Will you wear a helmet?

Mmmm_Lemony

petethedrummer wrote: »

Risk Compensation:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation#Ski_helmets

The number of people skiing has also increased...but the number of fatalities has stayed the same...

This could have something to do with the fact that more people are wearing helmets. If 40% more people are skiing and that 40% are using helmets, then it would make sense that fatalities would stay the same.

Theres no doubt they are uncomfortable, but the more that people wear them will drive the demand higher for more comfortable and fashionable products.

a148pro

petethedrummer wrote: »

Because helmets are dorky looking.

so is brain damage

I just bought a helmet, wore it today for the first time. didn't even notice I had it on to be honest. I'd say a good 40% of people were wearing them. They don't look dorky at all. In any event, my jacket and salopettes already look dorky enough. very few people look good in their skigear. they tend to be the people who don't actually ski.

Did experience reduced hearing, and also limited me from using the mobile phone - prob a good idea. also kept my slightly too big balaclava in place. cost €115 in Great Outdoors. Uvex x rider something or other. nice design, very comfortable, has a vent which you can open and close and a thing for fixing your goggles on to the back of it. bought white one so it doesn't get hot in the sun, in theory anyway.

you can rent them out here for €4 per day so will presumably take 30 odd days skiing to pay itself. there is the advantage of not putting on someone else's sweat infused helmet though

petethedrummer

a148pro wrote: »

so is brain damage

Then its a good job I have neither a helmet nor brain damage.

a148pro

ah come on pete, all drummers have brain damage

St. Robbie

I've done about 7 weeks of snowboarding, only started wearing a helmet after the 6th week. Feel more comfortable doing jumps and stuff wearing one

fergalmejergal

Arrghhh der dave !

TrueBlue1000

2 years ago I kept saying I would buy a helmet.
Last year, I kept saying the same. Half way into the week, I finally bought one. 3 hours later, I remember thinking in a split second how glad I was that I bought it. I had a major fall, smacked the back of the helmet on an icy slope and broke ribs :eek:

Roll on next week when I tackle that slope again :cool:


So, a big YES TO A HELMET.

3greenrizla's

TrueBlue1000 wrote: »

.... I finally bought one. 3 hours later, I remember thinking in a split second how glad I was that I bought it. I had a major fall, smacked the back of the helmet on an icy slope and broke ribs :eek:

Sorry to hear about your ribs, but there are a few examples like yours in the thread..."bought a helmet, and a few hours/days later had a bad fall, the helmet definitely saved me"...

Is this just a lucky coincidence?, is it due to people skiing beyond their ability because they think the helmet makes them invincible?, or are people exaggerating the the extent of their falls in an "OMG like that fall was the worst ever, much worse than anyone else's, I was soooooo lucky" kind of way"?

I'm not sure if I am going to get a helmet or not. I might pick one up if i see one I like. and I do understand the risk of head injury, a friend (of a friend) fell when getting into a car, hit his head & was in a coma for 3 days before life support was turned off. But that was an unfortunate freak accident. Similar to another girl I know who was left paralysed after a 5ft fall when climbing a tree.

am i bovvered

3greenrizla's wrote: »

I'm not sure if I am going to get a helmet or not. I might pick one up if i see one I like. and I do understand the risk of head injury, a friend (of a friend) fell when getting into a car, hit his head & was in a coma for 3 days before life support was turned off. But that was an unfortunate freak accident. Similar to another girl I know who was left paralysed after a 5ft fall when climbing a tree.

Get yourself a helmet then !

3greenrizla's

am i bovvered wrote: »

Get yourself a helmet then !

I might. I'll have to if they become compulsory. but the point I was making was that accidents do happen, admittedly if skiing at speed it is more likely, but I am sure there is an increased risk if you have stairs in your house or play more or less any sport (goggles should be compulsory when playing tiddlywinks).

& I find it a little coincidental that a lot of posters have said that their helmets have proved there worth very shortly after getting them.

But then I am only learning, & haven't had a scare yet so I might change my mind as I progress. Or I might just get one because everyone else has one, I had a look in Galway the other day & I am not going to spend €100 on one so I'll probably have a look when I get out there.

Also do people replace their helmets after a bad fall, I have heard somewhere that it is recommended.

bonkey

3greenrizla's wrote: »

Also do people replace their helmets after a bad fall, I have heard somewhere that it is recommended.

I replaced mine, but that was because it was cracked right through.

Censorsh!t

The last few years I havent worn a helmet anyway

I'm not exactly wild on the slopes, I tend to take it pretty easy down the slopes. Also, I find helmets kind of claustorphobic (sp?). We never go during busy times like midterm, so there's not a very big risk.
I probably should wear one, but I just hate the feel of them on my head. I can just about wear goggles without feeling all clammy

robinph

Censorsh!t wrote: »

Also, I find helmets kind of claustorphobic (sp?). We never go during busy times like midterm, so there's not a very big risk.
I probably should wear one, but I just hate the feel of them on my head. I can just about wear goggles without feeling all clammy

I actually feel exposed with a ski helmet on, but then I'm used to wearing a motorbike helmet. My ski helmet is more comfortable than the bike one though, especially for wearing for long periods of time.

Shiny

Censorsh!t wrote: »

The last few years I havent worn a helmet anyway

I'm not exactly wild on the slopes, I tend to take it pretty easy down the slopes. Also, I find helmets kind of claustorphobic (sp?). We never go during busy times like midterm, so there's not a very big risk.
I probably should wear one, but I just hate the feel of them on my head. I can just about wear goggles without feeling all clammy

I think you can now get helmet liners which would reduce the clammy
feeling of wearing a helmet while being active.

I'm strongly considering renting a helmet this season, I have worn one
already this year and was quite surprised how comfortable it was.

am i bovvered

a helmet is great for reducing you goggles fogging up !

Censorsh!t

Shiny wrote: »

I think you can now get helmet liners which would reduce the clammy
feeling of wearing a helmet while being active.

I'm strongly considering renting a helmet this season, I have worn one
already this year and was quite surprised how comfortable it was.

I'll probably try one on in the hire shop, see how it feels. Although my head tends to feel clammy enough just wearing a hat and goggles! I won't be doing anything mad and I'll be keeping to the more intermediate slopes.

The Big Gig

I usually suffer from getting too warm while wearing a hat but this year I got a helmet and have to say it was perfect for keeping warm when on the lifts etc and it never got too warm. Plus the added advantage of not getting injured.! Will be a regular item ony checklist from now on.

flikflak

Never considered wearing a helmet before but after a trip over to Zell am See the other week with a lot of great skiers and seeing how each one of them had a helmet on I talked to them to ask why they wore one.

The group consisted of one ski instructor (not working that week) and all his daughters and family who have been skiing since they were tiny and a few others that are also excellent skiers.

They all said to me that they were wearing the helmet for the same reason they wear a seatbelt. It’s not for how you ski/drive but how others do. for example if there were no other cars on the road and you were a very good driver who obeyed all the rules of the road then it would be likely that you would never have an accident.

They said the same goes for skiing. If they were skiing all day by themselves on a deserted piste then they would not feel the need for a helmet but with snow sports becoming more and more popular they can no longer rely on their skills and technique to stop someone crashing into them.

Also last year a cousin of mine was on her board and went over a slight bump. She fell after clearing the bump but the next person coming over didn’t see her down there. She was not wearing a helmet and her first reaction to hearing another boarder coming was to put her arm up to protect her head.

Well her head was fine but the board hit her arm as she was moving it up to protect her head and resulted in a plate and screws being put in to mend her broken arm.

The boarder coming over the top (her brother) missed her head completely but struck her protective arm.

So this year after my trip to Zell and talking to people I decided to buy a helmet. I got a really good deal and got a Salomon one for €85.

robinph

^ Which is why I'm more likely to be found wearing my helmet on the easy runs for protection. When wearing it on the more difficult runs it is becasue I've probably put the camera on and becasue it's actually warmer and less likely to fall off than a hat is in a gale on top of the hill.

stackerman

Used one this year for the first time in over 18yrs, and cant understand why I didnt before. Alot warmer/cooler when needed, and much more confident with it on

GarMani

I wear an helmet with a faceguard, armoured shirt, armoured shorts, knee pads and snowboard gloves with wrist plates front and back and gel pads when I'm skiing, ice skating or roller blading.

Call me a big wus but.

I love them all but don't like the pain. I fall and go: 'that should've hurt'.

I'm a skier, but had one two-hour snowboard lesson. Used all the protection and was very glad of them.

GarMani

Mmmm Lemony said: Is there any way to pimp them up a bit? I'd love to make it look like masterchiefs...

To pimp your helmet, you could try getting it tattooed and pierced and it would look really tough and hard. Or am I getting confused here?


Also, my instructor reckons that, in the old days, there were no piste-bashers and you had cuboid planks under your feet so you either had good technique or you went slowly. Nowadays people have carving skis which do much of the work for you on smooth slopes so people are travelling much faster than their abilities.

A similar comparison would be someone cycling a modern racing bike on a good smooth road as opposed to a rickety old high-nellie on a gravelly track. Which one can go faster? Which one should wear the helmet?

It could be perceived that there's also a load of hardy men who have done a bit of skateboarding or surfing so they think that they can snowboard too, usually without lessons, with a few lunchtime bevvies in them, crunching the snow as they lash down with little control.

Does that give you more reasons to wear a helmet?

GarMani

http://www.ski-injury.com/prevention/helmet
Good discussion of scientific studies and statistical analyses of accident reports etc.

olaola

Can you get helmets that don't cover your ears?

robinph

The solid plastic bit won't come down over the ears on them usually, and the actual soft bits that cover your ears, and keep them warm, could be removed on a couple of the previous lids I've had.

flikflak

My Salomon one has removable ear bits but they are so soft that I have never taken them off and can be found absently mindedly stroking them as they are sooooo soft!:D

GarMani

Who's the mad one with the helmet and body armour whilst skiing, ice skating and roller blading? ME. Recently I took my friend to A&E to have his hairy bloody gash stapled shut after hitting his head ice skating.
He said that although he thinks it looks stupid, he'll wear a helmet next time.

I fall often whilst ice skating and had sore knees for weeks after falling on knees on the day I forgot to bring my knee pads. I fell on my head and was shaken for a few minutes on the day I forgot my helmet. I let my armoured shorts slide down a little, MC Hammer style and fell and hurt my now-unprotected coccyx.

I've found that falls whilst ice skating and snowboarding are a lot more sudden than those whilst skiing.


Recently a girl died sledging near Frankfield golf course in Cork after hitting a tree.
I've a friend who broke the back window of a Transit with his head on his bike and another who lost a year of college due to head trauma from a bike crash.
Neither would wear a bike helmet after their accidents either although one of them wears a ski helmet now after breaking his tooth and shoulder skiing: he jumped a mogul at too high a speed for his abilities.

He reckons that if he had my downhill mountain biking helmet with the faceguard that I use skiing he'd have not broken his tooth, but could have broken his neck.

Anyone got any tips on a decent and comfortable neck brace to prevent hyperflexion of the neck if I hit my head? Some of the cheap ones just seem to be like a towel rolled into a ring around your neck, whilst some of the more advanced ones prevent/reduce hyperflexion and spinal compression too.

Holy Diver

^ And the moral of the story is avoid GarMani on the slopes at all costs!!

Scuba Ste

Got a helmet last year in Switzerland where everyone seemed to be wearing them. Have to say they're more comfy than a hat and handy for leaving the goggles on. The GF got a fancy one with all kinds of adjustable vents which should make them more comfy for the clammy heads. I'll be bringing it again this time.

micko123

Out of a group of 20 last year I was the only person with a helmet, most of the group thought it funny/interesting that I would wear one but when they found out that I was an 'expert' (i.e can ski a red slope and occasional black, very very far from expert in fact) then it made sense to them.

It seemed to me that people who were inexperienced felt embarrassed by the thought of wearing a helmet as it would somehow imply that they were advanced skiers and confer a level of expectation upon them on the piste!

To be honest in some ways the Irish approach is useful as it's very easy to spot a compatriot since the Paddy will be the skier without the helmet!