Protective Gear

Heya All,

I am far from being a decent snowboarder, I am learning the basics and only been on the snow for just over a week and about to head to NZ this year for a nice 2 week stint. Since I am still learning I found a lot of my time spent falling on my butt and my knees. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for gear to help out with all the falls until I get a bit better. Or is it better to just touch it out and work on not falling over.

The falls themselves aint bad but its more having a sore butt from falling then heading straight back into it the next day.

Not sure if its something I should invest in or just wing it.

I found wrist guards to be quite handy especially when just starting out for those toe side turns that don’t go quite to plan. or when you land on your butt I tended to put both hands down first.

I have a pair of combo shin and knee guards that motorcross/bmx riders use.
They have saved my knees amazingly. I tend to fall on them rather than my arse. also help save the shins with flyaway boards/skis.

there are butt padding shorts around

Best thing to do is focus on your hips. they are what points the direction you will end up going.

Point your hips up hill and you’ll stop or point them left or right to turn.

I don’t really recommend wrist guards as it encourages you to stick your hands out, and really what you should be doing is learning to fall, both backwards and forwards.

I know I can’t confirm, but there are stories going around of wristguards being put on too tight and effectively pushing pressure and breaking the bone in the forearm instead, but I imagine that had to be alot of weight/pressure exerted. Probably good at slower speeds or if you’re not over 100kgs or something….

Usually when I go with any n00bs that have asked me to give them a “lesson” or two I ask them to fall forwards and backwards a few times before we start going down the hill:

The key is not to try to stand up but to crumple in and just fall.

I think other than a helmet, the only thing you probably really would like is a butt/tailbone protector. because you will be falling on your @$$, and after a while you’ll feel like you’ve dropped the soap in prison, or as they said in Deliverence “squealed like a pig.”

Funnily enough that happened to me in NZ, and I ended up buying the RED impact shorts with d3o tailbone protector… maaaaaan, it still hurt coz tailbone was bruised, but it totally helped reduce the pain.

In my honest opinion,

Protective gear everyone should wear: helmet

Protective gear beginners should wear: wrist guards

Protective gear beneficial for (but not limited to) beginners: impact shorts (protects your butt/tailbone, with or without hip protection)

There’s other protective gear as well… spine protectors, shin guards (for riding rails), knee guards, mouth guards… but these are more specific to advanced riding and certain riding types, i.e. shin guards to protect from rails.

These days, riding big mountains, I would like to wear a spine protector when I’m freeriding but I’m yet to purchase one (they are expensive). What I do have is a mouth guard for when I’m jumping off cliffs. I am a big advocate of the mouth guard in this situation as it basically stops you from breaking your jaw during a compressed landing (think of Scotty Lago in “Art of Flight”). The best mouth guard for this is the one they use for boxing… it’s an upper mouth guard but your bottom teeth are also moulded into the bottom of it, basically locking your jaw in place; protects your teeth and your jaw.

In a nutshell, for beginners I would strongly recommend a helmet and wrist guards, and a consideration of impact shorts if you feel you need it.

EDIT: As soon as we launch the new website in May, we will be selling low profile wrist guards specifically made for going underneath your snowboarding gloves/mitts. Dakine makes the best ones and these are what we will be selling.

^ have to agree with you maybe except for the wristguards thing, but I think it’s beneficial if you have one especially at slow speeds. (I would put wristguards in your 3rd category and bring up impact shorts w/ tailbone protectors up. lol!)

I guess my immediate concern is, much like riding a motorcycle, “protective gear is no substitute for correct skills learning and practice.”

But that said, you can NEVER have too much protective gear.
#high5Jez

P.S. I want to get a back protector for when I ride and I know I can use it for the snow too but daaaaaamn they’re so expensive!!!

It’s very common for beginners to catch their toeside edge. There is a progression curve they must get through before they can execute correct technique consistently. Wrist injuries are VERY common for beginner snowboarders (I would say the most common injury). As an instructor, I’ve seen it all too often. I highly recommend wrist guards until you can consistently turn without catching your edges.

Some of those padded shorts would be handy. Your tail bone cops a few hits through the day. The guys where the same thing in the parks.

Thanks guys, i found the wristguards we were supplied with last time were like bear traps on my wrists, they were huge and if anything really really annoying. Maybe those lower profile ones you were talking about would be the go. I found myself not putting my hands out first, they would end up just coming to rest on the snow once i slide out or had a fall, at the end of the 2nd day i had taken my wristguards off as they were becoming a terrible burdon on my fun and were starting to rub and wore a little of my rather expensive gloves.

I did find my a$$ and butt were rather sore after the 3-4th day and just falling on them again was very painful, so most of the time i would end up having a 10 min chill session on the snow after each stack

These are the Dakine wrist guards we will be selling this season (snowboard specific for under the glove). I’ve sold these for years and they are the best snowboard-specific wrist guards on the market, in my opinion. I believe they will be selling for $34.95 (you will receive a member discount and free shipping).

Features
• Low profile design for use inside gloves
• Lightweight internal aluminum stay
• Neoprene stretch body for maximum comfort
• Adjustable hook and loop wrist cinch

Shoeless - 07 April 2015 08:09 AM

I did find my a$$ and butt were rather sore after the 3-4th day and just falling on them again was very painful, so most of the time i would end up having a 10 min chill session on the snow after each stack

Haha this is quite normal. It happened to me and probably to most other people on this forum too.

Just keep practicing and soon enough you won’t fall enough for it to be an issue.

I ride with a helmet and gloves with built-in wrist guards.  Occasionally I’ll ride with a butt pad.  I still occasionally find myself falling awkwardly and the wrist guards are good for those situations.

Good advice all ‘round. Helmet, wrist guards (low profile) and bum pad haha. Honestly though, those falls to tailbone in the beginner stages of snowboarding subside reasonably quickly if riding consecutive days imo.. Or atleast that was my experience..

NZ is amazing btw, enjoy!