Do you wakeboard with helmets?

If your not in a cable park or taking rails and launch ramps should a kid or adult for that matter be wearing a wakeboard helmet. I live in minnesota and wonder if people are starting to wear helmets or is this a marketing gimmick?

Re: Do you wakeboard with helmets?

Wearing a helmet is never a bad idea as long its a helmet designed for the sport- you don't want a heavy helmet on your head when you smack the water at 20 mph. You never know if the board could kick up and hit you in the head where a helmet could save you, so no I don't think its a sales gimmick.

Do I wear a helmet? No. Did I wear a helmet as a kid on a bike? No. Does that make it right? No.

Its a personal decision and a calculated risk depending on how you handle yourself and how hard you board. I never hit my head on a bike as a kid and I tend to think that I can control my posture when I hit the water. My kid on the other hand has a lot of his mother in him and has no coordination at all :laugh: so he wears a helmet in the house.

Re: Do you wakeboard with helmets?

I would "think" that helmet use wouldn't be all that helpful in a non ramp environment. Just that much more weight to be snapping your neck around when you hit the water. On rails and other hard man made objects it seems like a good idea.

Re: Do you wakeboard with helmets?

Concussion injuries are not uncommon in wakeboarding if you catch a toe side edge or are doing lots of tricks. Pro riders generally don't wear them because they don't like the looks so that does not help their popularity. There is also a question about the larger surface area of a head with a helmet causing more force than no helmet but no padding. There is not a lot of science in this area. When my son was younger we had him in a helmet but at 14 it's not worth the fight for boarding. If there were any good studies to support it I would have him in it again.
Like oldjeep if he were riding with hard surfaces he would be in a helmet or not riding.
Usually a wakeboard helmet has softer padding than a bike or skateboard helmet would.

Re: Do you wakeboard with helmets?

rallyart said:

Concussion injuries are not uncommon in wakeboarding if you catch a toe side edge or are doing lots of tricks.

Click to expand...

But the question is would a helmet help in that situation, or actually make it worse. I highly suspect more of the latter. A helmet will cause two issues... It adds weight/inertia for the moment your head snaps back after catching the edge, and it adds surface area to increase the G-load when your face meets the water.

I can say from many years of wakeboarding that although it isn't impossible to catch a board to the head, it is very, very rare. And if you do, its not a blunt force impact, but a relatively minor glancing slice. The board and you are generally traveling in the same direction and the relatively velocities are similar.

Re: Do you wakeboard with helmets?

We wear helmets now after our neighbors brother got his 4th concussin from hitting the water. He does some extreme tricks and gets major air off the wake...way more than I can. I didn't wear helmets when doing water sports when I was younger, as nobody did, nor when riding a bicycle and never while skipping water with a snowmobile (too hard to get off when it sinks). But, I figure I like my brain and I will do whatever I can to keep it working. You never know if it will help when you crash but it is worth a try. I do like how you can mount a camera on the helmet which will get some neat footage. Now, if I can find a suit of armor to protect my ribs from breaking (did that last year) I would wear that...as long as I would still float..ha.

Re: Do you wakeboard with helmets?

My son at 22 years old wears a helmet every time he is on a wake board, he has had two concussions from hitting the water. We do not have a tower but he is able to jump from wake to wake behind a 22 footer that puts out a good size wake. Water is like concrete when you hit it in just the right way.. I have broke 3 ribs coming off a tube before... water is hard!