Key Points
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It's essential to protect your head when whitewater rafting.
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Many companies sell helmets for whitewater rafting, including WRSI, Predator, Tontron, and others.
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When buying a high-quality helmet, consider the features you want and your price range to select the right brand for you.
Your most valuable asset is that supercomputer between your ears. Without a brain, you are nothing. Protecting this priceless piece of equipment is a must — especially when whitewater rafting.
Protective adventure headwear is vital in all physical pursuits where hitting your head is a possibility.
It may not seem like it, but aquatic sports have lots of potential for injury. Always wear a water sports helmet when you're dealing with H2O. If you're rafting, wear a rafting helmet.
Not sure which type of helmet to get? Fortunately, there are several companies selling river helmets, canoeing headgear, and kayaking helmets. There are even paddleboarding helmets, for those "surfing" the rapids while standing on your own two feet.
Your options are aplenty.
Whitewater Safety Gear for Your Noggin
Never skimp on protective headgear. Whitewater rafting holds many potential dangers, so you need high-quality whitewater safety gear. Thousands of people suffer traumatic brain injuries every year. Don't be one of them.
The easiest way to achieve that goal is to wear a helmet.
by WRSI
WRSI
WRSI stands for Whitewater Research and Institute, so you know they know their stuff. The company focuses entirely on creating high-quality gear like paddleboarding and river helmets.
Safety is priority numero uno at WRSI. Their helmets stand at the forefront of modern protective headgear. State-of-the-art materials and construction techniques make each skull protector durable and comfortable.
Adjustable straps and padding give you a perfect fit. No matter how big or small your dome is, WRSI has a properly-fitted helmet for you.
Helmet styles vary, from full-face for max protection to open-face for those wanting a wider field of vision.
The supreme safety feature of a WRSI helmet is its multi-impact shell technology. The shockwaves from a head blow must travel through multiple levels of insulation before hitting your cranium.
Paddlers everywhere trust WRSI. That's hardly a surprise.
by Sweet Protection
Sweet Protection
Some rafting aficionados opened Sweet Protection in Østerdalen, Norway, in 2000. From that day onward, Sweet Protection continues to pump out ski, bike, and canoeing headgear.
Oh, and some most-excellent rafting helmets.
Their mission is to create superior protection inspiring people to push their boundaries. Rest assured, when you don a Sweet Protection helmet, you feel ready to exceed your rafting limits.
There are four types of water sports helmets: wanderer, strutter, rocker, and rocker full face. Each helmet mixes carbon reinforcement with an injection-molded thermoplastic. This fusion of elasticity and rigidity combines to create a helmet able to withstand serious blows.
Sudden, swift impacts are not uncommon in whitewater rafting. In fact, it isn't a matter of if you hit your head, but when and how hard.
Prepare for such possibilities by buying from a company whose helmets protect against high-velocity impacts. Sweet Protection is that company.
Shred Ready
Shred Ready comes to you from the Colorado Rockies, a place of great adventure and potential peril. Take in the spoils of adventure and avoid the perils therein by getting a Shred Ready helmet.
The pièce de résistance of Shred Ready's helmets is the lock retention system — a series of interlocking tabs and fitted pads that keep the helmet in place. Ensuring your helmet stays snug when you're chilling is cake. Much more difficult is keeping it on when you go tumbling off your raft into the rapids.
The lock system keeps your helmet glued to your head at all times, even during the nastiest of noggin knocks. The one time a helmet comes in handy is when something hits you in the head.
by NRS
NRS
NRS, or Northwest River Supplies, is the perfect name for a company supplying top gear for any river adventure.
They sell jackets, paddles, dry suits, rafts, and helmets. Novice to expert rafters need not worry because NRS has equipment for every level of aquatic athlete.
NRS helmets focus on safety. The combination of a carbon-composite outer shell, EVA foam liner, and polyurethane sub-shell creates a safety net for your head.
To keep the helmet snug, the O-Brace Harness adjusts, allowing you to fit it perfectly to the back of your head. When you're submerged, the Interconnect Retention System holds the helmet in place under the most intense rapids.
This system might sound stuffy, yet somehow the helmet's plush inner makes it surprisingly breathable. It's like a hug for your head.
NRS is a great company for helmets and any other water recreation equipment you need.
Predator
Predator helmets are lightweight but provide superior protection. The Carbon Kevlar Shell creates a strong exterior capable of protecting you from bad head injuries.
The helmets come in a variety of slick and sleek styles. Each helmet has a sheen that's hard to miss out on the rapids.
A Predator helmet protects every part of your head. The shell contours over the skull and even covers the ears while allowing you to still enjoy the roar of the rapids as you careen down the river. There are openings around each ear and vents on the top of the helmet to allow airflow.
Predator helmets are at the lower end of the price range, costing $80-160. Lower prices don't mean lower quality. A Predator helmet is still one of the best on the market.
Pro-Tec
Pro-Tec has all the components you want in a good rafting helmet: durability, fit, comfort, ventilation, a visor, and certification that it meets international safety standards.
There are various color options for people wanting fashionable head protection. These include red, green, grey, orange, white, and blue.
Safety matters to Pro-Tec, given the high-density injection molded ABS shell and dual-density waterproof EVA liner. This cutting-edge head protection technology is an absolute necessity for a cutting-edge rafter like you.
by Bern
Bern
At Bern, cyclists, skaters, skiers, snowboarders, and rafters are welcome. There's adventure headwear for everyone. Bern helmets have waterproof lining, so the water stays in the river instead of in your helmet.
Whether you're wakeboarding, kitesurfing, rafting, or kayaking, all Bern water helmets give you the protection you need. Eye-popping designs are available in stunning azure blue, muted teal, oxblood, satin indigo, and many other beautiful colors to provide fashionable head protection while enjoying your river run.
If you value safety, comfort, and style, then a Bern helmet is the way to go.
by Tontron
Tontron
Tontron is the place to go for kayaking helmets. Their helmets scored high in hardness, ultra-violent radiation, water spray, and buoyancy tests. Kayakers worldwide need a helmet that checks all these boxes.
If you like to film your adventures, you're in luck. Certain models come with a GoPro mount that enables you to record your thrilling trek through the rapids. Better yet, some of their helmets come with attached LED lights. When the sun sets, just flip on your lights and you're good to go.
Tontron has some of the coolest-looking helmets on the market. One model features a lovely panorama of a forest, a river, and a mountain range. Another has navy camouflage.
It's the place to go for fashionable head protection.
With its ABS outer shell, EVA lining, ear protection, adjustability, sleek designs, air ventilation, chin protective strap, size adjustment dial, and its removable visor, a Tontron helmet takes the cake for the best helmet for kayakers.
Please, Protect Your Head
Matt Forck, vice president of Ameren's Federal Legislative Affairs, urges sportsmen to protect themselves.
"Don't do something detrimental to yourself," Forck says. "In hurting yourself, you obviously do damage to yourself, but you are part of the team, so when you damage yourself via a poor choice, you are hurting the team as well."
Before you go whitewater rafting, think about the team behind you — your family, friends, and coworkers. You're only one node in a complex network of people. You're a vital part of the link and must treat yourself as such.
The effects of head injuries may be quite traumatic. The solution is simple: Wear a helmet.
When you are properly protected, your only concern out on the river is having the best time possible. Hitting the rapids is a thrill, but it also holds many potential dangers. Be honest with yourself; the thrill of that potential danger is a big reason you're out there in the first place.
Don a helmet to keep the thrills and avoid the dangers. Your team and your future self thank you.
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