Helmets in Parkour

[hillexallen]

This is the place to discuss helmets in parkour.

[hillexallen]

Tell them that if you wear a helmet, you are more likely to do something that you're not capable of, and hurt yourself.

[lethalbeef]

Hahaha, you guys are hilarious.

I remember back when i was in middle school and learning to do front handsprings over a bench (this was waaaaay before parkour years, I was watching Joe Eigo back then), I wore a helmet for a little while. I still have a picture of it, damn.

The argument against helmets is probably that having them on is going to mess with your head in terms of weight and visibility? And if you think about it, there probably aren't very many situations where you're going to land right on your head where a helmet would be. Although this does make me think, on a more serious note, about the necessity of preparing yourself for bails. That is, if you're learning to fly, you need to learn to fall as well. Repetitive training of rolling is important, from all different angles and positions. If you make rolls instinctive, thats the first thing you're going to do when you land with bad footing or mess up somewhere with your feet on the ground. Another thing would be developing a sense of body awareness such that you can manipulate the position of your body; many a time I've been rock climbing - well, bouldering - and I get about 10-15 feet up and start to slip or get tired, but still managed to land on my feet after starting to fall backwards. I'm like a cat on a piece of buttered toast.

[Seng]

I saw someone drop a bagel with schmear today and it landed schmear-side down. Maybe the physics and probability is different with the bagels, though. I think he ate it anyway.

Having actually landed right on the top of my dome after flipping my bicycle, you'd think I would wear my helmet more regularly, but I don't. Anyone considering my advice on safety might want to keep this in mind (the reasons I stopped wearing one are many but the big one is because after riding hours a day as a messeger I felt as comfortable on a bike as I do on my feet and I don't wear a helmet while walking even when running across Market Street in SF during rush hour).

[Kirill]

I have that feeling too. I have been riding almost every day on a two weeler sine i was 3 and a half.But wear a helmet. Bicyclists dont cause most of the accidents.

[orem]

learning to fall is a huge tool. i feel that as i have better control of my body, and know i'll be able to handle myself better in a bail, i've much great confidence to do things. i think remembering that will help me over a lot of mental blocks.

[SafeNSure]

That's when the squishy gym comes to help, baby!

[hillexallen]

"I'm like a cat on a piece of buttered toast."

Never heard that one before lol

[SafeNSure]

IF, in the future, there are going to be privately owned parkour-dedicated "parks" (concrete compounds, scaffolding, bunker-like-structures, rock-parks, you name it..., AND people are going to be allowed to do freerunning/tricking/acrobatics type "stunts", helmet are probably going to be required for liability reasons.
I don't think owners will care if it's going to "mess up our spacial perception"...
That's about how much there is to say about it.

Yet another reason to keep your parkour straight forward and efficient! =)

[lethalbeef]

Probably more likely if they were publically owned. If it was private and run by people who know the discipline, it might not be necessary?

Actually, I feel like it wouldn't be required. They dont' require helmets in gymnastics gyms (or regular gyms for that matter) do they?

[SafeNSure]

outdoor vs. indoor:
this cut would have not opened up on a gymnastic bar, it did on a handrail...

concrete + steel + tricks = liability