New on the horizon in paddling gear this year is a helmet by Whitewater Research Safety Institute that offers one of the first major design innovations since whitewater helmets were introduced. One flaw in paddling helmets is the chance that the helmet can get pushed back on your head by the force of the water, leaving the front part of the skull unprotected.

After a whitewater paddler out west named Lucas Turner was killed by a blow to the forehead when his helmet shifted, Turner’s dad and brother founded the non-profit Whitewater Research Safety Institute and began a crusade to redesign whitewater helmets.

“The harness system and fit system make it a really safe helmet,” said Israel Putnam, the paddling sports buyer at Nantahala Outdoor Center’s Outfitters Store. The new helmets should be on NOC’s shelves any day now.

Putnam is also touting a new life jacket made out of a newly discovered fiber called organic kapok.

“It is a naturally occurring hollow fiber that floats, but it is biodegradable. Unlike 90 percent of life jackets out there that are made out of Styrofoam or something that doesn’t biodegrade, this is friendly for the environment,” said Putnam. “Biodegradable and eco-friendly are really in.”

Another feel-good benefit is that they are locally manufactured. The Norge for men and Abba for women are made by Astral Life Jacket, an Asheville company owned by Phillip Curry.

“He’s been behind almost every major innovation in life jackets over the past 10 years,” Putnam said.

The new fiber is also super comfortable, Putnam said.

“Most life jackets when you put them on they feel kind of boxy or restrictive until they wear in. But this jacket molds immediately to your body. It feels kind of spongy and soft,” Putnam said.

Among the life jacket’s features are a lash-tab for a knife and a hand-warmer — a small flap of fleece up against your body you can slide your hand behind for a quick warm up.

On the paddle front, Putnam said a new injection-molded plastic paddle by Werner offers a sought-after combo: lightweight, durable and affordable.

Fiberglass and carbon paddles are the lightest yet less durable and more expensive. Regular plastic paddles are durable and cheaper, but not as light.

Sporting a fiberglass shaft but injection-molded blades, Rio Paddle by Werner cuts across those lines.

“It keeps weight down while still maintaining durability,” Putnam said. “Around the Southeast, your paddle is going to wear down really fast just because rivers are shallow and you are going to be banging it on the bottom a lot. The edges of the blade get worn down, but with an injection molded paddle, that’s not going to happen as quickly.”