Helmets – Heck No or Essential Pro? (and a GIVEAWAY!!!)
This is a post about brain buckets, aka helmets. And guess what – in honor of Petzl’s October Helmet Campaign, I’ve been authorized to sponsor a free giveaway of a Petzl Elia or Elios (winner’s choice) to one lucky reader, courtesy of the folks over at Pemba Serves. Interested? Read on…
The majority of climbers have helmets – the real question is does it ever end up on your head, or is it merely dead weight in your backpack? The subject of helmets can be a controversial one for some climbers – it seems as though there are two extremes, with the majority of climbers falling somewhere along the moderate parts of the spectrum. In one corner you’ve got the ultra-conservative side (often viewed as alarmists) that recommends donning your “hat” as soon as you get out of the car at the trailhead and keeping it on until you are safely tucked in your sleeping bag back at camp (admittedly that might be an exaggeration…). Then on the other side you’ve got the too-cool-for-school folks (often viewed as reckless) who’s archaic helmets have probably seen more action protecting the bottom of a backpack than someone’s actual noggin.
Me looking cool (well, safe) multi-pitching in El Potrero Chico
HERE’S THE FACTS –
– Climbing is a dangerous sport, one in which some mistakes = serious injury or death.
– Proper use of safety equipment and techniques can mitigate (but not eliminate) the majority (but not all) of the risk factors involved.
– Head injuries are no joke – long term consequences can include impairment of motor skills, speech, and/or brain function, paralysis, amnesia, or ultimately, death.
– There are countless stories of climbers who sustained horrific accidents and can thank their helmet for allowing them to live to tell about it. (Don’t believe me? Read through some of the injury reports in Accidents in North American Mountaineering – a book published annually by the American Alpine Club).
– Small rocks can cause large damage.
– Compared to other outdoor pursuits, climbing is less dangerous than snowboarding, sledding, and hiking (according to a 2004/2005 study by the Journal of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine)
MORAL OF THE STORY – Brains are soft and rocks are hard – but thankfully so are helmets!
Some of my favorite climbing partners rocking out their helmets high in the Linville Gorge, NC
Here’s my stance…
SITUATIONS WHEN I DO WEAR A HELMET –
– Leading
– Trad climbing
– Multi-pitch
– In areas with loose rock
SITUATIONS WHEN I DO NOT WEAR A HELMET –
– Top-roping (for the most part)
– Hiking
– Camping ( 🙂 )
WHY I WEAR A HELMET –
I’ve always considered myself to be pretty safety conscious, so when I first got into climbing, a helmet was one of my first purchases. Thankfully I’ve never sustained a head injury due to climbing (although I did break my nose on TWO separate occasions by slamming face first into the gym floor diving for a volleyball). However one of my climbing partners cracked his helmet in two in an alpine accident in Colorado several years ago – no helmet, and he would for sure be dead. In addition, the worst fall I’ve ever witnessed involved two inexperienced climbers (mistake #1) who got in over their head (mistake #2) – the leader froze at the anchors of a slab route and despite our calls to get the rope out from behind his leg (mistake #3) he took a 30 footer upside down and smashed the back of his head into the slab. He had initially started climbing without his helmet, and his belayer (who was also his father) convinced him to climb back down and get it (at least he did something right, after all he had The best climbing pants we’d got him). Now granted, I am pretty anal about my rope management while I am climbing, which eliminates the most obvious cause of flipping upside down during lead falls. However, its also possible to get disoriented and crash head first into the rock in a pendulum type fall, nor is it unheard of to flip when popping off of a really committing layback. And of course it goes without saying that no matter how careful my partner and I am about avoiding loose rock, in multi-pitch situations we have no control over what climbers above us are doing, and I don’t want to be the one that ends up paying for their careless errors.
You never know when you will encounter sketchy rock – it might be on a popular bolted line at the New River Gorge…
I will admit that its easy to get complacent about wearing a helmet – it can be bulky, hot, and its definitely pretty dorky looking. Confession time – I wasn’t always as vigilant about wearing one. Sometimes I would legitimately forget, sometimes I was too lazy to walk back to my pack and get it once I was already tied in and had my shoes on, other times I just chose not to wear it on easier sport routes. And I’m not gonna lie – there have also been a few photo shoot situations where I purposefully left it on the ground, which I justified by only climbing on well-bolted, familiar routes.
Ever since Cragbaby came along however, I’ve discovered a new reason to show my hard hat some love – and that is setting a good example for my son. When he’s ready to start climbing, I’m going to require him to wear a helmet. I can’t very well expect him to be happy about wearing one if he’s never seen me or my husband wear one. The funny thing is that at this point C thinks helmets are uber cool – at least once per climbing trip I turn around to find him wearing my helmet – usually accompanied by hysterical toddler giggles. 🙂
“I make this look good.”
So does that mean I think climbers who opt not to wear a brain bucket are unsafe? Certainly not – a good number of my climbing partners may not even own a helmet, and I’ve entrusted my life to them on numerous occasions. Just like climbers have different acceptable levels of risk, they also have differing opinions on which situations (if any) necessitate helmet use. At the end of the day, wearing or not wearing a helmet is, like many aspects of climbing (and life for that matter) – a personal choice that can only be made by the one who has to live with the consequences.
That’s my stance, for what its worth (which may or may not be much!). Now its your turn (as well as your opportunity to win a free helmet!) Whether you would describe your own helmet use as always, situation dependent, or never, please join in the discussion. Everyone who comments will be eligible to win a Petzl Elia or Elios helmet via a random drawing on Friday, October 7th (one entry per person). So please chime in with your opinion on helmets – heck no, or essential pro?!?
107 Responses to “Helmets – Heck No or Essential Pro? (and a GIVEAWAY!!!)”
I’m knew to climbing/mountaineering so I’ll speak from my mountain biking experience. I was going down a route at Silver Star Mountain one summer and it was a bit crowded so I was more focused on the other bikes. I ended up hitting a rough patch of roots and taking a tumble end over end. I got up, felt fine and finished the route without problem. When I got off my bike, I took off my helmet and there was a split starting from the back, going all the way to the front. Only the plastic cover was holding it together.
As someone that also has kids, I too am not prepared to take risks, as unlikely as they may be. Thanks for the alpine club link!
This is a great post. I worked in the brain injury rehabilitation field for a while and saw so many people come through our program who could have been helped dramatically be helmets. We even had a few climbers come through. One was leading and hit his head on a short fall. The other, about a year later was hit by some loose rocks while leading. Fortunately, the first made a fairly good recovery. Unfortunately, the second did not. Helmets are important, and thank you for spreading that word!
Another great article, Erica! I have to say there have been numerous times where a rope being dropped has hit my helmet, or I’ve stood up and an overhead rock has knocked me in the helmet … and I’ve seen pretty big chunks of rock come off the wall. I will admit that I sometimes don’t wear mine sport “cragging” — but I always do in multi-pitch situations and this article makes me think about it a bit more!
As a new climber who is learning along with his son, I am very focused on safety. The last thing that I would want is for my son to get seriously injured because of something as easy as not putting on a helmet. We learned that lesson the hard way on his scooter a couple of years ago. Without us knowing he decided to hop on his scooter without his helmet and got streaking down a very large hill. He crashed of course and got a nasty concussion. So, I am a firm believer in protecting the noggin’. Our first climbing course was a Trad climb and we had helmets, and I appreciated them as a few loose rocks fell near us. Nothing big, but if they were, it could have really hurt.
It is pretty interesting to see how this sport reacts to helmets. It’s so similar to every other sport. I was talking with a friend of mine who has a son who plays hockey and he was telling me how funny it is that parents treat the importance of certain gear backwards. He told me that a parent would spend $300 on a stick and $60 on a cheap helmet. My friend went the opposite way. He spent a lot more money on the helmet and less on the stick.
Jack and I don’t have helmets yet, but that’s next on the list of gear since we plan on doing a lot more outdoor climbing.
Great article!
I wear one mountain biking and kayaking all the time. I have been concussed from being hit by a falling rock and personally seen a man die, in part from not wearing a helmet, but for some bizarre reason, I rarely wear one while climbing. I am starting to guide a bit now. Perhaps the required nature of wearing one in that environment will slap some sense into me.
I’ve almost always worn a helmet. The only exceptions (other than times when I have forgotten to bring it) has been when I’ve been free soloing. I figured that in that case it wouldn’t make any difference anyway so why bother. I have had one fall with a helmet on where I think it made a difference. What was a minor incident would have been a very bad day if I had not had one on.
Nice one Erica. I’m similar to you in my helmet use. I wear it when leading, the whole time during a multi-pitch climb, and when at the base of sketchy areas (Base of Skyline Traverse/Candy Corner at Seneca). I don’t wear it when top-roping, belaying single pitch, or bouldering. I think a helmet is pretty essential. I often times will whack my head when coming out from under a roof….doh!
I have to say I”ve always been pretty good about wearing a helmet when climbing but not so good about wearing one while belaying. Until a couple years ago, my husband was belaying me on a climb at the New River Gorge, we were only top roping and he wasn’t wearing a helmet (i was). However, I learned top roping can be just as dangerous (maybe more so). Because the area was accessible from above, someone kicked a small rock off the top which hit my husband (who wasn’t wearing a helmet and not belaying with a grigri) right in the head. Of course this happened just as I was about to make the crux move that I was very likely to fall on. When he was hit (I heard it from above), he collapsed to the ground and was out for a second. Luckily, he never let go of the rope and we had a friend watching who quickly grabbed the rope (and I hadn’t yet made the move so I wasn’t falling). But the incident could have turned out pretty badly.
Lesson learned, make sure your belayer wears a helmet, they’ve got your life in their hands! 🙂
In areas with no loose rock, you can often find loose climbers with loose ‘binners and ATC’s and stuff above you. I personally find it easier to just alway wear a helmet when I’m near a rock.
Excellent article about climbing safety. It is amazing the things that can happen to us when we feel as if we are in total control and completely safe. However we often forget that rocks, dirt, trees, roots, etc don’t adhere to the same levels of confidence and no matter how skilled we are, we cannot prevent what eventually becomes an accident.
I usually wear my helmet except when I am top roping. Sometimes even then I wear it if there could be some swing involved. I rarely wear a helmet when hanging out at the base but sometimes I do feel like I should after seeing some incidents where items are dropped / thrown from above.
Also, if I am the leader of a multipitch party, I will require everyone in the party to wear a helmet because the added complexity that a multipitch rescue situation requires.
I guess realistically, if we are single pitch climbing or bouldering in a remote location not wearing a helmet or doing high ball problems, a rescue could be just as complex as in a multipitch situation.
Thanks for the article Erica, lots of stuff to think about.
Oooh, a free helmet you say? Always when trad climbing… sport climbing it depends on the chance of rock fall (or other-stuff fall) from above usually – I’d always heard that the impact of flipping and hitting your head on the rock really required a more bike helmet style deal, and I’ve never owned one, so I’ve just relied on good rope management and luck I guess. I do like having my belayer wear one though, I’ve always thought that an unconcious belayer would do me no good at all.
I’ve even worn a helmet scrambling in the Rockies, where the rock is so loose it’s just flinging itself off the mountain at you.
But in our cupboard we’ve also got (apart from climbing helmets), snow/ski helmets, bike helmets, and paddling helmets. The bike helmets are the only one that have seen active duty – thankfully not for a few years now, and that one has been replaced (after I fully tested it by landing on it a few times… I know, I should have replaced it after the first time).
I think it’s time to make helmets cool. Put them on all the climbers in magazines… make them personalized, an extension of your personality… get them in pictures on the climbers people most respect and look up to!
When top-roping, it depends on the route. When leading, always! Why not be as safe and careful as possible?
The only time I’ve worn a helmet is while ice climbing :/ And I feel awful saying that. I know I should wear one more often, but I just don’t. But despite my lack of wearing one on a regular basis, I do think they are climbing essentials. And on another note, whenever my kids climb they wear helmets 100% of the time. So at least I’m doing one thing right 🙂
Dear Climbing Friends,
You can never be certain of what or who is above you. Please wear a helmet whenever you are at a crag. Wear one for top rope or belaying a leader. The last two winters have seen a greater freeze thaw effect. There is more loose rock at all of the crags. And I’ve seen enough things accidently and intentionally dropped by people above me to keep me wearing a helmet at the base of climbs. So please wear a helmet whenever you are at a crag.
Danny
PaulO – Agreed – I suck at mountain biking so I wouldn’t dream of hitting the trail w/o a hard hat!
FamilyWilds – I’m sure those experiences with brain injuries makes it the issue of helmets a “no-brainer” (no pun intended) 🙂
Andy – Cheers to you for showing your son that safety comes first rather than just telling him.
Lisa – That is a scary story – glad that it had a happy ending…
Anne – AMEN! I think putting hats on all of our “idols” would go a long way to promoting helmet use across the board, especially to the younger set.
Thanks to all for sharing your points of view! Keep the comments comin’!
Great post. Just wanted to share my two experiences. Last week I was leading a gear route and dropped a cam for the first time. My belayer caught it, but I was glad he was wearing a helmet. He said it hurt to catch; I can’t imagine how it would have felt if it had hit an un-helmeted head. The one time my belayer forgot to wear a helmet, I encountered a ledge full of loose rock. I tried my best not to disturb any of them, but I sent a few down. He was able to dodge them, but it was a sobering experience for both of us. Wear those helmets!
I always wear a helmet, always. One friend I know was leading and pitched backwards, hitting her head on a protruding rock below. Helmet saved her serious injury. My leader recently was hit by rockfall, a brick sized rock. Grazed his helmet and smashed into his foot. He was close to vomiting and passing out. I was less than a foot from him and didn’t see or hear it coming. I only saw him flinch suddenly. Thanks to his hemelt he was not seriously hurt. Heck, even Beth Rodden wears a helmet after suffering a concussion on a fall. And she is bad ass. New helmets are light and if it’s “too hot to wear a helmet” it’s probably too hot to climb anyway. your brain is more important than worrying about looking “cool.”
Funny that you should choose now to write an article about helmets. For the past week, my dad has been waging a campaign, via facebook, to get me to wear a helmet. I sport climb in the Red, and have never worn a helmet. In fact, I only know one person who does wear one when sport climbing (every trad climber I know wears one, and I would, if I were trad climbing). Logically, I know wearing a helmet is a smart decision. I am very safety conscious when I climb- I only let people I trust belay me, I don’t climb routes with bad falls, I am careful about rope management. And when I’m not climbing, I’m often riding my bike, which I refuse to do without a helmet. But for some reason, I can’t commit to wearing a helmet while sport climbing. Part of it is vanity- I don’t want to be the only one at the crag wearing a helmet. Part of it is because of comfort. And part is because it seems like such a small risk to take, even though I know that’s not true, and I take care to mitigate smaller risks. So basically, I’m torn on whether or not I would wear a helmet. Although my dad would certainly be relieved if I chose the safer option :).
I do not personally do too many things that involve the recommended use of a helmet, but, speaking as your Mom and CragBaby’s GrandMom, I’m glad you are taking these precautions. The CragBaby & I want you around for a long, long time!
Always for aid pitches, and multi-pitch. Almost always for single pitch trad and sport leads. I don’t think I’ve ever worn one for top roping. Helmets these days are pretty comfy and low profile, it’s getting hard to come up with excuses not to wear them. Also, great for covering up your unwashed tent head 🙂
Yes, I always wear a helmet, whether climbing or belaying, and I nag my partner. It’s just a good habit. There are just too many cautionary tales out there to be careless. It takes just one accident to change your life forever. I hate it when it’s really hot, but have banged my head on roofs too many times. I’m really glad you focused on this.
Great article, I always wear a helmet especially in areas that I am climbing for the first time! I just started reading your blog and I am really enjoying it. I don’t have kids yet but it is really encouraging to see you continue to do what you love and sharing that with you family!
Great post, Erica! Times I wear a helmet: When climbing, and lots of times even when walking down from a multipitch route. The two biggest, scariest chunks of rock that have hit my helmet in six years have been when I was belaying someone on a sport route. I spend most of my time on trad routes, and have thunked my head on probably every roof I’ve had to turn on lead.
I am super situational dependent, and honestly should wear a helmet more often. I always wear it if loose rocks are an issue, and I often wear it anytime I’m lead climbing (particularly if there is a steep roof, as I am notrorious for moving up to swiftly and hitting my head. I absolutely never wear it while top roping. I certainly respect people who are safety conscious enough to wear it in all circumstances.
I almost always wear a helmet even on top-rope and especially if I’m hiking class 3+. I’ve had rock fall towards me a number of times. I was really thankful to have a helmet this summer on a multi-pitch climb. After the double-rope rappel we pulled the rope and a ton of rock came down. I was as close to the wall as I could be but still got hit in the head by a fairly large sized rock. It didn’t hurt at all, only because I had my helmet on.
Hi Erica! I love your blog. Glad to know that everyone is enjoying the Charlotte area. Wish you all were still in Raleigh though!
I would say I usually always wear a helmet when leading a climb but usually don’t wear it when I am belaying at the bottom unless it is multi pitch and I am the second. When top roping I think it is about 50/50 if I wear a helmet or not. It just depends.
Erica, are there any good toddler helmets out there?
I wear my helmet on anything Class 3 or harder for general mountaineering. Where else would I put my stickers?
When I first started climbing & helmets were heavy, hot, and unwieldy, I only wore one some of the time. Now I always wear my helmet while climbing, belaying, or hanging out beneath a crag where others may be climbing above me. I just can’t think of any GOOD reason not to wear one when there’s a risk of something falling on my head or of my hitting my head!
We made a point of showing climbers wearing helmets in our <a href="http://wingerbookstore.com/trad-guide-to-joshua-tree/"Trad Guide to Joshua Tree book — and hope that makes it seem “cool” enough for others to follow our lead, so to speak.
You know the saying about old climbers and bold climbers… We’re old. We wear helmets. For what it’s worth…
I am most definitely a ‘situation dependent’ helmet wearer. Mulitpitch. Yes. Around loose rock. Yes. Straight sport. Not usually. Top rope. Nope. The situation I am most likely to be wearing a helmet: belaying. Risking my own neck, er head, is one thing, but to take a rock to the head and drop someone is not something I will let happen.
I never use to climb with a helmet, but like you mentioned, ever since I started having kids I decided if anything I needed to set a good example. I wear a helmet 100% of the time kayaking, and 100% of the time mountain biking. I also now wear a helmet if I’m taking a bike ride around the block. My oldest will not let me step foot out of the garage without one. AND it has to be buckled. Guess that example thing worked!
I’m all for helmets while climbing. There are so many styles out there, that it hardly seems nerdy. I have a responsibility to my husband and daughter to practice safe habits while enjoying the outdoors, not only for my own safety but also as an example to my future climbing buddy!
I strongly agree with helmet wearing, you never know when a hold will randomly break off! I wear mine especially while trad climbing, on alpine rock and in funny off-width climbs where I always tend to just bump my head while in cruiser-mode. 🙂
Terri – Hey that is ironic…
Josh – You are right that its hard to come up with excuses – some helmets nowadays almost border on cool 🙂
Jenni – Thanks for the kind words about the blog!
FamilyWilds – Cragbaby does have a bike helmet that he uses when he rides in our bike trailer, but he doesn’t usually wear it at the crag since we tend to hang in areas w/o loose rock. (After reading all of these comments, however, I’m thinking we probably should start bringing it with us to the crag…) I can’t remember who makes it but I’m pretty sure it was Bell – I’ll double check though.
Diane – Good on you for sending a subliminal message to your readers that helmets are cool 🙂
Paul-Baptiste – Interesting point about belaying, especially on a non-auto-locking device.
Lindsey – Good to know the example thing works!
I’m glad to read your post, Erica, and these other interesting comments. I just starting rope climbing outside this summer and do not have a helmet. I brought my kids out to the crag for the first time this weekend (with helmets) and they were pretty quick to call me on not wearing one. Looks like it’s time to set a good example and start wearing one, and these posts definitely reinforce why that is a good idea.
I didn’t wear a helmet when I started climbing 30 years ago…but after seeing a couple of incidents, I invested in one. Good thing, a few months later we were climbing in JTree and I was attempting a lie back start about 8 feet off the ground….I popped, did a pendulum and guess what hit the rock last…my head! I thanked my lucky stars I had a helmet on. Nowadays I wear one no matter what I’m climbing, one while cycling and when climbing with others, we all make sure we have those helmets on and buckled…you never know what can come falling down a face. Thanks Erica for bringing this subject up…I still see people climbing dangerous stuff without one on….we only have one head!
I always wear my helmet. It is comfortable, light, sporty looking. I wear it while belaying, climbing ice and climbing rock. Yup, I wear it climbing on a top rope too. I even like to wear it when I’m setting up top rope anchors. I figure that if the situation at the top of the cliff is such that I am tied in because I could accidentally fall off the cliff while setting, then it would probably be a hard and wild fall given that I am tied in to non-dynamic webbing. Get a light comfortable helmet and wear it!
I always wear a helmet when I’m out climbing whether I’m belaying, top-roping, leading or standing around a crag. Almost all climbing areas here have risk of rock fall (it *is* called the Rockies) so it’ pretty common to see helmets on most people. I’ve been to a few areas outside of the Rockies where rockfall is minimal but I’ve still chosen to wear my helmet at all times. My helmet (Petzl Meteor) is super lightweight and comfy so most times I don’t even notice I’m wearing it.
Situational. Multi pitch, yes. Trad, yes. Sport leads, nope. Top rope no. Helmets can be dorky but I know a certain person who had a horrible head injury (actually snowboarding but not the point) and they are not the same person by any means. I am with Paul-Baptiste when it comes to belaying. Their life is in my hands, and I don’t plan on screwing up.
Wear a helmet has saved me from head injuries many times. My take is:
– invest in a comfortable helmet, so you don’t mind wearing it
– if your worried about looking “dorky”, you aren’t climbing for the right reasons
– the inconvenience is very low and the possible negative consequence is very high
– wear it any time you are climbing or at the base of a climb that has any potential of rock fall (including someone dropping gear)
– I’ve seen many folks flipped and hit their head over while sport climbing (when a lot of people choose not to wear a helmet)
Seems like a “no brainer” to me (pun intended)…
I wear a helmet religiously when ice climbing, and usually when leading trad. When doing steep sport, bouldering, or top-roping, I usually won’t unless it is a chossy crag.
I was asked a while back about taking helmets on a peakbagging trip. My response, since the other hikers were relatively new to being in the high Sierra, was that I had been in a lot looser and more dangerous Class 2 chutes than Class 3 or higher, especially with inexperienced people. Helmets don’t weigh much, and they’re protecting a rather vital organ. ‘Nuff said.
I currently don’t own a helmet. I started my sloper slappin’ bouldering and it wasn’t an essential purchase at that time. Since then I’ve been climbing on a rope a lot more and I can definitely see why a helmet is essential. I’ve climbed at several locations where rock has fallen and I’ve been pretty lucky (*cough* Crowders!). I’d love to have one to add to my gear collection.
Essential pro on alpine routes. Mostly for protection against rocks and gear falling from above. Otherwise, just gets in the way.
My intention is to wear a helmet whenever leading, but I have forgotten. I rarely use it on TR. As for belaying, it tends to coincide with what I did last – if I was leading then I usually leave it on but if I was top-roping then not. I recall the day Lisa mentioned in her post up above when Richard got hit with that small rock while Lisa was top-roping @ NRG. No doubt that a helmet while belaying would’ve saved Richard a solid knock on the head that day.
Paulette – Good point on the “one head”!
Annie Hughes – I don’t set up a lot of topropes (at least from the top of the cliff, that is) so I hadn’t thought about that scenario. I think that’s definitely a good point.
Matt – Yes, Crowders deserves a helmet 🙂
John – Agreed – no doubt the best pro you’ve got on alpine rock.
Essential pro! I think you should always wear a helmet when leading or belaying. When belaying you never know when a rock is going to be loose and hit your head! climb on!
My attitude toward helmets has shifted over the years from ultra-safe-always to a more moderate situational approach. I started off working for a non-profit organization that took at-risk kids out for toproping and we always needed to wear helmets. As I ventured out on my own, I teamed up with a climber that wore a helmet outside, but not inside at the gym. In fact no one wore a helmet inside, except me when I started lead climbing. Eventually I shed the helmet on lead inside, but still wore it outside all the time. As I got to be a stronger climber, I would sometimes not wear a helmet on easier climbs, but I’ve found that many easy top rope crags also have loose rocks at the top, so still often put on my helmet. Once I started projecting hard overhanging sport routes, most of my partners did not wear helmets and this attitude sometimes rubbed off on me and I would ditch the helmet more frequently. I always wear a helmet when trad climbing and on multi-pitch routes. With the kids (ages 1 and 4) at the crag, I make them wear bike helmets near the base if there is a lot of loose rock and always when they are climbing.
What I would like to see is more professional climbers wearing helmets, especially in magazines. This may help change attitudes toward helmets among climbers.