Why sticking a fork in your eye is a bad idea - or 'helmets work...and don't be silly'

A snowHead

andyrew, nope not just another helmet thread, this is an M&S helmet thread....

A snowHead

valais2,

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

johnE, thery're a close-ranked community, these ergonomists.....

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One thing, in fact the only thing, I find interesting about these helmet threads is the concept that there is a single thing called a helmet that protects against all head injuries.
When I am climbing I where a climbing helmet that is designed to protect against penetration such as that generated by a falling stone or falling in hitting the head against a sharp rock outcrop, When I am cycling The cycle helmets protects me against blunt impact notably falling off the bike and hitting my head against the road. Neither would be much use as a substitute for the other. When you try to combine them you get motorcycle crash hat, which is too heavy for either pursuit.

On one summer holiday I had the privilege of having to wear 4 separate helmets on one day - separate helmets for rock climbing, rafting , VTT and go carting in the evening. Now that's what I call a holiday

Now what exactly are skiing helmets protecting against? From my reading most of the head injuries and drive for helmet wear comes from the USA where skiing in trees are much more common than in Europe and as a consequence the helmets are designed for impact against trees or the piste itself. Are there helmets designed specifically for European use where penetration is more important? What sort of helmets do people wear for ski mountaineering and off piste?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

johnE, oi that was the point re the discussion on my thread re the distinction between impact injuries and rotational brain injuries.

but you make a set of interesting points.

I also climb and have an ecrin roc for impact while climbing the piles of rubble we call mountains in the Valais, and a meteor for bouldering. I recognise absolutely the different types of incidents in different sports and like the fact that designers - eg POC - have now recognised this and refined the designs. POC also are aware of the important point you raise re penetration - they have very tough shells and have worked on a low overall weight.

I agree that it's very difficult to see what a helmet is for when parachuting (that's an old joke (bill bailey I think) but I wait for chorus of correction).

But with skiing it's pretty clear.

1 whacks around the head from others' skis - quite a risk for my small ones when in the scrum at Montana Cry D'Er
2 hardpack - genuine risk mitigation. Have seen nasty head injuries on boarders and skiers who have planted onto ice.
3 rocks - have had one incident of a person falling against a rock off piste whilst negotiating a rock field - helmet saved the day
4 collisions with others - after a guy with an ice axe on his pack and a carbon probe managed to pile into me, I was pretty glad of my helmet - and see the big gouge in the back which would have been six or seven stitches in my scalp, I reckon.
5 general bonkers it can never happen accidents - such as when my son managed to fall over (age 5) right at the end of a button lift, in the 'button impact zone' (he was with another adult, not me at the time) and his helmet bore the many marks of the buttons which had hit his helmet

etc etc -

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Main thing I'm concerned about is falling down a rocky couloir and colliding head first with the rock wall.
I love tree skiing but must confess I don't feel in danger and I've never hit my head with a ski or a part of a lift (the latter I think mostly happens because your head is now bigger than you are used to allowing for).
I have only once hit my head painfully on a piste but I have several times, when skiing off piste, hurt my neck. Both painful and I twice clearly squashed nerves going out to my arms which felt hot and a bit numb but full of pins and needles. I must say this scared me more than hitting my head.

After all it is free

snowball, fatbob, ...landing into trees - should have thought of that. And I understand the 'donk!' against the doorframe.

head being hit with ski is more others swinging them around whilst carrying them on their shoulder - beginners are dreadful at getting a concept of 'personal space' when carrying equipment, and I have had various clouts, as have my kids, from novices. My two kids have had plenty of inadvertent clouts round the head from other kids.

Agree re couliors. Saw someone catch an edge and cartwheel across a boulder field. Helmet was pretty important then.

Neck injuries are very common amongst snowboarders, and indeed helmet will not protect against these. They are apparently on the increase (Langram again) probably due to change of practices - ie more gnarly style and aspirations.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

The most painful neck impact was head-butting a bank (didn't hurt my head at all). The other two were a sort of whiplash I think.
I would be more likely to get a helmet if I skied pistes but I almost never do. Other skiers scare me! I managed a collision off-piste once. Nobody else nearer than half a mile Embarassed

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snowball, the danny vid above is quite salutary the accident was a seemingly innocuous one, just over a bank and down a drop - I take short cuts through the trees and do some nice between the tress skiing - many of us who do this now wear decent hard shell helmets....

Help!!

Why sticking a fork in your eye is a bad idea - or 'helmets work...and don't be silly'

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