Do helmets save your head? - Survey

[CaptainArgh]

A friend of mine put together the following 6 question survey to gather some real world data on our sport. He asked me to share it here. I'll post the study results when he has a large enough sample of responses.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PKQR53N

We know helmets work well for many sports. But, does it help when kiteboarding? Is the benefit of impact injuries offset by the harm of traction injuries? Help us find out. Please take the survey below. It will take less than 30 seconds to complete. I will post the results here on the forum once we have an adequate sample size.

Thanks!

[knotwindy]

Done, we will see I guess but probably won't add up to much. People rarely change their minds because of facts these days!

[LetsFlyaKite]

Save your head from what? Water? LOL

[corbett]

Save your head from what? Water? LOL

Oh shooshed

[Starsky]

Save your head from what? Water? LOL

Foil, sun, board, bar, and just about everything on land at our beachless rocky treed in exit, roughly in that order.

[Alysum]

Done.

Yes I have had whiplashes on the water which would have been less severe without a helmet.

But I have also been dragged along a rocky/stony beack with a kite out of control. God knows what would have happened without a helmet.

Helmets also keeps your head warm in winter and protects the scalp from the sun in summer.

The only exceptions are on really light wind days and beaches with no visible rocks/stones for kms in all directions.

Seriously wear a helmet.

[RickI]

I started to fill it out but have some serious problems with some of the very few questions (total of 6) in this survey. If the goal is to develop some useful objective information, I think it is going to have to be reworded perhaps even increased slightly in length. I know people have a short attention span but don't kill the intent with too much brevity. Anyway, dealing with specifics:

3. Have you had a traction injury or whiplash injury
yes - while wearing a helmet
yes - without a helmet
no

My answer is yes to both of these but I am unable to answer in that fashion as the survey is designed. I have had whiplash inducing impacts with a helmet on and without in the distant past. Kiting wipeouts cause such injury relatively easily as does wakeboarding for that matter with or without helmets in use (see below).



6. Have you had headaches, concussion symptoms (ie memory loss), within 24 hours of a kiteboarding session?
yes - I was wearing a helmet
yes - I was not wearing a helmet
no

My answer should be "Yes - I was wearing a helmet." The rejoinder is my doctor said I would have died without it? Did the helmet contribute to the concession and related symptoms, no. It acted to reduce them, as designed. Tons of wakeboarders routinely have concussions without helmets, all it takes is a sudden stop from high speed to bounce your brain around in your skull to trigger one after all. Also, I should answer yes-I was not wearing a helmet (headaches are caused by a lot more things than concussion after all). This question makes no sense in short given the range of responses which the wording won't catch.

I appreciate your friend trying to develop some useful information but I would say to go back and have another wack at the survey design to come up with meaningful results.

[CaptainArgh]

I wear a helmet for the big hit that I hope never comes, but it prevents me from stitches or at least a good lump on the head once a year due to board and fin hits during wrecks. The situations are all unique to specific conditions, but when I get hit in the head with a fin and get to keep riding like it never happened, I'm real happy to be wearing a helmet!

[Bille]

Save your head from what? Water? LOL

It would be Pointless for LetsFlyaKite to use a helmet ; there simply is NOT enough
of a brain there , to bother protecting .

For those of us with actual cognitive resources ; might be a good idea to protect them !!

Bille

[alamos_kiter]

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