How to Choose Your Whitewater Helmet

Whitewater helmets come in all shapes and sizes. They’re an essential part of your river safety kit, and the range of choices can be difficult to navigate. Here is our advice to help you choose the right whitewater helmet.

To start, helmets are all about preference and fit. A whitewater helmet should fit snugly on your head with no forward or backward movement. When the chinstrap is secured properly, it should not be able to be lifted off your head. 

When buying your first helmet, consider the sport you are choosing it for, as all helmets have their advantages and disadvantages. The protection offered by a super-burly helmet for kayaking will be a bit overkill for most other river sports, and probably won’t be the most comfortable thing to wear on a raft all day.

Sweet Protection

I’ve found that folks who have narrower head profiles tend to fit into the Sweet Protection helmets very well. The Sweet Protection Wanderer is a great helmet for intermediate kayakers, as well as Ducky Paddlers and SUP Boarders.

The Sweet Protection Strutter is very popular as well, especially among rafting enthusiasts because of its long brim. Advanced kayakers enjoy the additional padding, ear, and face protection offered from the Sweet Protection Rocker Half Cut and Rocker Full Face Helmets. Aggressive style and industry-leading design set Sweet Protection apart from their competition.

Sweet Protection Wanderer	Sweet Protection Strutter

Shred Ready

For paddlers with rounder domes, check out Shred Ready. If you like the Sweet Wanderer but it doesn’t quite fit your head, the Shred Ready Standard Halfcut is a great choice instead. Rafters like the Shred Ready Zeta as it is fairly minimal and wears like a baseball cap. Shred Ready’s range of included foam inserts, as well as the HOG (“Hand of God”) Retention System allows for fine-tuning of the fit.

Shred Ready Standard Halfcut	Shred Ready Zeta

WRSI

Another brand worth checking out is WRSI. I find them to be the most comfortable whitewater helmets we offer, and they fit a wide range of head shapes. WRSI is an acronym for “Whitewater Research and Safety Institute," and their proprietary retention system forces the chin strap to tighten if the helmet brim gets pushed upwards, keeping your forehead protected at all times.

WRSI Current	WRSI Trident

Brim Design

Conversely, helmets that have no brim at all will offer no sun protection. While this seems like a non-issue since sun protection isn’t your first concern when thinking about protecting your skull, a helmet is often something that’s awkward to take off and store somewhere if you are a small craft and want to throw a hat on when you’re not in the rapids. Also, it's pretty hard to kayak with sun in your eyes!

Therefore, you’ll see a lot of choices out there that are a low-profile brim design to strike a balance between sun protection and immersion safety. These are the best helmets to consider if you find yourself on a variety of different crafts.

Summary

When choosing a helmet, remember that it is a crucial part of your safety kit. The best helmet for you is the one that you will actually wear! If in doubt, CKS Online offers free exchanges to help you make sure that you get the helmet that fits you the best.