me whiplash is a real issue due to multiple car accidents as a dumb kid driving too fast. I've gone through a few helmets to find the right balance between weight and protection. I like the Manera one with the non-newtonian fluid. it's soft until impacted, then it turns hard. I've been hit by my board once since wearing it, it turned solid on impact! Then soft again. Tried the Mystic one prior, they don't indicate what the material is, and also on me it made me look like a conehead!

www.manera.com/en/products/protections/s-foam-helmet.html

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NikOnFoil said..

My biggest problem with hard shell helmets is combining them with sunglasses.

I have a set of Ugly Fish sunnies where the arms clip off and are replaced with a strap. Works great under a helmet and much more secure than attaching leashes to the arms

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NikOnFoil said..

My biggest problem with hard shell helmets is combining them with sunglasses.

I have a set of Ugly Fish sunnies where the arms clip off and are replaced with a strap. Works great under a helmet and much more secure than attaching leashes to the arms