Gecko Head Gear Surf Helmet

Recommendation: Questionable protection for waves of any size with a truly unique air bag-style fit system, the Gecko Head Gear Surf Helmet is an interesting, but heavy option.

Only available directly from Gecko Head Gear

Review

Protection

The protection the Gecko Head Gear Surf Helmet offers is questionable. Despite it’s fairly thick carbon fiber shell, which would certainly transfer some impact force to kinetic energy through vibrations and heat, minimizing some head trauma, the helmet has no liner.

If you think a shell is going to protect you, did you know that EPS is actually a liner? Yet the skiing and biking industries moved away from helmets made up of both hard shells and EPS to in-mold EPS. This is because the protection you receive from a helmet comes from the liner - the thing that actually transfers impact force to other forms of energy (think of car crumble zones) and decelerates the acceleration your brain is experiencing in the event of a concussion - concussions are brain acceleration-deceleration and rotational injuries - effectively slowing down the time it takes from the impact to your brain hitting your skull. Therefore, the Gecko is going to help you prevent a skull crack, but most likely do very little to mitigate the effects of a concussion. Ironically, I’ve had a friend experience a skull crack with a very minor concussion, and his recovery was relatively easy compared to mine.

Performance

Just ok. Although it appears to be designed for surfing, it moves around quite a lot due to its unique air bag fit system that you literally blow up with your own breath. But because your own breath can only offer a certain pressure, the helmet still moves on your head while getting worked under water or with super minor impacts (like if a small lip hits you in the head). Furthermore, the airbag, itself, isn’t all that well-designed either. Since it blows up just as thick on the top as on the sides, the more air you put in the bag, the more it pushes the helmet off your head.

On the good side, it does truly help your head float. So if you get knocked out cold, perhaps it will help save your life if you have something else to keep you on the surface with your face up.