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| Riding Safety (377 Posts)
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Riding Safety |
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On 10/27/2001
Mitch T
wrote in from
(4.3.nnn.nnn)
I had an unexpected spill flat on my ass and can't remember if the back of my head smacked the pavement or not, but I'm glad I was wearing my helmet and I'm sure it would've saved me from some damage. Actually I think a helmet would've helped Bobo on his spill, I'm sure he wasn't going really fast, it was just a completely unexpected slide out. I've been using a Rollerblade helmet that looks like a bike helmet with a little bit added to the back of head. I also have a Protec that I use at the skateparks, when they won't allow me to use the other helmet. I don't look for my helmets to protect me at speed, but rather those completely unexpected falls. I never step on my board without a lid, I've heard too many horror stories. This wasn't the case when I started skateboarding, I only started wearing helmets religiously. when I picked up rollerblading and read stories of people falling back on their heads. Asphalt bites, wear the gear.
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On 10/26/2001
john Gilmour
wrote in from
(64.12.nnn.nnn)
No helmet used by skaters currently would protect us from a frontal collision over 20 mph. While some helmet is better than none, how would a motorcyclist feel if he found out his helmet was only got for a 15mph impact?
We have been had.
I wear my Jay Adams Flyaway helmet- only because of style- at the speeds I find myself at I know it will just stop abrasions.
I need a helmet that will work- is not too heavy- and has a chin protector/removable face guard. It should be dual purpose with closable vents and exchangeable insulative padding for snowboarding and skiing. It should not block my view when I am in a tuck.
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On 10/26/2001 Duane
wrote in from
(63.21.nnn.nnn)
Dave, I agree with you 100% on the skate helmets. When I tired of the hi-rise look of my un-cool, but no doubt effective, bike helmet, I sought a "cooler" alternative. Everything I saw marketed as a skate helmet was utter crap. Most are plastic molded with soft foam inside. Near useless for all but the most minor bumps. I passed on these and looked elsewhere. I settled on a Giro Nine snowboarding helmet, which is in essence a low-rise bike helmet, reasonably "cool" and at least ASTM tested for snow sports. It has both rigid and soft foam. $48 on ebay, quite reasonable.
I must disagree regarding the other pads. Pro Designed makes pads that work. Two types of knee pads, super thick for pool and vert bail-outs, and a thinner but still effective pair for street. Wrist braces are excellent although I wear slide gloves of my own design a good portion of the time. The braces are plastic, but the old metal ones used to just cause a break of the arm bones above the wrist. Their elbow pads are too much for me and I usually don't wear any. I have eyed the shredready elbow pads, though, which look comfortable.
In my opinion, slide gloves may be the best safety gear, they can prevent a fall in a marginal situation, other falls can be minimized by sliding instead of tumbling.
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On 10/26/2001 driordon@earthlink.net
wrote in from
(64.157.nnn.nnn)
Brian, I think you look cute in your pads. But GBJ, he just stinks in his pads.....
Hey if you skateboard, then you pay the price from time to time with or without pads. I'm all for pads in slaloming and leathers for downhill with real helmets. But it is up to the individual skater (excluding organized slalom races and that's only because the organizers' ass is on the line if someone gets hurt, all it takes is one jerk to try some legal action). As for downhilling, street skating and park skateboarding, pads should be highly recommended and not enforced by law. Leave it up to the skaters to decide and the under age kids should be regulated by their own parents. I have never thought that forcing pads on skateboarders works. Skaters riding real vert use pads because they want to and not because Vans Skatepark or the X-Games told them to.
It is just all we need is to help set up our youth to fail by directing law enforcement to give tickets to skaters because they aren't padded up. All that does is teach the kids how to break the law by running from the pad cops. Ironic that the same damn parents that voted out "big government" are the same ones that think the cops should bust skaters for not wearing pads. Kind of reminds me of the BS line that you get when skating a parking lot and the shop owner says, "I'm going to call the cops because if you fall skating here I don't want to get sued by you."
Maybe we should shift this argument over to the Vendors Corner because pads have not changed in 20 years and they just don't work. Skateboard helmets have all ways been a joke and are not much more than just show and will only protect from stitches at best. Modern day knee pads are still made for knee slides but almost nobody under the age of 28 even knows how to knee slide. Elbow pads do nothing more than stop road rash. Wrist guards have been proven in documented studies not to stop a skater from breaking wrists. The only time I see wrist pads working is when a skater needs support for a sprained wrist. Once it heals, the wrist pad has no purpose. The best however is gloves, we have gone back to buying leather gloves at garden shops or making sliding gloves on our own.
I challenge the pad industry to come up with pads that actually work and don't get in the way. I'll even start them on the right path; Ever wonder why street skaters wear pants even when it is a 100 degrees out side? Well it is because it fashionable but more importantly saves the lower legs from cuts & scrapes caused while kickflipping. If pads don't get the job done then they shouldn't be used. Remember the Ferragamo pads. Basically companies like Protec are the Ferragamo pads of today. Nothing more than crap.
My knee hurts,
DR
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On 10/6/2001
joseph
wrote in from
(61.9.nnn.nnn)
I am getting a buttboard and will be buying motorbike leathers as soon as I have the money. Until then what can I use for safety? should i buy a full face helmet before the leathers or the leathers first and keep using my open face skate helmet till i can get a motor bike helmet? Please reply by e-mail if possible.
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On 9/23/2001 Andy Lee
wrote in from
(24.177.nnn.nnn)
Drue-
Think of it this way... some time in the future, there will almost certainly be a "Last Time I Skate With Flip Flops"... better to occur voluntarily than as a result of injury, I think.
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On 9/23/2001
DRUE
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
I just got a quick question about safety. I have always gone longboarding in my flip-flops that i wear all the time, when i wear shoes to ride in they feel kind of weird, (but i dont mind getting used to them). But my question is, am i alraight riding like this or are shoes that big of a deal? B/c ive been able to run out some bails with out crashing in my sandals.
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On 9/10/2001
kanufi
wrote in from
(144.138.nnn.nnn)
Just a little story about stupidity.I was enjoying bombing this new hill with 4 friends on the weekend.A cool set up which goes for about 1.5 ks down a multi leveled hill.On one of the runs i notice a girl walking a horse on the side of the road,the sound of the wheels start to phase the beast but it settles down on we go our seperate ways.On our way back up the chick snubs us as if we tried to purposly stuff her around (which we did,nt do).Now we are all going back down for another run and im thinking here comes that horse so extra caution is taken ,no sudden turns etc.But the girl with the horse has other more insane intentions on how she teach us all a lesson.So she starts to gee the horse up big time as we are all bearing down on it ,i can graphiclly remember seeing the girls face with her pushing the animal toward me yelling out "get him ,kick him ,go on kick him"the dumb animal just started kicking toward me and it was heavy.Hard turn to the side and milli seconds from a painfull spill but i made it but only just.So never trust any animals just hanging around the road,and be especially on the look out for evil horse chicks who despise our way of having fun.
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On 9/4/2001 chris
wrote in from
(128.171.nnn.nnn)
I noticed that having slide gloves not only helps you slide, but it saves your elbows and knees when you dont have pads on.
Usually I can slide on my gloves, and the only thing that will get damaged is my shoes.
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On 8/21/2001
Dave H.
wrote in from
(65.15.nnn.nnn)
(This was also posted in the "Crashing" section)
Anybody want to see their crash story in print?
I'm preparing a story for International Longboarder on the temporary and/or permanent effects of head injury from skateboarding (with or without a helmet). You can have your name listed, or you can be anonymous, but I'd like to hear from you.
This is a serious request and if you think that you can help others by describing what happened to you (or even if it's just an interesting story) send me an email or call.
Thanks
Dave H. (aka: David Hartman, Ph.D. Clinical Neuropsychologist, drdavidhartman1@home.com 312-527-2772)
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On 8/15/2001 PSR
wrote in from
(63.100.nnn.nnn)
Oh,Yeah,and Coleman slide manuver thingie! (seriously,I owe my life to being able to pull those off! Thanks Cliff!!)
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On 8/15/2001 PSR
wrote in from
(63.100.nnn.nnn)
I'd add this to the safety innovations list; Skateparks,or rather areas closed to vehicular traffic.Having somewhere away from cars (and the idiots allowed to use them),be it a specially designed construct,or simply a cordonned off stretch of road,is a major thing.Sidewalk Surfing would have been only as popular as pre-Razor scooters if it hadn't been for those who sought out pools to surf in.
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On 8/13/2001 loneskater
wrote in from
(159.87.nnn.nnn)
partial concurrence with the previous top ten.
1. urethane
2. trucks mounted with nuts and bolts rather than screws
3. standardized sizing
4. precision bearings
5. good safety equipment
6. yoga/stretching see the Dec 1976 interview with Dennis Schufeldt.
7. wider boards.
8. NCDSA
9. acceptable helmets
10. attitude
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On 8/6/2001
hugh r
wrote in from
(64.8.nnn.nnn)
Add grip tape to Rogers list...
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On 8/5/2001 roger
wrote in from
(209.245.nnn.nnn)
Safety innovations:
1) urethane (blow up or slide out less than clay/steel)
2) locknuts (thanks aircraft industry)
3) precision sealed bearings (no more spraying balls the sidewalk)
4) hubs (fewer wheel/bearing seperations)
5) pads with hard shells, helmets, etc.
6) sliding gloves
7) stable truck geometries
8) NCDSA
9)
10)
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On 8/4/2001
Cliff Coleman
wrote in from
(165.247.nnn.nnn)
Another poll,
What do you think are the top ten safety innovations in the history of Skateboarding?
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On 8/4/2001
Cliff Coleman
wrote in from
(165.247.nnn.nnn)
Albert,
If your lock nuts are old, replace them! Many people use the same nuts for years and often this causes wheels to come off. I change mine regularly, everyone should.
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On 8/4/2001 Adam
wrote in from
(209.179.nnn.nnn)
Albert,
It's not washers you need, it's bearing spacers. Check the Links page for "About Bearing Spacers". There's also tons of info on them in the Bearings forum. With bearing spacers you can tighten your wheel nuts tight without binding the bearings.
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On 8/4/2001
Albert
wrote in from
(165.247.nnn.nnn)
Yesterday while riding a back wheel came off. Fortunately, it was at LOW speed, but I want to know how to prevent this so it never happens while going fast! I had just changed my supergrips for some old (80's 60mm) B.Bombers that someone gave me. There were no spacers--should there be some? Anyway, the nut only fit on the axle 'till it was flush (i.e. no visible threads), but seemed tight enough. Must there be some threads showing to prevent the nut from unscrewing itself? When I picked up the board, the axle where the wheel fell off was really hot--but I was only riding for about 10 minutes before this happened. It seems like the exkate axle sticks out about 2mm more on one side than the other--maybe the best solution is to knock the axle over a bit. But is this even possible? Finally, it would be helpful is someone could advise whether or not washers are necessary, and how tight I should put the nut on the bearing. I hope I'm not rambling too long about this, but any feedback would be helpful to prevent future injury/equipment damage. THANKS!
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On 8/1/2001
hugh r
wrote in from
(205.216.nnn.nnn)
Steve,
Welcome back! In addition to a decent helmet, sliding gloves will really protect you in a fall. Use the search function on this site to find tons of info on them... HR
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On 7/30/2001
THeboz65
wrote in from
(216.116.nnn.nnn)
Steve,
Logic makes a good helmet. Pro-Designed makes excellent pads. Pro-Tec, available everywhere is also good for most applications.
My $0.02.
Tom Bosworth
Knucklehead Racing Team
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On 7/29/2001 Steve Lewis
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
help, just got back into the sport after 20 years out, now i'm 37 question? bought my first long board, new to know what gear you recommed to wear, and what brand, when i used to ride we had no gear. sl
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On 7/13/2001
stonelove
wrote in from
(195.37.nnn.nnn)
has anyone ever attached a leash to their board like it is used on snowboards?
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On 7/12/2001
Pastor James Kotey
wrote in from
(193.194.nnn.nnn)
I HAVE BEING ORGANIZING COMMUNITY OUTREACH FOR THE CHILDREN IN THEIR VARIOUS COMMUNITIES. WE HAVE BEEN RAISING FUNDS in THE CHURCH TO SUPPORT SEARCH A WORHTY CAUSE,But we are still limited with the vision, so I decided to join an organization more especially N.G.O to support us with any charitable donations to be able to do the missionary work more effectively.THE HEAD PASTOR
NEW WAVE REVIVAL MISSION
P.O BOX 3416
ACCRA- GHANA
WEST-AFRICA.
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On 4/27/2001 R.
wrote in from
(192.26.nnn.nnn)
hey pepe,
I own a TSG, and I think it's probably a little bit safer than pro-tec due to the fact that TSG uses a styrofoam-type liner over the entire helmet as well as foam-fabric pads, whereas Pro-Tec only uses foam-fabric pads. Other than that, both helmets get a very high rating from the bicycle helmet safety council. only problem is it's a little small for my head at the biggest size.
check the archives in the safety gear forum.
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