Brainbucket or no brainbucket?

I do not wear a helmet for most of my climbing, multi pitch trad included.

Absolutely never wear a helmet for skiing.

Craig Martin wrote:A friend of mine got lowered off the end of his rope during a TR session. He fell 30' or 40' tumbling down a slab. He had numerous injuries, mostly minor. He was wearing a helmet and it may have saved his life or at least prevented more serious injury. Shit happens. Wearing a helmet might just save your ass some day.

Great job of making Chuck's point!

Reminds me of the phenomenon of "safer" cars resulting in more dangerous/aggressive driving. Can a helmet contribute to a false sense of security that results in a lowered guard? I know I bonk my head like crazy when I'm wearing a helmet; I assume due to obstructed vision and altered spatial awareness, but perhaps sub-consciously I'm just not paying as much attention.

chuck claude wrote: With or without a brain bucket, the biggest asset it what happens between the ears.

+1

Mark Nelson, in A good question to ask: Turn your beacon off; would you still travel in certain terrain conditions?

Brian in SLC, also in if you think you "need" a beacon for snowy mountaineering gigs, then, maybe what you really need is a better knowledge of avy terrain and ability to access conditions. A beacon is a piece of extra gear and only useful for when you've lost the avy game

I would make the same argument here: if a helmet is your only line of defense against rockfall and bad lead falls, you need to question your decision-making. They make for a good "last line of defense" just like avy beacons, but also like beacons, they are only helpful in particular situations, and certainly do not guard against all the dangers of falling debris and head impacts. So, I sometimes use one as a matter of due course or if a partner wants me to, but if I'm not comfortable doing the route without a helmet, I won't do it with one.

I wear one for alpine rock and ice. The older I get the more I feel like I should wear one all the time; one with a face shield 'cause if I get hit with anything it's usually in my face!!!

The newer, lighter, lower profile helmets I think lend to wearing one all the time. But like soloing & what type of gear you use it's a matter of personal preference.

To me, climbing is all about risk management. Anything I can do quickly and easily to increase the margin of safety, I do (e.g. tying stopper knots for rappels, using redundant slings to anchor in, using an autoblock while rappeling, etc.). Wearing a helmet certainly falls into that category.

It's odd. I'd never ride my bike without a helmet but you'll rarely catch me with one climbing.

I think alot of has to do with what you're used to, who you climb with and where you climb. I've done lots of stuff in the Sierra, the Captain without a helmet and never thought about it. However, I did wear one on Clyde Minaret, which has looser rock, and will likely wear it on future Sierra climbs. Even though the folks I climb with are really good and conscious about inadvertantly dislodging junk, I just figure why not.

I made the mistake of not wearing one ice climbing but only once. I was dodging so much falling ice from the leader that my arms, knees and shins got lots of nasty hits as I leaned back and forth to protect my head. Never do that again.

I have to agree that it shouldn't be the folks with the less than admirable safety practices who dictate what should or shouldn't be done. Their time would likely be better spent going over their systems to prevent foreseeable errors than relying on a helmet as insurance for their bad practices.

Matt Toensing wrote:I've had a rock fall and break my helmet when it hit me (BD half dome, saved my life but POS broke as well).

Dude it is supposed to break. It is called single impact for a reason. The breaking of the helmet absorbs the forces of the impact instead of transfering it into your head.

I've had a ski helmet and a bike helmet save my life. For climbing I always wear one. It's absorbed a few small impacts by falling rock and protects very well from inadvertant head to rock contact. It seems like I'm always hitting my head on the wall when I climb.

Monomaniac wrote: Reminds me of the phenomenon of "safer" cars resulting in more dangerous/aggressive driving.

Accident rates for automobiles have been decreasing as cars have been safer, so there is a net improvement.

Cell phones may change that.

I used to only wear it leading sport. Now I wear it all the time including belaying.

I was lead belaying in AR when I thought I heard a rock break. I look up to see it about 15 feet above me. I slide to the right and lock off. The rock crashes down on my rope bag about two feet away from me.

It looked like my bag got hit with a shotgun. It actually melted the nylon in places.

Turns out he was reaching above his head and pulled a hold off. It bounced off his leg first then kept falling. If it wasn't for the rock hitting his leg first I wouldn't have had time to move.

I had just led the climb minutes before him. It was an area that is well climbed. Magoo Rock at HCR.

After that happening...I wear a helmet at all times now.

Rock fall at HCR.

Mostly I do multi-pitch trad so I'm used to wearing a helmet all day. I used to only wear one when I was leading but now I wear it anytime I climb or belay. One of the few times I wasn't wearing a helmet I decked and as a result I have a permanent dent in my left cheekbone. I understand why people don't wear one for sport or TR but even if you aren't at risk for rockfall you can always get hit by a rope or piece of falling gear.

Every time I climb.

I used to only wear a helmet for trad climbing, and not often for sport climbing. Now, however, I ALWAYS wear it climbing (except bouldering of course). I figure it's an incredibly easy way to prevent one of the worst and most devestating types of injuries. I have seen big chunks of rock pulled off and dropped at places where you wouldn't really think to worry about that (Shelf Road and the Red River Gorge). It's taken some effort to make myself wear it sport climbing, but now I'm used to it and its no big deal.

Craig Martin wrote: Off topic is right....and a dick thing to say. But since you asked..... 2 climbers(1 belaying, 1 leading) start up a single pitch route that starts on a ledge 30' above the ground. At the top of the pitch the leader gets lowered back to the ledge and the follower goes up and cleans the route. At the top of the route the follower decides to move up about 30' to a tree anchor that will give them access to a new line that they want to try and toprope. He sets the anchor and gets lowered all the way to the ground skipping the ledge that they started off of. Now the second climber starts toproping the pitch from the ledge. When he reaches the anchor he askes to get lowered. While lowering he skips the starting ledge and wants to be lowered to the ground. This is where shit goes wrong and they run out of rope with out the belayer noticing.

And you make my point again.

This is where shit goes wrong and they run out of rope with out the belayer noticing.

whoa...Watch those rope ends; a helmet won't save you in all cases of rope mismanagement...not trying to be cute or dickish, just an observation.

Dan Michaels accident (eons ago, it feels like now) always has been a severe reminder of a belayer "not noticing". I don't climb with the local cat who has twice lowered people off the ends, even though he's a superb climber....

I got into the habit of always wearing a helmet at the crag when some rock came down near me at a sport crag. Of course, my helmet was in my pack at the time.

I wish I was wearing my helmet (the Grovel) on my ankle a week ago at the base of Lotta Balls Wall when a party above (and well to the side) knocked off a rock which subsequently landed right between my partner and I. It exploded and the shrapnel got him in the back, me in the wrist and ankle (Lotta Blood). The ankle is still quite sore and I'm concerned that there may have been moderately serious damage to a tendon.

We actually weren't wearing our helmets at all because we had just arrived not 10 minutes earlier. You can be sure that changed in a hurry...

Helmets

You know, despite my earlier statement about not wearing a helmet sport climbing, I did manage to get beaned in the head while TRing someone at the Apes Wall in Malibu Creek. A rock about the size of a small paper weight tagged me right on top of the head.

The guy I was belaying said he didn't pull anything off (and I believe him), so it was likely a climber or even a hiker who knocked or kicked something off the top. It hurt like a mother. No concussion though it bleed like a mother. Other folks there said like it looked like I had just gone through some ritual bloodletting ceremony.

In other words, even though I wasn't at fault, I still got tagged. That's worth remembering. That's the same reason I always wear a helmet on my road bike. I'm not concerned about falling. I'm worried about that knucklehead driver behind texting or changing the CDs.

Well my partner would probably be dead if he didn't wear a helment when he dislodged a 4 foot block. He still end up with 6 staples in his head.

I agree that helmets suck to wear but they have save my ass a couple of times.

I look like a complete tool in a helmet. I have a big round face and the helmet just makes it worse. That being said, I wear one more or less all the time. I think I forgot to grab it once on TR, but it was non-intentional.

Also, FWIW, I have been hit by rock while belaying, bonked my head in a chimney, and had an abrupt encounter with a few overhangs, so maybe it's right that greater safety equipment encourages recklessness...

Nah, I'm just wicked clumsy.