Head injuries are no joke. Recently, Koa Rothman received one while surfing at Pipeline. Though his recovery is thankfully coming along well, the experience has required him to begrudgingly try out some of the latest designs in surf helmets. In his most recent video, he documented his first armored foray into heavy surf.
On land, he tries out a number of popular helmet designs, including a soft offering lent to him by longtime protective headwear proponent Koa Smith. He’s resistant at first, saying that he doesn’t like the feeling on his head, but finally decides to paddle out wearing a Simba Sentinel, a newer brand that also happens to bear the seal of approval of our own testers.
However, Rothman was decidedly not taken with the newest addition to his surf attire. “When I came in on my last wave, I got hit by a wave. I was underwater and I just felt lost with the helmet on,” he said afterwards “I felt like a kook underwater and I didn’t know which way was up.”
He attributed the disorientation to the helmet, but admitted that a significant contributor to the feeling would be that he’s simply not used to it. Thankfully, he didn’t give up on the device altogether, saying he would spend some time acclimating to wearing it in smaller surf going forward.
