Should you wear a helmet kiteboarding

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In lessons we have riders wear helmets, and I do recommend beginner riders wearing a helmet for a little while after learning. But I do not wear a helmet at all now that I am comfortable with the kite.

I do recognize the safety side of wearing a helmet. So this is probably going to be an unpopular post because I do not recommend wearing a helmet once you are competent and comfortable - here is why:

a) I find it obstructs the hearing: I once watched three helmeted riders literally kite past a swimmer shouting for help because they couldn’t hear him.. I was far away and could still hear him and kited a long way to pull him to safety. Once better He was quite anti-kiter because so many had passed him close by... he didn’t realize they couldn’t hear him.

b) Sensory deprivation in general: I learned to read wind from being a sailor and windsurfer since a toddler- I never wore a helmet, now if I put one on, my responses to gusts and wind shifts slows and decreases. I have lost my major weather vane (it’s the same in a neoprene hood.. )

c) It limits free body movement: I hate swimming in a helmet and feel limited in my body movements in general.

d) Prevention is the best safety measure: I am aware of the greater risk and I take steps to mitigate them. I don't kite near rocks or in shallow water. I don’t go out in sketchy conditions. I don't launch or land with obstacles down wind of me.

Also, I do wonder if a helmet gives some people a false sense of security, or of some people just have a false sense of security anyway. i know that from teaching sailing, when we started giving kids helmets, the number of times they got hit on the head by the boom went up massively, as did the number of serious injuries