What Is the Best Curling Head Protection? Curling Helmets, Headgear and Headbands Compared

Why Is Head Injury a Risk in Curling?

Curling is often perceived as a low-risk sport because it involves no tackling or player-to-player contact. However, injury research shows that:

• Falls are the leading cause of injury in curling
• Head impacts are among the most severe injuries reported
• Backward falls frequently result in head-to-ice contact ^[1]

Ice provides a rigid, low-friction surface. When a player slips, the head can accelerate rapidly on striking the ice. This type of impact produces angular acceleration of the skull, which transmits rotational forces to the brain. These rotational forces cause damage to brain nerve cells, break down the blood-brain barrier, and shear brain cells, causing damaging neuro-inflammation.

Serious head injuries, including fatal outcomes following backward falls, have been reported in curling participants ^[1].

Watch: Curler, Rob Packham, talks about his curling accident and why he wears Halos®.

What Causes Brain Injury in Curling Falls?

Brain injury does not require a collision with another player or equipment.

When the head strikes the ice in a fall:

• The skull rotates rapidly
• The brain lags behind due to inertia
• Shear strain develops within brain tissue

This rotational motion is associated with:

• Microscopic damage to brain cells
• Tearing of fine blood vessels
• Disruption of the blood–brain barrier
• Neuro-inflammation ^[3]

Repeated exposure to these forces through falls or smaller-force head impacts can contribute to cumulative brain injury risk, even in the absence of diagnosed concussion.

Curling Helmets, Headgear and Headbands Compared

Most protective curling headgear is designed to cushion the scalp and reduce linear impact force. Linear forces describe straight-line acceleration of the skull. Linear force reduction is less relevant to reducing brain injury, because linear force does less damage to the brain. Linear force reduction is an outdated approach compared to the latest neurological research ^[1].

However, brain injury and concussion in curling is driven primarily by rotational forces, which occur when the brain rotates rapidly during impact with the ice ^[4].

Rotational acceleration produces shear strain within brain tissue and is more strongly associated with concussion and sub-concussive injury than linear force alone. Equipment that cushions the head without reducing rotational force transmission may reduce visible injury, but not brain injury risk.

Importantly, Rezon Halos® is also the first and only legally approved protective headband of its type in the UK and Europe, having secured Category II PPE certification and is legally approved to use the CE and UKCA mark. It is illegal to place any protective headwear on the UK and European product market for sale without complying with the relevant CE/UKCA PPE regulations ^[5].

For curlers in Canada and the United States, independent testing is particularly important because curling headgear can vary significantly in what it is designed and tested to protect against. Rezon Halos® has been independently tested by the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab in the United States, receiving its highest 5-Star rating, and has demonstrated industry-leading reductions in both rotational and linear forces.

Unlike headwear designed primarily to cushion the scalp, Rezon Halos® is specifically engineered to reduce the rotational forces transmitted during head impacts, addressing the primary mechanism of brain injury in curling falls.

Why Impact Reduction Does Not Equal Brain Protection

Many headwear products use terms such as “impact protection,” “shock absorption,” or “impact reduction”. These claims typically refer to linear force attenuation.

Rotational acceleration is more strongly associated with brain tissue strain, sub-concussive injury, and long-term neurological risk ^[4].

Reducing linear impact force alone does not reliably reduce concussion risk. This is why cushioning-based designs may reduce discomfort without meaningfully reducing brain injury risk.

Effective brain protection in curling must address the rotational forces generated when the head rotates in a fall onto ice.

How Does Rezon Halos® Protect the Brain in Curling?

Rezon Halos® is CE / UKCA Category II PPE-certified protective headwear designed specifically to reduce rotational force transmission.

Halos® uses a proprietary multi-layer system called Rotection®. Within this system, nine protective layers move independently to dissipate rotational energy. Rather than simply cushioning the scalp, Halos® reduces the transmission of rotational forces before they reach the brain.

Independent laboratory testing using the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab methodology demonstrates that Halos®:

• Reduces rotational force transmission by at least 60%
• Reduces concussion risk by 74% ^[6]

Halos® is the only non-helmeted head protection to achieve both CE / UKCA Category II PPE certification and a Virginia Tech 5-Star safety rating.

Should Curling Players Wear Brain Protection Throughout Play?

Head impacts in curling are unpredictable. They occur during slips while delivering, loss of balance while sweeping, or transitions on ice.

Falls are unpredictable, protection is most effective when worn consistently throughout training and play.

Reducing rotational force transmission in head-to-ice impacts is one of the most effective strategies available to lower cumulative brain injury risk in curling.