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Wearing helmets


Phil Box

14-Nov-2005
1:54:03 PM

I always wear a helmet but the only times I`ve ever been injured was the times when I neglected to wear a helmet.


tjurri

14-Nov-2005
1:57:37 PM

I've only once doinked my head when not wearing a helmet, and that was after warning my kids for half an hour not to doink their heads on exactly the same bulge. I'm more worried about doing stupid things on "easy" ground at the base of the rock and try to avoid walking under others climbing as even with a helmet on you can get doinked painfully. A friend of mine has an enormous scar on his neck from the whipping end of a thrown rope...

Depends on the terrain. Wore one yesterday for a solo of Tantalus. Must be a headspace thing.

Andaroo

14-Nov-2005
2:48:32 PM

We (my Fiance/belayer and I) put ours on from the car, Easier than carrying it and your safe on the walk down to the base as well (nasty,steep,slippery..), I've had to help a teenager after a golfball size rock fell on his melon from 15meters, It split his scalp about 5inches, I thought he'd bleed out before we got him to the carpark. My helmet is as critical as my harness..


garbie

14-Nov-2005
2:59:45 PM

This thread sounds familiar, but is it true that most climbing helmets are designed for rockfall from above, not for groundfalls? i.e more for mountaineering/big walling, not for single pitching. I read that somewhere... in which case they may not be designed to really protect you very well in a ground fall, which is more probable in many situations. Might be better to wear a bike helmet, which are designed for such impacts?


Jess

14-Nov-2005
3:36:55 PM

I always wear one, unless I forget to bring it. I've 'doinked' my head a few times too! although that may be because the old school helmets are way above my actual head...


manacubus

14-Nov-2005
3:43:15 PM

Isn't it interesting how many people are saying "yes I always wear my helmet".

Yet my observation would be that only a fraction of the climbers out there consistently climb with a helmet. I wonder why this is? Is it that geeks who spend too much time on the internet are also the type of people who are more likely to be safety conscious?

prb

14-Nov-2005
5:31:51 PM

I've usually worn a helmet, almost always when leading and other times when there's a reasonable chance of rock coming down.

Chose not to one warm day, deciding on head gear which would keep more sun off instead. Wouldn't you know it, had a 10m head-first grounder. Got multiple skull fractures. Twelve months later I was still undergoing tedious psychological assessment, but I know I was lucky.

These days I wear a helmet over any sun visor-type hat.


Sabu

14-Nov-2005
5:43:04 PM

On 14/11/2005 gremlin wrote:
>A helmet covered in stickers and graffiti looks much cooler than a coma
>or brain damage

hell yes!! i put every sticker i can find onto my helmet!!

it is very interesting and good that so many wear helmets or at least try to, i know i've forgotten mine once or twice, but i find that it is a very comforting feeling having something protecting ur head!!


Andrew_M

14-Nov-2005
9:07:14 PM

On 14/11/2005 garbie wrote:
>This thread sounds familiar, but is it true that most climbing helmets
>are designed for rockfall from above, not for groundfalls?

Yep. The standards only address stuff falling from above or slightly off to the side (I did have descriptions of the tests at one point, but can't find them now). They have nothing about side impacts...the sort of thing that might happen from swinging on an abseil or a side-impacting ground fall. That's not to say that they won't help, just that they're not designed for it. The biggest problem is that the temple is not covered. The temple is a major weak point on the skull and has a large artery running directly underneath it...not nice to get a fracture there. Bike helmet standards also neglect the temple, and this has been found to be an issue in studies on head injuries in cyclists. Still, they are designed more for side impacts so probably would be better for sport climbing etc where groundfall or slamming into the wall sideways are the major things to worry about. Any helmet is likely to be much better than none.

Personally I feel naked without my helmet. I reckon it's saved me a couple of times.

Edit: Found some of the standards info. The climbing helmet 'side impact' test is slightly more realistic than I remembered, but still far from perfect. Another important thing is that climbing helmets are designed to stop puncturing impacts which is why they have a hard shell, while bike helmets are designed to slow deceleration of the skull and prevent brain injury in non-puncturing impacts (like whacking into a flat rock). In other words, bike helmets might actually be a lot better if you are more worried about a ground fall and don't expect things to be donking you on the head.

Standard disclaimers about random crackpots on the internet who make authoritative-sounding statements apply...use your own judgement


AlanD

14-Nov-2005
9:41:56 PM

I've been slack about wearing a helmet and I should know better coming from a caving background. Combination of my climbing partner not having one (not wanting to make her nervous about not having one) and also really needing to update my helmet.

However, my old Joe Brown helmet does have protection for the temple and covers a fair proportion of my head, unlike many of the new helmet. I've read some comments about the harness being crap, I can't comment, it's never been an issue for me, in addition they do weigh a bit, being made out of fibreglass. Mine is also foam lined, some plus's to that, but it adds to the weight and also cooks your head when above ground. I understand HB have a new model out, made from a new composite material which weighs a lot less. If I can kid my climbing partner into more outdoor climbing she might get one of these new ones for her birthday present.


Rupert

14-Nov-2005
9:43:31 PM

An Aquired Brain Injury is pretty un-cool - I'm a big fan of helmets.


kezza

14-Nov-2005
9:56:50 PM

I've worn a helmet outdoors 5 times, two of those times were with school or outdoor trip for work.. I'm a fan also of helmets, I like what they are about.. hehe I just haven't really been around others that wear one. So it hasn't become a habit to do so.
I wore one last weekend though :-D

rod

14-Nov-2005
10:58:44 PM

multi pitch with people above, yes. noticeable danger of rock fall, yes. in general, i find i operate a little too hot when climbing and the helmet simply exacerbates the problem so i rarely use it.


red

15-Nov-2005
9:46:03 AM

i remember reading a report years ago that had broken down climbing fatalities to the point that 95% were head injury related.

I wear one all the time and as the thread has said " I always bump my head" I suspose that just shows that you forget you have it on most of the time..

One pet hate .... when I working with groups, certain well known "climbers" who also instruct would have their groups helmeted up but they chose not to wear one ." do as I say not as I do" .. double standards??


1

15-Nov-2005
11:06:24 AM

I had a mate who took a small fall on an 8m sport route in Nowra.

Spun around somehow knocked his head, not hard at all. Lost concsiousness, came too and was later flown to wollongong hospital to have an emergency operation where they drilled a hole in his skull and removed the clotting blood, the pressure from which was threatening to give him permanant brain damage.

26 massive staples and a few months recovery later he was ok. Since then I have never been climbing on any route without a helmet.

mikepatt

15-Nov-2005
11:52:39 AM

Last week a short groundfall on Mind Games at Araps put a non hemet wearer in hopital for stitches in the back of his head. Need I add more?

pomyrocks

15-Nov-2005
12:06:46 PM

i coped a whack to the head last weekend at araps climbing pedro. i was spat off and the rope flipped me upside down whihc casued me to bang my head against the rock face. i was wearing a helmet but still needed stitches in my head.

i reckon if i had not been wearing one i would have been in a far worse condition. i thank my lucky stars.


Megan

15-Nov-2005
12:13:04 PM

Hey James - glad you're ok!

(EDIT: I was one of the hoards helping the stretcher down the path, hoping that noone ever had to do the same favour for me)

dalai

15-Nov-2005
1:02:12 PM

Like Manacubus, I am surprised by the percentage here on Chockstone saying that they always wear their helmet. Given the low percentage of climbers I have seen outdoors over the years wearing one!

I have climbed for many years and never felt a situation I was in warranted wearing a helmet.

I also find it interesting the number of people who are now having accidents, many wearing helmets. When helmets were less common, there didn't seem to be as many accidents... Could people be taking more risks because they are wearing a helmet?


1

15-Nov-2005
1:17:58 PM

(i remember reading a report years ago that had broken down climbing fatalities to the point that 95% were head injury related)
I don't think wearing a helmet makes me feel safer.
Maybe its just that more people who wear helmets or have accident stories relaing to helmets are posting on this particular thread?.
I certianly wouldn't want to see it made illegal not to wear one.

There are 123 messages in this topic.