Comment by honkycat | Hacker News Reader

Comment by honkycat | Hacker News Reader

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I like skateboarding a lot, watch a lot of videos on youtube. I admire Tony Hawk because you NEVER see him without his helmet.

But I watch other skate videos, and people will forego their helmets. i watched one taking place in New York City where a dude was jumping down a flight of stairs, crashed, and slammed his noggin on the ground, out cold. And then he took a break, went back to it, and landed the trick.

And everyone was cheering him on and acting like he was a hero for recovering. It was like watching a cult. I think he is a fucking idiot! If he was wearing a helmet there would not have BEEN an injury. Wear a helmet and you won't get a concussion!

If you are a professional skater who chooses not to wear a helmet and encourages that culture, how many people have to get hurt before you consider it a worthy topic of discussion?

The solution here: Thrasher, Berrics, etc. refuse to show videos of photos with people performing without a helmet. That would clean it up overnight.

Oh boy you are gonna love Andy Anderson. Check out his Powell video. He is incredibly creative in his skating and you will never see him without his helmet.

Howevee as a skater myself I would rather wear a helmet on my bicycle than on my skateboard. I skate mostly flat and do things that I can more or less control. I didn't git my head in 12+ years of akating once and I am not planning to start now.

If I would try crazier things, skate bowls or vert ramps I'd definitely reconsider : )

fwiw Andy has had some brutal head injuries. He wears the helmet because of his uniquely high risk

Still love that he has put so much work into normalizing the helmet, even spinning up a new brand and helmet style that's much less hideous. Tbh I don't even notice the helmet when I watch him skate

Yeah if you are not getting any kind of air you are probably fine without a helmet.

Reminds me of the "I Love Helmets" video which is a positive example.

https://youtu.be/b9yL5usLFgY

I got doored super hard commuting on my bike one day, I was on the pavement out cold for a few seconds. If I didn't have a helmet on, I would be dead. It is just common sense. You have to be such a fucking FOOL to go without one.

I think this comment sums up Americas obsession with helmets very well.

When I used to skate years ago I wore a helmet and those wrist guards. I never manage to test the helmet, but those wrist guards got a heck of a workout. I'm sure they saved me from many of broken wrists until I learned to fall better (tuck and roll).

Wrist guards are really underrated. I do a bit of onewheeling and almost everyone uses them there. Being able to slide out a fall on your wrists means you can keep vital areas away from impact, without destroting your hands. It also helps keep the arm relaxed on impact, which helps to avoid broken collar bones.

Tuck and roll is a vital skill, but there are situations where that's just not possible.

Helmets aren't tested to prevent concussions, and looking at football, certainly not capable either.

Football is similar to boxing, the helmets don't help because the concussion results from your brain rattling around in your skull, and which cannot be prevented in that sport.

It is a different situation, though, the helmets in football have evolved into weapons people use to slam their head into their opponents as hard as possible. People have argued LESS protection would be better, because it would change the way the game is played.

The same incentive does not exist in skateboarding, however. You want to land the trick, not hit someone with your helmet. Additionally, even if the helmet does not prevent a concussion, it will keep you from cracking your head open on the pavement.

Skate helmets lessen shock leading to concussions, even if they are not tested/rated for that. Football's issue is different as the helmet leads to more/harder head-first hits.

Also football helmets are designed for multiple hits to the same location... where as bike/skate helmets are designed to absorb a single blow and be discarded.

While true, helmets do prevent other types of injuries such as skull fractures. They're still worth wearing.

The solution is to bring in more school marms?

So encouraging playing a sport in a safe way === school marm nannying?

People get CTE from extreme sports, Dave Mirra being a famous example. I think playing the sport safely is something that should be encouraged.

Let's zoom out a bit: in general, do you think companies should be encouraged to promote using their products in a way that's more dangerous that necessary if it looks cooler?

I wouldn't support a law requiring skateboard companies to use gear in their ads, but I do think that applying pressure to get them to show gear makes sense.

Eh i wouldnt support a hard rule.

Likely I'd appeal to moms after I got the cool kids though, social media style.

> 1. (US, slang) A woman who is a teacher, especially a teacher in a schoolhouse; may carry the connotation she is severe and/or a spinster.

> 2. (by extension) A person, of any gender, who exhibits characteristics attributed to schoolteachers of the old times, such as strict enforcement of arbitrary rules.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schoolmarm#English ('marm' being apparently a (US only?) variant of 'ma'am')

[NB, delightfully, and presumably unrelatedly (though not listed as a separate etymology):

> 3. (forestry) A tree with two or more trunks; a forked tree.

]

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