I used to wear a helmet in my Ford Bronco convertible (with roll cage, which came in handy on two occasions as I was kinda as hard on that 4x4 as I am with my Nordkapp - and liked to roll); I only lasted one week wearing the helmet for street driving as I got too many weird looks. A buddy of mine souped up his RX7 and took me for a backcountry road spin awhile back to try his beefed up rotary engine. I was trying to act cool as we sped around curves, plastered in the race bucket seat by the g forces. He races at a track and had a helmet in the back seat. I reached around and pretended to ask technical questions about racing helmet dogma. I blithely asked if I could try it on. I didn't take it off until we reached the main road again. Helmets for sea kayaking seem to be one of those safety discussions we get into on Paddlewise every now and again too. I see pictures in SeaKayaker magazine showing various expedition photos. Sometimes not all the participant have helmets on their rear decks. Given the long trips being reported, I assume the members missing helmets don't have them tucked away in their hatches. I assume its a matter of different strokes for different folks. Some like to stroke with helmets on or readily available, others obviously not. Twice now I've been hurtled over a reef unexpectedly with full 360 rotation, with just enough water depth or roll tilt that I didn't crack my skull or severely lacerate my helmetless head. Once I was storm paddling lightly loaded and missed my timing going by on the seaward side of a reef just as large swell came through, and once I was running heavy on an outside coast tour and absentmindedly stumbled closer into a boomer zone than I wanted just as it exploded in full view of my buddies who were safely paddling outside the danger zone The large swell had suddenly curved around a headland. I used to carry a flag mounted high on the back deck, visible from some distance that allowed my companions to see where I was, check my parallel progress, and see if I was still oriented right-side-up, given that I typically paddled through every available rock garden while touring. How about kayakers wearing a helmet and running with a mounted flag whenever possible. Tell fellow paddlers _not_ wearing a helmet and using flag that they simpy look ridiculous without them. :-) Doug L > Quoting Darryl <Darryl.Johnson_at_sympatico.ca>: > >> <snip> >> >>> As for skiing, after having a kid ski at high speed just past my ear, >>> I would agree with Matt again that helmets and padding are advisable on >>> snow. Several skiers have been killed or injured on Mt. Hood recently by >>> being run down from behind by others. None of the victims wore a helmet. >>> Would it be outrageous to suggest that motorists wear a helmet? >>> >>> Brad >> >> I clearly remember seeing something in the automotive press back in >> the ... oh ... 1960s maybe ... where they were advocating helmets for >> passenger car drivers. Knowing that the average driver wouldn't >> likely be keen on wearing what passed for a racing helmet in those >> days, they had come up with a series of designs that superficially >> looked like regular hats but which were hard shelled with some >> padding. >> >> One model looked like a fedora, IIRC, and one looked like those hats >> that Jackie Stewart wears. I can't remember what they're called. >> >> Given that seat-belts are now mandatary -- we all wear them, don't >> we? -- and that interior car design has come a *long* way since the >> 1960s, I'm not sure if helmets for car passengers is really going to >> help much. Other than destroying ornate hair-dos, they're not going >> to hurt either. >> >> -- >> Darryl > > Personally, I wouldn't mind driving with a Green Bay Packers helmet on. > As for the type of hat that Jackie Stewart wears, I'm going to go out on a > limb and call them Jackie Stewart hats. > > Brad *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Mar 29 2007 - 04:25:22 PDT
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