http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewt...safety+warning

Josh, just so you know, everytime I see your pic I look to see if you are still wearing a helmet. When i see that chrome dome, I think "Good for him. Smart kid.".

Seriously, I lecture kids at the skatepark all the F'in time. I had a friend last year die from skateboarding. He was just screwing around in a parking lot doing flatland tricks. He fell, hit his head hard, went into a coma, and died a few days later.

If you really love kiteboarding, you'll want to do it for the rest of your life, not just until you smack your head on a rock (skyway), car, channel marker, sign, tree (east beach), or even just your board.

Have you considered what happens if you get hit with your 10lb board and knocked out momentarily while 300 yards off shore?

Anyway, enough preaching. You guys are free to make your own decisions, but we'd all like see our buddies still riding in 10 years, not decaying in the ground.

If the hair is in the way, then it's the hair that's the problem, not the helmet. Shave that head, it'll make your day easier anyway.

I have a friend who never wears a seatbelt. His reasoning is that he will be thrown from the car rather than pinned inside. He says he "feels" safer than when he's wearing it. I tell him he's gonna feel like an idiot when he's sitting in a wheelchair with no movement below the neck, having someone feed him applesauce while he craps himself.

-tom