I Have a Confession...

[Heltor Chasca]

Hi,
Today, lots of twigs and branches down..................ducked under a low branch.....If I get it wrong it brushes on my rucksack.............today there was a loud whack and my helmet partly pushed back .....Saved me getting a gash I suppose.

One of the reasons I wear one when out MTBing. I wear a chainsaw lid for work and the number of times I've brained myself is staggering.

[pwa]

Or am I following what other people just do?

This, I suspect. Will you wear it just for Audaxes or all the time?

You can see right through me [emoji4] I think I will wear it for Audax events with steep descents, more than 200km, night events and icy conditions. Well I'll see. For all I know it could be the uncomfortable. At worst it'll keep my long hair under control which can be irritating in the wind.

As stated further upthread I've had a good number of falls and never had a head injury. I even had one where a stalk of grass pierced my lip! Same crash resulted in two broken ribs. According to the A&E doc, that would have been the most efficient fait accompli.☠️

Sounds like you should be wearing an inflatable rubber suit.

[meic]

Hi,
Today, lots of twigs and branches down..................ducked under a low branch.....If I get it wrong it brushes on my rucksack.............today there was a loud whack and my helmet partly pushed back .....Saved me getting a gash I suppose.

One of the reasons I wear one when out MTBing. I wear a chainsaw lid for work and the number of times I've brained myself is staggering.

I wear eye protection when out strimming and I am always tapping into branches, the transparent frame of the specs gets in the way of my normal vision and prevents me from detecting things in the normal subconscious way.

[Heltor Chasca]

Thanks all for clarifying my feelings. Activism or fence sitting? Maybe I should mugwump the issue until I know what I'm happy with.

For what it's worth and a little recommendation: I found my helmet for nearly 40% cheaper than most retailers and my lbs on line from a company called ShopTo.net. It has come up before on various searches but prices seemed too good to be true. I rung and chatted to see if they were 'real'. I also noted their eBay sales had a 99.something% rating so took the risk I bought my lid at about 1530. It arrived at 1430 the next day. Constant order/delivery email updates. Free shipping too. The guy on the call said they were increasing their sales lines to include cycling. One to watch if you want to make a saving and get great service.

Kask Mojito. £69.85 More than I've paid for my MTB lids but as I'll be wearing it for very long periods of time I figured I would like to be comfy. http://www.shopto.net/cycling/kask/CHE0 ... 0wodBtUAVg

[The utility cyclist]

given you said you'll wear it for steep descents and icy conditions aren't you falling into the trap/catch 22 situation of over-egging it in those conditions because you feel more confident and are thus then more likely to come a cropper and strike your head and be one of the many helmet wearers who offer wise words of injury/death was averted and then be a helmet 'convert'? (this story has being retold/repeated so often it beggars belief)

I'm not saying that this will happen to you as an individual but sadly this is a major part as to why cycle helmets have failed miserably.
logic would dicatate that group riding, competition riders of all levels but particularly the more agressive riders nearer the top of the pile and including the pros), those cycling fast through trails on MTBs with lots of overhanging branches are precisely the ones who should not be wearing a helmet as they are going to take (& indeed do far more than ever before) more risk, wearing a helmet thus increasing the chances not just of a head strike but of having any injury.

A friend of mine has crashed twice going fast downhill, one coming to a corner whilst he was in spain somewhere, I asked him if he would have taken more care had he not being wearing a helmet, "well of course, but...", I stopped him before he finished with the 'helmet saved my life' or some other nonsense.
If you're increasing the chances of having the crash/incident even just by a small amount and you yourself are not realising you're taking more risk added into which the 'safety' cell you're adding is too flimsy to do much to prevent injury, possibly making matters even worse, then I see that as a totally illogical and ludicrous decision to take especially given what we know.

I've never worn one and never will, it just makes no sense whatsoever.
Sorry if that seems to be beating down on you but the reasons you stated for wanting to wear/or when you wear just sets alarm bells ringing.

[Heltor Chasca]

No I don't think it'll make me feel any different. I descend pretty quickly in my cotton cap when the conditions are right and cautiously when I am unsure. Clear views round bends are a biggy for me. But as I have never worn one out on the road how can I be sure how I will feel?

The other thing I thought about was wind noise on the straps/harness.

[oldmanonabike]

I think helmets are a waste of space,I wear one on every ride I do, my wife says I have to
Now that's a confession

I came off the bike recently fractured ribs bruised and strained shoulder badly bruised side and leg.
Torn overshoes, Torn Jacket, cracked and dented helmet, maybe just maybe the wife was right t

[horizon]

to be honest on any occasion that i've ever fallen off my bike it's never been my head that i hurt

This is it. A helmet provides dubious protection against an unlikely occurrence (a fall) in which the worst (a head injury) probably won't happen. A pair of shoes OTOH will provide good protection against a very likely albeit less serious occurrence.

Which doesn't mean that helmets can never protect or that head injury isn't possible or serious. It's just that we don't take similar action in other circumstances. As I often say, if we need a helmet we shouldn't be cycling.

[Mick F]

One of the questions asked is .......... Would you have banged your head had you NOT been wearing a helmet?
A helmet makes your head 50% heavier and 50% bigger.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

One of the questions asked is .......... Would you have banged your head had you NOT been wearing a helmet?
A helmet makes your head 50% heavier and 50% bigger.

Total exaggeration, so a bicycle helmet weighs 2-2.5 kgs
You wear a helmet or not as you chose...............a personal choice.

I won't say you would be better to wear one (I have in the past, I will try not now) if you don't suggest it will make no difference if another does.

We cant pick when we fall off / hit, anymore than we can pick how bad and what hits if at all.

Wear a colander and look real hip

[The utility cyclist]

I think helmets are a waste of space,I wear one on every ride I do, my wife says I have to
Now that's a confession

I came off the bike recently fractured ribs bruised and strained shoulder badly bruised side and leg.
Torn overshoes, Torn Jacket, cracked and dented helmet, maybe just maybe the wife was right t

How can you know that without the helmet you might not have struck your head at all? If one is going to wear a helmet on the basis of what if/the wife/whoever tells me to wear one, then you must wear one for other activities that have greater or similar risk of head injury otherwise IF god forbid you have a head injury whilst involved then you'd be beating yourself up for not wearing one surely, and berating the wife for not insisting you wore a helmet for those activities.
Stating that it was a good idea to wear a helmet after the fact is a self fulfilling argument far too often and still ignores the risk factor elsewhere in our daily lives.
So out of curiosity does your wife ask you to wear a helmet whilst walking/driving, if not can you find out why, that way we can better understand how people understand risk?

[oldmanonabike]

I did say maybe and she tells me to wear safety boots and gloves when I'm gardening and safety glasses when I'm sawing or drilling
The car has seven airbags and a seatbelt to protect me. I'm banned from using a Stanley knive after another unfortunate incident. It could be due to my age I suppose
Is your wife concerned for your safety?

[LollyKat]

I've only once fallen and hit my head - I was in a hurry, the road was slippy and it was very dark as the streetlights weren't working. I cracked the side of my head on the edge of the kerb. If I'd been wearing a helmet I might have claimed it saved my life, as it was I was shaken and nursed a sore head for a couple of hours, but otherwise was all right.

I was on foot -- yet in spite of that experience I still do not wear a helmet when walking . I used to when cycling but when I stopped during a heat wave and discovered that drivers were so much more courteous and gave me more space, I gave it up permanently.

[Mick F]

Hi,

One of the questions asked is .......... Would you have banged your head had you NOT been wearing a helmet?
A helmet makes your head 50% heavier and 50% bigger.

Total exaggeration, so a bicycle helmet weighs 2-2.5 kgs

Have you ever weighed your head?

I have.

Fill a large bucket to the brim with water.
Kneel in front of it, and dunk your head gently right in to the neck.
Hold your breath for 10 seconds so any water overflowing has ceased.
Lift you head out gently and allow any water to drip off your head back into the bucket.
Refill the bucket to the brim, measuring how much water is required.

Humans are 70% water, and heads far less so as there's many empty cavities in there.
50/50 maybe? Maybe 40/60?

My head came out as 3850cc ie 3.85Kg if it were 100% water. ie the maximum weight possible for my head.
If it were 50%, my head would weigh less than 2Kg. If it were 40%, my head would weigh about 1.5Kg.

Further reading:
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=107494&p=1031780&hilit=bucket#p1031780
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=79382&p=702779&hilit=bucket#p702779

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Er..........from memory a human head weighs 4.5 - 5.0 kgs.
https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/Dm ... hman.shtml

And a helmet weighs 0.25 - 0.35 kgs.........................
I will let others do the maths.