Help me get non-helmet folks to helmet up (w/o sounding like a pretentious turdbag)

[Pudding and Pie]

I have no desire to attempt slides down crazy hills or bomb garages without my helmet on... and skating with others that don't ride safely SKETCHES ME OUT too. There's a local group I wouldn't mind hooking up with for skate sessions but I've noticed in all their media that absolutely NO ONE wears a helmet.

Anyone have experience approaching other longboarders and basically saying... "yo, we should skate some time, but it creeps me out that you do crazy sh!# without taking basic precautions. holla when you get a helmet, peace."

Experiences? Thoughts?

[Rich Nelson]

I can see where your coming from, i skate sometimes with some 16ish year olds back home and i got them all to wear helmets, since they were younger i felt like if they got hurt i would be responsible. Plus when they saw i wore one all the time they seemed to pick up the habit pretty quickly.

luckily pretty much everyone else that i skate with wears a helmet too. But if they're set in their ways there's probably not to much you can do about it. I wouldn't let it stop me from skating with new people though without sounding like a pretentious turdbag like you mentioned, (unless you tell them that you have spontaneous outbursts of hitting people in the head with bats or something).

[Crosscurrent]

Lemme know if that works for you-- I don't think I could get away with it at 48, no matter what I said, or how. I'm interested to hear some responses, tho', because I'm moving to SC, and I'd like to get involved with a group there in Columbia. There's another thread on this, if you hadn't seen it.

[pavedwave]

i'm only a pretentious turdbag online.

in real life, if they ask, I just tell them my story then move on. there's not much else you can do except tell them why you wear one and hope it's a scary enough story that one of them might learn from it.

however I'm also in my 40's so if the whole group was helmetless I doubt I'd invest a lot of downhill sessions with them anyway. most the guys I skate with just don't take that chance -- even the younger ones. if its just a few of us and someone doesn't have a lid, I also have extras in the car I'll offer, they usually take it up.

[Bombsquad_Manny]

Fall on purpose really really bad and say stuff about thankfully i had my freaking helmet!

[rosewood thief]

you: dude you should wear a helmet
non helmet folk: why?
you: explain, like pavedwave said, except if i were i would exagerate the story. go from, his mom had to pick him up and take him to the ER, to they had to call an ambulance and there was blood everywhere. make it convincing, in a non turdbag story teller way.

[Understanding In a Crash]

Even though it's "optional" tell a story about how someone got seriously injuried and weren't wearing a helmet. There are plenty of those around these forums but don't be pushy about it. After all it's their life, their choice no matter how much you dislike it.

I usually go about the motto that helmets might be optional but brain damage for me is not.

[Cann0n]

Wearing a helmet around others will encourage them to wear one. Often, others are influenced by the proper thing to do.

[dgsblb2]

I think I saw in the video that encourages you to wear a helmet, that it's the #1 cause of death among young men. That's enough incentive for me. The only boarding I ever do without a helmet is to the bus stop (a flat, 1/2 mile ride). It pisses me off when my friends don't, but we're all good enough friends so I just tell them and they will.

#1 reason they should - not wearing a helmet is the #1 cause of death among young men.

#2 reason they should - "I don't want to scrape your brain off the ground and then be the one that has to explain to your family why you weren't wearing a helmet."

[Bryant@BCLongboards]

Each is own, but helmet are f'ing rad! I never leave without it on, whether I'm skating to the corner store or bombing a hill. Its that slow speed, easy cruising down the sidewalk, through the crosswalk, that will put you in the hospital. It just takes 1 car.

[SlyTX]

Even though it's "optional" tell a story about how someone got seriously injuried and weren't wearing a helmet.

Better yet, tell a story about someone getting injured with even a helmet on! I got layed out while wearing a full face helmet once, imagine if I hadnt been wearing one at all.

[Pudding and Pie]

Thanks to all of you for the feedback on this... these are really good tips/approaches.

Even though it is each person's choice to wear a helmet or not, being a little older makes me feel somewhat responsible for the safety of younger skaters around me. And, I think that, to a certain extent, we each have a responsibility to the longboarding community to be safe. A few unfortunate accidents and longboarding gets a bad rep.

I will definitely put these tips to use. Again, thanks for the help everybody!

[anatharc]

Wearing a helmet around others will encourage them to wear one. Often, others are influenced by the proper thing to do.

this. i got the peeps i ride with back home wearing helmets because i wore one every time we skated.

[Understanding In a Crash]

It just takes 1 car.

This* I live in NY where the driving is pretty fast and reckless no matter if your an 18 year old boy of a 40 year old woman. I never give drivers the benefit of the doubt when in my own car so I'm def not going to give it to them on a longboard.

[GoofyGirl]

Find a hot girl to come to a skate session. Have her walk up to you w/ helmet in hand and say "real men wear helmet".

[SoFlo]

show them this, then tell them it was from a skate accident.....

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED.

[enrique60033]

Once I was just messing on a bike path,I was doing no more than 20mph and did a heel toe side standy and wheel got stuck on the edge and I got high sided and took a nice head slam and THE FOAM CORE CRACKED!!!! and I felt weird for like a minute.Like I said i wasn't going fast,I think the force that you put into hard carving its what makes those bails nasty,look at slalom racing bails,those are nasty and some times they are at 25-30 linear mph but the force of carving its huge.

[William Richards]

I wouldn't let it stop me from skating with new people though without sounding like a pretentious turdbag like you mentioned, (unless you tell them that you have spontaneous outbursts of hitting people in the head with bats or something).

Dude thats funny! Yes people might just start wearing helmits when they are around ya'.

[Understanding In a Crash]

Thanks to all of you for the feedback on this... these are really good tips/approaches.

Even though it is each person's choice to wear a helmet or not, being a little older makes me feel somewhat responsible for the safety of younger skaters around me. And, I think that, to a certain extent, we each have a responsibility to the longboarding community to be safe. A few unfortunate accidents and longboarding gets a bad rep.

I will definitely put these tips to use. Again, thanks for the help everybody!

25 is barely old yet

I definitely feel like longboarding has a nice rep on LI though because we have alot of surfers and such so during an off season it's not unknown to see skaters. I'd say it's an overwhelming ammount of no helmets to helmet ratio but I do wear one. Matter a fact I'm getting a CPSC certified one for christmas after a recent bail where I got very lucky but it was too close to comfort for me. I took stitches to my hip instead of my face but if I honestly ate it face first it would of indefinitely broken my helmet.