Pugsleythefirst Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 OK Im going to buy a helmet at the weekend for buggying. Im considering gettting a Gath Silver helmet with retractable visor. I know Ill probably look like a cross between Dart Vader and a Knight of the Realm but apart from this, is the investment into a Gath helmet a good idea? The cheapest I have come across so far is £90.00 in Airborn Kites in Brighton. Please advice Thanks Clive Quote
Guest get_money_jason Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 Correct me if i'm wrong but Gaths don't give much protection. I would go for a downhill mountain bike helmet. Quote
nookie Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 most people i have seen either have a skate helmet or mountain bike full face helmet. I have a spiky jack full face bike helmet which does me ok. Quote
penance Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 for not much more than 90 quid you can get a proper motorcross helmet I know where my cash would go Quote
Agger Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 The Gath is a bit gay looking, LOL :D Quote
burgy Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 Are'nt Gath hemets designed for water use? For that sort of money you shoud be able to get a very trick Mountin Bike Lid. Steve Quote
Pugsleythefirst Posted February 13, 2003 Author Report Posted February 13, 2003 So thats a resounding no then! OK maybe Ill take a look at the Mountain Bike Full Face Helmets. By the way - I agree with Aggar comments. Still I thought getting the Gath lid was a good idea at the time! Quote
Furry Ginger One Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 Pugsley, I was in Halfords the other day and they are doing a chrome full face lid for about £40 down from £80 in a sale. Can't remember the exact details as I was just browsing but should be worth a look. If not, have you thought about an ice hockey helmet. Quote
spooky Posted February 13, 2003 Report Posted February 13, 2003 Hi As mentioned Gath Helmets are for water use, under CE regs I don't belive (though I could b wrong) that the are class as head protection? I belive this is due to the lack of impact protection. If you look at them they have a hard outer shell but limited internal padding, so ok for protection from scraps etc but hard knocks you need something to absobe/spread the force. Buggying I would reccomend ATLEAST a skate style lid but for seriouse speed a full face. For ATB with a kite then a SK8 lid will do fine due to the lower speeds (if you use it for down hill then may be a full face again) Remember ask your self why do you wear a helmet? If it is because you have to so that you can use a certain site, then please take your chances, and just buy a cheap plastic covered piece of foam. If it is becaue you value your self, the sport and you want to push the/your limits then pay for qaulity. Atleast Polycarbonate outer or if you can strech to it Fibre/Kevlar/Carbon mixes,with dual density foam inners. Remember helmets are there to save you, moped riders have to ware them and they only do 30mph!! Protec do very good SK8 lids, and for full face check out the Moutain Bike Down Hill racer ones, such as Azonics, Troy Lee, Spesilized or Fox. Hope that helps Jon Quote
Pugsleythefirst Posted February 14, 2003 Author Report Posted February 14, 2003 OK, the saga continues I went into Boardriders in Hove today and tried on a Gath helmet with retractable visor. They are so comfortable and snug fitting around your head. They are good for vision and you can hear well as they have good venting. Dissapointingly, I went to a couple of cycle shops and the headgear was so expensive. I have to say that Gath in black is rather fetching. I am being swayed. The Visor is really thick and is replaceable if it breaks! I think I am going to crack and buy one! Quote
Hopewell Posted February 14, 2003 Report Posted February 14, 2003 Go into a sk8 shop, you can get a top of the range sk8 lid for 20 - 30 quid Jon Quote
Hopewell Posted February 14, 2003 Report Posted February 14, 2003 Suppose. My big bro said i needed a lid so we can properly get into buggying. If we want to race then i need to buy a lid and pay for insurance. I'm only 15 and have a c**ppy income, i need to save up for a buggy (thinking of getting a secondhand peter lynn) and a kite (either a 3m PKD buster OR a secondhand 3m little devil) Thats gonna be at least 350 for buggy, kite, lid, insurance. Quote
Pugsleythefirst Posted February 14, 2003 Author Report Posted February 14, 2003 hopewell161187 I take Jons comments on board. I went into 2 skateshops in Brighton today. They have loads of stock but no ful face helmets. There is a specialist skate shop that I am going to speak to in Worthing in the morning but none have helmets that shelter the side of your face from impact. I have a cycle helmet allready and the skate lids seem to cover the same bits. So I am really tempted to buy the Gath! They are so comfy and they have padding between you and the helmet cover. Even Airborn Kites in Brighton reccomend the Gath(one of them appears in a Flexi Video) and they definately know what they are talking about! Quote
buggykiller Posted February 14, 2003 Report Posted February 14, 2003 for the sort of monet you are talking you could get a full face paragliding lid. really big aperture that is cut nice and high so you can see the kite well. try wiggle.com for full face down hill stuff too. Quote
Pugsleythefirst Posted February 14, 2003 Author Report Posted February 14, 2003 Thats the dissapointining thing about it all. If I buy a partaglidinging helmet. It is at least £150.00 Thats straetch fot the budget! Quote
buggykiller Posted February 15, 2003 Report Posted February 15, 2003 oh well wiggle has a couple of things that look ok tho. http://www.wiggle.co.uk i sh1t load better than a kitesurf helmet anyway BK Quote
spooky Posted February 15, 2003 Report Posted February 15, 2003 Hi, I see from your coments that you want something that will protect the side of your face, as your bike helmet does not and you do not think a SK8 lid will either? Valid point, as most people get a helmet to prevent those knocks on the back/top of head from the buggy if you wipe out. But if you take your train of thought and want to protect the side of your face? Then the risk to the front and chin area is just as high, which the Gath will not protec! Also and most importantly the gath has NO forehead protection!!!! Ok when the visor is down it offers some but how strong is the visor? That is only there to stop glare when surfthing? Also They are so comfy and they have padding between you and the helmet cover. That foam is for comfort, NOT for inpact protection! The way helmets work is the strong outer provides protection against sharp/penetrive impacts, while the dual density foam inside spreads/absorbs the force. The foam in a Gath will not do that. Remember the Gath was invented for two reasons, 1, to prevent in rush of water to the ear (avoiding damage and infections) 2, To protect from fins, during wipe outs. I have just had a look at the Gath site and have a coupl of bits of info that you may like to read. First of all they say the Gath is now used for alsorts of extreme sports, including Skydiving(?) and Snowboarding (I've snowboarded for 9 years and have never seen a Gath being used?) But also or all types of water sports including, Jetskiing , all forms of surfing (kite, wave, wind etc) and also Canoeing? Well again I have been involved with canoing for 22yrs , most of it white water and I have NEVER seen a Gath style helmet used for that. As White Water has things called ROCKS in it which are very bad for your health. NB them reccomending it for canoeing is also confusing when you look at their warranty details, Your Gath is NOT designed to provide the level of impact absorbtion expected of cycling or other land-based headgear. Gath Helmets Trade Off a percentage of impact absorption for a more close fitting layer of defence to better suit high performance extreme sports. Gath protects against the more frequent sporting head injury caused by glancing blows rather than from a direct head first "crash" into a fixed solid object, where serious injury is likely to occur regardless of helmet. Gath provides a lightweight super snug fitting layer of defence against superficial head injury and water pressure induced ear perforation and the damaging effects from sun, wind and salt spray. Well that about covers it, especially the first one!! Also Even Airborn Kites in Brighton reccomend the Gath(one of them appears in a Flexi Video) and they definately know what they are talking about! Of course they will reccomend it, they are trying to sell you stuff, which just reafirms my opinion of them. I went there a few years back and was not to impressed with them (hopefully they have improved), normal attitude of trying to sell the wrong kit to the wrong people. They were more into jumping on the Kiteurf band wagon, than adviseing on he best route for novices, which they seem to have done with you and the Gath, again I have never met any one who uses a Gath for Buggying (any one out there?) and all the desent shops I have been to again would not surggest one. (NB If I am wrong Airborn, please reply and correct me) IMHO you have 2 options. For the money you are looking at for a Gath you can get one with better construction & protection (even "as new" my Full Face Azonics?) or you can get one with the same (if not better) protection/construction but for the same price? If you want to get a SK8 style lid but want cheek protection then look for "old skool" canoing/SK8 helmets, as they have better cheek protection. Modern SK8/canoeing ones are just cut down versions. Or if you are after full on head protection the get a Full Face one. Do a seach on here as there are a number of other threads on this subject. All the best Jon Quote
tom1599968574 Posted February 16, 2003 Report Posted February 16, 2003 i agree with most of the comments on the gath, they are designed for water. i have got a visor lid and they arent the most protective!! perfect for surfing where they just stop you getting gashed by fins or knocked out (or having your ears removed by stray lines and a crazy lei). and the visor is stunning on sunny or dull days cos you can get tinted and the yellow ones that make stuff look brighter. dont think i would want to use it on land though. i very rarely use one for buggying or kite atb (probably gonna get some abuse now) but i very very rarely stack it, touch wood! if the visor hit something hard when it was down it would break, dont know if their shatter proof, could be painful. and the price is a bit steep. on the plus side, they were developing waterproof headfone gear so you could listen to music on the water and i think you can get them painted in your own colour sceme. for buggying, if your going to get one, i think id go for a cheap full face jobbie. tom Quote
adrenmike Posted February 16, 2003 Report Posted February 16, 2003 stateside kevlar lid,good enought for the fleki test pilot geyser,good enought for me.....must get a lid me finks Quote
william Posted February 19, 2003 Report Posted February 19, 2003 little i can add to spooky but ive never seen a gath used by a canoeist anywhere in the country and ive been paddling for as long as he has ! in fact ive only ever seen a couple of gath's used by surfers although you see them in many surf shops. really theyre little more than an upmarket neoprene hat - sure they offer more protection but come on guys you wouldnt want a real wack to the head if you were wearing one. i have a similarly low opinion of most cycle lids; like the man says go for a canoe/sk8 style of fork out a bit more and get a well made full face lid. remember you only have one head; look after it - what's cool about brain damage ? Quote
Pugsleythefirst Posted February 20, 2003 Author Report Posted February 20, 2003 OK I get the message LOUD AND CLEAR. I have decided to buy a dirt bike full face helmet. Im going to the bike shop tommorrow to pick it up. Any suggestions about which goggles I should buy to go with it? Quote
buggykiller Posted February 20, 2003 Report Posted February 20, 2003 scratched wet lenses with sand stuck all over em you might as well just squint. this is my experience of cheap ski goggles (buy in the summer for great prices) if anyone has better suggestions i would love to hear. i normally find that after the first good soaking i cant see anything so i take em off Quote
spooky Posted February 20, 2003 Report Posted February 20, 2003 HI, What helmet did you decide to go for in the end? Goggles wise as BK says go for some chep things as they will get scrached. Either that or get a nice pair of OaKleys, go for the O Frames (more function than style) and get them with the Orange Permssion lenses. Very good for low light conditions and really sharpen the contrast. Also they make even the dullest day look sunny Also you can get spare lenese for they quite cheap (ish). Oh yes make sure that the full face helemt you get has a "goggle groove" at the back or you may find that the slip off etc. Have fun Jon Quote
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