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General Climbing Discussion

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Wear a helmet? 21-Mar-2003 At 2:35:22 PM oweng

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Another factor in my mind would be cost. For most people starting out climbing that startup cost are pretty high, especially when you dont know for sure if your going to be climbing alot. Your looking at $300 for your basic shoes+harness+chalkbag+belay device type kit, and another $100 on top of that for a helmet seems a lot. Combine this with the fact that most people starting out would have no idea of the inherent risks, so wouldnt deem a helmet essential.

By the time you start knowing enough about the risks your normaly starting to aquire a lead rack, and when faced with the choice of a helmet or a cam, the cam is going to win everytime.

Then youve already been climbing for a year, and never really used a helmet, so your not used to wearing one. Then you start introducing people to climbing, and they see you not wearing a helmet, and it becomes a bit of a vicious cycle.

Id been climbing a couple of years before I finally bought a helmet. It got use in Tassie, and ive used it occasionally in Victoria (Werribe Gorge & Watchtower Face) in spots where ive come to expect a constant rain of debris from above. I noticed when I wore the helmet in Victoria that other climbers tend to be somewhat condesending. This and other reasons have seen the helmet on the shelf for a while. After reading the recent Missing Link & Frog Buttress accident reports, ive made the decision to at least wear it whilst trad leading.

Anyway thats my rambling two cents worth.