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General Climbing Discussion

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A reason not to wear a helmet 5-Apr-2005 At 4:41:21 PM LittleMac

Message

On 5/04/2005 hairy1 wrote:
>I'll probably get flamed, anyway.
>
>I think comments about risks involved in driving to the crag etc. or when
>is an appropriate situation to wear a helmet, are missing the point a bit
>- you are going to do these things anyway - wearing a helmet is removed
>from these activities & only serves to slightly reduce the risks of climbing
>its self.
>
>a [slightly] extreme analogy, but you could liken not wearing a helmet
>to driving around with bald tires - you can still do it, most likely with
>no problems, but its slightly more risky.
>
>an observation...when I go whitewater kayaking - be it on boring, sedate
>class I or balltearing class V creeks, i never see boaters without helmets
>on. Its just part of the culture.
>
>tim

Hey Tim,

I think you're right about the whole culture thing with white water paddling but I think that here is one major difference. Paddling helmets because of the culture thing are considered mandatory equipment and henceforth companies have invsted large amnounts of money into making a) comfortable helmets and b) stylish helmets (sweet protection being one example of this).

Also climbing helmets bexause of their need to focus mainly on impact from above are notoriously cumbersome and ugly to wear, i.e often high domed etc.

I wear my helmet most of the time but I also paddle a lot and have just gotten used to wearing helmets.

Cheers,

Paul Mac