OldTryGuy

It's the "what if" that has me wearing a helmet. Not the "it will save my life when I get hit by a car" thought. I can not say for certain that the helmet has saved me from any injury occurring when I have hit the ground, BUT, I can say I haven't had a concussion....yet.

WSWIII

With having many friends and family members in EMS and fire, I've heard of and seen pedestrians/cyclists that have been hit and had their head split wide open. I prefer to keep my brain in my head and off the pavement.

YMMV...

mconlonx

1) So you wear a helmet while walking?
2) A crash which would result in brains on pavement would likely have the same result, helmet or no.

WSWIII

You can put your sword down now, warrior, the battle has been won.

mconlonx

The war still simmers.

People who war wear helmets, too, ya know...

mr_bill

I suspect my doctor won't recommend that I use PPE for walking for another few decades.
What does your doctor recommend?

-mr. bill

10 Wheels

My Neurosurgeon say he will have to Remove 1/4 of my skull should I need a Second Brain Surgery.

mconlonx

Yikes!

Hope you're healed up and doing well.

curbtender

I don't see Jiminy talking about helmets... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUrOPI5b8wo

Phamilton

I voted "I've never worn a helmet" but I think if I were to do any trail riding I would want to wear one. I ride defensively and I think this further minimizes the risk of a head injury. I could never feel confident that all risk were removed, but that is not my goal. I feel now like my risk of head injury/death while riding is in reality lower than the risk of either of those things while driving in my car. I hope nothing ever happens to show this is not true. I drive defensively in the same spirit as the way that I ride and have never caused an accident. I have been hit a few times in a car, with a minor injury (concussion, sprained back) once. I assumed that cross-traffic at a 4-way stop would stop and proceeded into the intersection, and got t-boned. I haven't made that assumption since. I haven't crashed or fallen off a bike since I was 12 (I'm 33 now) and have never been hit by anything except bugs and once by my son who was riding behind me and not paying attention. When I was young, I got a lot of skinned knees and elbows, and once my torso got skinned up pretty good when I tried to ramp my mountain bike and went over the bars (my last crash, when I was 12). I do not discourage people from wearing helmets if they want to. That's their business and doesn't affect me in the slightest. My kids have them and wear them sometimes. I tried using one once and it was hot, uncomfortable, and noisy. I don't like that all the local group rides I've seen advertised require helmet usage. Eventually the desire to ride in a group may outweigh the aversion to the helmet, time will tell. I am turned off by religious helmet usage advocacy. I don't think it's fair to legislate helmet usage. The debate seems to me like pointless controversy. I am glad though to be able to share my thoughts/experiences.

Ubermich

For the hardcore helmet believers: Why not wear a motorcycle helmet which is actually DOT rated for road use (and crashes)?

I do wear a helmet, not because I'm a believer but because my wife demands it. I'd rather wear a helmet (benefit or no) and keep my wife than lose my wife and/or be stuck in traffic.

mconlonx

Overkill for bicycle use, too heavy, not ventilated well enough. Bicycle helmets meet minimum certification standards, same as motorcycle helmets.

I-Like-To-Bike

So what? Safety First!

If a motorcycle helmet just might reduce the severity of a bicycling injury, wearing it at all times when cycling should be well worth any inconvenience and expense for any cyclist who professes to be concerned about such things, eh?

mconlonx

Well, since motorcycle helmets have not passed bicycle helmet safety standards, and there's no proof they are effective in a cycling situation, it might be quite foolhardy to suggest that cyclists wear them...

350htrr

Yea, imagine/think of all that extra weight, the kind of extra stresses on the neck, the extra thickness would certainly result in more heads hitting the pavement whereas they would have just misses hitting without a helmet... Certainly it would be more dangerous wearing one than not... Oh, and the chances of heat stroke, that would also be increased.

rydabent

Actually the war seems to be against helmets. The war is lead by some the the most fantastic bike handlers the world has ever seen. Some how or other all of them just happen to post on this forum. They claim they are so great, they will never crash. Can we say delusional**********

mconlonx

This is fallacy of the highest possible order.

No one here is anti-helmet; there are none suggesting that others should not wear helmets.

On the other hand, there are those who proselytize helmet use with hyperbolic and factually questionable statements and anecdotes, suggesting that others should wear helmets and that those who don't are, variously, "potential organ donors," not very smart, living and riding dangerously, and valuing their head/brains at as much as they spend for a helmet, i.e. zero. These types who post here should be viciously debunked for the fanatics they are. They claim that wearing a helmet makes them a safer rider and that in the event of a crash, a helmet will save them from any potential TBI, indeed that times they have crashed and landed on their heads, they have been saved from severe brain injury and death. Can we say delusional?!?

mr_bill

You are so not anti-helmet.

Why, you and several other not anti-helmet advocates have recommended walking helmets, stair helmets, shower helmets....

-mr. bill

mr_bill

My doctor is anti-helmet. She does *NOT* recommended walking helmets, stair helmets, shower helmets....

How about your doctors? Do they recommend walking helmets, stair helmets, shower helmets?

-mr. bill

10 Wheels

My Doc said if I need a second brain surgery he will have to remove 1/4 of my skull.
He said he didn't want to do that operation and I agreed.

rydabent

No one here is anti helmet**********

If that were true, there would be no helmet thread.

bikingshearer 

All of you should stop wearing helmets now and forevermore. We need more organ donors.

mconlonx

There are plenty who are anti-helmet-proselytizing, anti-helmet-hyperbole, anti-helmet-misinformation, but quite few, if any, anti-helmet people posting in this thread. Can you quote anyone who has said "You should not wear a helmet" in this thread...?

Seems like most deemed "anti-helmet" are OK if anyone else wears a helmet, but take issue when people say they should. Also when those same helmeteers overstate the safty-ness of helmets while denigrating those who don't wear helmets.

mr_bill

This one's for you, yet another helmet saved my life, but cute as a button!

-mr. bill

rydabent

IMO your continued rant agains helmets, and anyone that supports using helmets constitutes being anti helmet. Look in the mirror.