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Happy Sadie Hawkins Day (1937→)! 🏃💃🧢
Poler's Poll. Helmets?
- Thread starter Muskrat
- Start date
Oh, and if you do, does your helmet cover your ears? I had to get stiches on my ear once. It was a gusher. I couldn't believe how much it bled. Being a place that I can't see without a mirror or maybe a calm spot of the water, it would be pretty hard to superglue shut if I was out on my own.
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Not usually, but if I'm on ww section and it is swift and shallow, I wear the same outfit I do when running rapids... If I'm on relatively calm water, I don't.
I haven't poled in many years, but I never wore a helmet when I did. I would only consider wearing a helmet in river rapids for which I would wear a helmet as an open canoeist.
Decked boaters will roll under the boat if they dump, so they should always wear helmets. Open boaters are less likely to hit head first if they dump, but I have seen one cut head on an open boater who was likely thigh-strapped in. I would think a standing poler is probably even less likely to hit head first than a sitting/kneeling open boater in a spill, but if it did happen it could be with more force.
Helmets inarguably are safer, and also provide head warmth in cold weather, but depending on the type of waters being poled, safety is not always the dominant criterion.
These polers pole unhelmeted while balancing on bamboo logs:
The members of this forum are so skilled that I'm sure if they began to fall out while holding a pole, they would avoid injury by simply doing this:
Decked boaters will roll under the boat if they dump, so they should always wear helmets. Open boaters are less likely to hit head first if they dump, but I have seen one cut head on an open boater who was likely thigh-strapped in. I would think a standing poler is probably even less likely to hit head first than a sitting/kneeling open boater in a spill, but if it did happen it could be with more force.
Helmets inarguably are safer, and also provide head warmth in cold weather, but depending on the type of waters being poled, safety is not always the dominant criterion.
These polers pole unhelmeted while balancing on bamboo logs:
The members of this forum are so skilled that I'm sure if they began to fall out while holding a pole, they would avoid injury by simply doing this:
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That would be fun to try ! Once, without any Spectators !I haven't poled in many years, but I never wore a helmet when I did. I would only consider wearing a helmet in river rapids for which I would wear a helmet as an open canoeist.
Decked boaters will roll under the boat if they dump, so they should always wear helmets. Open boaters are less likely to hit head first if they dump, but I have seen one cut head on an open boater who was likely thigh-strapped in. I would think a standing poler is probably even less likely to hit head first than a sitting/kneeling open boater in a spill, but if it did happen it could be with more force.
Helmets inarguably are safer, and also provide head warmth in cold weather, but depending on the type of waters being poled, safety is not always the dominant criterion.
These polers pole unhelmeted while balancing on bamboo logs:
The members of this forum are so skilled that I'm sure if they began to fall out while holding a pole, they would avoid injury by simply doing this:
Jim
G
Guest
Guest
The way I pole I should always wear a helmet-and elbow pads-and knee pads-and a face guard-and hip pads ect.
Turtle
Turtle
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I'm not a poler, and I realize this is directed at polers, so I didn't cast my vote, but I feel pretty strongly about helmets. I carry one with me probably 98% of the time. Not always on my head, depending on how I'm sitting in the boat, but nearly ALWAYS available (even my 16' Old Town canoe has pedestal and straps in front of my seat). If you're sitting in a seat, or perched up on your pedestal, and dump your boat, you might keep your hair dry, as you tend to simply leave the boat as it rolls over. If you use a pedestal or bulkhead, and slip on your thighstraps, you are risking your life without a helmet. Even if you plan on swimming from your boat, it will take you a few seconds to extract yourself and your head will be exposed. I've seen uninformed, ignorant, extremely foolish kayakers locked into their spray skirt paddling without helmets. "This is an easy run. I won't flip." (I wouldn't even paddle with such people.)
Back in my nutty southeastern kayaking days (really back when my body could recover in a reasonable amount of time from southeastern creeks), I had a flip in a minor Class 3 rapid on a backyard run. It's a short run and we may have been on our third or fourth lap. (This was also back in the days when I would run laps on the "meat," as they say, which is now something I have trouble understanding.) Minor rapid called "roadside" that I'd run hundreds of times. Rolled up but caught the stern of my buddy's boat (this was also back in the days when we would pull each other's skirts in rapids or unscrew drainplugs for giggles or put a paddle on someone's upside boat to keep them from rolling) and therefore flipped back over, at which point I hit my head on a rock. If you're from out in the American West, you've probably never seen one of these on your hometown run, but here on the east coast we have these things called rocks that litter our waterways. They can be relatively hard. The impact knocked me completely out of the kayak, broke my helmet, and crossed some wires behind my eyes such that I lost vision in my left eye for three weeks. I had to be driven home due to a spinning earth. I'm still not sure I'm right, but that's another story.
If you're locked into your boat in any way, please wear a helmet.
Back in my nutty southeastern kayaking days (really back when my body could recover in a reasonable amount of time from southeastern creeks), I had a flip in a minor Class 3 rapid on a backyard run. It's a short run and we may have been on our third or fourth lap. (This was also back in the days when I would run laps on the "meat," as they say, which is now something I have trouble understanding.) Minor rapid called "roadside" that I'd run hundreds of times. Rolled up but caught the stern of my buddy's boat (this was also back in the days when we would pull each other's skirts in rapids or unscrew drainplugs for giggles or put a paddle on someone's upside boat to keep them from rolling) and therefore flipped back over, at which point I hit my head on a rock. If you're from out in the American West, you've probably never seen one of these on your hometown run, but here on the east coast we have these things called rocks that litter our waterways. They can be relatively hard. The impact knocked me completely out of the kayak, broke my helmet, and crossed some wires behind my eyes such that I lost vision in my left eye for three weeks. I had to be driven home due to a spinning earth. I'm still not sure I'm right, but that's another story.
If you're locked into your boat in any way, please wear a helmet.
Uncle_Skwid, glad you chimed in. I know there isn't a big online poling presence so I'm welcome to other experiences. After I started this thread and thinking about helmets, I was wondering about how you lost your helmet in the canyon, I just hadn't got around to asking you in the other thread.
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Guest
Guest
All my poling is in shallow rocky creeks, so if I fall-I hit a rock.
Turtle
Turtle
In a rocky area, I where a helmet. Most of the time.
I went polling yesterday for the first time in at least two years. I forgot how much fun polling is. I didn't wear a helmet. There were no rocks but there was plenty of wood. I sometimes wear a helmet, but probably should wear a helmet all the time. Especially when alone, as I was. That river is not remote but it is untraveled and hidden from sight. Nobody would be coming by to rescue me if I knocked myself silly.
Not poling, but once, I took the helmet off and strapped it to the thwart while we got out to scout a rapid. Returning to the boat, my partner and I hopped back in the boat and started into the rapid, and I forgot to put the helmet back on. We tipped out almost immediately. I was floating down the rapid with my feet up, had the painter of the boat in one hand, and the upside-down boat was floating in front of me. We passed a big rock that had a hole behind it, and the boat started to recirculate in the hole, that is, it stopped. I didn't stop. As the boat came toward me, I tried to dive under the boat. Duh. I was wearing my PFD, so I didn't get very deep. The gunwale struck my head right above my eye and opened a small gash that didn't hurt too much but was very bloody. Shoulda had that helmet on.
Once I collected the boat and my partner, which took a while because she ended up downstream on the opposite bank of the river, we patched up my wound and we finished the trip. On the way home, I stopped at a drug store to buy some butterfly bandages. People in the store behaved weirdly to me. Stared. Backed away. Out in the car I used the rear view mirror to apply a bandage and couldn't believe it. The guy in the mirror staring back at me looked like he'd had a go with an ax murderer. Caked blood ran down the side of my face and my nose and there was caked blood in my beard. It was just a little cut, but, as I said, it bled a lot.
I went polling yesterday for the first time in at least two years. I forgot how much fun polling is. I didn't wear a helmet. There were no rocks but there was plenty of wood. I sometimes wear a helmet, but probably should wear a helmet all the time. Especially when alone, as I was. That river is not remote but it is untraveled and hidden from sight. Nobody would be coming by to rescue me if I knocked myself silly.
Not poling, but once, I took the helmet off and strapped it to the thwart while we got out to scout a rapid. Returning to the boat, my partner and I hopped back in the boat and started into the rapid, and I forgot to put the helmet back on. We tipped out almost immediately. I was floating down the rapid with my feet up, had the painter of the boat in one hand, and the upside-down boat was floating in front of me. We passed a big rock that had a hole behind it, and the boat started to recirculate in the hole, that is, it stopped. I didn't stop. As the boat came toward me, I tried to dive under the boat. Duh. I was wearing my PFD, so I didn't get very deep. The gunwale struck my head right above my eye and opened a small gash that didn't hurt too much but was very bloody. Shoulda had that helmet on.
Once I collected the boat and my partner, which took a while because she ended up downstream on the opposite bank of the river, we patched up my wound and we finished the trip. On the way home, I stopped at a drug store to buy some butterfly bandages. People in the store behaved weirdly to me. Stared. Backed away. Out in the car I used the rear view mirror to apply a bandage and couldn't believe it. The guy in the mirror staring back at me looked like he'd had a go with an ax murderer. Caked blood ran down the side of my face and my nose and there was caked blood in my beard. It was just a little cut, but, as I said, it bled a lot.
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Helmet protect head. Head important. Don't let this be your skull:
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View attachment Fj5FFUUdPL_c8ers51202W6Zxs9M7Im6z5D1uNMLS76c8H41iZbKvYlZ8pzwi7Y0F8tng4BDcodo6NymZB1FSRLoL5ED1lapaJtV
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Guest
Guest
I am neither a poler nor helmet wearer, but I can attest that facial cuts bleed like an SOB. When solo it is hard to tell if that cut is an Oh-crap-gonna-need-stitches or a simple wound that just needs cleaning and bandaging.
A solo paddler’s 1[SUP]st[/SUP] aid kit needs a mirror. Or better, two mirrors; it is hard to see the side of your head or your ear with just one mirror. Clamshell folding double mirror, $3.
Have fun in the makeup isle(s) of Walmart.
Poling alone on a river, I almost always wear my helmet. These type III pfd's don't keep your face out of the water when you're knocked unconscious. Yes, I have had a stuck pole smack me upside the head. I have bashed my noggin on low overhanging tree limbs (on the downhill run). I haven't bashed my head on a rock (yet), but I have fallen in the boat and bounced it off a thwart.
Even when I'm not alone, if I'm pushing my limits or working an especially rocky feature, the helmet goes on.
Even when I'm not alone, if I'm pushing my limits or working an especially rocky feature, the helmet goes on.
Again, it depends where you're polling. The assumption so far is focused on poling up and down shallow rocky creeks.
But poling is very common in the swamps, bayous and seasonal ponds of the AmSouth. I've done most of my poling in Florida, pushing through long grasses, vegetated waters and that intermediate zone of terra swampa that's not quite land and not quite water.
Southern polers sometimes use a wide foot doohickey on their poles, but I wasn't that interested.
Never saw a helmet. There's not much hard in the waters, 'cept for some logs and gator jaws.
But poling is very common in the swamps, bayous and seasonal ponds of the AmSouth. I've done most of my poling in Florida, pushing through long grasses, vegetated waters and that intermediate zone of terra swampa that's not quite land and not quite water.
Southern polers sometimes use a wide foot doohickey on their poles, but I wasn't that interested.
Never saw a helmet. There's not much hard in the waters, 'cept for some logs and gator jaws.
G
Guest
Guest
My clumsy concern is more falling inside the hull than performing an "aggressive step out" into the drink.
I can easily see me colliding with a thwart or gunwale in a fall.
