Brian Curtiss <bc_at_asdi.com> wrote: >> I would imagine that the helmet would result in much more 'friction' with a sandy bottom resulting in a much greater risk of neck injury. What are other's thoughts and practices? >> Am I the only clumsy one? So far, I think Steve H from SoCal may be the only responder who admits to having clonked his head on a sandy bottom. I did it once, forward flipping to get out of a dumping wave I had caught, body surfing. Scraped up my forehead pretty good -- and that was fine SoCal sand, not the larger-grained, grittier stuff up here in Oregon. Never wore a helmet body surfing, but that once, it would have helped. I kinda wonder how I avoided whacking my head more often, but if I recall (this happened 40 years ago!!), the wave broke onto a mid-surf-zone sand bar, so the shoaling reduced the depth so fast my normal exit forward roll stuffed my noggin into the sand. I must have done that forward roll to exit waves thousands of times without incident. As an aside, that forward roll was a hell of a lot of fun in a meaty shorebreak. If you timed it just right, you'd end upstanding on your feet/flippers, and the wave would crash around you onto the sand, ebb back, and you could walk/waddle out of the swash. If your timing was off, then you got thrashed, but that was part of the fun. I guess. Fun was different when I was 15, 16, 17. I don't kayak surf in anything over about 2 feet, but I wear a helmet anyway, because of all the stuff that could hit my head __besides__ the sandy bottom. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Apr 06 2003 - 22:01:45 PDT
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