Facial injury

[irwe]

I would suggest starting off with getting a Custom made Mouthguard with your Dentist. One of my Kite Buddies ('expert' KBH, TT) wears his every session. I use my when Snowkiting or any extreme conditions.
Your Dentist will make sure it fits properly and is comfortable. It will last for years if you take care of it.

Regards,
irwe
DDS

[UKSurf]

Fencing helmet? (fencing with foils as in foils being the light weight fencing swords)
Seems applicable...

Maybe good idea IF stainless steel face guard and hardware if not a no go.
R H

Yes alot of helmets will rust in salt water. My Ice Hockey helmet rusted a bit after a year but it was cheap to buy. I think you posted about your friend getting hit in the face, did he recover ok and did you end up wearing a face protection helmet?

[revhed]

I think you posted about your friend getting hit in the face, did he recover ok and did you end up wearing a face protection helmet?

My good friend is just fine THX for asking.
Neither he nor I wear face guard helmet and is not for not looking just never found the right one yet, but we always other than calm thermals wear helmets.
Here in S France we have limited cold weather sport stores to try on helmets, both for fit and comfort and we hesitate to buy online because of.
R H
I for sure if price was correct, fit well, light, inox, SS, and good face guard system would buy like now.

[UKSurf]

I think you posted about your friend getting hit in the face, did he recover ok and did you end up wearing a face protection helmet?

My good friend is just fine THX for asking.
Neither he nor I wear face guard helmet and is not for not looking just never found the right one yet, but we always other than calm thermals wear helmets.
Here in S France we have limited cold weather sport stores to try on helmets, both for fit and comfort and we hesitate to buy online because of.
R H
I for sure if price was correct, fit well, light, inox, SS, and good face guard system would buy like now.

I am surprised someone hasnt made one specifically for hydrofoiling.

[grtlakes]

I am surprised someone hasnt made one specifically for hydrofoiling.
[/quote]

Good point. There certainly seems a demand for one.

[StellaBlu]

What about the Gath watersports helmets with the face shield? Seems like the best solution. I also heard that Gath was coming out with a foil specific helmet, but their manufacturing is all messed up due to COVID, so it might be delayed for a while.

https://gathsports.com/product/gath-rv/

[edt]

unless you are a warm weather kiter only I would go with the cage style mask as the gath can fog up

[br44]

It's not just about the helmet. Since this was apparently a board hit, it follows that a board with thick, softer rails would have inflicted much less damage; perhaps none? So: an inflatable foil board may be a good choice for safety reasons.

[Trent hink]

A friend of mine who is way more competent and experienced than me, was out riding some "wave" conditions (west coast of Florida so really it is just big chop and shore break).

He fell off, ahead of the foil and, as he explained it, somehow the foil rode down the wave, just caught his tooth and chipped it.

He always wears a helmet.

I don't think the Gath helmet would have helped him, the face sheild does not seem to go low enough.

[Dave_5280]

I got a new Gath helmet about a year ago, the Gedi model with the full visor, and it was for lite protection from cuts and mostly sun protection and it works well for that. But I remember a statement in the documentation that the helmet was not for impact protection and it is a very thin shell and the visor isn’t very thick. And another forum member wrote to me that his Gath helmet didn’t protect him from an impact. So I wouldn’t recommend using my helmet for protection against a heavy blow from a foil because it just isn’t heavy enough for it.

I used to whitewater kayak and those helmets are padded for heavy blows from hard objects much better than my Gath.