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General Climbing Discussion

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A reason not to wear a helmet 9-Apr-2005 At 1:45:42 PM Andrew_M

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>>years ago, before cyling helmets were common, they were crappy plastic
>>things, not at all stylish. Now, the right bike helmet actually makesyou
>>look good.

Yeah, the stackhat was dorky but that was partly because it was safer than most new style helmets. They covered a lot more of the bits that are, um, important.

Climbing helmets have the same problem except maybe worse in many ways. Companies engineer them to minimally pass UIAA and CE tests, which really only look at rockfall, but don't even consider side/rear impact. Some of the really important bits of the head are not covered by your average climbing helmet such as the temple (thinnest part of the skull with a huge artery just underneath) and the back of the head (some rather useful bits of the brain such as breathing centres etc). So I want a MORE DORKY climbing helmet that protects me when I take an upside down tumbling plummet or when I'm looking down on a loose abseil and I get clobbered by a rock. Or maybe I just enjoy being a dork.

Adnrew