Head protection: Halo (not Ice Halo)

[skategeek]

Just spotted this product, made for soccer(=football).  They provide actual safety test data.  I'm curious to get people's opinions.  The Halo 1 and 2 appear to only have protection at the front (makes sense for soccer, but not skating), while the Halo 3 has it all the way around, though it's not very wide.

http://unequal.com/halo-3/
http://unequal.com/template/images/CompareHalo_Spring_2017.pdf

I'm amused by the acceleration reduction "up to" X% and would much prefer to see mean ± SD or something.  Picking just the minimum value isn't really representative.  Still, it seems like a promising product.

[lutefisk]

This looks similar to the Ice Halo "HD".  I'll read the blurb when I get home from work.

[skategeek]

Yep, but it's half the price.  If it's as effective, it might be more attractive to people than the Ice Halo HD (which I have and love, but it was about $95 if I remember right). 

[FigureSpins]

The Ice Halo / Ice Halo HD are noticeably thicker than other protective headbands.  The Unequal.com Halo headband is more like the Crasche headbands that I see more often at our rink.  Unlike the Crasche headbands, the Halo doesn't seem to have as much protection for the back of the head. 

One of our skaters used to have a soccer headband without the back-of-the-head protection.  When they took a fall backwards and their head hit the ice, the headband literally popped off and gave no protection whatsoever.

I have several skating students who wear Crasche headbands, but they analyzed their options and chose that gear after discussing it for a while.  The real beginning skaters wear skateboarding helmets, but you're beyond that level.


(Tip: the Crasche polka dot fabric cover is very cute.  An adult I know had buyer's remorse, feeling it was too "childish" looking, so she barely used the headband.)

[lutefisk]

I have both the standard and the HD Ice Halos.  I think the prices are in Canadian dollars and so if one is paying with a US-based credit card the cost comes down significantly.  Even if it didn't, I figure my head is worth every penny.  I've "tested" my standard Ice Halo with a backward fall that included a good and proper chime ringing head smack.  I got off the ice for about ten minutes, and yes it hurt, but I did go back out for the remaining 30 minutes of the session (after proving to the ice monitor that I could state my own name and address).  Without the Ice Halo I'm fairly sure I would have gotten yet another ride in the ambulance to the local ER.  I haven't "tested" my HD (yet).

[skategeek]

(Tip: the Crasche polka dot fabric cover is very cute.  An adult I know had buyer's remorse, feeling it was too "childish" looking, so she barely used the headband.)

Yeah, I wore mine (black with turquoise dots) until a skating buddy said "That's cute!  I used to have underwear made with that fabric!"  I like my Ice Halo HD better anyways.