Equipment warning: Arnis helmets

[david welch]

We have a fairly new guy that is coming in from N.C. when he can to train with us. The last time he came he brought an arnis (stick fighting) helmet with him. Basically it looks like a men. It is very solid, and looks like it would provide good head protection.

This thing has some sort of vinyl covering on the inside. When he took a crossing cut to the head, the vinyl let the inside of his helmet make a seal over his ear and gave him a pretty good pop. I don't think it ruptured an eardrum, but it did make him have to sit out the rest of the day. And, a harder hit might have caused an injury.

We are, and caution everyone else to, checking all our headgear to make sure this can't happen again. If it looks like it could, we are either going to replace the gear, or wear an arming cap under it so it can't seal to the skin.

Thought everyone should be informed of this... just an FYI.

[Shane Smith]

Thanks for the heads up. I too suffered a ruptured ear-drum when the little plastic tabs at the ear-holes in my fencing mask broke long ago and I got hit on the side of the head on a day when I was sweating profusely. As in your story, the sweat sealed me enough to rupture my eardrum. Fortunately, ear drums are almost always self-healing. When your ear inserts break out, think about getting a new mask.