Head...Move...Now!

I ordered my S-One helmet the other day. I've been a little worried about buying the right one because...well, I have a gargantuan head. I need to get a helmet that fits. When I was little and in school or church we made little hat things, the teacher always had to make them a little bit bigger for me than the other kids. My siblings and I always felt like the kid with a large head in So I Married An Axe Murderer. 

I tried to go to a local skate shop to try on some helmets and see what size fits best. They were sold out of S-One and so one of the employees handed me another helmet to try out. He said it was a great helmet, one of his favorite to wear. I looked at it and became livid inside. He had handed me a non-certified helmet. It was basically a plastic shell with some foam pads (really cheap foam pads) inside. I thanked him, handed it back, and left the store before I could get on my helmet rant and start shouting helmet safety like a Southern preacher. 

This experience, along with the fact that nobody has made the promise to always wear a helmet (nobody, shame on you. Yes shame on you all), prompted me to ascend my soapbox of safety and talk about helmets again. 

I start by showing you this really cool video. This kid backflips off his skateboard, down a set of stairs, and lands on anther board. An absolutely awesome feat!

I was impressed. After I saw the video I saw a link to another video of him practicing the trick. Check it out.

This kid...might be a good boarder, but he is really really really stupid. Not only does he put himself through this punishment but...he has no helmet! If he over-rotates on one of those flips he could smash the back of his head right on the concrete and BAM. Bad news. There are a million things that could go wrong. Like this kid who had a much more severe fall. Stupid....stupid, stupid, stupid. 

Below is another video of a guy who took a little fall. Its not that large but he hits the back of his head and suffers memory damage. He forgets where he his and what happened. For the next six hours he cannot consolidate new memory and has to be told over and over again what happened. Its pretty crazy.

I don't mean to hate on anyone or be rude, just to illustrate a point. The moral of this story....please, wear a helmet. You might think it looks silly, or it ruins your hair or whatever. But you only have one brain, and it is easy to damage. Take care of it, don't sell out to look cool. It is cool to wear a helmet. Anyway, in you sport of choice you should not care what others think, but find enough validation in yourself, along with enough love and care for yourself to wear a helmet. 

For more information about longboard safety check out what this group of people are doing at The Longboard Coalition. 

Also I apologize if there was any language in the videos. I tried to preview them beforehand and I didn't catch anything. If there is please let me know and I can fix it.