Re: Helmets

["superpat" <superpat@gateway.net>]

forgive me if this has already been sent. I am having some problems with the
ole computer.
----- Original Message -----
From: superpat <superpat@gateway.net>
To: <guest@endurance.net>; <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 7:32 PM
Subject: Re: Helmets


> kat writes:
> > Let me see if I can explain it to you.  You say that you don't
> > care what the chances are, if you could suffer a serious head
> > injury you would wear a helmet.  But unless you wear your helmet
> > in the shower--this is just plain false. People have been known
> > to slip and fall in the shower and sustain serious head injuries.
>
> My shower floor has never "spooked" from under my feet. It has never done
a
> sommersault and thrown me to the floor.
> If that had been the case, or if that were even a probability, Koheler
would
> be selling and the public buying "shower helmets"
>
>
> > Because, in the situation of wearing helmets (for any activity),
> > the chances of sustaining a serious head injury are
> > unquantifiable, people must make "judgements under uncertainty."
>                                       and
> people systematically overestimate the chances of something
> > happening if they have just recently seen it happen or heard
> > about it happenning.
>
>  I fail to understand how knowing the probability of serious injury in the
> event of a fall or blow to the head while not wearing a helmet is "over
> estimating the chances........
> Having fallen many times in my relatively short riding career, and having
> hit my head *hard* more than once, and having found a dent in my helmet
> after having my horse's hoof graze it, I would happily accept the charge
of
> over estimating my chances of injury.
>
> > Then consider how many thousands of people spend thousands of
> > hours on the ground around horses and compare that against the
> > number of serious head injuries incurred during those
> > activities, and you will get a better idea of the chances of a
> > serious head injury while being around horses.  Then you will
> > understand that even horse people who do wear helmets everytime
> > they get on a horse but not every time they are around a horse
> > also do not "wear a helmet because they don't want to take even
> > the slightest chance that they could suffer a serious head
> > injury."
>
> Actually, kat, I have read admonishments of very respected horse trainers
to
> always wear a helmet even when ground training horses. As I gain in my
> experience with horses, I do not take these admonishments lightly and in
> fact do often wear my helmet when on the ground.
> >
> > People who wear a helmet while on a horse but not around a horse
> > (probably most of the preachers here who sanctimoniously prate
> > about not wanting to take the slightest risk) also evaluate
> > their perceived risks and decide that the risks aren't high
> > enough to warrent the cost.
>
> See above. I happily also accept your title of "sanctimonious preacher".
> Call it whatever you wish, if I can encourage people to protect themselves
> from serious consequenses of head injury, then my "preaching" is worth it.
> >
> > Now, if wearing helmets were "free" (i.e. there were no cons)
> > then we would all wear helmets all of the time.  Since wearing
> > helmets isn't free
>
> Depends on what your head is worth to you....
>
>
> > And it is quite clear that riders and helmet manufacturers are
> > very aware that wearing a helmet while riding is not "free"
>
> aye yi yi,
> Simple logic would tell one that we will always strive to find increased
> comfort and dependability, and visual appeal. And the manufacturers
> .....yada yada, yada
>
> > You want to evaluate those risks differently, go right ahead--
> > but don't be naive enough to believe that the only cost there is
> > associated with wearing a helmet is that you don't "get to feel
> > the wind in your hair."  It may be something that you consider
> > to be the only relevant cost (personally, I think that one,
> > while true, is TOTALLY irrelevant).
>
> Thank goodness....something upon which we definitely agree
>
> > Many people claim to "not even notice" the helmet--until they,
> > of course, get to the stage where they notice that it isn't
> > there and "feel naked." (If you can notice that it ISN'T there,
> > then you gotta know that it being there is different than it not
> > being there--mostly because you can feel its weight).
>
> Surprisingly, not the case. After wearing the helmet for only a couple of
> minutes, at least for me, I do forget that it is there.
> And because for some of us it seems so light, it is very easy to not
realize
> that it is not on the head but in the trailer. That is why, for me,
wearing
> a helmet has become a habit. The sudden realization that the helmet is not
> on the head is, in my opinion, an intellectual one, conditioined by the
> habit of never riding without it.  I have seldom ridden more than a few
> minutes when I realize that something very important is missing.
>
> >And nobody likes to have to re-evaluate the religious convictions.<
>
> If feeling strongly about an issue is having a "religeous conviction", OK,
> you can pin that one on me, too.
> I will, however be willing to re-evaluate my position as soon as someone
> shows me that I can slam my unprotected head against a rock and get up,
> brush myself off and continue on my way with not much more than a few
stars
> in front of my eyes for a few seconds. ( that did happen at a ride last
> year. Several of us were at a water trough, chatting and enjoying a break
in
> the ride when someone's horse tried to step over the trough and when his
> rider pulled him back, his foot tipped the trough into my horse whose head
> was down drinking. The reins were "on the buckle" and when my mare
realized
> that a monster was about to eat her, she wheeled in a nano-second and
dumped
> me. I saw the watermellon sized rock as I floated in slow motion to the
> ground. Immediately afterward, a rider who witnessed it said she heard a
> "crack" when my head hit the rock. I was stunned and was slow getting up
and
> had a headache for the next half hour.) Now it is my religeous convictioin
> that had I not worn my helmet, that particular endurance ride would have
had
> a stunned populace as the news of the terrible accident reached camp. It
is
> my religeous conviction that I would not be sitting here in a discussion
> with you about the "costs" of wearing head protection.
>
> > I have far greater respect for people who are aware of the
> > other, very real, costs associated with wearing a helmet and
> > have decided to take their chances with wearing a helmet because
> > they think the benefits outweigh the risks than I do for those
> > people who blindly assume that there are no risks.
>
> I do not wear my helmet to earn your respect. I do truly hope that you
never
> have to experience my type of fall without a helmet.
>
> Pat Super
>
>
>