Helmet discussion

Pretty obvious what has precipitated this discussion, but I was wondering what everyone thinks.

This has been on my mind a while. I ride motorcycles and sleds at speeds that can severely damage a person. The helmets I wear are state of the art, offer as much protection as possible. I don't wear a helmet when skiing, why? I don't really know, but I do know that I've never been impressed w/ any bike/ski helmet I've seen. Is it just me or do these things seem too flimsy? On the few occassions I've skiied while out sledding (I really need a friend who ski's to buy a sled... I digress) I wear my moto/sled helmet. Totally comfortable. Gives enough vision and I'm sure it would be 20X's better in a fall than any bike/ski helmet. What do you all think. I guess I'd look like a dork wearing a moto helmet around a resort, but what the hell...

Oh yeah, I already know... tech talk bitch!!!

I skied in a moto helmet once when I was sledding. I liked it then because I wasn't familiar with the area. It made me a bit fearless. In bounds at a resort though, I've never even considered it. I don't fall on my head. I never really have. Ever.

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Originally Posted by 1080Rider

Pretty obvious what has precipitated this discussion, but I don't wear a helmet when skiing, why? I don't really know, but I do know that I've never been impressed w/ any bike/ski helmet I've seen. !!

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I know the feeling!

Dude, if you’re skiing hard enough to warrant a motocross helmet, wear one. Yes, you will get really hot and you will look a dork, but why should that interfere with your piece of mind? Me, I find the current crop of ski helmets sufficient of my needs.

My helmet just protects from glancing blows off of rocks, tree branches, stuff like that. I'm pretty sure that if I'm going to seriously injure myself skiing, a helmet - or a better helmet - won't make much difference. I'm more concerned with going over a cliff band the wrong way or smoking a tree and breaking my back/neck/pelvis/etc.

Hats suck, there's nothing quite as nice as a good helmet for skiing in.

current ski industry helmets are more of an accessory than offering any REAL safe head protection. the manufacturers and retail industries created another niche market to make $ by selling safety. your fooling yourself if you think putting a piece of styrofoam on your head is going to do much in a high speed collision with anything. is wearing one safer than not? yes, but the protection offered by a SNELL approved helmet is whats going to help you in a high speed collision. skiers don't wear them because their hot, heavy and stupid looking.

My sister overshot a tabletop a few years back, landed on her wrist and head. Broke her wrist and cracked her helmet. Despite the helmet she sustained a fairly serious concussion, but her doctor told her that without it she would have been a lot worse off.

Fullface helmets are gat. Everyone knows half helmets are cool!


http://images.chips-tv.com/redir.cgi...hJon/Smile.jpg

I hate helmets. I don't wear one.

1080-get a downhill mtn bike helmet. They're a lot lighter and you won't break your neck from whiplash.

I hit my head once trying to snowboard before I had a helmet. It sucked. Since I started skiing with the helmet, I've had a couple good knocks that made me glad to have it. I feel naked skiing without it.

i got this for 12 bucks...its just as light as my regular open face helmet...its very comfortable....

isnt your brain/life more important than feeling like a "dork"


http://www.bmxpro.com/protecfullface.jpg

I've been pretty happy with the ski helmets I've used over the past 4 seasons. I didn't wear one before that, and now I always wear one. The fact that most these helmets are NOT multi-impact is worth mentioning. Over those 4 seasons, I have retired 3 giro open face helmets. The hits and wrecks that sent those into the trash were pretty brutal and only resulted in a headache instead of a possible ER visit. As I said, I'm pretty happy so far.
As I progress onto bigger lines and trying new stuff off cliffs, I'm considering a full-face. The strength/weight ratio seems pretty important in this discussion as having too much helmet for the situation can often mess up your neck muscles more that it saves you a bell ringing.
I've had similar success with current mountain biking helmets.

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Originally Posted by powder11

current ski industry helmets are more of an accessory than offering any REAL safe head protection. your fooling yourself if you think putting a piece of styrofoam on your head is going to do much in a high speed collision with anything.

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High speed, maybe not.

Reasonable speed... It won't prevent injury, but a helmet stands a fairly good chance of reducing it. And, reducing the severity of a head injury is more than worth it.

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yes, but the protection offered by a SNELL approved helmet is whats going to help you in a high speed collision. skiers don't wear them because their hot, heavy and stupid looking.

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My ski helmet has a big snell approved sticker on the back. Its not hot, its not heavy, and it looks like a normal ski helmet.

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Originally Posted by nealric

My ski helmet has a big snell approved sticker on the back. Its not hot, its not heavy, and it looks like a normal ski helmet.

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your stoked

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Originally Posted by A-wreck

I don't fall on my head. I never really have. Ever.

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Only has to happen once, brah.

I like my helmet. It's comfortable and warm. And since I'm a professional scalp model, my scalp insurance policy with Lloyds of London requires that I wear it. Sometimes when it's really warm I'll wear a hat, and think, yeah, this is really more comfortable. And then I'll see some sketchy shit happen and think, yeah, better put the helmet back on.

I never used to wear a helmet, but started to a few years back. It's saved my life (or at least saved me from having major head trauma) on a couple occasions:

1. Ripping Horseshoe Bowl a couple years back, still early in the season, one ski scuffed the top of a rock and twisted me enough to send me tomahawking down the face going damn fast. My head, lucky to have on an older protec skate helmet at the time, ended up hitting another exposed rock and cracking nearly in two. All I had to show for it was some bruises and 20 stitches or so above my eye from where I believe the helmet hit me. Needless to say, if my head hit that rock, I may not be writing this.

2. The injury to my face lead my lady to think that a full face would be a good idea when skiing hard. Thus, she was cool enough to buy me a TLD D2 for Valentine's Day. Sure enough, first day out wearing it, the East Wall happens to open. I dropped a cliff, nothing big, but the lack of packed snow allowed me to sink too far and catch another rock, which resulted in a double click and my face plowing right into the snow (and rock to much dismay) beside me. I skied away with a face full of snow and half my visor hanging off, but without the fullface, I'd probably have less teeth and be uglier than I already am.

Anyway, a couple of lucky breaks for me has taught me that helmets are cool, even if I look like a tool. (the rhyme was unintentional)

You only need it once...
Deep day last year in NH, Roads closed, power outages, I braved the storm and ended up at Tenney pretty much alone. Figured it was deep enough that I would't hit anything hard, my head would be fine. No reason to be in the trees. Mellow terrain. Almost didn't wear the lid...

Cruising down when all of a sudden I'm going ass over tea kettle, no clue what happened but it didn't really matter. I ragdolled for a few rounds, landed face down in the snow... Not a big deal... Except that my ski came tomahawking down after me and hit me square in the head. It was not a good feeling, but without the helmet I probably woulda been un-conscious on a deserted day.

I'm glad I wore it

Helmets won’t save me in an avy and may only provide partial protection in a crash….

but I really believe that I’m and better off with one than without and I like setting a good example for these two…

http://splitboard.com/kidsbp/4.jpg






a few more pics…cause I like posting pics. :)

http://splitboard.com/host/sky3.jpg

http://www.splitboard.com/splitboard...s/DSC04175.JPG

http://splitboard.com/host/haley.jpg

Personally, before moving out west I wore a helmet only when required for racing. The past two seasons I haven't made so much as a single turn without mine. It is light, allows plenty of peripheral vision, has built in headphones, and has decent ventilation. For better or worse, it is my security blanket especially when skiing tight trees. It has definitely been a blessing all the times I've clipped branches and knocked my head when crashing. Thanks for the reminder about them not withstanding multiple impacts - it's time for me to upgrade.

It is quite commendable that CR and his buddies decided to wear helmets fulltime. Given how hard they ski there is no reason why they shouldn't.
It is unfortunate that their female counterparts don't do the same. Ingrid, for example, is an amazing skier who is apparantly too cool to wear a helmet. Why Giro continues to sponsor her is beyond me since she fails to utilize their product. And most of us have seen that MSP footage of Sarah Burke doing an asphalt head grind on a failed railslide attempt. Locally, there's a little ripper who has downgraded from wearing a fullface fulltime to a pompom hat while she continues to ski more and more aggressively by the day. Do these girls really think beanies make them that much cuter?

i wear a helmet. It's a Boeri.

i don't go down on my head much, but i have and i am glad to have a helmet when i do. I am also sure i hit my head more than i think, but the snow cushions the blow and i just roll back on to my skis. In the future, when a rock happens to be hiding in the snow, i am going to be very happy to be wearing a helmet.

it's also way better than a hat.

however, mostly i use it to blast through tight trees.

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Originally Posted by ncsears

i don't go down on my head much,

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Much??? You mean you can and do sometimes?!?!?!

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Originally Posted by bcrider

http://splitboard.com/host/haley.jpg

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If you're going to have your kids wear helmets, please spend the 30 seconds it takes to make sure it either fits right, and/or is worn correctly, unlike this photo.

back in '96 a good friend of ours hit a tree while skiing and suffered massive head trauma. he was skiing a line he had skied many times before, but somehow just caught an edge and lost control. despite the best efforts of all involved, he died.

later that season, my future wife bought me a helmet for valentines day and we have both been wearing one skiing ever since. this was before sonny bono, etc, and we were heckled on the hill more than once before the current helmet craze took hold.

will helmets protect me from every skiing accident? no.
will I wear a helmet every day I ski for the rest of my life? yes.

RIP, matty. we miss you man.

Friends of mine, two years back, out on a pretty normal, warm spring day, on their way back from a short hike, skiing just next to the piste on their way back to lunch. Jim going really fast, as he does, and pops over a very small roller, getting a very little bit of air... landing very hard on the rocks he didn't see on the other side. Bindings pop out and he is lunched forward... dies almost immediately of massive head trauma. Not pretty, I'm very glad I wasn't there that day. Wearing full face helment. Shattered into several pieces on impact.

Alternate moral of the above story - never jump into something you haven't scoped out before, even if it looks VERY small (turning blind corners included)

(RIP Jim.....)

Climbing Matterhorn, this summer, turn around to see an Australian climber fall around 200m down the east face to his immediate death. Wearing standard mountaineering helmet. Helmet not even present anywhere near his body when it finally stops falling. His partner not asked to identify the body because the police say "he wouldn't be able to". Most horrible thing I've ever seen.

They won't save you from everything, but they'll save you from some things and you'd be silly not to wear one doing freeride style skiing.....................

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Originally Posted by PlayHarder

My helmet just protects from glancing blows off of rocks, tree branches, stuff like that...

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This is pretty much the best reason I've found to wear a helmet. I also like to think it would help if an out of control moron ran into me altough it probably wouldn't help much if they were reallt hauling ass. Also if you need to take a leek in the woods, just put your helmet upside down in the snow next to you and it the perfect place to put your gloves.

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Originally Posted by BakerBoy

If you're going to have your kids wear helmets, please spend the 30 seconds it takes to make sure it either fits right, and/or is worn correctly, unlike this photo.

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Good point BB. :yourock:

It was too loose. I do remind them that putting it on tight is very important. I guess I was just too caught up in the moment that my daughter was learning how to snowboard that I didn’t catch it on this occasion.

Ps. are we going to become enemies…cause I’ve bit my tongue on few occasions lately towards you…….. I can stop if you’d like the attention.

My helmet's already saved me once this year from a gaper brining the lift bar down while i was leaning forward; happens to me at least once a year

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Originally Posted by XtrPickels

Mellow terrain. Almost didn't wear the lid...

Cruising down when all of a sudden I'm going ass over tea kettle, no clue what happened but it didn't really matter. I ragdolled for a few rounds, landed face down in the snow... Not a big deal... Except that my ski came tomahawking down after me and hit me square in the head. It was not a good feeling, but without the helmet I probably woulda been un-conscious on a deserted day.

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About 18 years ago (pre-helmet days), I had a similar experience. Took the heal piece of the binding above the ear. Result was bloody hat & jacket, free sleigh ride from JH ski patrol and stitches. (No concussion) With a helmet, I just would pick up my ski and finished skiing off the mtn.

Both in skiing and whitewater rafting, I wear helmets to protect against getting cut. Helmets help in impacts, but are not a guarantee to keep you from getting a serious head injury. (Of course, a helmet might be the difference in making off the river or out of the bc on your own.)

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Originally Posted by FRP

My helmet's already saved me once this year from a gaper brining the lift bar down while i was leaning forward; happens to me at least once a year

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Actually I've found this is one of the few drawbacks of wearing a helmet - if you're at all leaning forward when somebody suddenly whips down the lift bar, the increased size almost always means it will nick you.

If you're in a town like Jackson, Chamonix, Las Lenas, etc you're friends laugh at you for not wearing a helment, so the decision is obvious. In other places, you might look like a geek, but you'll be a geek more likely to have his head in one piece at the end of the day.

Funny that Bbirtle mentioned Lenas. When we were there I joked that although the locals couldn't identify between canucks and gringos it was actually quite obvious... the ones with the helmets were the Americans. Every maggot down there wore one, while maybe only one in ten Canadians.

I always wear my helmet.
It's funny there were a lot of people without helmets on the 4th of July. Even people that usually wear a helmet went without. I overheard one guy say he didn't need one because he was "just taking it easy." WTF dude, I think we're all taking it easy, but there's more exposed rocks than ever up here and alcohol consumption is out of control. If there's a time to have a head injury, now is it.
How come the ski patrol doesn't wear helmets? Shouldn't they be setting some sort of example for others? Maybe they don't want to look like a bunch of dorks.:rolleyes: