I was wearing a helmet when my board took out my teeth at Cape Sebastion this summer, I guess I should've been wearing a mouth guard instead (or as well), but it sure showed me what an impact can do no matter where it gets ya.

The gaths are super low profile, but probably don't provide much impact cushioning like a bike helmet would, but they stay put in high winds and diving under waves, protecs move around way more.

I occasionally wear a helmet if it's getting quite windy but I always wear a life jacket. I've never had an incident in which a helmet would be required but I have experienced an incident in which a life jacket would have been more than handy. So I feel the same way about life jackets as it seems Kus does about helmets.

jim mckenzie wrote: So I feel the same way about life jackets as it seems Kus does about helmets.

I feel that way about booties. I see bleeding feet all around me in BC and La Ventana.

Vik wrote:

jim mckenzie wrote: So I feel the same way about life jackets as it seems Kus does about helmets.

I feel that way about booties. I see bleeding feet all around me in BC and La Ventana.

that's funny stuff alright. Regretful even responding to this thread or your comments now

KUS wrote:that's funny stuff alright. Regretful even responding to this thread or your comments now

Funny? Nothing funny about slicing your feet open in my opinion. Given how frequently that happens it seems smart to avoid that problem by wearing booties.

If I only had the $$ to buy a helmet or booties I'd spend the money on booties.

Vik wrote:If I only had the $$ to buy a helmet or booties I'd spend the money on booties.

I suppose that supports Gwind's theory about you, your feet are more valuable. Let's hope there won't come a time when they won't know where to take you

I always wear a helmet. With respect to booties: I wear booties & get a kick out of those who claim bare feet enable a more tactile session. How tactile are cold feet Maybe kiting naked would improve sessions

KUS wrote:

Vik wrote:If I only had the $$ to buy a helmet or booties I'd spend the money on booties.

I suppose that supports Gwind's theory about you, your feet are more valuable. Let's hope there won't come a time when they won't know where to take you

That's always the rub with risk management. Some people freak out about the 1 in a million risk and can't get their head's wrapped around the 1 in 5 risks.

One day a car may jump the curb while you are walking back from the corner store and hit you. Will you be wearing a helmet to protect that valuable brain?...

If Canada passed a mandatory helmet law for everybody all the time the internet would be filled with stories of helmets preventing injuries. Yet nobody thinks twice about climbing in the shower without one despite the bathroom being the most dangerous room in the house for head injuries. That seems silly - helmet in the shower??

Driving to fly your kite or windsurf do you wear a helmet in the car? Studies have shown that helmets in cars significantly reduce the risk of head injuries in collisions even with seat belts and airbags in the mix. For most of us driving to the beach is the most dangerous part of our session yet we don't think twice about it.

It's funny how we fixate on one risk and act so holier than thou about it and totally miss the other more serious risks we face during our day....

Vik wrote:That's always the rub with risk management. Some people freak out about the 1 in a million risk and can't get their head's wrapped around the 1 in 5 risks.
One day a car may jump the curb while you are walking back from the corner store and hit you. Will you be wearing a helmet to protect that valuable brain?... It's funny how we fixate on one risk and act so holier than thou about it and totally miss the other more serious risks we face during our day....

valid points, to a degree (unlike the $$ comparison for booties and helmet, that's like saying I can afford a kite and board but no lessons). It just so happens I know a couple of things re: risk management. Your argument is severely flawed in not considering the pretty well recognized military formula that includes not just probability but exposure & consequence and where consequence may be mitigated to reduce risk. For that reason your examples of the booties and the car jumping the curb are poorly chosen. Personal exposure during my roughly 100 annual sessions to a head injury and resulting consequences may be both high and catastrophic respectiveley for those who push the limits and get out often. Your booties example focus is only on probability, and agreed, it is high, probably 30-40%, just smacked an ankle into a rock yesterday, all blue today but without booties who knows.... consequences that are a drag....and therefore I wear booties even in Maui, in the summer and at sandy beaches even when I have new straps. The car example has a high consequence but both exposure and probability are superlow to non-existent. In addition you can usually mitigate this potential by always walking as far over from the road as u can and against traffic to see the car coming at least.....It amazes me how many people don't do this simple thing....just about smoked a guy in dark clothing on the rainy dark highway yesterday walking right beside the traffic on the fog line with his back turned, me as far away from centerline as possible to avoid the crossing-the-median idiot on the Hat.
My head injury events on the other hand are probably 4-5 a year or 5%, are NOT related to extreme conditions (man did I get slammed in the head on a nothing wind day just because I oversheeted a helitack one day...). I don't see how guys on kites pushing the limits would not be in this ball park, esp near obstacles...but maybe they aren't and their board is a non-issue. Be that as it may, the consequence of being struck unconscious are catastrophic, there is little to no rescue or CPR potential and you will die. Therefore the overall risk figure is huge. As lifejackets (and I am not talking about PFD's here that don't keep your face out of the water) don't work for windsurfing one must do all one can to get back to the beach, cut down the odds where you are able to.

It seems you have made up your mind in terms of risk acceptance. Nothing wrong with that....well, until as a taxpayer I have to bear the costs for lifelong care (or some frivilous lawsuit against some organization you or your estate feels must be responsible for your own actions ) so at least ensure you die and not maim yourself into a vegetable, it is much cheaper.