No helmet = no launch ?

[sc-surfer]

As an interesting side note.... And I AM NOT bashing Oregon folks but simply pointing out some interesting cultural differences... But geez, everyone up here, and I mean almost EVERYONE, wears every possible piece of safety gear. Life jacket, impact vest, helmet, goggles, ear plugs, full wetsuit (WTF) in the 72 water, gloves. My god, how do they even move. But hey, their choice. I was happy in nothing but boardies and my harness. :-)


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[MehYam]

Let me clear up this non-sense first. The OP feels very strong that wearing a helmet is absolutely necessary. This is his belief based on his understanding of common sense. He is convinced...

Are you referring to yourself in the third person?

[wjb]

As an interesting side note.... And I AM NOT bashing Oregon folks but simply pointing out some interesting cultural differences... But geez, everyone up here, and I mean almost EVERYONE, wears every possible piece of safety gear. Life jacket, impact vest, helmet, goggles, ear plugs, full wetsuit (WTF) in the 72 water, gloves. My god, how do they even move. But hey, their choice. I was happy in nothing but boardies and my harness. :-)

This has not been my experience at all. I am not sure where you were but to blanket everyone in the Gorge as some sort of safety kook is ridiculous.

[Thor29]

Gotta disagree with Michael - the OP clearly was using the word MOST as a way to indicate that his opinion was correct and us non-helmet wearing people are too dangerous and must be prevented from kiting. If the OP believed in individual freedom and responsibility, he could try to convince us that wearing a helmet is a good idea and then launch us anyway as a sign of mutual respect. If he is so worried about our safety, he could try to spread the gospel of helmets in some other way than being an obnoxious jerk. Certainly my first reaction to someone saying they won't launch my kite because I don't wear a helmet is "f*** you" not "you're right, I'm gonna go buy one right now".

[sloughslut]

Kiting is my religion, so i have freedom of religion right? now pretty pelase with sugar on top go away, i will nver ask a guy with a helmet to launch me again and i am gonna throw mine in the trash because of this thread. Every one should know how to self launch and land any way! :text-deletetopic:

[shred_da_gorge]

This has not been my experience at all. I am not sure where you were but to blanket everyone in the Gorge as some sort of safety kook is ridiculous.

I'd have to agree, but if you drop the word "safety" from your description... there are a lot more of those up here these days. Fortunately the sandbar is big and tourists have gone home so self-launching (without a helmet) is back to norm.

I lost my board last week up in the basement. Blew up on an air transition and couldn't see it in the swell, but a guy on a directional surfed it down to me. For the first time I started thinking Go Joe may have come in handy! We've had some sick days - light wind (9m) but glassy faces... started wearing a shorty again on cooler days. No PFD though...

[Bulldog]

Best Thread in a while, I'm thinking BAK is getting sponsorship from Orville Redenbacker lately...

I do my best to avoid launching or landing anyone I don't already know who has a helmet on. I know there are plenty of good riders who wear helmets but in my experience, helmet wearers are 100% more likely to:

1) Yell at me when their lines are rigged wrong when I am launching them.
2) Be pissed when I walk away instead of helping them re-rig.
3) Knock me down when I try to land their kite.
4) Futz around after launching with their lines/board leash/life jacket/helmet.
5) Stand at the launch with their kite straight up in the air and force me to duck around them to get out on the water.
6) Yell at me for ducking around them.
7) Still be on the beach futzing after I do my first tack.
8) Drop in on my wave without noticing I am there (too much safety gear to see, maybe?)
9) Tack out directly through the middle of the line up.
10) Almost tangle kites with me.
11) Tangle kites with other riders wearing helmets.
Etc.

[yojimbo]

Hahahahahaha

[sc-surfer]

@wjb,

Wasn't being critical. In fact I never used the word kook. I was only making an observation. I'm not making a judgement either way. I did notice this at the coast and in the gorge.

Then again, where I ride almost no one wears safety gear so maybe it just stands out to me.

[friggin old guy]

To the OP:

Doing a brief survey at the beach today, the clear majority of folks were NOT wearing helmets. Your assumption that the majority of folks do wear helmets is clearly incorrect, and based on your experience and worldview. To assume that everyone else has your same perspective is normal, but it's wrong....in this case and in so many others. I would submit that forcing your view on others by this stupid stuff about not launching others is indeed similar to making others adopt your religious view.......which is another thing that gets our political world into a fubar but thats another topic.

To go to the topic of why people might choose NOT to wear a helmet: I was discussing helmets with an old surfing buddy. As we get older, we need to be a little bit more mindful of the fact that our parts are getting a little worn, and that includes the flexibility of our spines. Old injuries that might not have bothered you when you got them add up over time, and eventually you start feeling them.

When you surf- especially in bigger waves- there's a way to fall so that you don't get worked. A lot of that has to do with diving and flexing your body around as you penetrate the water. Wearing a helmet makes me uncomfortable when I'm diving and swimming in the water. In kiting in the waves it's not as marked as it is regular surfing, but hell these days even if I sneeze especially hard my discs do some weird shit. Last thing I need is a helmet to tweak my head when I go in the water.

When I started, I wore a helmet. Made sense as I was not comfortable with my kite handling skills and the risk of hard object impact on land was high. Now....not so much. As I kite more in the ocean, I've just gotten away from the helmet. I am more comfortable, and in some ways I have less chance of tweaking my neck....which is a constant problem I have to watch out for.

Not anti-helmet but jeez dude don't rain on my parade if I want to go out without one. We should all be just trying to have a good time.