Helmet

From Wikipaddle

Helmets are an important piece of safety equipment, and are essential for kayakers and anyone paddling on white water. Helmets are there to protect the head (commonly believed to be a vital part of the human anatomy) from damage. In white water situations the force and speed of the water, coupled with the increased likelihood of there being large or sharp rocks just below the surface, means that head impacts are likely should anyone take a swim. For kayakers the danger is even more prominent, given the positioning of an inverted boater's head.

It is the opinion of some that in certain situations helmets are not necessary. Many Open Boaters feel that they do not need to wear a helmet, as they fall out of their boat in a different manner to kayakers. However this view only takes into account the initial ousting of the paddler, not the following swim down a rapid, or the likely hood of taking a knock on the head from a rescuer's boat or paddle.

• If your head has a collision with a rock, without a helmet, you will almost certainly receive an injury.
• If your head has a collision with a rock, wearing a helmet, you will have a far lower chance of receiving an injury.

Safety Hazard Helmets don't prevent an impact, they prevent the consequences.

Contents 1 Helmet Design 1.1 Outer Shell 1.2 Shock Absorption Layer 2 Fitting 3 Buying Guide 3.1 Things to consider 3.2 Other Sports Helmets 4 Accessories 4.1 Peaks 4.2 Face Guards 4.3 Nose Clips 5 Head Injuries

Helmet Design

Helmets are designed with three core aims:

1. Protect the head from contact with hard or sharp objects that may cause a cuts or lacerations to the head.
2. Protect the head from impacts that may cause a concussion or other blunt-force trauma injury.
3. Protect the face, ears and other parts of the head not directly covered by the helmet; without impairing vision, hearing or mobility.

Whilst it may seem that the first two are one and the same, there are distinct differences between the injuries and how they are prevented. As secondary goals helmets must also fit snugly onto the head, be light weight to prevent damage to the neck, and allow unrestricted movement of the head. There are two main components to all helmets:

Outer Shell

This is the most noticeable safety feature of the helmet (and on some designs, the only feature). The main body or shell of the helmet is made from a strong, tough and preferably light weight material to defend against sharp objects and impacts that could cause cuts and lacerations. Most commonly plastic is used for the shell as it is reasonably strong, durable, lightweight and relatively inexpensive. More exotic materials are also used, and carbon fibre helmets are now becoming more common amongst serious whitewater paddlers.

Shock Absorption Layer

This it typically made from closed-cell foam, and serves as a protects from heavy blows to the head and prevents blunt-force trauma and concussions. Some designs use a cradle to fit the helmet to the head, leaving a gap between the head and the shell. This gap often fills with water during a swim or roll. Helmets have to be designed to bail this water efficiently through holes in the sides and top of the helmet. These have the advantage over foam-only helmets of being adjustable, and cooler in hot weather. Foam designs on the other hand are better at absorbing impacts and transferring force away from the skull, and they help to keep the head warm in cold weather/water.

There are many variant designs for paddling helmets, and most now feature a combination of foam padding and a cradle, or half-cradle in the form of an adjustable head support at the back of the helmet. Some designs also feature "adjustable" foam padding made up from thin layers of foam inserted into pockets in the shell.

Fitting

A helmet should fit you, not your older brother, your twin sister, your uncle or anyone else. When buying a helmet, you should try it on personally. If a helmet doesn't fit your head, then it won't protect it properly.

Helmets come (or should come) with adjustable chin-straps for tightening them onto your head. Many also come with fittings to tighten them around your head as well. Designs using cradles instead of foam as the shock absorbent layer may be more adjustable, however they may not be as comfortable to wear. Foam designs may also feature adjustable layers of foam for getting a better fit, and many modern designs now include an adjustable neck-strap for tightening them on.

A helmet should sit on your head so it covers your forehead entirely and protrudes out enough to offer some protection to your face and eye area. It should cover the whole of the back of the head, and the sides enough to protect the temples and ears. Many helmet designs extend to cover the ear area entirely (these are often called "full-cut").

It should not be possible to push the helmet back to reveal the forehead, nor should it be removable without releasing the chin straps. This prevents the helmet becoming dislodged in moving water, and ensures that should an impact occur, the helmet should still be ready for a second.

Buying Guide

When buying a helmet, there's usually a fair range of choice. There are several companies making paddling helmets (some specialise in helmets, others make in paddling gear of all kinds). Most companies make several versions or models of helmet to suit different needs.

Running from a high-end carbon fibre helmet with so many straps and fittings you're spoilt for choice, right down to basic plastic and cradle helmets that are good enough for learning and flat water paddling. There's a huge mid-range between these, and this is often where most paddlers settle on a helmet.

There is a small motto sometimes used to describe what to consider when buying a helmet:

If you have a £10 head, buy a £10 helmet.

The basics principle of this is if you value your head at all (and you should!), a helmet will be worth that little bit extra. A bad helmet may be "cheaper" but that doesn't make it a "good buy".

It's all to easy to go overboard a little on buying a fancy boat, super light carbon paddle, dry suit, kevlar lined spraydeck, etc. and leave the helmet somewhere at the bottom of the list as an after thought. And it isn't an uncommon sight to see such paddlers with nice new boats and paddles and an old, beaten about plastic and cradle helmet.

Things to consider

• Fit: As mentioned above the helmet should fit your head snugly and cover your forehead. It should not be possible to knock it off or push it back off your forehead, but at the same time it should not restrict head movement. Try it on in the shop, adjust it to fit you (most paddling shops won't mind), get a friend to check it for you, ask shop attendants for advice. The more help you get the better your choice will be.

• Build Quality: Try compressing the helmet between your hands, both at the sides and front-to-back. Some give is a good thing, but it squashes a lot and feels flimsy it will probably not protect you enough from heavy impacts in rapid water, but it should be good for casual use on flat or calm water.

• Colour: Although this may seem purely an aesthetic standpoint (and why shouldn't it be) the colour of a helmet can be important. Sometimes whilst swimming a helmet will be all that is visible above the water, and you may want it to stand out. Lighter and paler colours (eg. pale yellow or white) may be obscured in whitewater (yellows also tend to attract insects). Darker colours (eg. black or blue) will naturally be obscured by water. However, colour is not a make or break decider, just choose something you like.

Other Sports Helmets

Helmets designed for other sports (such as bicycling, rock climbing, etc.) should NOT be used for water sports. There are four main reasons for this:

• Corrosion: Believe it or not, many helmets manufactured for other sports do not use corrosion or water resistant materials, particularly for screws and metal fixings. This is a cost cutting measure that can lead to weakening of the helmet if used for water sports.

• Water-logging: Many non-water-spots helmets may use foam to protect the head, but it is unlikely that it will be closed-cell foam (the type used in buoyancy aids and water sports helmets) because of the extra cost involved. These helmets can become water-logged and weigh a paddler's head down, which can (literally) be a pain in the neck.

• Protection: The common goal of all helmets is to prevent damage to the head. However this is done in many different ways because they protect against different types of impact, with different forces involved. They may protect different areas of the head, and they may only protect against sharp or blunt force impacts. A water sports helmet needs to do both, and do it under water, and do it again and again as you swim down a rapid.

• Drag: A water sports helmet will be designed to stay on should a paddler be submerged. A whitewater helmet will be designed to stay on in a fast moving rapid. Other helmets will be designed to stay on during normal use in their respective sports, and will likely not be designed specifically to resist the drag-force of moving water.

Accessories

There are several common accessories for helmets, and some manufacturers now include similar design features into their helmets.

Peaks

This started out with paddlers wearing baseball caps under their helmets to help keep the glare of the sun out of their eyes. Soon attachable soft-peaks appeared which paddlers attached to a helmet via Velcro. These had the distinct advantage of being soft and floppy, and also removable. More recently manufacturers started offering fixed peaks integrated into the design of the outer shell.

At times some manufacturers offered helmets with peaks protruding several inches away from the forehead. Many people debate that a large fixed peak on a helmet could cause a paddler's head to be pulled back or pushed forward by the fore of moving water on the peak, which may lead to neck inures.

Most modern designs now only use a small peak to ensure that it can not act as a scoop in the water, and some even offer "removable-fixed" peaks, using a hard plastic peak attached to the helmet with joints that allow the peak to be moved by the water.

Face Guards

Canoe Polo paddlers often wear face guards in case a stray paddle comes their way. These are usually metal cages that cover the face, and are suitable for light impacts, however they are not up to dealing with impacts with rocks on a river. They also present a snagging hazard as they could be snagged by low-lying trees.

In kayaks the face can be protected when capsizing by tucking forward onto the deck, keeping the face into the boat. This also sets the paddler up in a good rolling position to recover.

There are full-face helmets on the market, which are used by the most extreme of whitewater paddlers and creek boaters. These are designed similar to motorbike helmets and cover almost all of the face (note: actual motorbike helmets are not suitable as their lining absorbs water and weighs the head down).

Nose Clips

These are used by many paddlers to prevent water entering the nose. They are available in all manner of designs, from simple wire and pads through to exotic spring systems, however they often have one feature in common: a string to tie them on with.

This little string may seem harmless enough, and useful too, however they present a clear snagging hazard, which could lead to a tree catching onto the loop and either pulling the paddler over and out of their boat, and possibly breaking their neck if the force of the water is strong enough.

One good way of safely attaching a nose clip is to use loops of sewing thread, tied at the end, to loop around a helmet strap and the loop in the clip's string. A few loops should break easily if put under stress, thus leaving your head intact should your nose clip get snagged. Seven is a good number to start with, but you should conduct your own trial-and-error tests to check it comes away easily enough.

Note: Do NOT sew through a helmet strap as this may cause them to weaken. Loop the thread around it.

Head Injuries

Main article: Head Injuries

Head injuries sustained from impact with rocks under water can cause anything from a "headache" through to lethal. Many impacts in whitewater situations may be strong enough to cause serious concussion and sharp rocks may cause fractures to the skull and lacerations to the head. Even relatively "soft" impacts with the river bed in slow moving or flat water can still cause concussions.