Credible statistics show that for every 100,000 wakeboarding participants, about 2.6 players get injured. The most common wakeboarding injuries affect the head and face as well as the back, trunk, arms, and legs.
Did you know that 11 percent of wakeboarding injuries are concussions? That’s why wearing the best wake helmet from Triple Eight or wherever makes sense.
But is the Triple Eight Gotham Water helmet a good wakeboarding helmet? My Triple 8 Gotham Water helmet review hopes to answer that and more questions. So, stay here and I’ll help you decide if this is a good or even great helmet for water sports such as snowboarding, water skiing, or wakeboarding.
You may also want to read this post: Triple Eight Helmet Reviews.
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Last update on 2025-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Using a Helmet While Enjoying Water Sports Helps
I don’t wakeboard or do any kind of water skiing, but I know a guy who really enjoys this thrilling water sport. For the longest time, this man never wore a helmet, and nothing ever happened….until something did.
Now, this guy was riding their wakeboard one fine afternoon when the incident happened. Their wakeboard suddenly whipped back, and you don’t want to hear what happened next. The little accident opened up my friend’s head, on the back.
Obviously, this wakeboarder learned their lesson — the hard way. And they’ve worn a proper wakeboarding helmet ever since. For this gentleman (well, he’s not always gentle when it comes to wakeboarding), the right helmet happens to be the Triple Eight Gotham Water helmet. That’s mostly because this lid works great for this user.
Why Do Some People Wakeboard without a Helmet?
Lots of wakeboarders do their thing without having a helmet on, and nothing happens. Perhaps that’s why there’s tons of bad advice as to whether wearing a certified helmet while wakeboarding is absolutely necessary.
Ask my friend. To players who say they don’t need to helmet up, my friend says there’s zero harm in having some helmet on. Plus, my friend is yet to see or hear of any helmeted wakeboarder that got knocked out cold during a ride.
So, stop arguing and grab the best certified wake helmet you can afford no matter what anyone else out there tells you. It helps. In pretty much every sport, whether that sport gets played in the water or dry, wearing a helmet (certified or not) is always better than wearing none.
In this Gotham 8 Gotham water helmet review, I’ll share my friend’s experience riding their wakeboard in this product. I’ll provide you with user-reported product information so you can make your purchasing decision from a place of knowledge and confidence.
Hopefully, I’ve managed to convince you that shoving some helmet on your noggin before strapping on your board makes sense. Now, it’s time to answer the question that landed you here. Is the certified Gotham Water helmet a good wake or water skiing helmet?
Gotham Water Helmet’s Design and Construction
The Gotham Water certified helmet comes in a similar design and construction quality as its dual-certified Gotham siblings for skateboarding. Like its siblings, this helmet has a fine-drawn brim and the famous Tripe 8 Logo ventilation holes on its ABS outer shell.
But unlike the other dual-certified Gotham skate helmets, this water sporting helmet doesn’t feature a dial for fitment.
The removable liner of this helmet is called the Sweatsaver Halo Liner rather than just a Sweatsaver liner for obvious reasons. This liner is removable and washable, just as is the case with the sweat liner of the regular Gotham certified skateboarding helmets.
Protection comes from a dual-density closed-cell head liner made of EVA foam. This protective foam seems thick enough. More importantly, this foam liner is fully certified to the CE EN 1385-2012 water sport standard.
But while the padding inside the Gotham Water is good, it’s as good as it is with the skateboarding Gotham helmets.
Overall, the helmet seems well-made. It does seem sturdy enough, like it could protect the user adequately if the need ever arose.
Certified to CE EN 1385-2012 Water Sport Standard
What does it mean for a wakeboarding and water skiing helmet to be certified to the CE EN 1385-2012 water sport standard? It means that the helmet has been tested and fully meets all the requirements of this white water safety standard.
As you fly 15 feet above the wakes produced by that giant boat you’re surfing behind while pulling off those amazing stunts that defy the force of gravity, the Gotham water should (and will) keep your head protected.
However, if you’re into any kind of extreme water sport s, choose a different helmet. If you’re going to be dropping down insanely tall waterfalls, this isn’t the helmet for you.
But I wonder if you could ever find a better helmet than the Gotham Water as far as head protection. Anyone who pushes themselves to perform at an extremely mesmerizing performance level isn’t afraid to die!
So, the Gotham Water certified helmet offers a different kind of head protection. In other words, don’t go looking for a dual-certified Gotham Water helmet as though you were seeking out a skateboarding helmet.
That said, the Gotham Water provides adequate protection against hits or blows to the head. And just because you’ve never heard of anyone that cracked their skull water skiing or wakeboarding doesn’t mean you should play helmetless.
Comfort, Sizes, Fit, and Color Options
Triple 8 offers some of the best helmets on the market as far as comfort. And the Gotham Water certified helmet doesn’t disappoint.
The removable Sweatsaver Halo Liner labors alongside the ventilation holes on the helmet to keep your noggin cool during rides. But as noted at many places on this outdoor sporting activities website, Triple 8 needs to improve the ventilation credentials of nearly all their helmets.
The Gotham Water Helmet’s 3-Layered Liner
The helmet feels super comfortable thanks to the sweat-absorbing Halo liner inside the helmet. This liner is super comfy because it’s not just a liner. The Sweatsaver Halo liner is designed to make each wakeboarding session memorable.
Three layers of foam come together to form the Halo liner, and a soft, plush fabric covers the liner. With this helmet on, you’ll find yourself wanting to wakeboard more and more. And the hoots and hollers of the folks in that high-powered watercraft will keep getting louder and more enthusiastic. You’ll stay safe and protected the entire time.
How to Size the Gotham Water Certified
Before purchasing the Gotham Water certified wakeboarding helmet, measure your noggin first. But how do I measure my head properly when sizing a wake helmet?
It’s simple — and easy.
Simply pass a string over the widest portion of your noggin and spread out the thread on a ruler to read your measurement. Alternatively, use a soft dressmaker’s tape to determine the circumference of your melon. Again, you need to take the reading of the widest circumference of your head.
Then, consult the Gotham Water helmet size chart below for direction on the right helmet size. But while researching for this review, I found that the size chart of the Gotham Water is a bit off. That means don’t follow the chart’s helmet size suggestions blindly.
Instead, if you discover you’re at the top of a certain size range, consider sizing up. That’s also the exact same advice Triple 8 gives wakeboarders and water skiing enthusiasts looking to buy a fitting water sports helmet. This means this helmet doesn’t fit true to size as this skate brand claims on its website.
Chinstraps
As expected, the chinstraps are made out of strong nylon or some such material. The straps do seem like good quality, and they shouldn’t loosen up during use. But I’ve bumped into some users who felt their chinstraps broke because they weren’t great quality straps.
Other reviewers reported that these chinstraps proved a bit difficult to snap. However, it wasn’t like a whole ton of quality complaints. It’s just that I felt you need to know that before shelling out.
4 Gotham Water Helmet Sizes
In terms of sizes, Triple 8 provides this certified water sports helmet in 4 sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and Extra-Large. As suggested above, if your head measurement places you on the cusp of a size range, go a size up.
But if your noggin is one of the biggest the wakeboarding or water skiing community has ever seen, choose something else.
That’s because this helmet runs small as already noted. You may manage to cram your massive head into this water helmet, but it’ll most likely hurt.
Maybe you’ll also have a headache – that does happen in some cases to some riders for some reason. And when this helmet isn’t fitting your head super snugly, you’ll likely get a few red marks on the forehead.
Two Color Options Available
When it comes to the Gotham Water helmet, you won’t have the luxury of choosing one of multiple color options. That’s because this brain bucket comes in two colors namely black rubber/gun matte and neon tangerine matte.
If you’re shopping around for your wakeboarding kid’s helmet, consider going with the neon tangerine matte Gotham Water helmet. By the way, the neon tangerine matte option looks less pink and more orange.
That means this helmet would work somewhat better for wakeboarding boys than it would for girls. I don’t mean “works better” in terms of performance, though. I meant the lid would work better for boys because wouldn’t a girl favor a more pink one over a more orange helmet?
Certified Gotham Water Price
This is an affordable properly certified water sporting helmet. You can have it for under $70 as of this writing. Yes, there’s always going to be a cheaper helmet, and you’ll always feel like wanting to save a few bucks.
But if there’s something you never want to cheap out on, it’s protective headgear for enjoying risk-ridden outdoor sports/activities.
Does the Gotham Water Offer Earflaps?
The simple answer is no, the Gotham Water wakeboarding helmet comes without earflaps. And who wants to end up with blown-out eardrums? Nobody, that’s who. So, is there any workaround?
Yes, you can always buy earflaps from Triple Eight. Maybe the company should start incorporating eardrum-protecting flaps into the helmet even if that might mean charging a little more. But given the current price point, I can’t say that’s a dealbreaker.
Certified Gotham Water Helmet Review: Final Thought
Overall, this is a good, certified water sports helmet for when you’re planning on a weekend white water trip or wakeboarding.
It’s comfy, and its protective foam liner does its job. What’s more, the bucket is sold in 4 different sizes and 2 great color options. Additionally, the Gotham Water helmet is available at a pretty decent price point.
What’s preventing you from grabbing this thing and heading out to the ocean or river? Nothing, only your hesitation, unless there’s something you feel I didn’t cover in my review of the Gotham Water sports helmet.