I stalled out in a late turn on top of a wave and had a slow motion fall where the board rolled over. As I tried to kick my board away, my left calf came down directly on the front wing tip, and it penetrated through my calf until it hit bone. I knew immediately I was cut, but when I came up and got on my board I I was shooting blood out of the wound that was 4" long and very deep
This was crazy to listen to, I wasn’t really aware of the story, but two easy takeaways
1 - tourniquet
2 - smart watch or phone to call emergency
The amount of things that went perfectly right that saved his life is insane - buddy applied tourniquet in <2min, foiling within short paddle of exit, random combat medic standing right there, specialist surgeon in town… crazy lucky. Safety is mostly giving yourself a few freebies so that it’s your lucky day when the shit does hit the fan, and this is a good example of just getting insanely lucky.
Anyway, add it to the list of things that can go wrong.
Some cut resistant suit options discovered in the thread
Ion does an impact suit, but I think something that wouldn’t have helped in this case, as much as anything foam based would not stop a knife
ION Protection Suit: In fact, it comes with 10-mm-thick, PVC-free protection foam padding at the shoulders, upper back, back of the thighs, crotch, and shins
speed skating seems to use a cut proof suit which is maybe overkill, but maybe major artery locations or whatever would be sufficient. In the case here it wasn’t even major artery, so idk what you can really do to prevent this
had a slow motion fall where the board rolled over. As I tried to kick my board away, my left calf came down directly on the front wing tip
Just to be clear to everyone reading, this to me sounded like your standard backwards taco ? It wasn’t even a high speed, high energy crash like you could expect jumping or flipping
When I listened to this episode I kept thinking about riding strapped in more critical conditions. For myself winging straps have saved me from many super sketchy situations and let me push my riding in more critical situations, not so much about being able to attack the more difficult maneuver but about the recovery. Being able to muscle the board, or yourself, back to a controlled situation is huge. I’m still working on it but I’m trying to add straps to my prone game for this reason.
Yeah my first thought riding the Art v2 was that it looked like it could split open a coconut if you axed it… wasn’t comforting at all! @Erik’s idea of some wingtip bubbles that would prevent it stabbing you but not ruin the flow sounded appealing, though I imagine it would run the breach feeling or something
I sliced my chest (through Lycra top), also cut my lifejacket, on a standard taco failed jibe in turbulent wave.
New Gong foil at the time, promptly sanded it down
Those are extremely sharp.
Got a new Veloce H V3 and it’s just as sharp, but this time there’s so much shaping into the trailing edge and it’s VERY thin in the last 1cm, sanding it down is not an option.
Need a Dyneema underlayer.
Yikes! Going sells a cut resistant shirt, sounds ok for preventing or lessening cuts, but probably less effective for stabbing points. Could potentially help though, but a bit of bluntness on the foil probably helps a lot too.
I made a video of slicing cucumber in thin slices with both the Gong front foil and stab.
You take a sharp knife, try to cut 10mm of neoprene (2mm there’s no point even trying) then make up your mind if that’s better than Dyneema
Hey bud,
So you think dyneema would be better for safety ?
Do you know of anyone who has used a dyneema suit , would it be comfortable? Any idea how thick they are ?
So I have no expereince with wetsuits.
I have an impact vest and a helmet to foil with.
Getting back in the water after a while due to injuries.
Looking to pick up a suit since I definitely dont want more injuries
Was going to call for the ion long john, since its sleeveless and im based out of sri lanka primarily… But im basically trying to figure the best option to stay as safe as i could be
I know this stuff can take time to figure out and get into production, but the industry seems to be pretty slow on the uptake… Everytime I see things like new impact vests for foiling available only in black, with no pockets, I just shake my head.
Perhaps a(nother) curated list of priorities/needs to make it clear…even though these seem like very obvious points?!
Hi-viz
Useful pockets
Cut protection
Perhaps we will also see some foil design and manufacturing take safety into account, and not just performance (less slicey-pokey)…the Cedrus Evolution masts are out in front on that…
Waiting for wind to test my Apogee anti cut speed skating suit I just bought.
Fit very snug.
Flexible enough.
Feels like my Dyneema socks, which work (foil, zebra mussels) , forget there are on etc.
Should help get suits on&off
Planning on trying it under 6mm suit but also as anti UV in the tropics.
Apogee anti cut suit (designed for speed skating), Nagano was the other Canadian brand I was considering but was more expensive.
Level 5 (best level) against knife cuts.
Dyneema Lycra mix.
-very tight fitting against the body but stretchy enough that it’s not restrictive.
Your private parts will show if you have big ones.
-not hot, not cold
-neck also protected
-easy on& off except for the last arm (like a wetsuit)
-very slippery against neoprene, makes putting on and off 6mm tight fitting Xcel suit much easier
-quick drying
-don’t know yet about UV protection but can just picture wearing just a bathing suit on top in tropical water
-couple of seams on the side of the trunk was rubbing a bit against the skin with the harness pressure, nothing major but might tape some material against the seam and let the manufacturer know
-could use some strap at the feet to hold it down while putting the suit legs on, not a big deal, slippery against neoprene so doesn’t ride up.
-costly (Can $300), Nagano brand $400
-knife/sharp foil won’t cut through, tested against Gong trailing edge.
? It wasn’t even a high speed, high energy crash like you could expect jumping or flipping
