That guy is dangerous

[Frank82]

Nobody under 30 uses forums, it's for old people

Luckily where I kite there's kiters from any age group, 12-60+, majority in the 18-40 range.

[Kamikuza]

[Goavegas]

Nobody under 30 uses forums, it's for old people

Luckily where I kite there's kiters from any age group, 12-60+, majority in the 18-40 range.

Nobody under 30 uses forums, it's for old people


That's why younger people know's everything,but after 30 they realise they were vrong.

[grigorib]

Put your hand up of you are under 30

Centimeters?

[Exal]

Put your hand up of you are under 30

Centimeters?

Well I think we are done with this topic when dad jokes are beeing unleashed.

[Matteo V]

....i wasn't discouraging anyone from anything, just pointing out my observations. It's just a red flag, i reserve judgment until on the water as i mentioned yet from some of the responses this seems to have be overlooked,....

I think you have missed a point here. It's not about bashing people using safety gear. It's about middle aged men that have too much money on their hands, who disregarded proper training, took some youtube tutorials and bought plenty of safety gear, in hopes that it would save them if things would go wrong.

That's exactly what I mean, safety gear is never better than common sense and kiting skills......

.....This isn't because of wearing tons of safety gear but by using common sense and not being a kook.

Thank you all for admitting your link between using safety gear and being a kook does not exist. Lots of advanced riders who are capable and conscientious, wear at least a helmet. Many more "less than capable" or "stupid but skilled" kiters who should wear one, don not.

Safety gear is not an "indication" of being a kook. The 2nd biggest kook is the inexperienced guy that does not wear any safety gear. But the biggest kook is the the experienced guy who should be using safety gear because of their behavior, but does not. Thus the biggest kook wants to "look cool" by presenting the image that they are good enough to never have anything go wrong, but they do have things go wrong. And the price for "image" can often be the ultimate price.

The biggest take away here is that safety gear is not equivalent, nor is it a substitute for experience. Safety gear and experience are two completely separate things. Just like driving a car, a drivers skill does not mean that they can turn off the safety features of the car. One does not make up for the other. And one does not indicate your skill level.

No one using safety gear is going to believe that safety gear will allow them to be more reckless. Safety gear only offers a reduction in the severity of an injury. In the case of helmets allowing you to stay conscious and maintain control after the first impact, the reduction in injury is sometimes the difference between a headache and death. But no one using safety gear believes it offers freedom from injury in all cases.

[Toby]

Kami: should have kept filming the kites to the left...would be interesting how turbine winds effect the kites....

[Frank82]

When I ride my twintip I will never use a helmet. I've had back edge crashes in boots coming out of unhooked tricks and kiteloops, they hurt but it was alright. By adding a lot more surface area and weight to my head the whiplash effect will be magnified a lot resulting in more pain and more stress on the neck.
In my area there's no park features to use such as kickers/sliders where a helmet would make sense (hard objects). The only reason I would use a helmet besides park features on a twintip would be launching/landing or some other freak incident where my head would hit a hard object, I rather take that very small risk than more pain and chance of neck injury. It's best to stay clear of hard objects when launching and doing your tricks well clear of obstacles near/on the shore.

[Matteo V]

No no you wouldnt. For same reason you dont see boxers wearing helmets. Adding weight to your head is BAD and larger surface area hitting water ALSO BAD.

Helmets are way more dangerous to any freestyler then safe. Wakeboarding PARKSTYLE however it pays to have a helmet

This myth must be put down now. Virtually all of fatal or life changing head injuries in kiteboarding happen when impacting objects, mostly on land, for all kiteboarding styles. Thus your helmet is protecting you from hard sand, rocks, logs on the beach or in the water, pilings (oh, those can be in the water to), other kiters loose or lost boards, other kiters bodies (think elbow, knee, or head to head contact), or any other object on land or in the water (cars in a parking lot or boats on the water). On top of that, maintaining consciousness after the initial impact can also save your life. There ain't no ref there to stop the fight in kiteboarding.

Your and Frank82's excuse to look cool by not wearing a helmet is the worst. It is like the "seat belts cost more lives than they save" argument. And with slim fitting helmets like Gath or similar, the only excuse to not wear a helmet is the desire to look cool.

But your example of boxing is lovely. Though let's make boxing punches a bit more like the impacts that kill non helmet wearing kiteboarders. Just substitute boxing gloves for a hollowed out rock with a handle inside it, and use those instead. Do you think you would see some benefit from just a bit of padding on the participants heads?

[Frank82]

Looking cool is not what I care about, it's that they're uncomfortable and cause more pain/injury when crashing.