Wooly Hats Should Be Mandatory!

[Vantage]

After what I thought to be a short period of rain this morning it was decided that the usual Wednesday ride should go ahead.
I'd put the lycra and waterproofs on along with my new wooly hat and set off for the meeting point.
In less than 5 mins after setting off I was going down the short descent to cross the bridge and onto the shared use cycle path/trail. Turning left off the bridge at about 12mph both tyres lost traction and I hit the ground with a clatter of alloy and a thud of limbs. I miraculously got up, brushed the sleet from my side and checked the bike for damage.
I straightened the left sti and repositioned my Pendle.
Yes folks, my wooly Sealskins Belgian style cycling hat saved my life. Had I been wearing a helmet, the extra girth would have caused my head to hit the ground resulting in extreme rotational twisting forces from digging in resulting in brain haemoraging and the strap would have no doubt broke my neck. I'd have been killed instantly.
But the wooly hats lightness and thinness meant less weight pulling my head down, less girth resulting in increased clearance and most importantly the hats built in peak acted with aerodynamic drag to slow my heads momentum. I was then able to phone the ride leader warning him of the slippery conditions which resulted in the ride being cancelled and possibly saving other lives.
Buy a wooly hat folks. It will save your lives.

[beardy]

Do you think that cheap Aldi Fleece beanies are made to the same sort of spec or do you have to pay for the brand name Sealskin quality inorder to be really safe.

Cough, mutters under breath "studded tyres" cough, mutter.

[Vantage]

I haven't seen the Aldi ones tbh.
The sealskinz one (recommended to me by Mick F) seems to have a plastic lining between the wooly inner and outer for water proofness and has a peak to keep low sun and raindrops out of the wearers eyes.


cough...studded tyres are still in hibernation under the bed. Didn't know it was icey...

[Mike Sales]

When I touched wheels and went down my head hit the road but without damage. I believe my "Festina" cotton cap saved me. May I recommend the trade caps of defunct doped teams for summer wear?

[irc]

My doctor once told me I'd have been really dead if I hadn't been wearing a wooly hat. It's saved several of my lives.

[Mick F]

The sealskinz one (recommended to me by Mick F) seems to have a plastic lining between the wooly inner and outer for water proofness and has a peak to keep low sun and raindrops out of the wearers eyes.

Worked perfectly for me today, plus I wore a skull cap underneath. Damned cold out there with a terrible wind-chill, and low sunshine too.

PS.
I lost traction going over a cattle-grid, and luckily stayed upright. I reckon that if I ever came off on a cattle-grid, I'd be more likely to break a leg falling through, than hurt my head.

[Graham]

A woolly hat will also help you to extract your stuck head from between the bars of a cattle-grid.

Such a situation might also happen if you fall off a bike when crossing a cattle grid.

[gaz]

A woolly hat will also help you to extract your stuck head from between the bars of a cattle-grid.

Manufacturers of woolly hats do not attribute such qualities to their products, I'm sure they would if it were true. Do you have any supporting scientific data or is this yet more anecdote?

[[XAP]Bob]

The sealskinz one (recommended to me by Mick F) seems to have a plastic lining between the wooly inner and outer for water proofness and has a peak to keep low sun and raindrops out of the wearers eyes.

Worked perfectly for me today, plus I wore a skull cap underneath. Damned cold out there with a terrible wind-chill, and low sunshine too.

PS.
I lost traction going over a cattle-grid, and luckily stayed upright. I reckon that if I ever came off on a cattle-grid, I'd be more likely to break a leg falling through, than hurt my head.

Yes, but your helmet will reduce the chance that by 75% (I think it was 75)

[TonyR]

Did your wooly hat split in two? I'm told that splitting in two is evidence it saved your life.

[drossall]

I crashed on a submerged pothole on Monday. I was wearing a woolly hat, and my head was unharmed. However, it did take me ten minutes to realise that the hat had come off, and was now also half submerged.

Is it important to secure your woolly hat properly, if it is to function as it should?

[Vantage]

Is it important to secure your woolly hat properly, if it is to function as it should?

I leave mine unstrapped as I believe if it was fastened to my head, if in the event of crashing it did hit the ground then it has more chance of gripping the surface and removing my head from my neck. I suspect that may lead to a trip to A&E.
Plus it might tear my hat. Which is not good.

[drossall]

The way to secure a woolly hat is to wear a balaclava. A friend of mine, 40 years ago, used to like to ride in one worn forwards over one worn backwards, giving complete protection in driving snow. He found that he could see perfectly well through the knit.

Of course, these days, he'd be shot on sight by anti-terrorist police.

[atoz]

I don't know about a wooly hat saving your life but in my case it may well have avoided me having potential neck injury. A couple of years ago I came off within a mile of home on black ice- my head skidded along the road surface. I sustained a very small cut/graze on my head, easily dealt with in casualty- and in fact, I was just playing it safe. The real injury was a speed burn on the thigh which need more attention and took a while to heal.

I can't know this, but my guess is that with a helmet my head would have caught on the indentations in the road surface more easily.

The hat was unscathed, and just needed a wash in the sink with Stergene. I still use it. I didn't even pay for this hat- my late parents found it when out walking and couldn't find whoever lost it.

[TonyR]

I recommend a helmet to save your wooly hat