JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com (Jack Martin) wrote: > >(I do not easily forget one such landing, where the big dumper >which followed me in overtook my wave just as I was preparing to exit. >Unfortunately, my nose arrived at that nice, solid foredeck a fraction of >a >second before my helmet rim did. Raising the question: How often do you need a helmet when you DON'T also need an attached facemask? I've resisted adding a mask to my helmet, mostly because I would feel self-concious that I don't measure up to the more hardcore WW paddlers who most often sport them. However, there must be more risk of snagging the mask on something and tweaking your neck. Difficult to know the exact risk, so I guess it's a personal decision whether the reduced risk of breaking a nose or tooth, or even losing an eye, is worth any increased chance of spinal injury, say if you're facemasked by an irate boardsurfer! Mike Wagenbach *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "M. Wagenbach" <wagen_at_u.washington.edu> > Raising the question: How often do you need a helmet when you DON'T also > need an attached facemask? > Mike, That's a tough call in the surf. A lot of kayak surfers use Gath helmets that are very close fitting because they say that any kind of protrusion in the helmet creates a LOT of drag when a wave closes out on your head. I haven't experienced this myself, but my self-preservation instinct may prevent me from experiencing dumping waves that big. Still, I would imagine that were this true, then a face mask would greatly exacerbate the problem. > I've resisted adding a mask to my helmet, mostly because I would feel > self-concious that I don't measure up to the more hardcore WW paddlers who > most often sport them. > There's no shame in being a safety geek. Anyone who teases you for this ought to really hope that they don't need a rescue from you later. :) > However, there must be more risk of snagging the mask on something > and tweaking your neck. This is the common reservation against face masks. I think that the risk of bashing your face is far greater unless you paddle narrow, brushy creeks on a regular basis. My facemask saved my face from one good impact last year on the White Salmon when one munchy hole had me for lunch. You could also go with the Cascade helment which has a motorcycle style facemask which probably has less of a chance of being snagged. My problem with this facemask is that nobody can see when you are smiling. Cheers, Kevin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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