Providing a little head support to first time floaters can make the difference for creating a float where the person in the tank can completely let go instead of tensing up in order to keep their head above water. Making sure customers are empowered to create the best float experience for their needs is incredibly important to us at the Float Shoppe.
“The times they are a-changin’”. Bob Dylan saw this in 1964. Today it is just as true, and rapidly a-changin’ in the float industry. Back in 2014 I wrote an article about the best head rests to use in your float center, but since then the Floatease Halo has been released by a float center owner in Canada. The company has created a game changer by designing what may be the first piece of float technology (outside of float tanks themselves) specifically made for our industry.
I reached out to "Saul T Waters" as he goes by on Facebook, about how he came up with the idea. Here is what Saul had to say:
The Halo was created out of the necessity for us to be able to offer our clients (at Float House Victoria) a device that would help them float more comfortably. We found many guests, especially first timers, complain about a sore neck and not being able to get their head positioned comfortably. Although we explained the importance of relaxing the neck and shoulders, letting the head drop back and letting the water do all the work, most clients felt they needed to “try” to keep their head out of the water – which can often lead to soreness. We also had many clients with previous neck or back issues and the hyperextension of the neck was almost impossible for them to achieve.
We tried many different variations and materials but eventually settled on the very basic shape that is what the Halo is today. In fact, the original shape was cut out using the outline of a plate for the outer dimension and a bowl for the inner dimension. We tried to keep things as simple as possible … and found that the combination of the basic shape with the tough and water/salt resistant foam – was a perfect match.
We originally designed the Halo specifically for our centre – and soon realized that they were being requested more and more often. We then had to make more than just one – so we cut out (very roughly using a razor blade) another couple to have on hand. Pretty quickly it became apparent that we should have one Halo in each room ready for our guests. This is when we looked into other methods of production – and eventually into the realization that we should let the global float community know of this product.
We tested out the Halo at the Float Shoppe, and found that Adding them to our rooms has been a huge step forward in the ease of running our center for the following reasons:
- Easy to explain to customers on how to use. The old neck pillows were often used by customers like you would on an airplane flight, and in a float tank that just isn’t very comfortable.
- Easy to clean. Seriously easy to clean. This cuts down room turnover time, which for anyone who currently owns a center knows how precious those minutes can be. Our staff loves the change to the Halos for this reason.
- They last! Inflatable neck pillows tend to get leaks along the seams and lose pressure over time (there’s nothing like the sound of a leaking neck pillow in your ear while you’re floating!). Because the Halo is built with sturdy material, you won’t find yourself re-ordering over and over like we did with our inflatable neck pillows.