Originally Posted by
chasm54
Too late!
I don't wear a helmet, not because they're uncool but because they're unnecessary. Yes, I've heard all the stories of "if I hadn't been wearing my helmet I'd be dead" - they're sincere, but mostly mistaken. Ordinary cycling helmets aren't rated to give protection against the impacts that are REALLY going to crack your skull - they'll save you cuts and bruises, but rarely brain damage. Cycling is pretty safe and helmets haven't made it safer. As helmet use has increased, the already small incidence of severe head injury to cyclists has not declined. So they are, in my opinion, pretty much a waste of time.
Were I a downhill MTBer, I'd wear one, but it would be a full face helmet that gave meaningful protection. On the roads, I can cycle well enough that the only thing likely to do me serious damage is being hit by a motor vehicle with an inattentive driver. In that event it is unlikely that a helmet would give me much protection. No helmet.
Im not going to agree with you here but I wont exactly tell you wrong either. I have a friend, this friend snowboards 3-5 times a year. (Being from Mississippi thats alot) Since he was 15 years old (21 now) he has had 6 concussions all taking him to the hospital 3 of which required multiple day stays and 1 of which caused an airlift off the mountain and took him 2 weeks to learn to speak again. All happened while he was wearing a very nice very safe snowboarding approved concussion resistant helmet.
Now, I know hes not a wreckless rider (ive ridden with him many occasions). Just ambitious sometimes. Did his helmet fail? No. It was fine. All doctors can say is he is more apt to having these neurological occurrences take place than others. Long story short, will a helmet save your life? The correct answer is maybe. There are just too many variables for you, or the helmet company so say with any kind of reasonable perspective to say what those percentages are. But you know what? I want to be on the right half of that equation if I ever have to be.