Helmets..Yes or No?
I ride with a few people that only wear a helmet in certain situations.
I feel that you’re either a person that uses a helmet or a rider that dont.I mean If I decided to not wear one when riding deep pow… I’ll still end up in the trees sooner or later, ya know.
I agree - seems a bit of a pain to wear your helmet for some things and not for others! It would make more logistical sense to wear it all the time or not at all.
For the non-helmet wearing brigade - whilst it is the rider’s decision to wear a lid or not, I am curious to know the reasons as to WHY you elect not to wear one. Those reasons could be as simple as “I can’t afford one”, etc
Am definately not having a go at anyone, I am just trying to get an understanding the reasoning behind the decision not to wear one (as well as generate some healthy discussion!).
In answer to the above (and snowsliders) question, I personally (last year anyway) wore a (borrowed) helmet when i knew i would be going into the park, but didn’t when i wasn’t planning on going there…
My reasons for it were mainly confidence-based - I don’t know whether it actually made a difference but I felt confident enough to try some things I maybe wouldn’t have tried if I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but it was only when I was trying to progress what I was doing (in the park especially) that I felt like safe would be better than sorry…I didn’t find it too uncomfortable outside the park so ended up wearing it for basically full days anyway…
don’t know if that makes sense but yeah…
on a side note, for the helmet wearers, are there any helmets that you have found that don’t make you look like a special ed kid? could be just what i look like anyway, but i tried on various RED and other brand helmets today (wore a borrowed skycap last year) and it may have just been that I was without goggs etc but they all made me look…well yeah…
it was more of a curiosity mission than anything but if anyone had tried/have any i dunno…lower profile(?) helmets that come down a bit further and avoid the mushroom head look…I am open to suggestions 
on a side note, for the helmet wearers, are there any helmets that you have found that don’t make you look like a special ed kid? could be just what i look like anyway, but i tried on various RED and other brand helmets today (wore a borrowed skycap last year) and it may have just been that I was without goggs etc but they all made me look…well yeah…
it was more of a curiosity mission than anything but if anyone had tried/have any i dunno…lower profile(?) helmets that come down a bit further and avoid the mushroom head look…I am open to suggestions
+1 and I both have the Giro Fuse helmet - super comfy and light - I don’t think it looks bulky. A few friends have the Giro Fuse also - when I look at them I certainly don’t think they look retarded :-)
cheers kort, will check that one out when I can…I am heading to melbourne early August so hopefully there is a Giro retailer there that I would be able to scope out…
Nothing of the sort here in Adelaide unfortunately…closest is the 2 Burton dealers who by default carry RED…
No worries mate. Have definitely seen them in a few shops in Sydney. Am guessing there would have to be some retaillers here in Melbourne who would stock them also 
Yep wear a helmet - have RED, before that a Pryme
saw a young girl shreading it up in piper park at perisher, getting her groove on pretty much all day
came up one chair lift and saw her prone on the ground getting wrapped up for the blood bucket
scary stuff - hit her head on the box she was riding - no helmet :(
I wear a helmet but my head is not what I fear hurting most of the time.
It’s more my arms or shoulders, or just falling my hip or butt and getting pounded as I hit the ground. Never my head.
Low profile helmets?
Try them on is the only way to really tell.
Of course bring your goggles to the store as well to make sure it all fits, and there is minimal or NO gap between helmet and goggle on your forehead (gaper gap), avoid the gaper gap.
You’d think RED helmets and ANON goggled would work best but that is not always true. a lot of it depends on your head.
Try it on and that’s the only way to tell.
I do think that GIRO makes the lightest helmets on teh market, but RED isnt heavy at all. It’s not noticeable… like driving with a seat belt on, you notice it at first, but get used to it quickly.
yeah fair point on the actual injury thing - again i think it was more of a psych thing than anything…
and i figured trying them on would be the best way of finding out what is right for me…the post before yours prompted me that the other one i tried on today was a pryme that was the worst fit of the lot
and the gaper gap (or avoidance thereof) is definitely high on the priority list 
+1 had the gaper gap problem with a particular set of goggles. Solution was to wear a thin skull cap. We have gotten her new goggles since then which eliminated the need for the skull cap but at the time, it was a good, cheap and easy solution.
I very rarely go without a helmet. After having a brother in a coma for 3wks with a head injury it wasnt really even something that i had to think about…... (should i look like a ‘mushroom head’ or should i risk being a mushroom head? ).
I always laugh about how much Australians worry about what they look like on the slopes….95% of us are kooks anyway and having a cool beanie on isnt going to make your riding look any better.
The typical senario goes something along the lines of .....new guests enter lodge where im working, first day morning getting ready to go out them: ” oh haha you wear a helmet? me: yeah you should to them : ‘ooh nah they look funny and i dont need one’
then later you see them on the slopes and they are busting huge ‘straight airs’ and catching edges….ill never quite get the reasoning.
Is it really that uncool to wear a helmet? When you see a cyclist with one on, do you think it looks bad? I wear a full face one when riding my mountain bike doing downhill and a normal one for xc. I dont think i go as fast on my bike as on my snowboard but would never ride the terrain i do without one. Helmets for snowboarding are nothing compared to a full face weight wise. I have a mate who cant ride any more after too many concussions….i know what i would rather.
It is not only Australians that are concerned with ow they look on the hill.
Another reason I began to wear a helmet is to feel like I am doing my part to improve the stereotype of snowboarders on the hill.
I think this is less and less and less, but that some see us as wreckless and dangerous, right.
I think that beginning to wear a helmet and influence others to do that shows we care…
Also being a snowboard instructor I think it looks professional when in uniform, and says something to the guests that safety is important to me.
Actually, I went the last couple seasons without wearing my helmet, not the best idea.
Strangely enough, although I’m probably going far faster on a snowboard than a bike, I always wear one while biking. But it’s quite rare for people to wear helmets while biking where I live, which I totally cannot understand. I rode out one day last June and within 800 m of starting out, I was sideswiped by a car, had I not been wearing a helmet, I would have been finished.
For the non-helmet wearing brigade - whilst it is the rider’s decision to wear a lid or not, I am curious to know the reasons as to WHY you elect not to wear one. Those reasons could be as simple as “I can’t afford one”, etc
Am definately not having a go at anyone, I am just trying to get an understanding the reasoning behind the decision not to wear one (as well as generate some healthy discussion!).
i don’t wear one for a combination of reasons, in no particular order: they feel clonky on my head and i don’t feel natural while i’m riding when i have one on. i’d only lose it taking it on and off all the time, and i look rediculous in them! I have a red RED one and when i put it on i feel this strange sensation that i should be racing round bowsers castle or something!
i don’t wear one for a combination of reasons, in no particular order: they feel clonky on my head and i don’t feel natural while i’m riding when i have one on. i’d only lose it taking it on and off all the time, and i look rediculous in them! I have a red RED one and when i put it on i feel this strange sensation that i should be racing round bowsers castle or something!
hmm, having it feeling “clonky” on your head would def. put a number of people off - perhaps your helmet doesn’t fit you right? For me, I tried on a number of helmets before I found one that fitted just right. I also made sure my helmet was light enough - If the helmet was the weight of an anvil, I would be put off also 
I think helmets are pretty hard to lose - I only take it off at lunchtime - I throw my gloves into the helmet-I am certainly not going to forget my gloves when I go out after lunch, plus hopefully your mates will subtely remind you if you did forget anything
For me, I value my head over what people think I look like. I actually think my helmet looks quite good! Certainly noone has ever said anything to the contrary - even if they did, I would not care - water off a ducks back really.
As for “racing round bowsers castle”, you just gotta reduce the number of hours you are playing the Nintendo Wii :D