Full face helmet safety issue

Wow: die or live with a smashed-in face. Hmmmm,,,, what to do, what to
do....

Somehow the idea of using one's face as a shock absorber to protect
one's brain is not appealing.

--
U-Turn - Member of Generation XO

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.

'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)

'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)

'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)

-- Dave Stockton
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U-Turn said:

*Somehow the idea of using one's face as a shock absorber to protect
one's brain is not appealing. *

maybe not, but I knew someone who lost his life in a motorcycle crash
because he was wearing a full face helmet

--
theamazingmolio - A Unicylist, a juggler, and a prat

Luke Duller ([email hidden])
Never trust anything you read on the internet
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All safety issues involve an element of balancing conflicting
objectives. For example, the many benefits of wearing a seatbelt in a
car must be weighed against the risks of bruised or cracked ribs,
exacerbation of whiplash injuries to the neck, and even the (remote)
risk of being trapped in the vehicle.

Similarly, the extra weight of a helmet can exacerbate neck injuries in
an accident, or can trasmit the force to different areas. Wristguards
can increase the risk of shoulder injuries... and so on.

In sports, one of the compromises is between enjoyment and safety. An
element of controlled risk is part of the fun for rock climbers, divers,
motorsports enthusiasts and even extreme unicyclists.

I suffered a very unpleasant MUni fall without a full face helmet. I
thought I'd broken my chin, but I hadn't. I did break a tooth in half,
and I needed 7 stitches to my chin. I believe that a full face helmet
would have prevented both components of that particular injury, without
causing a different injury instead. I could be wrong - I'll never know
- but I was there and I know what I think.

My instinct and experience tell me that most unicycle accidents will be
at speeds of less than about 15 mph (25 kph) and most injuries will be
chips or cracks to bones, and cuts or tears to the skin.

On this basis, I think a helmet is a good investment, and I personally
choose to wear a full face helmet for MUni, Cokering or road riding, and
a normal helmet for less extreme stuff.

It's up to others to make their own decisions.

I would say, in general terms, that it is dangerous to look for evidence
or reports which support your own preferences or preconceptions. We'd
all prefer to ride with the wind in our hair (while stocks last) so we
might be tempted to give too much weight to reports which show how
dangerous helmets are. We mostly prefer not to look like Imperial
Stormtroopers, so we might be tempted to give too much credence to
reports which say that full face helmets are "dangerous".

Unicycling is not motorcycling. However, if the comparison must be
made, note that all GP and WSB riders wear full face helmets, many fall
off, and few die. (Too many, but relatively few.)

--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

Some days you're the fly; some days you're the windscreen. When you're
the fly, you get to eat [censored].
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Mikefule said:

*We'd all prefer to ride with the wind in our hair (while stocks last)
so we might be tempted to give too much weight to reports which show
how dangerous helmets are. *

Aren't you afraid that the wind will blow off some of your hair? That's
the -REAL- reason I wear one! 😉 😄 :eek:

--
brian.slater - Nellfurtiti, the Wonder Cat

Brian C. Slater
AKA: Snoopy

Ok, I am now officially in my normal state of -advanced- confusion.
Don't try to confuse me, it won't make any difference.

"To not decide is to decide" - undecided
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theamazingmolio said:

*I knew someone who lost his life in a motorcycle crash because he was
wearing a full face helmet *

I'm very sorry about your friend or acquaintance. I have a close family
member who died in a car accident, even though he was wearing a
seatbelt. Apples and oranges, but just to let you know I've been
there.

Was this a situation where the rider would have survived with no helmet,
or with a 3/4 or other helmet type? Most people who lose their lives in
motorcycle crashes do so because of the crash, though is a small
percentage of cases the helmet could do more harm than good. The same
can be true with seatbelts, especially in side impacts. But this does
not mean don't wear seatbelts. It does mean don't get hit from the side
if you can help it though.

Same thing is true on a motorcycle. The danger is in the kinetic
energies involved, and the fact that the rider is relatively
unprotected. The best protected part of nearly all motorcycle riders is
their head.

As for unicycles, I haven't seen much use of full face helmets, though
their use will surely increase as more riders get into more dangerous
terrain. We unicyclists are perhaps more likely to fall on our chins and
lower face areas than a bicyclist, who is more likely to come over the
handlebars onto the top of their head or similar.

--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not
because they are easy, but because they are hard." -- John F. Kennedy,
1961
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he would most likely have survived with an open-face helmet on, but full
face helmets have also saved many people as well when wearing an open
faced helmet would have seen them dead.
Some of the things we do are dangerous, and there is no single way of
removing all that danger- you have to look at all the risks first, look
at ways of reducing them and then see if you still want to do it.

--
theamazingmolio - A Unicylist, a juggler, and a prat

Luke Duller ([email hidden])
Never trust anything you read on the internet
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