Full face helmet for foiling?

[downunder]

Correct.

All this gear is making us feel invincible.

Far from it. One might wear a helmet with cage and never ever tell us about a nightmare of catching bar end in a cage. Or a l

Impossible?

[downunder]

Correct.

All this gear is making us feel invincible.

Far from it. One might wear a helmet with cage and never ever tell us about a nightmare of catching bar end in a cage. Or a line.

Impossible?

If someone wants to look like an ice hockey player while kite surfing, I can only imagine him driving a Hummer while learning to drive a car.

Somehow I do not see Hummers with L plate on the roads in AU

Imagine, a snowboard back protector broke me wrist. So who to blame, a protector or me wearing it?

Chicken an egg question....

[UKSurf]

Correct.

All this gear is making us feel invincible.

Far from it. One might wear a helmet with cage and never ever tell us about a nightmare of catching bar end in a cage. Or a line.

Impossible?

If someone wants to look like an ice hockey player while kite surfing, I can only imagine him driving a Hummer while learning to drive a car.

Somehow I do not see Hummers with L plate on the roads in AU

Imagine, a snowboard back protector broke me wrist. So who to blame, a protector or me wearing it?

Chicken an egg question....

In my opinion wearing a caged helmet will very much reduce the risk of getting smashed in the face with a foil - which is a very real risk which i have seen happen first hand. Whether it introduces other dangers i cant say i used one for a few months and couldnt see the risks it added although a few people thought i was over reacting to the dangers and took the piss out of it a bit. It is a personal decision but i dont think having a foil tommohawk you in the face and the damage it could do should be underestimated.

[Kitetwin-1]

While not a fan of helmets or face shield ( I wear neither) I had the following incident happen today. On a roll tack I fell down wind of the foil. A wave rolled it over gently just as I turned to it, I got the stab just below my right eye, I kept kiting for 2 hours, all the fresh water cleaned it out good. I eventually went to emerg to get it checked out, all good, no stitches but it missed my eye by a hair. Lesson learned, when yur not on top of the foil take nothing for grant, again situational awareness.

[Kamikuza]

While not a fan of helmets or face shield ( I wear neither) I had the following incident happen today. On a roll tack I fell down wind of the foil. A wave rolled it over gently just as I turned to it, I got the stab just below my right eye, I kept kiting for 2 hours, all the fresh water cleaned it out good. I eventually went to emerg to get it checked out, all good, no stitches but it missed my eye by a hair. Lesson learned, when yur not on top of the foil take nothing for grant, again situational awareness.

Early on, I forgot to put my helmet on and didn't go back for it because I thought I'd be ok. Fell backwards and split my scalp on something, which I didn't find out till I got back to the club house shower and it was running red didn't bother with a check up cos head wounds always bleed like a mother and it didn't hurt that much.

Wore the helmet religiously for a long time, then started wearing a floppy hat in the summer, and have gone back to wearing a helmet. I've never been hit since -- in fact, my only other injury was kicking the stab in the carpark and slicing my toes.

If I go in the water and don't know where the board is, I put an arm up in front of my face like a boxer.

So far so good I know accidents happen but I don't think the risk is high enough to warrant full face helmets.

...I do notice that I get a sore neck more wearing a helmet and slamming into the water.

[Dave_5280]

I wear the Gath Gedi helmet with the full face visor and have been very happy with it. I wear it for cut and sun protection more than impact protection which it really isn’t rated for it. If I wanted impact protection I would go with a white water kayaking helmet or maybe downhill skiing helmet.

[UKSurf]

I wear the Gath Gedi helmet with the full face visor and have been very happy with it. I wear it for cut and sun protection more than impact protection which it really isn’t rated for it. If I wanted impact protection I would go with a white water kayaking helmet or maybe downhill skiing helmet.

I am considering getting one myself. How much protection do you think the visor would give you?

[Herman]

My helmets are many years old and I have Gath gedi and Gecko surf helmet. I prefer the Gecko for the water and use ski goggles if I want eye protection with it. Imho it might be worth your while checking out Gecko as well as Gath. My gedi design is a bit of a bucket which is ok if you are just cruising and I like it on land. Also to be fair the designs of both helmets have been updated. I think Gecko is small UK firm and certainly used to produce high quality gear, I believe they do a full face helmet for jet skis if you feel the need!

[Dave_5280]

I wear the Gath Gedi helmet with the full face visor and have been very happy with it. I wear it for cut and sun protection more than impact protection which it really isn’t rated for it. If I wanted impact protection I would go with a white water kayaking helmet or maybe downhill skiing helmet.

I am considering getting one myself. How much protection do you think the visor would give you?

The Gedi helmet with the full face visor in smoke grey gave me great sun protection and is thick enough and comes down far enough that it would give good protection from cuts and small impacts. It doesn’t come down far enough to protect the chin on down. The Gedi is the model Gath recommended for kitesurfing when I contacted them, and it also takes the most accessories that can be connected to it. I was really happy that it didn’t fog up at all on my last trip to Maui and I had good visibility without water droplets sticking to it, and no need for sun screen - just needed screen on my neck and a neck gator from Buffs took care of that. I also found their sizing chart for the Gedi was correct for me. I went with the Luminous Yellow colored helmet for great visibility from a long way off (got a rash shirt in same color also).

[Adventure Logs]

First time I saw someone in a full face helmet was down in La Ventura. It was so hilarious that I bursted out laughing. I just couldn’t help myself. For me hydrofoiling is all about the feels and something like that would greatly reduce that for me and in my opinion is not worth the extra protection. I have been hit in the face with my board before and still hold this opinion. It is an “extreme” sport and there’s always going to be some amount of risk. Up to you to decide what risk you are willing to take. Gotta say it’s quite entertaining to see these riders in so much “armor”. Quite entertaining. Might as well be in a bubble.