The Chainlink

helmet or no helmet

as an embalmer i get to see some gnarly shit and today was head trauma from a motorcycle accident. the dude wasn't wearing a helmet and. ironically, was on his way home to get the helmet when he was nailed by a car. i also noticed alot of "tsk tsk finger wagging" from some club riders at some of the riders in the group going down to darklord who weren't wearing helmets. i don't usually wear a helmet but i did saturday and i think as an adult you make your own decisions. so whats the personal take on the matter?

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Permalink Reply by Ammo on April 27, 2009 at 6:52pm
Pants? Who needs pants? Psssh

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Or pants? :)

Sorry, too much Family Guy for me.

Sam S said:
Ahh, yes, this is a perennial debate topic. For me, it's simple: I always wear a helmet. That way, I never have to make a decision about it. It's like wearing shoes... I don't even question it.
Permalink Reply by B on April 27, 2009 at 6:52pm
I always have a lid on.

FYI almost any group ride put on by a cycling club will require a helmet, so don't show without one.
Permalink Reply by Ammo on April 27, 2009 at 6:55pm
Not ours, but recommended since we all partake in extracurricular activities involving liquid courage

B said:
I always have a lid on.

FYI almost any group ride put on by a cycling club will require a helmet, so don't show without one.
Permalink Reply by alex on April 27, 2009 at 8:16pm
Never used one and never owned one but every day I feel more inclined to get one especially now that I'll have to commute longer
Permalink Reply by Brett Ratner on April 27, 2009 at 8:28pm
Illinois is funny...people wear helmets on bicycles and don't wear helmets on motorcycles.

I ALWAYS wear a motorcycle helmet...no exceptions. Actually, I take that back. I went helmetless once or twice just to see what the fuss was about. I hated it. At 80mph, the wind noise is excruciating. On top of that, raindrops feel like needles, a grasshopper feels like a stone, and...well...a stone (compliments of a gravel truck) draws blood. Full face helmets rule.

Regarding bicycles, I won't argue for a second that you shouldn't wear a helmet. You should, no question. And I do wear one on long rides. I'll admit I need to wear my helmet more often around town.

But helmet or no helmet, your best defense is knowing how to fall.

Personally, after years of playing contact sports...and later on logging plenty of saddle time on motocross bikes and going triple digit speeds on motorcycles (I don't do that no more), I feel pretty confident in my ability not to catch myself with my face.

I've observed that people who never played sports in school seem to have a funny habit of landing on their heads when they fall.

I guess what I'm saying, is that in addition to wearing a helmet, learn how to land. Rolling through a crash causes much less damage than faceplanting.
Permalink Reply by nik was here on April 27, 2009 at 8:40pm
I found a crack in my helmet today. If I didn't have a helmet, I may have never noticed...
Permalink Reply by Joe Asbury on April 27, 2009 at 8:40pm
I was looking at the data on this. You always hear that helmets reduce head injury and loss of life and there are all sorts of measures designed to increase helmet use, especially among kids. But I've often wondered about whether all this effort, and subsequent guilt, comes from the mere presumption that helmets help. There are surprisingly few studies and no prospective studies designed to determine how well helmets work. But there is one very cool case-control study where they compared three groups of people: those who came to the ER with head injuries suffered while riding bikes; those who came to the ER because of a bike accident but without head injuries; and another group of people who came to the ER riding a bike who may or may not have had a head injury. The study found that the patients with head injuries were far less likely to have been wearing a helmet (7% vs 23% and 24% for the other two groups). Among all those with serious brain injury only 4% were wearing a helmet. So if you have a bike accident and have a head injury, it's less likely that you will have been wearing a helmet. While this isn't conclusive, it's highly suggestive that helmets prevent head and brain injury. And because the vast majority of cycling deaths are due to brain injury, it follows that helmets save lives. However, kids are more likely than adults to suffer brain injury from bike accidents so the benefit for adults may be less than for kids.

Sooo....all that being said, I lost my old helmet months ago and still haven't replaced it. Human nature is a bitch.
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on April 27, 2009 at 9:15pm
when i first began biking and bought a cheap 40 dollar helmet, it fit alright but i disliked it so i stopped wearing it after awhile.

But i felt like i was chancing something and bought a nicer helmet (louis garneau exo-nerve) that was more comfortable on a whole, and now that its more comfortable i wear it pretty much all the time. I have however forgotten it if i don't put it right near the keys or bag or whatever. I usually go back to get it.

Reddog is right, its a tool i hope I never need . I'd hate to have some accident cost me something important and have it all because I refused to wear something.

note. while i do like helmets, i think skate helmets are dorky as hell on guys.
Permalink Reply by Ali on April 27, 2009 at 9:17pm
I used to belong to the "No Helmet Camp"...But now after a few wipeouts and one particular occasion when a helmet saved me a concussion I always wear one...It truly is a worthy expense.

-Ali
Permalink Reply by gospastic on April 27, 2009 at 9:31pm
i got in a pretty bad accident a few months ago. i was wearing a helmet and still got a concussion. i'm sure it would have been much worse had i not been wearing one. i never ride without it.
Permalink Reply by David Travis on April 27, 2009 at 9:36pm
Cycling accidents: we all know its not if be when. No amount of skill or experience is going to change that, only perhaps delay it. And no amount of skill or experience is going to save you from what others do.
Permalink Reply by Josh on April 27, 2009 at 10:14pm
for those of you that do wear helmets. what kind do you own? any recommendations?

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