Rom Skatepark is now helmet compulsory

[superbikedan]

All good points Rob (even if i do think I'd rather hit my head on the ground IN a pisspot, than without one).

What about a "real" open face helmet Rob? Like we all had back in the 80s.

Like Billy BMX, SBD's boy always used to wear a fullface BELL MOTO, Now wears what looks like a snowboard helmet, Not seen him to ask him what promted the change.

i can answer that mate, basicaly billy has been wearing a full face since he was 12 and thats all he new, a few months back it was time for

a new one and we couldnt find the one he wanted anywhere, stodgy spoke to bell and even they couldnt get it so for a quick fix he went for the open

face but wrapps around his ears and since the first day he said he couldnt believe how comfortable it felt and believe it or not, secure, what amazes me

is if hes not wearing any protection he wont do any big tricks but with his new one he's full on so i think it's in the mind, if you feel protected than

thats whats important

[TwoBobRob]

Sorry chaps, had to pop out...

Right.

There's a couple of seperate issues here.  <al murray>  this appears to be a 4 pint problem. The point is this;

Alex, yep, Arai do a lovely open face lid, and indeed when I originally came back in '94 I rode a cheapish motorcycle open face lid while I saved up for the Arai, but then it became a moot point as there were no helmet compulsory parks around that I was riding.  Had my Simpson MX fullface for vert.

This is not the issue for me.

The vast majority of bad bmx slams  i.e. the ones that knock us out, spill blood and leave marks, the slams are faceplants. Watch any slam section and have a count up.  There isn't an openface in the world thats going to help. Ron Wilkerson amongst others will confirm this for us.

To combat this, fashion demands a gumshield these days.  I think we'll all agree this is lip service at best. Excuse the pun.

We're talking about me, and specifically me.  My riding is limited, and I'm often criticised for riding too safe, not taking any risks.  Anyone who's spent any time with me at Charlton might disagree however, I've spent plenty of time on the floor of that place.  But at 44 years old and 16+ stone, I am the master of self preservation and the tuck n roll.

I am my own safety officer, as we all are, and I assess my own risks.

So, to answer questions specifically,  I don't run an openface motorcycle lid as in truth the only big slam it's going to save me from would a massive blunt on something and my repaired leg is still learning to fakie again, so that trick is off the table.

It could be argued that a pisspot is better than nothing, but it must be viewed in context;  I've scratched my head once in 29 years where I can honestly say a pisspot would have prevented it. I'll take those odds.  

If I were just starting out as a rider, I'd wear a fullface permanently.

To clarify, now Rom is helmet compulsory, I will wear a pisspot. In my eyes, I'm still riding lidless and therefore will ride accordingly, within my limits.

[Flatcap]

We're talking about me, and specifically me

Oooooh, get her, it's always got to be about you, hasn't it!?!? 

Daz.

[TwoBobRob]

Let's not talk about me eh?

Let's talk about you.......


What do you think of me?   

[Kaner]

I fell off and cracked my piss pot helmet in half, I can honestly say it saved my life, I'm all for them.

[brettypeeps]

To be honest I am surprised that all skateparks aren't helmet compulsory in today's health and safety era. 

I have just moved from a pi55 pot to a full faced and to be honest I am not getting big air or anything it is just incase. When Bill Stupple came of at Corby with a helmet on and walk away fine, after the whack his helmet had. I was almost calling an ambulance. Helmets make good sense IMO

[SaMAlex]

Pisspot lids were never, ever designed to protect us from blunt force trauma. There were intially designed to protect the wearer from small objects falling from above. Skaters started to wear them to protect themselves from getting nailed on the melon by their own board after hitting eject in a pool or some such

Although I can believe this, surely it has to be very old piss pots, with plastic inners (like builders hard hats). New piss pot helmets have that high dens foam, and must pass some tests. I know that they do bugger all if you fall on your face (esp if they are perched on the back of your head like SO many cyclist on the road have them) but from a small fall, side or rear impact they've gotta be worth wearing?

fashion demands a gumshield these days.  I think we'll all agree this is lip service at best.

They might help stop your teeth pushing tho your lips when you get smacked by a fist/foot/something soft, but (as that article in RIDE proved) wont stop your teeth getting smashed out

[TwoBobRob]

You're right Alex. 

I can't argue with those points apart from the side impact.  (I've seen plenty of knockouts from a hit to the temple).  Yeah,  pisspots do pass some safety standards these days.  I stand to be corrected on this, but I'm pretty sure that the nice comfortable lids with the squishy liner that everyone wants to wear are actually only watersports approved, but they meet a standard of some sort so are legal to sell.

I fell off and cracked my piss pot helmet in half, I can honestly say it saved my life, I'm all for them.

That's a beautiful case in point.  In your eyes you wore a lid and it saved you.  From what you've said, in my eyes you wore the wrong lid and it failed, and you were very very lucky. 

[Flatcap]

Let's not talk about me eh?

Let's talk about you.......


What do you think of me?   

 

[SaMAlex]

I'm pretty sure that the nice comfortable lids with the squishy liner that everyone wants to wear are actually only watersports approved, but they meet a standard of some sort so are legal to sell.

Yeah, I heard that the hard foam (polystyrene) Piss Pots are the safer "BS approved" ones. Not as nice to wear as the soft foam ones, but safer* if you actually need it.



*Obviously I only mean relatively safer. Not safer than a full face, or an open face Motorbike helmet when worn with a kick boxing gum guard

[TwoBobRob]

 


Safe safe safe safe safe........ safe safe safe........ safe safe....


And

Safe.


Fcuk it.  I'm going out next time wrapped in cotton wool 

But then, would that make my bum look big?

[Kaner]

That's a beautiful case in point.  In your eyes you wore a lid and it saved you.  From what you've said, in my eyes you wore the wrong lid and it failed, and you were very very lucky. 
[/quote]


Surely it was perfect and displaced the energy from squashing my head and put it into the helmet; destroying its self?  Similar to the way crumple zones in a car work?

I agree though . . . I was very very lucky.

[JT71]

okay, am I being dumb here...are there two different types of pisspot?

I figured they were all some sort of hard plastic (okay, technically not plastic, but you get my drift right?) shell with polystyrene inner with some thin foam "comfort pads"

is this not the case? is there a different sort?

man, i love good discussion, once this thread is done I'm going to find some other cans of worms to help open up!

Rob: what about snowboarding? you don't wear a lid, but man, when i went over backwards on a piste flat on my back head to the icy snow i was glad i had my lid on.
(i know this is a bmx forum. lol)

[TwoBobRob]

Kaner - you're nearly there mate.  All crash helmets are supposed to adsorb energy, exactly like a crumple zone.  However, what's supposed to happen is the hard inner high density foam is supposed to do the absorbing, saving your noggin. Thereafter, that lid is scrap as there will forever more be a compressed area of hi-den foam at that point of impact.

Take another hit in that same area, and the danger of lights out are greatly increased.

Cheap polycarb motorcycle lids are a single use item, even if only dropped they are potentially useless.


Joe - yep - there are two different pisspots out there. One has a very hard polystyrene inner with a foam comfort liner, the other has a soft low density foam rubber inner with that same comfort liner. The latter is the watersports one I believe, and is quite comfortable to wear.

As for snowboarding, I fully intend to wear a lid from now on. I was looking at them earlier this year actually.   The slams are totally different mate. My snow slams tend to be tumbling affairs and I'm concerned about whats under the snow. I have however, knocked myself out once in a slam the same as you're describing....

[SaMAlex]

okay, am I being dumb here...are there two different types of pisspot?

Yes. The main 2 types are:

Plastic outer shell  - polystyrene inner (quite hard but I guess its some kind of "impact" stuff) - soft foam pads "comfort pads"

Plastic outer shell  - Dense inner foam (Foam, nice and comfy) - soft foam pads "comfort pads"


ProTecs in the 80s had the comfy inner foam. The newer (And safer?) helmets have the harder polystyrene inner.

[Flatcap]

So basically, what you're saying is, we've got to wear a helmet at Rom?!?!

Just so I know.

Daz.