Just interested in freestyle riders thoughts on using helmets. I'm a pure freerider who hasn't had much experience with jumping/jibbing other than backcountry kickers into deeeeep pow, so I never wore a helmet, even though my mom bought me one about 12 years ago, lol. Do you guys bring your helmets along just for riding 'park' or no helmet use? I did not like the feel of a helmet on my head when I tried it way back in the day. Plus, the helmet was noticeably colder! Feel like I need to yell FREEEEEEEEEEEEDOM from the top of my lungs like William Wallace when I was wearing one. However, I do know that park riding is more deadly to your lightbulb...
I should note that despite getting into more freestyle oriented riding this winter, if it snows, I'll be riding pow, not in the park
Wanna protect my head while in the park, but don't exactly wanna lug a helmet around with me on my pack, already enough crap in there!
My question is, what are your thoughts on helmet use in respect to freestyle riding.
Since I had my helmet I didn't feel the need to duck from some low hanging brush. Unfortunately the branch was a little larger than I anticipated. I had to pull chunks off wood from my helmet vents after it knocked me the fuck down.
Haha.
Kinda backfired on me, If I didn't have it on I would have got low though, gotta stop letting it give me confidence.
MarshallV82;867194 Unfortunately the branch was a little larger than I anticipated. I[/QUOTE said:
i often smack branches and shit out of the way, the other day i misjudged a small tree's thickness, it did not move, and it had me gut-punched before i could react...luckily i wasnt going too fast or ida been a shishkabob
Today I had a pretty close call I would say. I was riding the park at my local resort, which means the jumps are very steep and alot of kick, so they can easly throw an not so experienced park rider like me to the ground. It was on a 45-50ft jump, and I think I was too much on my heels as when I got up in the air, I started to fall backwards and ended up landing nearly flat on my back and hit my head slightly! To redeem myself, I went up and hit it again, but just more on my toes and success! lol
Lesson learned for sure, I wont hit the park without helmet anymore
Not to sound like a dick but as an admittedly inexperienced park rider, there's no real reason to be on a lippy 45 footer. I've progressed a lot on small, near-zero consequence 10-15 footers.
Her excuses went from "I only ride on normal slopes, i dont do the park like you" to "it makes you look like a pro, i dont want to look pro". Meanwhile i wore my helmet whether it was a bunny hill or a 20ft kicker (max for me so far). But we are going helmet shopping this weekend. Bit late in the season, but better late than never.
One of the minor benefits: A yardsale with a helmet is just a slide, gather your composure, keep riding.
None of this unclipping to collect your goggles & beanie which flew off when you fell, then trying to clear snow from your gear. It all stays on your head...
Actually got to fly on the AWACS. Was pretty intense shit going on during the Cold War with the Soviet Union! We came pretty damn close to nuking ourselves into extinction in September and November of 83. When the Soviets shot down KAL Flight 007 a 747 with 300 souls, Reagan dropped us to DEFCON-1 and we had one night where every B-52 scrambled. Nothing quite like having every siren and emergency light going off and seeing all 7 fully nuke laden B-52 leave the alert pad and line up at the runway! We were all shitting ourselves thinking Spokane had maybe 8 minutes left!
Snowolf, sounds like you had a really interesting experience with the Air Force. I mean holy shit, I can only imagine the stress of that night involving the chance of being nuked by the Soviets. Thankfully that didn't happen though.
I guess it takes a person trained by the military to run a forum as crazy as this!
IMO you're more likely to be injured on a blue/green groomed trail than you are by hitting a tree when you're out cruising in the trees. I don't have much experience to speak from, but everyone I know personally that's been injured was on an easy trail and got hit by someone.
Park or not, falling from 6 feet or more onto usually hard stuff hurts, period. I started wearing one after getting knocked out for a really quick moment--scared the sh*t out of me then. Since then, one less thing to worry about and focus on riding rather than the "what ifs..." Even better--get the headphone speakers for the earpads if that's ur game.
True, the audio compatibility of helmets is a great feature. :thumbsup: Speaking of which...
Outdoor Technology is releasing a new wireless drop-in audio set specifically for snowboard helmets in September this year. They're also doing a collaboration project with Bern. http://www.outdoortechnology.com/Shop/Chips/
These will be a lot better than those shitty Skull Candy ones for the Giro helmets that break easily. I have a Giro helmet and I put in a pair of loud earphones with volume control on the wire instead.
Ain't nothin like listening to an epic track on a fresh pow line! :yahoo:
Actually, I think you have the wrong impression. There really is no such thing as an "anti helmet" person. I have never ever encountered a person who was actually against wearing a helmet or tried to dissuade others from wearing a helmet. Everyone agrees that helmets do offer some protection in some circumstances.
I have also never, ever encountered a person who might have wanted to wear a helmet but didn't because they were "spiting" someone. The bottom line here is that people object to having others push helmet use and not just mind their own business. It gets old having people preaching and pushing their opinions on others. It becomes Fascist when people try to force others to their will by making it the law. The people who do not want to wear a helmet don't want others to quit wearing theirs, they just want to be left alone and not have busy bodies in their face preaching.
This whole issue is really very simple. If you want to wear a helmet do so. If you see someone else riding without a helmet, keep your mouth shut and don't mind their business. It's not your place to butt into someone else's business. If people would mind their own business and stop trying to control what everyone else is doing, this country would get along a lot better.
Actually, I think you have the wrong impression. There really is no such thing as an "anti helmet" person. I have never ever encountered a person who was actually against wearing a helmet or tried to dissuade others from wearing a helmet. Everyone agrees that helmets do offer some protection in some circumstances.
I have also never, ever encountered a person who might have wanted to wear a helmet but didn't because they were "spiting" someone. The bottom line here is that people object to having others push helmet use and not just mind their own business. It gets old having people preaching and pushing their opinions on others. It becomes Fascist when people try to force others to their will by making it the law. The people who do not want to wear a helmet don't want others to quit wearing theirs, they just want to be left alone and not have busy bodies in their face preaching.
This whole issue is really very simple. If you want to wear a helmet do so. If you see someone else riding without a helmet, keep your mouth shut and don't mind their business. It's not your place to butt into someone else's business. If people would mind their own business and stop trying to control what everyone else is doing, this country would get along a lot better.
I think you are really degrading the meaning of the word "Fascist" when you use it in this context. Most laws are exactly that: forcing an opinion or preference of one group of people onto the entire society. From your point of view we are already living in a Fascist state, after all, seat belts and motorcycle helmets, and a slew of other things of that nature are already mandatory by law. Mandatory auto insurance is also a Fascist concept then. Is that how you think about it, too?
Not even touching this with a 20 foot pole lol.
I think we all agree you probably SHOULD wear a helmet, but in the end it's up to you. By SnoWolf saying that he is an adult that understands the inherent risk and makes his choice regardless, it's a perfectly valid argument. Not wearing one because you think you are immune to injury, on the other hand, is really just a foolish and dangerous way to think. I do think in some way or another every decision you make can indirectly effect someone else - ie. you become a brain mushed vegetable and your family is stuck taking care of you, dealing with the grief and the expenses. That's a worst case scenario though and it kind of a moot point. I never ride without one now , simply because for me, the risks outweigh the benefits and as I've gotten older I've realized for me personally I simply can't afford to risk that type of injury
Have most of these helmets been thoroughly test to actually prevent injuries? The reason I ask is, there are a lot out there so which are good? I'm sure some are better than others. This is the same with car seats for kids. A lot to choose from and some do next to nothing to prevent injuries and are faulty.
I'm not saying child car seats are useless, nor am I saying the same for helmets but if you're barreling down a run at 50mph and wipe out and bang your head, how much will a helmet help you? I've been in the market to buy a good one and I'm surprised how light they feel with don't have a whole lot of padding.
Snowolf, yea I was going to mention that regarding the spine injuries while wearing helmets. I heard about this as well but like you said who knows which side is correct. I also see that some people have this mentality that if they wear a helmet they can go harder and are less likely to be injured. This is the same mentality that people had when SUV's first came out, thinking they were invincible during the first snow fall of the year. Guess which cars ended up first in the ditch.
I think lower back/tail bone protectors make a lot more sense for beginners and lower intermediates especially than a helmet but then again it depends what riding you do. Like you said in dense trees I'd wear head protection as well.
i was listening to an interview with Austin Smith I think where he couldn't remember a bunch of things because he hit his head a bunch of times throughout the years. this seems silly and preventable!
I'm on team helmet but I don't wear one yet. I've had some close calls, one in which I though I was going to die but lucked out. Still no helmet. I would encourage everyone to wear a helmet but just dont do it myself.
I rarely wear a helmet. Every time I do wear one I seem to get my worst ring dingers. Correlated? I dunno but I'd rather not wear a helmet. I'm already retarded anyways. Kid I grew up with lost a leg while skiing; he was wearing a helmet...
I usually don't wear when skiing (it's stupid but feels "cool" in a cap and sunglasses) but do wear one when snowboarding. It usually saves my head 2-3 times a day at least. However, the more protection I have the more comfortable I feel meaning I go faster (no matter if it's a board or motorcycle).
It's a bit like with "no travel" during covid. The more protection we wear usually impacts the likelihood of affecting 3rd parties (medical assistance, insurer).
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