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January, 2025

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Helmets Not Working?

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rockySMDross
Posts: 123 - Karma: 439
I call total bullshit on most of this article. I for one Survived a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) Because i had a helmet on. We should not expect that helmets will keep you from getting a head injury. But they will greatly reduce the severity of said injury.

Jan 4 2014 2:38PM
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esotericjive
Posts: 1889 - Karma: 1,445
I too recently survived a TBI because of my helmet. Obviously head injuries happen, but helmets can reduce the severity of the damage
Jan 4 2014 2:45PM
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a_burger
Posts: 5247 - Karma: 20,886
that sensationalism tho



like you can't seriously try and connect the data to helmets not working.
Jan 4 2014 3:18PM
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jordangaebel
Posts: 365 - Karma: 92
lol nytimes
Jan 4 2014 3:29PM
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jensen
Posts: 2576 - Karma: 1,267
How do you know you wouldn't have survived without a helmet on? Do you have a crystal ball?
Jan 4 2014 4:18PM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
hahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahaha
Jan 4 2014 4:32PM
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7springsprod
Posts: 2661 - Karma: 3,181
L0l
Jan 4 2014 4:33PM
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Toaster-Tony
Posts: 3531 - Karma: 5,850
Not wearing a helmet isn't cool anymore. You just look like an idiot if you are throwing/learning big tricks without a helmet.

Take care of your body, you're going to be stuck with it for the rest of your life.
Jan 4 2014 5:00PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37817 - Karma: 125,775
this, mental health is serious shit. take care of ya dome. they don't prevent much but they will sure as shit keep you from being a vegetable
Jan 4 2014 5:15PM
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ggfski42
Posts: 651 - Karma: 700
Who ever wrote that article obviously has never skied. Nothing is going to protect you completely when you smash your fucking head on a rock.
Jan 4 2014 7:12PM
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JAHBRADOR
Posts: 3088 - Karma: 17,724
Not really to do with this thread but I was in Mayrhofen, Austria recently and i was legit the only person wearing a helmet in the park. I really dont care if people do or not because its their decision. However, it seems that lil kids and "teens" seem to think its now "fashionable" not to wear a helmet. Kind of worrying.

tilly hats, tilly hats everywhere.
Jan 4 2014 7:23PM
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gotti
Posts: 4269 - Karma: 4,550
i didnt read the article, but wearing a helmet gives you a sense of security that you can go bigger without getting injured. So more people are trying bigger and more dangerous things but proportionally less are getting seriously injured because of their helmet
Jan 4 2014 7:51PM
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broto
Posts: 9040 - Karma: 25,667
some dude at my hill fell and cracked is helmet in half today. he was walking around the lodge, didn't know who he was or where he was. left in an ambulance lol
Jan 4 2014 7:55PM
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raymondcabral
Posts: 747 - Karma: 1,094
Steve corbett never had a problem with no helmet.




but really, wear a helmet.
Jan 4 2014 8:07PM
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ReptarYolo
Posts: 13 - Karma: 1,026
Who needs helmets when you have swag.

Jan 4 2014 8:08PM
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PureSport
Posts: 77 - Karma: 305
I've crushed a couple helmets with my head. I firmly believe if i wasn't wearing a helmet I wouldn't be making this post right now.
Jan 4 2014 8:10PM
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amo
Posts: 6709 - Karma: 1,248
just wrote the author an email expressing my discontent
Jan 4 2014 8:31PM
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Toaster-Tony
Posts: 3531 - Karma: 5,850
The dude is barely even human. Plus, a headband and a sweet pair of shades compliment quads way better than any helmet.
Jan 4 2014 10:28PM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
post here so I know the format
Jan 5 2014 3:49AM
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SDrvpr
Posts: 851 - Karma: 649
I wear a helmet half the time and have broken 3 of my helmets over the years. While I agree that helmets lower the harm of head injuries, I'd like to point out that too many people on this site seem to think a cracked helmet = a cracked head. The worst injury I've got not wearing a helmet was a minor concussion (first flip off rail attempt, 3 ft drop to ice on head) and the worst I've got wearing a helmet was a minor concussion (caught edge on landing). Please stop forcing helmet use down our throats. If it's your own head, it's your own choice.
Jan 5 2014 4:07AM
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SDrvpr
Posts: 851 - Karma: 649
I wear a helmet half the time and have broken 3 of my helmets over the years. While I agree that helmets lower the harm of head injuries, I'd like to point out that too many people on this site seem to think a cracked helmet = a cracked head. The worst injury I've got not wearing a helmet was a minor concussion (first flip off rail attempt, 3 ft drop to ice on head) and the worst I've got wearing a helmet was a minor concussion (caught edge on landing). Please stop forcing helmet use down our throats. If it's your own head, it's your own choice.
Jan 5 2014 4:08AM
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amo
Posts: 6709 - Karma: 1,248
im not one with words but here's what i said...

To whom it may concern,
I was blown away when I read this. And was even more astounded after finding out that you’re a skier yourself. If you don’t mind my asking, what in the world are you trying to accomplish with this article? I personally know several people who survived a TBI solely because they were wearing a helmet. Think about how many people will see the headline, "Ski Helmet Use Isn’t Reducing Brain Injuries”. Now think about how many of those people will base their decision of whether or not to wear a helmet off of your poorly-titled and seemingly pointless article.
It honestly saddens me that anybody let alone a skier would even think about writing this article. Maybe do some research into how much a helmet affects the survival rate of TBI victims. Unfortunately these days most people will take anything they read - especially something in the NYT - as fact, so with an outlet like that, please be more thoughtful about the ideas you’re spreading. Not trying to bash you, I’m just perplexed about your intentions with this article.

Sincerely, Amos - Skier and Helmet Wearer"
Jan 5 2014 8:47AM
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amo
Posts: 6709 - Karma: 1,248
Thank you for your email. Did you read the article? I researched it quite thoroughly and interviewed the foremost authorities on brain trauma, who con . The point of the article is that helmets are a panacea for brain injuries and in fact more people are getting hurt bc they are taking more risks bc they believe a helmet will save them. The point is that people need to ski more cautiously, take less risks, and know that a helmet is not going to save them from all brain injuries. My hope is that people will take that to heart and ski more safely. I also hope the ski industry at large will examine
their role in promoting a ski culture that glamorizes risk.

Unfortunately, I do not get to title my stories, my editors do. IN addition, my last sentence was a sentence in which Dr. Shealy said that people should no doubt wear helmets but they should also ski with more care. That was edited out by my editor, who is immensely capable and a part of a team who won a Pulitzer prize last year. So I trust his judgement, and I assume he believed that the argument to wear a helmet was inherent in the article.


Best,
Kelley
Jan 5 2014 9:37AM
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StillGhood
Posts: 305 - Karma: 613
I always laugh at kids who don't wear helmets yet they have protective cases on their iPhones.
Jan 5 2014 9:44AM
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linus_deboss
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 1,914
i casually like to give head to rails, wearing a helmet doesn't prevent you from getting the white in your face afterwards but at least it prevents me from bleeding and hurting my head more than necessary...

this article is fuckin total bullshit, someone slap that guy who wrote that article with a rock while he's wearing a helmet, fuckin dipshit
Jan 5 2014 9:46AM
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Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
welp. here we go again!

I'm just going to say i don't wear a helmet and just grew up skiing without one. and i grew up in NJ ironically. maybe my parents should have forced me, maybe i just have to much "swag" or whatever you dumbs kids are calling it. bottom line is its no ones decision but the individuals, and I'm inclined to agree with the false sense of security argument, but hey, guess what, thats just my opinion man!

inevitably, this thread will turn into everyone preaching down to the non-helmet wearers, and us hat wearers defending our idiotic choices. but I'm about to go shred, so have fun with that
Jan 5 2014 9:47AM
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linus_deboss
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 1,914
helmet is just MORE safe, guess this is just going to be a shitstorm on people who say helmet/no helmet doesn't make a difference... no ones gonna preach down your choice, it's your body lol
Jan 5 2014 9:49AM
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StillGhood
Posts: 305 - Karma: 613
Guaranteed this kid has a protective phone case but has too much swag for a helmet LOL
Jan 5 2014 9:50AM
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Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
I'm pretty sure I've been skiing since before you knew what twin tips are.


come to think of it, my phone is probably older than you. stop sounding like a dumbass and throwing wild assumptions out there. have you ever seen me ski?
Jan 5 2014 9:55AM
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StillGhood
Posts: 305 - Karma: 613
Pretty sure I was making twin tips before they existed using a heat gun on my garage. Don't talk to me about how old you are or how old your phone is. You're an idiot, maybe you've taken hits to the some already
Jan 5 2014 9:59AM
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StillGhood
Posts: 305 - Karma: 613
sp Maybe you've taken hits to the dome already

iPhone autocorrect
Jan 5 2014 10:00AM
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Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
hey man, I'm not trying to get into some weird pissing contest with you. for some reason my (an individual you have never met) decision to not wear a helmet is drastically affecting your life. you sound bitter. refer to my original post, and stop trying to stir the pot.
Jan 5 2014 10:08AM
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casual
Posts: 6712 - Karma: 6,751
No, he's right. It's essentially impossible to make a statement about what the outcome "would've been". Is it more likely than not that it did SOME good? Absolutely, no question.

I wear a helmet. However, I don't walk around with a false sense of security thinking that it's a magic forcefield.

Have you ever read the label inside your helmet? If you're not wearing a moto x style/Seth style full-face helmet, the truth is that the helmet is rated to about 20-25mph. It's also good for one SINGLE impact. Do people realize that? So, if you've hit your head, stood up and said, "thank god for my helmet!", I hope you replaced it because that helmet is done—that's whether or not there's visible damage of any kind or not.

The manufacturers straight up admit that the helmets produced for skiing aren't adequate in preventing concussions, brain/brain stem shear injuries, secondary impacts of the brain rebounding against the opposite side of the skull, rotational injuries (I saw some video where POC was testing a helmet designed to combat this specifically, not available I don't think), deceleration injuries, etc. What they do prevent is Lac's and potentially skull fractures....potentially.

So, if you're hitting big kickers, mobbing groomers at 50mph, skiing a tree line, and are convinced that you're good to go, well, you're not.

Everyone's slaying this article, questioning the conclusions, etc. The problem is the author NEVER claims a definitive causal relationship, nor claims that helmets are worthless. The author simply presents that though helmet use is up (I think it said 70% since 03? I didn't reread the article before this post), head injuries remain static. She also points out how advances in equipment, access to more challenging terrain, the development of bigger and faster parks, and the increasing thresh hold of acceptable risk taking in many are all inter-related.

Honestly, if you read that article and your takeaway is "helmet's don't do shit, there's no point in wearing them!" you're fucking stupid. Try reading it again without a scrunched up face and taking it personally because you've been helmet crusading for five years and have convinced yourself that the only reason you're alive is because you wear a helmet.
Jan 5 2014 10:22AM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
Dear Kelley,

Get your mouth off of your editor's junk. He is doing nothing more than making the article not controversial to sell page views for ad revenue.

Worst,
SkierX

As an aside, I highly doubt the link between risk taking and helmet use has a correlation. Bigger, faster, further would be happening helmets or not; it is human nature to want to progress.
Jan 5 2014 10:27AM
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Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
just quoting this, but everything you said is 110% spot on. quality post
Jan 5 2014 10:31AM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
Actually, helmets are rated for impacts that typically occur below 14 mph but you are correct they do a poor job on concussions.

I just don't believe that wearers of helmets are at an increased risk of taking more chances and believe that painting the picture in that manner is sensationalism and an attempt at selling page views for increased ad revenue.
Jan 5 2014 10:35AM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37817 - Karma: 125,775
lol I'm almost positive OP sends it harder than you. I've been there for a few of his crashes and they weren't pretty
Jan 5 2014 11:53AM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,903
Great post. Kind of the same as people who drive Smart Cars on highways when they are rated for a crash of about 45 MPH. Yes, you may be slightly safer than if you wrecked a go cart going 65, but it doesn't mean you are going to be any less dead.

I wear a helmet, but I know that it isn't going to save me if I hit a tree, person or other object above 25 MPH. If you think about it, creating an impact equivalent to 25 MPH isn't that tough.

There is no substitute for a great sense of spacial and air awareness. We learn this as we progress and mess around on tramps, diving boards, foam pits, splash pools, etc. Learning how to fall is key. I know that a reflex that I learned from mini tramps as a kid, has saved me thousands of times more than a helmet ever has.
Jan 5 2014 12:59PM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
I'm not a helmet crusader, I think it's dumb he said "how would you have known". I don't want to test that out. The article is also horse shit, you get one in every paper every single fucking year, from Britain to the US saying "ooh helmets create an environment for u to hurt urself, helmets fault, helmets dont help but they could". Wear what you want I don't care, I just think it's stupid when papers report on equipment they know nothing about, like there was a thing about Coffee the other day, and my dad works in coffee, and he was exclaiming how all the things said were nearly all made up/fabricated. We live in a way too health/safety world, I wear a helmet, I don't care if you don't, but I think a degree of fact has to be seen that Helmets do help protect your head significantly and it is a better decision to plop one on. I also definitely not had hard enough falls to DIEEEEEE, but I've had ones where I FELT as though I would have been worse without a helmet
Jan 5 2014 1:12PM
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SteezNutz
Posts: 71 - Karma: 1,591
I even with some of my mild crashes could have gotten concussions at least, my ass helmets dont work.
Jan 5 2014 1:19PM
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Toaster-Tony
Posts: 3531 - Karma: 5,850
So many butthurt "non-helmet wearers" in this thread. It's kinda sad that's a sect of skiing now. Anyways, no, I don't care that you don't wear a helmet, but if you begin to argue a helmet doesn't make you safer, it just sounds stupid.
Jan 5 2014 1:39PM
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linus_deboss
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 1,914
give this man a cookie, he so deserves it!
Jan 5 2014 1:57PM
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ES.
Posts: 160 - Karma: 1,367
wore a helmet today, caught an edge, got a concussion going like 10 mph
Jan 5 2014 7:36PM
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steezburgereddie
Posts: 1059 - Karma: 1,945
More skiers/snowboarders = more head injuries
Jan 5 2014 8:39PM
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Seth.S
Posts: 630 - Karma: 1,631
A helmets first job is to protect against SKULL FRACTURES. NOT brain injuries. They do a little to prevent brain injuries, but not a whole lot.
Jan 5 2014 10:17PM
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skicowboy
Posts: 775 - Karma: 873
Seems like a missed yet important part for the article is the future of helmet evolution. The rotational force mentioned by the doctor is being addressed by POC with their MIPS helmets, the Fornix MIPS and Receptor Backcountry MIPS. I ended up buying the Receptor Backcountry this year because it's one of the few true multi impact helmets and has the MIPS technology. I've sustained only one major head injury skiing, but several when I played rugby in high school. I know $250 in the US and $300 in Canada is a steep price for a helmet, but I'm wearing mine for safety, not style, and an investment in a helmet could be an investment in your life.
Jan 6 2014 4:01PM
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Brule.
Posts: 3965 - Karma: 6,534
This might answer what you're looking for. Clip is at 9:57

Also, this comes to show that there are some people that know what's behind brain injuries and what people like the guys at POC and MIPS are doing to make helmets the safest in the market in the action sports industry and other sports.

SCIENCE!
Jan 6 2014 4:46PM
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