Charles Pezeshki wrote:

Hi Brian,

I knew the group that was paddling with Lucas, and was really saddened to
hear about his death five years ago. He died in a rapid that is one of the
biggest 'mainstream' Class Vs in the world, and one that I have always
carried.

It's unfortunate that you're insulting his dad.

I'm not insulting anyone. For that matter, I'm not questioning his motives,
either. What I am questioning is his approach. His words clearly express a
personal vendetta against Protec. I can't say I fully understand his grief or
claim that I would feel any differently were I in his position. However, I
strongly object to his misleading claim of the "Worlds Safest Whitewater Helmet"
and the attempt to pass off a business as some form of "official" safety agency.

I've talked in the past
about how whitewater helmets need to be improved, but though I do possess
the technical ability to do such a project, I haven't. I'm glad to see Gil
doing it.

If his company ultimately produces a good product, I'm all for it. However, a
good product deserves to be marketed honestly on it's merits, not by bitter
attacks on a competing product. This kind of approach will ultimately backfire
and could prevent his product from saving a life. I'm sure that's not Mr.
Turner's intent.

Looks to me from the pictures on the website that he's addressed
major areas of concern that I have-- notably full protection for the base of
the brain that's lacking on almost all of the current crop.

Interesting. Research on helmets for other applications has shown that close
fitting padding at the lower rear of a helmet causes an increase in broken necks
when impacts that cause head rotation occur (ie., frontal impacts or glancing
impacts to the top of the helmet...sound familiar?). That's why helmets for
other applications are not made that way. A closer fit does not necessarily make
a helmet safer. If the helmet itself causes or exacerbates injury, the users
could be at greater risk than they would be with a design that seems less
protective, but won't contribute to injuries.

I really have to question whether designing a whitewater helmet that may
actually make it to market is a suitable project for a couple of college kids.
I'm getting the impression that they just haven't done all the necessary
research. This sounds like a project that should be taken up with the assistance
of Snell Labs and other organizations which have researched head injuries
in-depth. Again, I'm not questioning their motivation, it just seems like they
may have overlooked some critical details.

--
Regards

Brian