Yet Another Head Injury

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Malabar

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Yet another head injury needing medical evacuation on the Solent this last weekend. When are sailors going to learn that an inexpensive "bump cap", cost under a tenner, that looks like a ball cap, is widely available? Ideally, like our america's cup sailors, a full safety helmet should be worn at all times on deck. However for those that think that this might be slightly over the top (until your skull is shattered) the bump cap option is convenient to wear, does not look out of place, and is reasonably stylish. I assume most people wear seat belts in cars, and many now routinely wear lifejackets; how about a Safety Bump Cap campaign?
 
Is there any evidence a bump cap would suffice? I've always understood bump caps were intended to provide a degree of protection for your head against forces your own body was likely to produce. The force in a crash gybing boom is far higher and I'd have my doubts it would be fully effective.

Interesting that the yet another head injury, which sounds serious but not fatal, gets a post but the capsized drascombe (I believe at least the third resulting in a loss of at least 1 life) didn't? Drascombes failed to meet the RCD and had design changes made to get through. The previous two capsizes involved pre-RCD boats that hadn't been modified.

Its interesting how different people perceive risk and what actions people should take to mitigate risks isn't it...
 
There is a ton of evidence that cycling helmets are pretty much useless. It is possibly because people have an enhanced feeling of security and so ride recklessly.
 
I got knocked-out by the boom while racing many years ago and ended-up in an ambulance to Ryde.

The worst injury I suffered however was my back, where the boom launched me across the cockpit and landed me on the main sheet winch.

Don't think a hat would have helped on that one.
 
Without know the cause of the injury it is difficult to tell if any particular item of safety kit would have prevented the injury. Hope whoever the casualty is they are OK and make a speedy recovery.

I am not a fan of being wrapped in cotton wool and doing anything that does not include some risk - life would be SO boring if we all did that.
 
Malabar said:
Yet another head injury needing medical evacuation on the Solent this last weekend. When are sailors going to learn that an inexpensive "bump cap", cost under a tenner, that looks like a ball cap, is widely available? Ideally, like our america's cup sailors, a full safety helmet should be worn at all times on deck. However for those that think that this might be slightly over the top (until your skull is shattered) the bump cap option is convenient to wear, does not look out of place, and is reasonably stylish. I assume most people wear seat belts in cars, and many now routinely wear lifejackets; how about a Safety Bump Cap campaign?
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Bump hats stop your head getting open wounds, when your head hits something, but don't protect the brain from rotational injury, should the boom hit.
 
I must admit I have wondered about this too - either for regular use or at least for stormwear - but not sure whether anything that is commercially available would do much good.

I wonder if one of the new Gel technology would provide an answer
 
Bobc said:
I got knocked-out by the boom while racing many years ago and ended-up in an ambulance to Ryde.
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Ditto, except that I ended up at Newport IoW! My injury was to the side of my temple, below any cap line. In any case I think the force of the blow would have caused damage regardless of helmet until you get to something of the size of a racing car helmet. As this was my only head injury on board in many years of sailing and racing, I think the inconvenience of wearing large helmets would greatly outweigh the benefits. Car seat belts work because they protect adequately but don't restrict ordinary use significantly.
 
As mentioned above, headwear only becomes useful to protect you from a boom hit when it is to racing driver spec as some quick research on motorcycle helmets shows. The loss of vision with one of those would be more of a risk I feel. I guess the America's Cup crews wear helmets to protect them if they fall during their very energetic leapings and runnings. They don't have a boom as such, and it doesn't look like the wings are free to swing about.

It appears that a hit of more than 200G is considered " bad". I don't have the maths to work out the Gs generated by a 3-metre boom smacking me round the head, but I'm sure someone out there does!
 
I've just thought of another point. Those baseball-style bump caps provide very little protection from the sun as opposed to a Tilley or similar, and I'd guess that a Tilley provides reasonable bump protection for minor head bangings.
 
I momentarily knocked myself out when my wet feet slipped whilst I was descending the companionway steps on a bareboat charter in Greece a few years ago. I'm campaigning to have Stannah stairlifts installed on all boats over dinghy size, to avoid this incident happening to anyone else. I was really lucky, I have a small brain so no real damage done.
 
ianfr said:
+1 and maybe designers ought to include clearance height as part of the design process?
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Except when you're sorting out the reef offshore, you'll want to be able to reach the boom safely.
Crash helmets etc can be OK for a short race such as dinghy sailing or America's Cup.
Not so good for a longer period.
Bump caps only protect you from knocking your head on something like a low ceiling, or a small falling object.
Anything that reduces your peripheral vision will do more harm than good.
 
Years ago I bought a Musto hat that had a reinforced crown, I happened to mention one day that it would give me protection from the boom, and a friend pointed out that since it was simply a plate on top of the hat it was useless as protection against the boom. His take on it was that the pad on the top of the hat was cork flotation.
 
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