Safety Helmets....?

It's not tacks that gets em see... It's them things called involuntary gybes. Usually called Fookits on my boat. Goes right over me 'ead though on my boat it does, like all other forms of gibes like "why did yer father not marry yer mother..."

Once new an old Cornish sailor who always wore gum boots even when sunny. I asked him why once.... "Ar" sais 'e " stops me pissin' in me slippers" Elf an safety agin see.....
 
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What? Give up my smart Breton cap? You must be joking. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

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By the time you had a good thick Breton a couple of years and it's felted up a bit, it makes quite a good slow speed bump cap; from personal experience of booms, hatch covers and such on a bald head with and without Breton affixed.

Wouldn't like to test it on a Sunsail 37 full on boom gybe mind. Then I'd prefer cycle or canoe hardtop, or better, not be there at all!
 
I don't buy the wind awareness argument: the boat gives plenty of clues when she's by the lee. If you don't notice them, you've probably already been hit on the head.

I find myself wearing a hat of one sort or another most of the time while sailing - either to keep my head warm, or to keep the sun off, and whether it's made of wool or plastic makes little difference to comfort or wind awareness.

Safety gear is fundamentally uncool, as it's an admission that some things are out of your control, but with sailing, that is the essence of the situation.

I intend to kit the family out with canoe helmets. If anyone laughs at us, we'll hit 'em on the head.
 
Geoff Holt used a Gecko for his sail last year. http://www.geckoheadgear.com/

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Gath also make helmets http://www.gathsports.com/
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Head injuries can be fatal: http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20071114092717pbogeneral.html
 
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One day I will get round to replacing it with a canoeing helmet which will be usable if I ever after to go under the hull to clear a prop..

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I hadn't thought about that as a second use- you are dead right, no one, esp mobos, in the Solent takes notice of flag A do they?

I've got an old pushbike helmet somewhere at home, think I'll store it with the wetsuit we keep for that prop contingency.
Good thought!
 
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I would suggest helmets like those worn on motor bikes might be the answer, they could be colour co ordinted for the crews, perhaps before each tack the crew sould be ordered below for safety reasons and then come up on deck afterwards.

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Totally unsuitable. You fall overboard with one of those on, you WILL drown (proved in a number of tests. The RNLI version is a very different beast, and boat safety helmets are an interesting problem. Cycle helmets come close.

A few years ago one of the major foulie manufacturers was making a rain-proof hat that could be purchased with a hard inner lining to cover the top and back of the head against boom damage. Personally I reckon a cruising boat should have a boom that doesnt offer this degree of risk.
 
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I would suggest helmets like those worn on motor bikes might be the answer, they could be colour co ordinted for the crews, perhaps before each tack the crew sould be ordered below for safety reasons and then come up on deck afterwards.

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Totally unsuitable. You fall overboard with one of those on, you WILL drown (proved in a number of tests.

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Interesting - on an off-road motorcycle holiday in spain (july!) we all spent some time jumping - fully kitted - into a reservoir, and at the end of every day into a swimming pool to cool down. Still here...

But they are totally unsuitable for what is being discussed here..
 
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..one of the major foulie manufacturers was making a rain-proof hat that could be purchased with a hard inner lining to cover the top and back of the head against boom damage.

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I had one for a while, made by Musto, but it had a piece of plastic in the front that pressed on my forehead and caused a spilitting headache. Now I have a Twister with a boom that is about 1/2" above my head when I'm standing in the cockpit.

Just to make it clear. I don't believe a safety hat is necessary on board a yacht. The attraction of this particular hat was that it cost me only 50p at a club auction and had ear flaps, which come in very useful to block the sound of people yelling "Starboard" at me.
 
I've often worn the screwfix bumpcap on the boat, mostly when working on it, one great advantage is that it is really warm headgear.
Also useful when walking the dog in a gale of wind when branches and conkers are flying around
 
I've been "boom-whacked" and as a result have a depressed cheekbone. The crew saw it coming and very sensibly didn't warn me, as I would have turned face-to and had my eyes rearranged. Now I'm trying to work out what kind of hat would be suitable, and can't get past the batsman's hats worn by cricketers. I'm certainly am not going to wear one of them, but do feel to be useful, it must come down below ear level. A glancing blow over the top of the head ain't half as bad as a direct thwack which takes you over the side unconscious. Incidentally, at the hospital, I had to complete a questionnaire regarding the use of helmets and indicated that I would decline.(stupid but....) As a motorcyclist in the '60s, I remember the joys of riding hatless and then the mandatory bunnet - in those days they said "If you've got a £10 head, get a £10 hat". We all know it makes sense. My method of avoiding the problems is............a motor sailer.
 
How about a canoeists hat? Designed for bouncing upside down over rocks in a rapid, fully water proofed fittings & allows water to drain out if in the water.

Edit: Oh Booger! I've just read the rest of the thread!
 
Again, this is all down to risk.
At work one colleague wore his hard hat and other PPE at all times, he never had an incident. He then went out for a night on the town and slipped on the steps going down to a basement bar. He was not drunk, he was stone cold sober, he was going to meet his friends for his first drink of the evening. He split his skull open, needed a medivac, next of kin called as It could have been a one way trip to the other side. He was kept in a medically induced coma for two weeks to allow the body to take its natural cause. Good news he survived and is back at work again (although with some slight short term memory loss)

Why I post this story is that it could be any one of us slipping on the steps going down to the saloon. I consider this a greater risk than being hit by the boom. But should we wear a hard hat or bump cap?
This was a genuine accident, they do happen.

My boom does not swing over the cockpit, so I do not feel the need for additional protection, more chance of me falling down the steps.

However when I was Land/Sand yachting that was a different matter, I used to wear a motorcycle helmet as the boom would always catch one out.
 
Wearing safety helmets is detrimental to the sailing gene pool.

If we make helmets illegal then eventually we will evolve a breed of yachtsmen who understnad that it is not smart to sail on a run or broad reach without a preventer.

Involuntary gybes without a preventer simply shouldn't happen.

- W
 
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One like this would keep the salt out of tour eyes as well /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

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When I followed up the Screwfix bump cap link, I bought one of those too- for bandsaw & woodturning, but it did cross my mind that it might be useful this Easter Rally too! Hope it comes in time. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
I am forever taking chunks out of my bald head and SWMBO has a fit every time I come in with another scab.

So I got myself a "bump cap", basically these look like a baseball cap but have a ABS shell inside them. A number of industries use them as a lesser level of protection to a full hard hat. mine conforms to EN812.

Got mine from R-S, need a trade account though. just over £10 and worth every penny.
 
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