Nate here is a story about head trip helmets from Bryan Kirk:
Yesterday I was on Lake Creek in CO with a couple buddies doing an afternoon run. When we put on the level was around 350cfs, which is a medium-low level. At the top of Brains(the double drop above Paralyzer) I could tell the water had dropped to around 200cfs, which is pretty low, but the rapids are still totally doable. We all aced Brains then went down to look a Paralyzer. The right line was extremely bony, and actually looked harder than the left line, which I opted to do. I made the top 12' boof and landed in the left eddy midway down the rapid. The peel out from the eddy was easier and less pushy than normal, but the bottom boof was way harder to line up for since the boof rock was out of the water. At higher water you can paddle right over the rock and get a fairly easy boof, then you're pretty much done with the rapid. Anyway, I had a slight left-to-right angle approaching the boof rock. I made a good boof stroke and just after takeoff the rock flipped me to my right and I started falling upside down. It flipped me so quick that I had no time to recover, and knew I was going to land on my head. I was hoping to clear the shallow rock at the base of the boof on the right side, but didn't. I landed sitting upright, and my head squarely hit the rock which had about 2" of water on it. I was thankful that I didn't go to a backdeck roll(which I always try to avoid while creeking) because my face would have hit the rock instead of my helmet. My paddled instantly broke after feeling the hit, and I rolled up wtih half a stick and made the right eddy above Kiss Me (the rapid just below Paralyzer that pummels those who are a little off line into an undercut wall). At that point, my neck was sore but my head was fine, and I took off my helmet to have a look. It was by far the hardest hit I've ever taken to my head in 17 years of paddling. The weight of my creekboat and my body came crushing down, perfectly upside down, from 5 feet in the air. Right away I could tell that my helmet had done its job. I could see the point of impact, with clear spiderweb fractures that circled away from the p.o.i. The shell had perfectly done its job in spreading out the force of the blow to the entire helmet surface, while the ensolite foam inside absorbed much of the shock. I have no doubt that if I had been wearing a flimsy helmet or plastic wildwater helmet, I would have suffered severe head trauma and probably would not be writing this article right now(or ever again for that matter). Mark and JV were holding safety, and were almost certain that I was going to be unconscious. They were so glad to see me roll up and catch the bottom eddy. They both said it was the worst hit they've ever seen. Mark just got a Head Trip helmet about a week before this incident, and said that seeing this made him extremely confident that he picked out a super-safe helmet. My head was unscathed, but since my neck was sore, I got it checked out at the Leadville hospital. After an X-ray and catscan, they said my neck was fine, although it is still sore. It's the 1st time I've ever felt that a piece of gear really saved my life, and I'm super thankful. I was wearing the Daffy model, by the way, with a brim and excellent coverage in the back. I'll be getting another HT Daffy as soon as I can get my hands on one. Bryan Kirk
Ben Guska
