Lack of interest in wearing protective gear. Just not cool?

[Sar]

I have never thought about wearing a helmet whilst surfing. I dont think twice about wearing one when I cycle to work but that's landing is concrete not water (even though some kids took the piss out of me once!). I guess I would if I surfed very rocky places, I wouldnt care about the cool factor personally....well I like to think so

Sod what you think is cool - do what you need to do

[Sillysausage]

lol, i do laugh when i see people with helmets on bikes, although i know you should definately wear one. my uncle fell off his bike about a year go and would probably have died if he wasnt wearing one!!

[Sar]

lol, i do laugh when i see people with helmets on bikes

boo you're like those horrid kids in poole park

my uncle fell off his bike about a year go and would probably have died if he wasnt wearing one

it's only bmth and poole busy roads to work that concerns me and the amount of twats that just dont bother to look in their mirrors for cyclists is shocking, a guy last week squished me off the road in his van. I hammered on the side of his van whilst he was squishing me, caught up with him at the traffic lights to give him a polite explanation (verbal abuse) as to what he did wrong and he didnt get it. fleshin' numbnut!

[CHarvey]

Only thing that annoys me is when people on bikes demand the same respect as a car but they run red lights and think they can go 5mph in a 30 and everyone is going to be cool with it. PEDDLE FASTER OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!

[Sillysausage]

lol, you can't help being slow, some people are careful others are old etc. but running red lights and stuff i do, but only because its quicker

[Sar]

Only thing that annoys me is when people on bikes demand the same respect as a car but they run red lights and think they can go 5mph in a 30 and everyone is going to be cool with it. PEDDLE FASTER OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!

a challenge thee to a duel sir!!

peddle at 30 mph for 5.5 miles (half of it up a steep incline) on a busy road whilst morons try to overtake unnecassarily to gain a 12 ft advantage before slamming on their breaks at the traffic lights whilst blocking your path! then come back to me with your thoughts.

NB - I drive to work most days (cos Im lazy and cos i have to get to another job) so dont try to pull the dont know the rules of the road card that 'motorists only' often use.

[CHarvey]

My annoyance is situational. I can understand the whole hill thing and stop sign thing. It only gets me on flat ground and they sit in the middle of the road. Move to one side. There is enough space for me to pass you safely if you don't take your half out of the middle.

[Sillysausage]

i don't ride in the middle of the road mind...although the thing is, you say that bikes need to speed up, but cars need to slow down to, looking at all the people that get killed etc...although i cant drive yet so dont have much of a say

[CHarvey]

Who ever says they don't speed is lieing to you. But typically I will slow down when I pass or get close to someone riding a bike.

[Sar]

My annoyance is situational. I can understand the whole hill thing and stop sign thing. It only gets me on flat ground and they sit in the middle of the road. Move to one side. There is enough space for me to pass you safely if you don't take your half out of the middle.

yeah I get ya, most cycle on the side of the road, if they dont.....mow the sods over! Joke!!!!!!! please dont do that - but definately give them some grief for being so inconsiderate

[Otter]

Getting back on topic...

I don't care if someone wears a helmet in the water. I wouldn't. As far as a hoodie, hell yeah, you lose something like 60 - 80% of your body heat through your head, it only makes sense. Especially if you're in a colder climate like England or Ireland. I use one, but only in the dead of winter.

[surferdude_scarborough]

id wear a helmet if surfing a very shallow reef somewhere. but i cant afford one anyways so it doesnt really matter. i have bounced my head off a rock once before but that was in a kayak in a river. dont like to think what would have happened if i wasnt wearing a helmet that day.

as for hoods. only if i absolutely have to. hate them.

[perusurf]

i wear booties even in summer, it does not look cool, but since i usually surf reefs, i've had several cuts in my feet, and a couple of times the fin has hit my foot...that can be so painful..
i have never worn a helmet, although i've surfed in shallow reef, probably 'cuz i don't have one, but i wouldn't buy one either.
i guess when it's your time, there's nothing you can do to avoid anything.
just play safe.

[joem]

when i wipe out i always cover my head with my arms so i dont realy need one

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

I'd be too embarrassed to wear a Gath helmet unless I was charging Pipeline or Teahupoo (which I probably won't ever do so probably won't ever wear a helmet).

[perusurf]

when i wipe out i always cover my head with my arms so i dont realy need one

yeah, i do that too when there are rocks around, and I always take a little longer to come out the water after a wipeout with myhand sticking out before me, in case the board comes right back at you, once that happened to me and i barely moved out of the way but it got to scratch my face and i was left with a gnarly 3 inch scratch on my cheek, good thing it didn't turn into a scar... i had it for about a week, it was kinda embarrassing though to walk around like that, at work no one believed it was from sufing...

[Bub]

I think several of my bumps/cuts on my feet and ankles has occured in the shorebreak getting in and out of the water. Most of the places I surf are very shallow...anywhere from 1-5 ft deep in most places, I'd say 3 ft deep water is average depth just inside of the break where you'd probably be falling off the board....5-7 ft deep water where your sitting outback (on my normal 3-4 ft days I prefer to surf). If I fall off forward, I put my arms out in front to protect my head and neck from the bottom so I don't get a neck injury. Since the water is so shallow, you can't really get fully submerged and the probability of getting struck by the board is much greater. I think that is why I got gouged in my rear that one time. I had legs and upper body submerged but my butt was probably sticking up....nose of the board came down and stung me. Although the bottom is sandy, I've seen alot of cuts/scrapes on many surfers leaving after a session. I personally prefer my wetsuit and boots just to help prevent all of the bumps, bruises, scrapes cuts etc.

[CHarvey]

You could always invest in an anal bumb cover....
if anywone remembers celebrity jeopordy from SNL.