Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

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Seanie
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Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Seanie » Tue May 04, 2010 11:38 pm

One of my mates remarked that he was one of the only people he saw in Corsica wearing a Sweet Strutter. Most people were wear wearing Sweet Rockers or similar.

Heres my question, do people think this is just down to fashion trends or is it down to some wider safety concern. Has there been any incidents of Sweet stutters helmets not being up to the job?

mikef
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by mikef » Wed May 05, 2010 2:29 am

I know there was a problem with a certain amount of helmets where the rivets securing the chin straps to the shell of the helmet rusted and the chin straps came free. I-canoe and sweet were doing free replacements with the problems resolved so maybe people just decided to upgrade their helmets while returning their other one.

I have neither, Sweet haven't a shade of orange that goes with my colour scheme!
mikef

dave f
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by dave f » Wed May 05, 2010 9:42 am

I'm using a strutter for years now with now issues and it's seen it's fair share of action without any problem. I never heard of any technicals issues with them. If a helmet gets a bang it should be replaced (most helmets are only rated for one impact...there are types rated for more but I've never seen them). So if a helmet gets a hit, people tend to replace it with whatever is current, i.e. the Rocker.

That's my experience anyway. As for me, I'm sticking with the strutter, my mates using the rocker say they retain a lot of water. Also the strutter peak is great for deflect pour over water if your pinned vertically. Like all kayaking gear...it's about personal preference! All round, a great helmet & I've never heard a single complaint!

tiernan
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by tiernan » Wed May 05, 2010 12:10 pm

mikef wrote:I know there was a problem with a certain amount of helmets where the rivets securing the chin straps to the shell of the helmet rusted and the chin straps came free. I-canoe and sweet were doing free replacements with the problems resolved so maybe people just decided to upgrade their helmets while returning their other one.
Hey Mike

Is this still happening? This is exactly what has happened to mine however the strap has not come loose (yet).

Cian Mc Comb
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Cian Mc Comb » Wed May 05, 2010 1:28 pm

I have a strutter and I'm not all that happy with the protection it offers when running rocky rivers. It's not really a design flaw it's just that I they're being used for creeking and to be honest I don't think they're adequate for a lot of it.

They're fine for the likes of Gower or other playboating or high volume stuff.(Which there is very little of in Ireland)

But they offer no protection of the lower part of the back of you head/upper neck. They are also incredibly light compared to other helmets. But I guess that's because of the single impact freestyle design.

I know I am going to pick up a ShredReady Standard helmet before I head to the alps next month.I would feel a lot safer having my head protected by one of them than my strutter. For like 75 bucks where would you be going for a full cut creek lid.

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Seanie
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Seanie » Wed May 05, 2010 2:18 pm

Cian Mc Comb wrote:I have a strutter and I'm not all that happy with the protection it offers when running rocky rivers. It's not really a design flaw it's just that I they're being used for creeking and to be honest I don't think they're adequate for a lot of it.

They're fine for the likes of Gower or other playboating or high volume stuff.(Which there is very little of in Ireland)
I agree about the coverage, but I think that's obvious. To be clear I'm not really looking for opinion. I'm looking for facts or incidents.

Are Strutters truly only one impact and Rockers not? Surely any helmet receives a sizeable impact it should be replaced.

I own both a Rocker and a Strutter for the last two or three years. I almost never wear the Rocker, as it was mentioned earlier it holds a lot of water. And on a personal note, I cant hear shit because its full cut, that's down to my own hearing, but its enough to make me not wear it. I'd prolly pop it on if I was running something particularly nuts.

But is there really that big a difference? If I hit my head on something that a strutter couldn't handle, surely my neck snapping like a twig would be more of an issue.

Adrians
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Adrians » Wed May 05, 2010 2:39 pm

Seanie,

I reckon you kinda hit on the two main factors there in your post, fashoin being the first one. Most of my mates I paddle with (myself included) have two helmets one more for freestyle and the other more for creeking.

As for is the Strutter not being up to the job... Well anyway you look at it the Strutter along with all helmets of that kind of design do not offer the coverage of a "Full cut" design. So if full head protection is what you want something along the lones of the Rocker or the SR Standard is the way to go.

On what Cian said about the Strutter being so light, in recent years Sweet have changed the construction method of how they make the Strutter which have resulted in it being increadbly light when compaired with the earlier full carbon models. Personaly the last couple of seasons strutters have had far too much flex in them for my liking so I have stuck with my few years old full carbon strutter which "feels" far more solid.

Seanie replyed while I was typing
Seanie wrote:If I hit my head on something that a strutter couldn't handle, surely my neck snapping like a twig would be more of an issue.


I'd be with you on that and would say that my own current strutter provides excelent protection, I'm not so convinced about the more recent evolutions of the strutter mind you.

All helmets that take a serious impact should be replaced, this would be true for both the Rocker & Strutter

A

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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by roshaw_87 » Thu May 06, 2010 12:09 am

I've seen a rocker cracked without the person being concussed,(they did need a neck brace) while have been left concussed myself without more than a scratch on the strutter. There is very little padding in my strutter, the rockers seem to be well padded out, maybe thats why they retain water?
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Seanie
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Seanie » Thu May 06, 2010 11:30 am

roshaw_87 wrote:I've seen a rocker cracked without the person being concussed,(they did need a neck brace) while have been left concussed myself without more than a scratch on the strutter.
Thats what I was looking for, thanks.

Kav
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Kav » Sat May 08, 2010 1:06 pm

I know the last time I saw a Strutter in the sops it had a warning on it saying it was not suitable for Grade 4 or above. This could be the reason more people have gone for Rockers. I know my Strutter didn't have that warning on it when I bought it 4ish years ago.

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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by frostie » Sat May 08, 2010 1:46 pm

You'll find the same small print with the Rocker, it's to do with CE1385, whitewater helmets are only certified to Grade IV http://www.sweetprotection.com/#/whitew ... echnology/

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rlynch
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by rlynch » Mon May 10, 2010 12:34 pm

Given the sheer number of Rockers around these days, I think it indicates a fashion trend. I've never seen such a huge number of people make a choice based purely on safety concerns. Which isn't to say that a certain number of people aren't making their choice on that basis; I just don't think they all could be. If the poster boys were wearing something else, we'd see a whole bunch of them next season.

Same with boats… people all over the country don't go out and buy the latest boat because they think it will be ideal for their local feature; they do so because X won the Worlds in one. And the reality is, most of the time it's probably a decent boat, so no great harm done.

Maybe it's not such an awful criterion for buying new gear – if the best paddlers are wearing it, it's generally probably up to a decent standard.

And that said, Rockers seem to be excellent helmets. But I don't think that Strutters are unsafe because of it.

I don't have any evidence I'm afraid, bar having taken a couple of knocks on my Strutter and no damage done to my head.

Ross
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Re: Sweet Strutters, are they solid?

Post by Simon D Westgarth » Tue May 11, 2010 8:04 am

The Sweet Rocker as stated above is the business for river running. The Sweet Strutter, an iconic paddling helmet, is more profiled to the shape of the skull, has a thiner padding solution, and so is unable to take the same kind of impacts the Sweet Rocker can, however in comparison to other helmets the Sweet Strutter offer's considerably high protection in a white water environment, plus she looks very cool. If you wish to have considerable protection on the river, the Sweet Rocker is your option.

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