Safety Gear vs. No Safety Gear: Debate here, so you don't clutter other threads.

[SeanML]

Shell it out, right here. Let's hear it. When do you wear a helmet or not, why, why not. When do you wear safety gear in general. Why you think everyone should wear a helmet.

Every thread regarding safety/helmets turns into a flame war, so I would like something to link to for the purpose of silencing stupid arguments in other threads. Sticky?

Apart from the usual forum rules, please no personal attacks, and try to refrain from neg-rep... this thread is for voicing personal opinion and making your case, not trying to offend anyone.

[igotscars]

my knee pads are have been a godsend since the day I have had them. Avoided so much road rash because of them

[LDPanda]

There is no debate, if youre not wearing a helmet youre disrespecting the sport and every other skater out there. Whether or not you wear pads is your own deal, i dont care if you get a booboo on your elbow but helmets are a life and death matter. Every skater that dies or is seriously injured because they werent wearing a helmet hurts the entire community by focusing the attention of parent groups and law enforcement. And yes, you can die going slow, its not a speed issue. If you hit the back of your head while traveling 10mph or 40mph there is always a chance of a subdermal hematoma in the brain causing death in a matter of hours.

Its simple: wear a helmet every time. If not for yourself, for the rest of us.

[AlG]

I'm attending a funeral for a 26-year old girl who crashed on her longboard without a helmet. It's ####### so sad to think how it could've been avoided by her wearing a helmet.

[AFTT]

I don't war a helmet when I commute. But I ALWAYS wear my helmet when I go down hills/garages. Also, if I'm wearing my helmet, I'm more than likely wearing elbow pads and gloves.

I've fallen too many times to not wear safety gear. I learned the hard way.

[d-dub]

well i have fallen many, many times as well and still, my helmet only gets touched when i do dh. even then, the only reason i wear it on neighborhood runs, which is like half the time, is because my eyes water and i cant see. so apparently, i disrespect all you other skaters. also, i've had a hematoma in my brain (that happened WITH a helmet anyway) and here i am. it doesnt result in death everytime like a couple posts before me makes it sound.

[xedell]

i wear a helmet because i need to feel something on my head when i skate. if im just cruising i sometimes wear a hat or something but without something my confidense is just off so i trip over myself a lot and never get enough curage to ollie or anything.



Im weird

[wooden]

The only time I don't wear my helmet is riding from my dorm to class, and even then I sometimes wear it.

There's really no excuse for not wearing a helmet. If you fall and die because you weren't wearing a helmet, you hurt the entire community, not just your friends and family. If you fall and die with a helmet on, at least then people will acknowledge that you knew the risks and took the necessary precautions.

I refuse to skate downhill with people who aren't wearing helmets. If you're on even the slightest of slopes, you better be wearing one.

[d-dub]

having almost died, my friends said **** the community. if you die, the only people that are hurt are your friends and family.

its your decision who you wanna ride with. but to me, "the slightest of slopes" can be like 5-10 mph on the way to the gas station 2 blocks away. that would just be an inconvenience to me.

here's something i posted in another thread:

sorry guys but this sh!t is annoying as ****. if someone wants to wear a helmet, good for them. if not, so what. he'll figure out the consequences if he hits his head. let people do what they want to do. its not your head they're breaking. stop preaching to other people.

[Rob Shook]

to and from class, no helmet. Most other times i wear one. most of the people here don't though. It would be cool if everyone wore a helmet all the time... then id look less dumb for doing it and the general public **might** look down on skaters less. as far as people thinking i look dumb for it.. **** them. i knew a kid back home (before i longboarded) who fell and went into a coma. they had to shave off brain matter to fit his brain back into his skull. that was 2 years ago and as far as i know he still doesn't have his personality or complete verbal ability back.
of course, yesterday i had my board in the back of my car, but not my helmet (i was jsut going to a skate shop and didnt expect to skate) and saw a sick hill and got up to around thirty with another guy. so i break my own rules. that situation was a decision between skating and wearing a helmet though

[SeanML]

The only time I don't wear my helmet is riding from my dorm to class, and even then I sometimes wear it.

There's really no excuse for not wearing a helmet. If you fall and die because you weren't wearing a helmet, you hurt the entire community, not just your friends and family. If you fall and die with a helmet on, at least then people will acknowledge that you knew the risks and took the necessary precautions.

I refuse to skate downhill with people who aren't wearing helmets. If you're on even the slightest of slopes, you better be wearing one.

I like to play devil's advocate, so just for the sake of argument:

I'd argue that falling and dying with a helmet on would hurt the community more. If you die without a helmet, the death is attributed to your lack of protective equipment. If you die with one, it's attributed to the fact that you're engaging in a dangerous sport.

[XphillipX]

if you like road rash or brain damage don't wear safety gear

[d-dub]

It would be cool if everyone wore a helmet all the time... then id look less dumb for doing it and the general public **might** look down on skaters less. as far as people thinking i look dumb for it.. **** them.

YES!!! it would be great if every skater wore them always but they don't. and i like the second part too. who cares what people think if you decide to where one. the reason we wear them in the first place is for OUR protection.

edit: sean, that is a very good argument. gets you thinking...

[Rich Nelson]

As a few people already said, If I'm riding to/from class I don;t wear my helmet, but any hills/sliding stuff I have my helmet slide gloves knee pads, and sometime elbow pads. After falling a few times I figured I could at least avoid unnecessary road rash/scars/painful showers. and I realized how easily tou can accidentally hit your head on the ground during a fall and it isn't worth the risk..

I always feel more comfortable riding with epople wearing safety gear especially since I've been getting a lot of new people into longboarding who arn't necessarily to good at stopping. also i ride with some kids in my neighbor hood when i'm home from school who are in high school and I kinda feel responsible if they arn't wearing safety gear.

[Arcadium]

It's safer to wear a helmet IMO, at least if you fall you have a better chance of not damaging yourself.
I don't see how this can be much of a debate really. I mean most likely if you were to look at helmet crashes vs. non helmet crashes, helmets would have a lower death/injury rate (excluding cases where people might be wearing helmets not suitable for the sport).

If you want to risk it without a helmet that's your business and i doubt you could be told otherwise.

IMO the whole convenience part of this debate is pretty insignificant, I mean all you have to do is put the thing on your head and fasten it. That might take what, all of 7 seconds.?

[d-dub]

or go to your dorm accross campus just to get your helmet. inconvenient.

[MacRae]

I think it's risky to not wear a helmet. That said, there's plenty of times that I've been too lazy or dumb to put one on. Each time I fall, though, it becomes more and more regular that I put one on, and the threshold of risk beyond which I insist on wearing one becomes lower and lower. There's almost no occasion now that I don't wear one.

I think helmets are a matter of personal choice and I don't think people should be required by law to wear them. If you want to be dumb, that's your choice. But at the same time, I think there needs to be better education on the risks involved and the safety that wearing head protection affords you. Far, far, far too many people, especially young people, decide not to wear helmets, not because they understand the risks and have opted to take them but because they're worried they'll be mocked or made fun of for wearing one.

Now that I'm 25 I honestly could not give less of a #### what someone thinks of my wearing a helmet (in my experience, non-skater adults tend to think you're a lunatic if you don't wear one), but when I was 13 I wouldn't have been caught dead skating in a helmet because I was terrified someone would call me a ### or make fun of me. Rather than make helmet laws and waste police resources trying to enforce such a ludicrous thing, states should fund more school education programs on helmets and protective equipment.

All that being said, I think there's no bigger tool than someone who makes fun of someone else for wearing safety gear and I think encouraging someone else to take that risk is irresponsible, even if you do it yourself.

[Down & Dirty]

I have whacked my helmet pretty hard a few times, so my advice is to protect your head if you plan on doing much more than pushing down the sidewalk. Do you really wanna be the corny story your friends use to talk people into wearing helmets? "I knew this guy, he said he never wanted to wear a helmet. Then one day..." If I had gone without a helmet this past 6 months I would be dead or brain damaged, I repeatedly hit my head on trees during the snowboarding season and twice this spring my slides have mysteriously resulted in me doing backwards somersaults on my head.

On the other hand, some people get knocked out and wake up with amazing psychic powers.

[speshlspeclsteak]

helmet for dh. kneepads for sliding. gloves for both of those things other than that no

[Hanael]

helmet's cheap.
health's expensive.
English is hard.


/thread