I have been a loyal customer of Smith's since 2010. I have 2 pairs of I/O's and a pair of I/OX's, as well as a Maze helmet and Five pairs of sunglasses. I am also about to purchase a pair of prescription eyeglasses. Their products are awesome.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you guys about how my Maze helmet saved myself from serious injury. I have had the same helmet since the 2010/11 season, and it has helped me in little dings here and there, but nothing serious, until Saturday.
While riding at Jack Frost in Pennsylvania, I jumped a burm going full speed on my snowboard, and immediately upon landing, I did a full speed heelside butter to switch. Well, I guess I over compensated on the butter and caught my heel edge, and went flying fullspeed onto the back of my head. I also tweaked my ankle and cranked my chest and back muscles. Went and got checked out from ski patrol and they said that I looked fine from a concussion. I am sure that if I had not been wearing a helmet, I wouldn't have walked away from that crash.
Thank you Smith for making a great product and for saving my life.
I hope this doesn't mean the end of my season though. My ankle has gotten a lot better since Saturday. I could barely put any weight on it after I took my boots off.
In before all the naysayers and politics come in: Good show!
I've got some good dings in my old helmet, so at the very least I saved myself from a good headache or two, and kept my head warmer and more comfortable in the process. :hairy:
+1 there are a lot of user reviews on the smith website about their helmets. Some of them were serious accidents. Interesting reading. They make a very good product
Good job on wearing a helmet ! I got lucky 2 years ago. I was going of a jump/drop in the backcountry miscalculated my speed and overshot de landing. wiped-out hard and went in , head firts to a tree. My helmet was trashed, i had a big concussion :dizzy:, a broken arm. If i wasn't wearing a helmet i would have been a house plant :deserted: now or worse :death:
Big fan of Smith. I pulled my helmet out of storage last week and it separated into 2 pieces. I received my warranty replacement yesterday, no questions asked.
^^^ I have ordered a number of items, helmets goggles, lenses etc, and all have arrived within 3 days. A couple of times the next day! Shipping was always free and all questions were promptly answered. All in all, one of the best experiences I have ever had with an online purchase. Smith rocks!
Very true JimmyBob. I used to not wear one until I smacked my head on ice at near full speed when I was a beginner. Luckily not hurt too bad, but I have enough body parts to worry about out there I don't want my head to be another one. I always seems to catch my dam heel edge. I try to land flat on my back so I don't take the full impact on my tail bone, but that means my head is closer to the ground when falling. I'm also falling alot lately since I'm trying to learn switch, ugh.
I didn't realize this was a big debate, it is a no brainer for me, pun intended. Like someone else said it is personal preference, just be safe out there and watch out for the out-of-control idiots.
This Friday I caught an edge heel side and landed on my ass and head. I was wearing a helmet. As I lay there on the snow, my ass felt warm. At first I wasn't sure if it was from the impact or I just shit myself.
I didn't wear helmet in my first year snowboarding and i went head first into the snow, luckily it was fresh so nothing happened.
After that i got a helmet which saved me at least twice from a head injury.
So may the helmet be blessed
I think it all looks better with a helmet anyways. Goggles and just a beanie looks off. For me it's helmet with a beanie and google strap underneath. It's a lot more comfortable.
I think my helmet has saved me from really bad head injures 3 times. 2 of those times was from catching a heel edge when I was a beginner snowboarder. The other time was from taping a small firework to the top of it when I was a beginner adult :crazy1:
Intermediate/Advanced rider here, last year on an icy day i got lazy towards end of the day and lost ballance coming i to a landing, catching back edge. Slammed back of my helmet onto the ice, got knocked out for a few seconds and cracked the helmet. Probably would have split my scull open had i not been protected. Got up and rode off.
It shouldnt even be an option to not wear a helmet, it should be a law. See so many gapers doing stupid shit and landing on their domes, being carted away by ski patrol. When if they had a helmet would probably be able to just ride away.
Not to mention my helmet is so comfortable, and with built in audio makes it such a pleasure to ride. Also cant stand having a goggle strap around my beanie, having goggles over helmet I dont even notice they are there.
I use a K2 diversion helmet, last year I had the K2 rival pro. These helmets are good for one or 2 really bad hits because they are built with softer lighter material. Bit if your not taking big hits to often I highly recomend them.
I wear my Helmet for warmth mostly and to avoid other skiers.
but twice this year I've been thankful I had it.
Went over top of a rail and smashed my forehead into the ground, got right up but I wouldn't of without it.
Early season when the runs were particularly icy I fell on my butt, it was a steep run so I just let my body slide a little. When I stopped I laid back for a split second and one of my buds (total newbie) at the time slammed the nose of his board into my my head. Didn't hurt at all but without a helmet I would've been done at LEAST for the day.
Snowboarding is real deal, it's not a secret that the resorts have multiple deaths ever year.
I had to help out a guy that got knocked out catching an edge while riding this past weekend. He was mad at me when he came to cuz i was beside him not yet letting him up because i was not sure if he broke his shoulder or what not so i told him to lay still and relax first. He asked me what happened minutes later. Ski patrol on snowmobile arrived and he rode down with them. Lucky he was wearing a helmet cuz it would have been ended badly for him. He turned out to be okay but he had a friend drive him home just to be safe.
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