Big Wave Surfer Garrett McNamara Posts Gory Gash, Sparks Helmet Redesign Convo

Jade Eckardt
·2 min read
1

Surfers wearing skull armor have become a common sight in lineups.

While some surfers, like Owen Wright and Koa Smith, strapped on helmets after suffering TBIs, many more are wearing them "just in case." For instance, today we found that 22.22% of surfers wore helmets on day one of the Lexus Pipe Pro.

The report coincided with a Throwback Thursday post by big wave surfer and 100 Foot Wave star, Garrett McNamara, that shows a gory gash on his face (you've been warned) from a helmet, sparking a convo on helmet redesign.

McNamara shared the post above and captioned it:

"THROWBACK THURSDAY… everyone seems to love carnage so why not?

“One time, at band camp..”… I sliced my face open while surfing Nazare.

"The board broke on my head. Scars build character and I’m lucky that @mamaunearthed loves every single scar. She wasn’t too happy though when she found out I drove a car and had blood coming out of my nose.

"What’s YOUR worst injury??? Let’s compare scars"

One viewer asked what happened, and McNamara replied:

"Just a little surfing accident. I think it was the helmet"

Another viewer joined the convo, saying:

"Sorry to see your injury! The helmet has that sharp point and edge around the logo, all of that needs to be removed and could’ve taken out your eye.

"Product needs major redesign … back to the drawing board! I’m a designer, and Giro was one of my clients back in the day. Incredible to see what those helmets absorbed and did to prevent injury. Nazaré presents every challenge."

Although surf helmets save lives  (think Kai Lenny a few weeks ago), a lot of surfers are still on the fence about wearing them.

Helmet or no helmet? That is the question.

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