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Helmets in an era of laissez-faire haute couture 12-Sep-2006 At 3:37:13 PM maxots

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On 28/08/2006 bluey wrote:
>Climbers claim to be laissez-faire about their fashion sense (unless you're
>into the whole fluoro lycra thing) and yet seem to care about the fact
>that a helmet just doesn't contribute to the "look". I do note, however,
>the exception of those guys who made it onto pic of the week last year
>doing aid-climbing in daisy-adorned head protection. Now that's laissez-faire.

Personally I wear my helmet everytime I go climbing, and I've lost count of the number of times it
has (literally) saved my life. That said, I don't go sport climbing very much...

I think in the majority of climbng situations wearing a helmet really is a good idea, the only times I
would consider not wearing one being when climbing overhung sport routes on good solid rock.
Whilst I agree that each climber should be free to make his/her own decision, the arguments that
come up against wearing a helmet really bug me.

- they make you look like an idiot > who cares? (anyway see above photo for proof that you can
climb hard and be stylin' the whole way!

- they are too hot! > is this really that much of a concern? many modern helmets are well
ventilated (eg petzl meteor) I honestly dont understand this....

- they are too heavy! > what? flash pump in your neck? again petzl meteor (v light)

- it is inconvenient!!!! > ha ha ha!!! it takes 30 seconds to put on a helmet! it is not that hard to
remember, do you forget your 'insert any other peice of climbing kit you need'

- it is more pleasant to climb without > sure it is!!! but I don't think this argument would hold much
wieght if your best friend died from a falling rock while at arapiles.

Like I say, it's each persons choice whether they wear a helmet, and I have never told another
climber "you should be wearing a hlemet" but it does seem to make sense!

(de ja vu > I believe I may have had this rant before on a similar thread!)

climb safe
peace and love
max

(edited multiple times, because I'm not HTML literate!)