Helmets: Do you wear one? Why? When?

Unicycles and Equipment
43

When I started BMX in the 70’s there were no helmets. I got my first helmet in High School for road riding. I only wore it when I was out training or touring. As I got older and the helmets got better, I started wearing a helmet for all of my biking. I got into extreme rollerblading and never wore a helmet, but I always wore wrist guards :roll_eyes:

Now I’m older, I wear a helmet when I ski, board, skate, bike, and uni. I had never hit my head while doing any of these sports until last summer when I was skiing in Oregon. I hit my head twice in one day, that helmet was retired!

Hitting your head is not a common injury, which is why people generally don’t wear protection. Our natural instinct is to keep our head away from hard objects. Yet, I have hit my face more than once; lots of stitches in this head!

So now I wear one religiously, same goes for wrist guards when I skate or uni, I hust don’t like the idea of getting hurt and not being able to play :smiley:

44

Huh? Are you serious? So does your skull protect your brain or is it just something to hang a hat on?

Of course a helmets helps protect you, that’s a silly statement. Now, you may believe you are invincible or that you’ll never hit your head, but that’s all about you :roll_eyes:

45

meh, if you’re just riding around at a casual pace and aren’t jumping things there’s no need

46

Re: Helmets: Do you wear one? Why? When?

On Mon, 4 Aug, steveyo <> wrote:
>
> In other words, I always_wear_a_helmet.

That must be really uncomfortable when you go to bed.

I guess you only wear cardigans, since a pullover will be tough to get
on.

Presumably, it also makes swimming quite tricky, since that extra
buoyancy on the back of your head is going to make breathing more
difficult. Or back-stroke, I suppose - is it that you only do
back-stroke?

regards, Ian SMith

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47

I wear it if I’m going to ride fast, or on technical terrain.

I don’t wear it if I’m just popping down the shops.

I’ve not fallen off on a shop ride for about 6 years, and I do maybe 2-4 trips a week.

I have fallen off several times whilst riding road fast and riding muni and hit my helmet. I don’t believe I’ve ever hit hard enough to get bad head injuries, but I have hit hard enough to get a headache afterwards, and several times have hit the helmet on things that would have hurt to scrape my face on. So it probably hasn’t saved me from serious injuries, but surely has saved me from annoying and inconvenient things, like cuts and scars on my head.

It is also a handy place to keep lights.

I think the calculation is a bit different to a bike - I often ride bikes without a helmet, as I know I won’t fall off even if I push myself hard, whereas on a unicycle, particularly the muni, if I’m pushing it, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll go down hard. I roll out 90% of the time, but sometimes you just don’t have time, or you roll out straight into a rock or something. For me, having a helmet is like bringing antiseptic wipes on a muni ride - it might not save your life, but it’s a whole lot more comfortable to finish your ride. Without cuts on your head you don’t have to cut short a ride, with them, they’ll probably piss you off enough to make you head home.

Joe

ps. Oh no, the word helmet appears to have awakened the dreaded Ian Smith, who seemingly only ever posts on the helmet threads - maybe he has an automatic search for them or something?

48

Re: Helmets: Do you wear one? Why? When?

On Tue, 5 Aug 2008, joemarshall <> wrote:
>
> ps. Oh no, the word helmet appears to have awakened the dreaded Ian
> Smith, who seemingly only ever posts on the helmet threads - maybe
> he has an automatic search for them or something?

I wonder why it is ‘dreaded’ to offer a contrary opinion? Is the
thread reserved only for people who agree with the premise that a
helmet must be a good thing, because, err, well, they must be a good
thing?

There was me thinking the purpose of a group such as this was
discussion, rather than mutually self-congratulatory back-slapping.
In which case, suggesting that actually there might be relatively
little good reason for wearing a helmet would be welcomed, surely?

Perhaps it should have been titled “Helmets: do you wear one (only
reply if the answer is yes)?”

Anyway, you are factually wrong - I also contribute to threads about
spokes, and my immediately preceding posting here was about rim tape.

regards, Ian Smith

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49

No Helmet Law in Florida

I wear a cycling cap with the flap up. Until someone manufactures a cool colorful he;met :sunglasses:

50

Yes, I wear mine on my 20" and my 29er also when on my mountain bike going to work. I might look a complete tit but I’d rather look like that than end up dribbling in a wheelchair.

I fell off my nippers micro scooter and smashed my cycle helmet up so bad that I’ll never ride without it again.

How can I expect my kids to wear their helmets if I don’t wear mine.

I wear a Tony Hawks Bell Faction helmet that was £10 from Halfords. Come on, a tenner is worth it for the protection from kerbs, park benches, rocks, rails and all manner of other obstructions that you can bang your nut on.

51

Think of it as an insurance policy; it’s there if/when you need it. And you never know when you might need it! :sunglasses:

52

I wouldn’t wear it in bed, but my wife thinks my blue one is sexy.

And cardigans? I’m always naked from the waist up.

I wanna party with you, Ian Smith. I love you, man.

53

Helmets: Do you wear one? Why? When?

I don’t wear a helmet. I don’t feel comfortable wearing a helmet. Maybe I need to try some more expensive ones. I only occasionally wear one for Ken Looi to keep him happy on Unicycle events he organises, but he is still not happy so I don’t think it’s worth it.

I often get asked “Why don’t you wear a helmet?” and I feel like a hypocrit because I tell the kids to wear their helmet when I teach them, and I tell them it is to keep them safe while they are learning and to protect the school.

I think helmets are over-rated though and no where near enough emphasis is put on the importance of wrist guards. They are uncomfortable to wear, and get hot like helmets- but they could save your very valuable asset your wrists and hands which could be sticking out to save your head that is wearing a helmet. I don’t wear wrist gaurds but a couple of times I have wished I was wearing them.

The only reason I think I should wear a helmet is to set a good example for the hundreds of riders who I inspire who may or may not have common sense. I don’t feel responsible for those who lack common sense.

54

Until you wish you had one.

55

i only have a snowboard helmet (very well insulated for -10 F) which doesnt work well with texas summers… :astonished: i porbably wouldnt wear one anyway because i dont feel like im doing very dangerous stuff if i start doing big street/ trials and got a different helmet i might…

56

Re: Helmets: Do you wear one? Why? When?

On Tue, 5 Aug 2008, MuniAddict <> wrote:
>
> Think of it as an insurance policy; it’s there if/when you need it. And
> you never know when you might need it! :sunglasses:

You also never know when it might make matters worse. Is that cool
too?

This (apparently mindless) assumption that they must be a good thing,
despite various evidence to the contrary from experience in the
bicycling world, is what confuses me.

The most damaging brain injuries are those from rotational forces. A
helmet makes them worse (bigger lever arm, higher friction in most
circumstances) and offers no protection against them. So why neglect
that class of injury when deciding whether to wear a helmet?

I agree they are probably very effective against painful and
embarrassing scrapes and digs in your scalp - but is it worth risking
making the most serious sort of injuries worse in order to avoid
events that are painful but far from life-threatening? Of course
there are degrees of this - if it was sure to save lots of cuts and
scrapes and the chance of rotational injury was completely
insignificant then the answer might be that they are worthwhile, but
that’s not the argument that is presented. The argument presented is
that they literally cannot hurt, and that is not true.

If wearing a helmet made it more likely that you end up a
dribbling vegetable, would you wear one religiously?

If not, how to reconcile the fact that when states in Australia made
bicycle helmets compulsory for bicyclists, the rate of serious head
injuries went up?

For unicycling, there is even less serious evidence than for
bicycling, of course, and the argument is far from clear even for
bicycling. Also, the skate-type helmets many (most?) people here
adopt are probably less worse for torsional effects than the
high-speed bicycling sort (long tail, thin skin over expanded
polystyrene). You can certainly make a good argument for unicycling
being more likely to result in the sort of injuries that a helmet is
good for, and less likely to be the ones it is bad for. But to assume
that there are no scenarios in which a helmet is bad for the victim
of the accident is simply wrong.

regards, Ian SMith

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57

Looks to me like a case of mistaken identity. He seems to have confused you for saskatchewan ian. ‘dreaded’ obviously refers to the haircut, not an opinion :smiley:

From that statistic alone, I can’t comment. However if there is a correlation between the serious head injuries going up and deaths going down then it can be explained fairly easily.

STM

58

[QUOTE=Ian Smith]

If not, how to reconcile the fact that when states in Australia made
bicycle helmets compulsory for bicyclists, the rate of serious head
injuries went up?

Perhaps it’s because of this:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-helmets-attract-cars-to-cyclists

59

Is the rate injuries per collision, or injuries per bicyclist?

There is certainly more information that is needed before assuming the difference was caused by helmets.

If you want statistics why is that between 1996 and 2005, 97% of bicycle fatalities in New York City were riders not wearing helmets?

60

Er, well maybe 97% of bicycle riders in New York City don’t wear helmets? :wink: But then I recall 86.8% of statistics are made up… :smiley:

Seriously, I think the days of being concerned about torsional injuries from helmet use are probably gone now that most helmets are so light. I think the chance of a cycle helmet causing such an injury is pretty remote.

Personally, I’m a recent convert to wearing a cycle helmet. Most Uni falls I’ve had have been pretty controlled but just occasionally I’ve landed awkwardly and once did have the back of my head hit the floor. Since then I’ve worn a helmet. But maybe it’s just old age setting in, I’m not as invincible as I used to be!

But being used to wearing a motorcycle helmet (not on a Uni!) I wouldn’t have much faith in a cycle helmet being much use in anything other than a pretty low speed impact.

61

I haven’t hit my head on the floor in hundreds of UPDs over a 20+ year riding career.

But I have hit my head on overhanging branches, and I’ve used my helmet deliberately to deflect overhanging foliage and twigs. Yes, I often push the bush out of the way with my helmet.

I feel confident riding without a helmet except on very uneven and rocky ground, or when mixing with traffic on the roads.

But that is a personal choice.

I can see no circumstances in which wearing a normal bicycle helmet would increase the risk of either a fall or an injury when unicycling. I can see a few cases where it would significantly reduce the injury if a fall occurred.

62

I always wear a helmet and I urge you and every else to wear one as well.

I don’t want to get preachy, so I’ll make it short. You don’t have to wear a motocross lid. Go to the local kmart or walmart and try on a few cheap ones. You don’t have to spend alot of money, nor do you have to get something big or fancy. Just find something.

-Joe