Helmet advice

My 13 yr old son is starting to learn inverts and has taken a couple of pretty hard falls so we have decided it's time for a helmet. He has been looking online and says he likes the Pro-Tec Two Face. Honestly though it's probably because he thinks it looks cool. My question is what should we be looking for in a helmet and do you guys have any advice or recomendations?

I am not sure but I never wore a helmet because I dont ride rails , Im not sure a helmet is going to do much on water impacts ?

Its worth your while to do a little search and read some of the previous threads on helmets and wake riding, because the topic has been covered quite extensively. One of the better arguments that I remember is that a helmet is made to spread out the area of impact, and on water this means a harder impact. I also dont wear a helmet behind boat.

Don't want to open a can of worms, if you do a search though there's loads of threads where the advantages vs. disadvantages of using a helmet on water is discussed. Personally though I don't see the advantage, the only bad falls I've had riding boat is from things like whiplash, or faceplants, and short of a neck brace I don't think there's much you can do to prevent them.

If you're worried about the quality of the two face, really all the good quality helmets are going to be of similar standard. Pro tec, triple 8, shred ready, etc They'll all protect your kid. The look seems to be just a preference thing. There's some arguments though for getting one with ear flaps but I'm pretty sure you can get the two face with removable ear straps, plus it has some nice features like the swing lock. You won't be disappointed with one.

I use pro tec because i've had several concussions from riding dirt bikes and playing football.In both cases i was wearing a helmet.IT helps but it doesn't prevent concussions.

Just look for something with earflaps to prevent ear drum blowouts.

I'm not going to open a can of worms either. I'll post my stats and that will sum up my point of view

1994-2006:
Number of falls that put me back in the boat due to seeing stars- 3-5 a season. Probably 50 total.
Number of blown ear drums- 5

2007-2011 with a helmet:
Number of falls that put me back in the boat due to seeing stars- 0
Number of blown ear drums- 0
I've learned several new 3s in this time frame and have eaten **** accordingly.
I would ride wake without a vest long before I would ride without a helmet. I ski and snowboard all winter and do not wear a helmet if I'm not in the trees. I ride bikes and do not wear a helmet, period. I went through a car windshield at full speed on my bike without a helmet in 2009 and basically totalled out a oldsmobile with only my body and only had some small pieces of glass in my back to show for it. Not talking crap just figured I'd give you my background and point of view.

I wear a GATH helmet on the recommendation of other foil riders. It has less weight and less area than any of the others I've seen. No wind noise, very comfy and has ear protection too.

Make sure you get a helmet with the ear flaps, my son just blew an eardrum and it should have been prevented. I have also heard that the baseball cap looking helments are not the safest...

check out Shred Ready, they make great helmets, we use them in our rental dept at the cable park, top notch.

www.shredready.com

Call and talk with cory or Tom and they will get your son in the perfect helmet for his needs.

ear protection and the proper fit. Getting him a helmet is doing the right thing. It's hard to find someone who wore one and then stopped, rather than people who just "think" it doesn't work mainly because they don't choose to wear one. I don't wear one, but I think it would help

I just bought the two face after reading about it online. I tried some LF and Hyperlite Helmets and the pro-tec 2 face fit way better, and was lighter too. Had my first set ever with it last week and landed a new trick that has been evading me for years. Oh and if it looks cool enough for him to wear it, then that's a bonus.

Thanks for the info. Just ordered the 2 face for him. Got the one in black and Levi you hit it perfect when you said "looks cool enough for him to wear". From what I can tell Pro-Tec is a respected name so that's what we went with. I really do like the pic of the GATH however and I can see how the design of it seems to address the concerns of wearing a helmet while boarding. Thanks for all the tips and advice.

I have the two face to, and if I take a backplant or faceplant, I feel it's al little softer to hit the water. But the importants reason I wear a helmet is to protect my ears, defently to NOT blow my eardrums out when I hit the water on the side of my head. But than you need to juse the earprotectors.

Originally Posted by behindtheboat

It's hard to find someone who wore one and then stopped

Fantastic point.

Originally Posted by benjaminp

Its worth your while to do a little search and read some of the previous threads on helmets and wake riding, because the topic has been covered quite extensively. One of the better arguments that I remember is that a helmet is made to spread out the area of impact, and on water this means a harder impact. I also dont wear a helmet behind boat.

Physics may prove this to be true, BUT the helmet absorbs most of the impact and not your skull. That is how a helmet works. The impact is absorbed and distributed more evenly around your head.