Helmets anyone?

I was driving down town one day and saw a unicyclist with out a helmet,
now im sort of new to unicycling but is it normal to not where a helmet?
i always where one when i ride


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Radical Reed
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Radical Reed wrote:
*is it normal to not where a helmet?*
Oooowww boy, don't get us started... This subject has been slashed to
death. Let's just say there are two schools on this. :-)

Klaas Bil


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Klaas Bil - Sir Prince of Newsgroupia
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Depends on what you're doing eh? If you're just riding around I don't
see a reason why you should wear a helmet...


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DustinMichels - What could possibly go wrong?
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It depends on many variables including the size of the unicycle, the
style of riding, and the context.

I wear a full face helmet for MUni, after needing 7 stitches in my chin
and repairs to a tooth following a face-plant on a rock.

I wear a conventional cycle helmet for normal riding, including road
ridng and cross country. This helmet has never hit the floor, but has
hit overhead obstacles.

I wear wrist guards for all riding except parades and performances,
after chipping a bone in my hand in a low speed Coker fall onto grass.

I wear no helmet or guards for performances and parades, and have never
had a fall.

The likelihood of your head hitting the floor in a unicycling accident
is very slight. You are more likely to injure your hands, wrists or
knees. However, the consequences of a head injury are potentially very
seve brain injury, paralysis, epilepsy, death. Or just a painful
bump. You must also consider the possibility that your head may be hit
by a car or cycle if you are in a collision.

Helmets only protect you against certain types of impact, and the
protection is far from perfect - but if you need it, you'll be glad you
have it.

It is a judgement we all have to make. In a society that is becoming
more and more afraid of everything (except the insidious health problems
of poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, drinking, recreational drug
use, and, of course, bad driving) it's easy to feel pressured or bullied
into wearing a helmet.

Wear one because you think it's the right thing to do, or don't wear one
but accept that the risk is there, and the responsibility is yours.

As a topical example of our attitude to risk: the number of people
killed and injured in the London bombings of 7/7 is slightly lower than
a typical week on the roads in this country. An injury or death is an
injury or death, however caused. Which worries us most? I've had
friends saying they wouldn't possibly go to London, yet they think
nothing of driving to the coast on a hot afternoon. I am not in any way
belittling the severity or barbarity of the attacks - just pointing out
how irrationally we assess risks.


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Mikefule - The first cuckoo of unicycling

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Okay yes there are fights on both sides, but lets be reasonable, there
is a happy medium. You don't need a helmet to do everything, you dont
wear a helmet when you run, or cross the street, so lets be realistic.
If your dooing freestyle, you don't need a helmet, if you fall in
freestyle chances are you know it and have plenty of time to catch
yourself, begginer, and low level trials, you doon't need a helmet, if
your getting high up on palets, and other objects, put a fricking helmet
on. Muni, you should wear a helmet when you muni on a 24" or larger
wheel, 20" your going to slow to have very hard impacts. Distance
ridding, you should wear a helmet if your on a 29" or larger, if yoru
just pedaling through town on your 24" you fine.

This is my opinion ^^ What you guys think? Personaly when i fall on my
uni, I generaly know i'm going to fall way before it actually happens,
and have plenty of time to catch myself.


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cyberpunk wrote:
*and low level trials, you doon't need a helmet, if your getting high
up on palets, and other objects, put a fricking helmet on. Muni, you
should wear a helmet when you muni on a 24" or larger wheel, 20" your
going to slow to have very hard impacts. Distance ridding, you should
wear a helmet if your on a 29" or larger*


I agree, I sometimes wear my helmet when I'm riding thru the forrest
though, so I dont have to duck all the branches, when I ride a
proffesional mtb track I leave it at home though, no branches there (I'm
doing a 20" atm, havnt decided if I want a coker or a decent muni first)
I'd suggest wearing it with trials though, when me 'n my brother were
EVEN CRAPPIER he once nearly broke his skull on a tile that was
standing horizontally (he missed it with an inch)...


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DustinMichels - What could possibly go wrong?
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cyberpunk wrote:
* I generaly know i'm going to fall way before it actually happens,
and have plenty of time to catch myself. *


Unless of course you fall near to a wall or railing, or at the top of
some steps.

It's a question of assessing the risks, and accepting a given level of
risk. That's what life was about for every generation in history until
about 20 years ago. Now it's becoming more to do with following
prescriptive rules - delegated thinking.

Better to die than never to live. If we wanted to be completely safe,
we wouldn't unicycle. If we wanted to follow conventions and rules, we
wouldn't unicycle. Each of us is free to make a decision, based on his
or her own priorities. All the rest of us should do is present the
evidence and the arguments.

The arguments against wearing helmets are discomfort, inconvenience and
image. The arguments for are less trivial. However, the risks are not
great for the vast majority of riders.


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Mikefule - The first cuckoo of unicycling

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I wear a helmet whenever I am cycling (on however many wheels) if my son
is watching because I want him to wear his helmet when he is cycling.
(He's 6).
I also wear a helmet anywhere near a road or when I'm doing something
out of my comfort range (eg uni'ing down a grassy slope - I wont say
MUni yet).
I always wear wrist guards when uni'ing outside.
I don't wear wrist guards or a helmet when I'm uni'ing in the gym
(although I did when I was beginning - wristguards and knee pads, not a
helmet).
I though I would put my bit in cos I haven't contributed to any of the
previous debates on the subject, I don't think.
Cathy


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The name of this thread should be "Helmets Everyone". You can crash
doing anything, wearing a helmet is just common sense.


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Mikefule wrote:

It is a judgement we all have to make. In a society that is becoming
more and more afraid of everything (except the insidious health
problems of poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, drinking,
recreational drug use, and, of course, bad driving) it's easy to feel
pressured or bullied into wearing a helmet.





That cuts two ways though, in that there's at least as much peer
pressure to -not- wear a helmet. For example, look at how few
skateboarders wear a helmet- IMO, that's more to do with peer pressure
(pads/helmets being regarded as 'wussy') than people actually making an
educated choice not to wear protection.

My view is that head impacts are rare, but, if you ride a lot, they
could well happen, and, personally, when they do, I'd prefer to have a
helmet between my head and the concrete.

The two common negatives on helmets-

1. they look stupid
2. they're uncomfortable

are relative to whether you've worn them for any length of time; as a
non-wearer, the first few times I used one I pretty much agreed with 1 &
2; within a few weeks of using one for every ride, the helmet was not
only comfortable, but I actually felt uncomfortable -without- it on- the
same kind of vulnerable feeling you get when you forget to do up your
car seat belt.

As for looks, again, after getting used to the helmet, when I see a
cyclist not wearing one, they actually look a bit stupid to me now, or
at least they look like someone who perhaps doesn't value themselves as
much as they could.


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onewheeldave - Semi Skilled Unicyclist

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But you can make the ******* work for it."

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