String of high-profile head injuries suffered by some of sport’s elite have made headgear more common
In 1959, the first West Coast Championships were held at the Huntington Beach Pier. Photos from the event show competitors wrangling their heavy longboards down to the water, wearing numbered singlets and industrial-strength helmets. Huntington isn’t the most treacherous surf spot in the world, but given how cumbersome their boards were in addition to the muscle-encrusted pier pilings, it probably wasn’t a terrible idea for everyone to strap a peanut shell on.
Skip ahead a good 65 years, and the subject of helmets in the lineup is as relevant as ever. Last winter, it was brought front and center after several surfers sustained head injuries at Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, including big-wave hero Kai Lenny. On January 4, Lenny pulled into a barrel that clamped on him and forced him to the bottom. Wearing a helmet at the time, the impact of his head on the reef cracked the helmet and likely would have killed him had he not been wearing protection.
“This head injury was the worst injury I’ve ever had,” explained Lenny afterward. Suffering through a myriad of physical and cognitive effects after the head injury, Lenny dealt with depression and lost his desire to surf for a while.
In 2024, a report noted 22 percent of Championship Tour surfers wore helmets at the WSL’s Pipe Pro. The statistic illustrates how head protection has become more common in waves of consequence recently. Like Huntington, San Clemente and Dana Point’s surf spots are generally user-friendly and not too critical, so while you may not be seeing too many helmeted surfers at the local breaks, when the Olympics come to Tahiti in a couple months, it’s likely that a number of competitors will be wearing helmets.
Last winter marked 30 years since two-time world champ Tom Carroll first identified how critical head protection is at the statistically deadliest wave in the world. During the winter of 1983-84, Carroll saw firsthand the devastating impact a head injury can have when Steve “Beaver” Massfeller went headfirst into the reef at Pipe. Pulled unconscious from the water, he was airlifted to the hospital with a severe skull fracture that required a steel plate to repair. That same winter, the Pipeline Underground’s Chris Lundy suffered a concussion and had to withdraw from the Pipe Masters
“I’ll never forget what he was like before the injury and what he was like after the injury,” said Carroll of Massfeller, who passed away last November at the age of 68. “I was surfing with him and talking with him, and it scared me to see what could happen from hitting the reef. He started wearing a helmet after the fact, and I thought if I want to push things at Pipeline, I’m going to have to do something so I don’t come out (as) a vegetable.”
“I’ve been hit in the head at Pipe before,” Carroll continued. “I’ve come out of the water, feeling fine, then an hour later it got heavy.”
“It’s very violent. So that’s why I started wearing a helmet,” Carroll added. “And after that, I got hit pretty hard in the head a couple times – had a board go through my helmet at Teahupo’o – so, yeah, it’s saved me a few times.”
For three decades now, Carroll’s been on a mission to protect his dome. The fruits of his labor are evident, because not only are more surfers wearing helmets at places like Pipeline and Teahupo’o, but there are now more different types of surf helmets on the market and available to surfers of all stripes. From the low-profile, soft helmets like the ones Carroll has developed (and used by local hero Nathan Fletcher and Koa Smith), to the more traditional, hard-shell helmets like the one Lenny was wearing, there are no shortage of options out there for those looking to charge.
Jake Howard is a local surfer and freelance writer who lives in San Clemente. A former editor at Surfer magazine, The Surfer’s Journal and ESPN, today he writes for several publications, including Picket Fence Media, Surfline and the World Surf League. He also works with philanthropic organizations such as the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center and the Positive Vibe Warriors Foundation.
