Facial injury

[Flyboy]

3 weeks ago I was hit in the face by the board while foiling. I think what happened was I came off the foil & pulled away in front of it, but the board foiled after me. I must have turned around slightly & the nose of the board hit me on the side of the head close to my eye. It was cold so my face was pretty numb, but after a couple of minutes blood was pouring down the side of my face. There was a moderate cut next to my eye. The board is a 3'6" Dwarfcraft - it has quite a thick, rounded nose. I think a thin board with more of a snowboard construction would have done a lot more damage.

I think mostly it's possible to avoid impacts to anything other than your helmet, but there are occasional awkward falls that could result in a bad impact. I think a heavier alu foil is likely to be more of a problem because of the weight of the board/foil. Foiling in breaking waves increases the chances of something bad happening. The same is true even if not on a foil board ... who hasn't had the experience of coming off a SB & ending up body dragging back towards the board only to see it picked up by a wave & hurled straight at you! I can't see myself wearing a helmet with a visor though.

[downunder]

I do not see anyone in body armour here in West Australia. Must be that concrete wheetbix...

Try it. Might help

[sflinux]

What about the Gath watersports helmets with the face shield?
https://gathsports.com/product/gath-rv/

I have this helmet and would not recommend it for hydrofoil protection, as the plastic is not strong. It is great for uv protection, but does get foggy.
This helmet would be better for impact protection, perhaps supplemented with glasses:
https://www.outdoorplay.com/WRSI-Moment ... ace-Helmet
I use a lacrosse helmet when I hydrofoil. ($5 at Goodwill pre-covid)
Older thread:
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