PDA

View Full Version : Helmet Poll


C. Moore
06-12-2006, 07:14 AM
We have discused parking our cars across the street at EB to give ourselves a little more reaction time and we all fail to do this. I am guilty of it too and I know we will never be able to police the common tourist to obey this rule too. Maybe we should have a mandatory helmet rule, like they do at Crandon Park in Miami.

bryanleighty
06-12-2006, 07:38 AM
even tho i am a helmet wearer.. this will always and forever be a personal choice.
no to required helmet.. yes to promoting wearing one and never feeling like you are less of a rider because of it.

even a couple of my friends have seen photos of me and they say "oooo what a cute helmet"....

I'm 35 fu.cking years old bitch. i'm well past being cute. :wink:

i just want to be safe.

-b

Optionryder420
06-12-2006, 07:46 AM
Sometimes I wear one, sometimes I don't.

I'm NOT in favor of ANY rules out there.

tomstock
06-12-2006, 08:41 AM
poof

toby wilson
06-12-2006, 08:57 AM
I agree, it is up to the park. Right now it is a personal decision but I guarantee you all that it is short lived. Like with the evolution with other sports, with increased head injuries helmets (and other safety gear for that matter) will eventually be mandatory everywhere. I would honestly rather see the park choose to make it mandatory at all of their beaches. I am obviously very passionate about this subject and am opinionated about it.

What I have to say to all you guys is this:

Wouldn't it be cool if St. Petersburg local riders ALL wore helmets and we became pioneers of developing safe kiting guidelines everywhere? We could all feel good about knowing that we saved some lives...

Great poll Chris, a step in the right direction to make a difference!

C. Moore
06-12-2006, 09:00 AM
I agree Tom with the launching in water. Get those feet on some what of a solid non slip surface. I am looking at a purchasing a new helmet today just to protect the noodle from any further injuries.

bryanleighty
06-12-2006, 09:31 AM
in those conditions i felt safer launching with the kite in the water.. the launcher had to get wet, but if there was an overpower situation, the rider would get pulled into the water and not into the beach.

either way, landing you are coming in and thats when it gets tricky. we all need to keep an eye out for those coming in and make efforts to walk as far out to catch their kites near the beach line.

for the rider, if you cannot whistle, get one and attach it to your harness or something. you need to be able to get noticed before you are on the beach and asking for a land.

I am lucky to be able to whistle to the point that it has almost got me beat up at sporting events and concerts (i can seriously bust some eardrums is i try.. if i were a part of the x-men i would be "whistler") .. so when i am coming in i can usually get someone's attention from a safe distance.

toby wilson
06-12-2006, 09:37 AM
So YOU'RE that guy whose ass I kicked at the Hanson concert I took my niece to, huh? :P :lol: :P

BTW, I voted in favor of personal choice but meant to pick helmet rule so instead of it being 5 to 3, it should be 4 to 4...

inferno
06-12-2006, 09:50 AM
Toby, so your one of the guys who caused the all the problems with the florida voting a few years back :lol:

Big G
06-12-2006, 09:56 AM
I put my helmet in my car this morning along with my 10m.....I'm going riding this afternoon! With or without the rain!!!

Taken it to the next level....

E-Bone
06-12-2006, 10:09 AM
A helmet may save your brain, but it is not going to stop your neck from being snapped if you hit something hard enough. You will be able to think clearly about having a life-changing cervical injury.

I rode at north Skyway yesterday and the weather was really sketchy. Sketchy also describes the riding of two riders there. One was a new kiter, yet he was charging despite the unstable conditions, the other a kiter who has been riding for a few years yet still managed (perhaps because he was apparently standing on the beach talking to someone) to drop his kite on the new kiter's lines and cause a mini-kitemare. Ironically, that mini-kitemare got those two riders off of the water before the big squall came through and the wind went from 15 mph to 40 mph. The squall would have otherwise wiped those guys out in a full-on kitemare.

After watching this spectacle, I said enough is enough and went home. It's hard enough to kite in storm weather without having to worry that someone else is going to take your ass out.

The new kites are amazing, and a helmet will obviously improve the outcome of some accidents. There remains a need, however, for common sense. Even the best gear has limits.

New and casual riders don't need to be riding storm wind when the wind is gusty or subject to squalls, which is most of the time. Live to ride another day in conditions you will actually enjoy. Only Billy, Mike, H and Jay really like that crazy-ass wind.

Established kiters should launch with the kite toward the water and away from obstructions so if the kiter gets dragged, he or she is dragged out into the water. If the wind is dead onshore, don't launch at all--it's a lot different to dick around in a 12mph onshore seabreeze than in 25 to 40 mph onshore storm wind. If you are going to ride in heavy weather, then launch and get off the beach! Don't launch and then stand around on shore talking about bullshit with your kite taking up space.

These are good safety habits to practice in all conditions so that when the heavy weather shows up, you already have these habits. Do the opposite and you increase your chances of getting worked, regardless of a helmet, a flat kite, a 5th line, a nipple tassel, or whatever.

bryanleighty
06-12-2006, 10:18 AM
These are good safety habits to practice in all conditions so that when the heavy weather shows up, you already have these habits. Do the opposite and you increase your chances of getting worked, regardless of a helmet, a flat kite, a 5th line, a nipple tassel, or whatever.

True that .... well.. keep your nipples tassled and your shirt on please.....

toby wilson
06-12-2006, 10:26 AM
I personally believe that nipple tassels can be a life saving form of gear. Nothing hurts worse than getting worked and having your nipples drug across chafing sand and rocks... :oops: :lol:

But agreed E-Bone, using common sense and practicing what you know is safe is always the best supplement to safety gear.

And yes Danny, I do have a mild form of alzheimers...

toby wilson
06-12-2006, 10:36 AM
Gary, where you ridin'?

Big G
06-12-2006, 01:15 PM
Depends on what the wind is doing....hate to make the drive across the bridge so my preference in here in Tampa.

bryanleighty
06-12-2006, 01:41 PM
just be careful my friends.. the wind meter graphs look like rollercoasters.

Wolfie
06-12-2006, 05:44 PM
Did anyone go out today? Where and What was it like? I'm thinking about tomarrow anyone heading out?

toby wilson
06-12-2006, 07:08 PM
You are insane if you go out tomorrow. It's gonna be unridable. Wednesday is probably gonna be killer though! A few of us rode at EB today, CRAZY gusty wind but had a great time during the limited time we had to ride...

Optionryder420
06-12-2006, 09:16 PM
I'm heading out to the beach tomorrow around 12:30 to see how it is. If it's unrideable... I may just grab a surfboard.

Doesn't look unrideable tomorrow... looks to be reading the mid to high 20's.

Also, if you look south of us, the wind has died down, so it's a possibility it won't be that bad.


I'm hoping for some good 9m weather on the gulf... I want some surf!

toby wilson
06-12-2006, 09:35 PM
I'm in if it's ridable...just don't think it will be...

Eagle
06-12-2006, 10:35 PM
There remains a need, however, for common sense.

Technochick
06-13-2006, 06:03 AM
http://bestsmileys.com/angry2/6.gif
Look at the type of person that gets involved in this sport. They're independent thinkers that don't follow along with everything in society like cattle. They love and cherish their freedoms.

Wearing a helmet should be up to the individual.

C. Moore
06-13-2006, 06:16 AM
Wow.. I picked a great topic to discuss. I got a person who has never posted before to give their input. Thanks for your input Technochick. :D

I agree with the majority that it should be up to the individual on weather or not to wear a helmet. I just have a feeling that goverment run parks might start requiring to wear helmets. I hope it doesn't get as crazy as Crandon Park.

http://www.miamikiteboarding.com/New%20Rules%20for%20Crandon.htm

tomstock
06-13-2006, 08:44 AM
So how many of you would not wear a seatbelt if it were not a law?

Maybe common sense is lacking here.

inferno
06-13-2006, 08:58 AM
i wouldnt say common sense is lacking....
in the words of Skyway Scott (risk vs reward), most people look at the situation and know its dangerous not to wear a seat belt, but they know that the odds are low they will get into an accident so they dont mind the risk, i see tons of people smoking at the beach and thats a huge risk to their health, but they obviously dont think the risk is high enough to quit, heck, we all kite board, and thats a huge risk as well, but we still do it

i wouldnt wear a seatbelt all the time if it were not the law, i even used to ride my motorcycle without a helmet, that doesnt mean i dont have common sense, i personally dont view the risk as high enough to do otherwise
my two cents

E-Bone
06-13-2006, 09:17 AM
I wear a seat belt in a car because in my work in insurance, I have noted that people who do not wear seat belts are generally worked harder in an mva. Of course, when I was 17, I was in an mva without a seat belt on and, although I shattered a femur, I would have likely died with the belt on because of how one side of the car was crushed (and I would have been, too, had I stayed on that side of the car). Seat belt laws are based on vast amounts of data compared to what we know about kiteboarding safety, yet there are still countervailing arguments to mandatory seat belt laws. Those laws are based on odds, but some people still get killed by safety devices such as air bags and seat belts.

Maybe the helmet controversy is more analagous to the motorcycle helmet laws. Some bikers fear that they can cause a more serious injury under some circumstances. Some bikers just don't want to wear them and resent the idea of a nanny state telling them what to do and when to do it at every turn. I am not surprised to see the same concerns here.

Other safe riding habits will go further than helmets. Putting a helmet on and then thinking that you are safe no matter what is like putting a seat belt on, congratulating yourself for being safety-minded, and then driving 100 mph in a pitch-black rainy windstorm in a car with bad brakes and bald tires.

If it's all about safety, then we should not be jumping or doing powered moves, kiting in gusty wind, kiting without boat support, kiting if there are any pollutants in the water, kiting for too long in the sun, kiting in shark-infested waters, kiting if the spot is crowded, kiting at night, kiting at dawn, kiting on the wife's birthday or Christmas morning, etc.

Let's regulate other riders only when their behavior directly threatens others (i.e., a newby launching a kite hot on a crowded beach, etc.). I don't want to be a nanny to anyone else and I am certainly not looking for a nanny to take care of me.

bryanleighty
06-13-2006, 09:18 AM
ahhh tom.. that is a conversation that requires much more bandwidth than this server could provide..

:P

I do hope that people would choose to wear their helmets. I dont think any areas around here would give up their staff's time to check in riders, hand out streamers, etc.

if Ft. De Soto was a park that you had to drive through a check point to get into, maybe something like that would come into play. but as its just a drive up and park beach, if it came down to restricting us in any way.. it would just be "sorry, no kiting allowed"...

age old converstation.

tomstock
06-13-2006, 10:52 AM
Well, I think you're right. common sense is not really what I should have said... excercising poor judgement would be better.

inferno
06-13-2006, 11:06 AM
Well, I think you're right. common sense is not really what I should have said... excercising poor judgement would be better.

thats much better Tom... :? ...wait.... was that an insult?????

C. Moore
06-13-2006, 12:44 PM
I saw this and thought it could be applied to the seatbelt post. LOL

http://www.casadice.com/signs/pages/outside_sign10.htm

http://www.casadice.com/signs/images/outside_sign10.jpg

Technochick
06-13-2006, 01:34 PM
Wow.. I picked a great topic to discuss. I got a person who has never posted before to give their input. Thanks for your input Technochick. :D

You're quite welcome :D I'm a n00b and yes, that was my first post. Athough, I'm not a n00b to helmets.

About 2 months ago I took a 35mph high side off my liter bike and landed chin first on the asphalt. It was a mechanical issue from a miscalculation when modding my bike.... it was MY fault. Had I not been wearing a helmet, I wouldn't have a face. I take full responsibility and accept the consequences for my own mistakes.

It was my decision, not somebody else's, to wear a helmet that day. And that's the way it should be.

Skyway Scott
06-13-2006, 01:50 PM
Interesting stuff.

I have never worn a seatbelt and really don't give a crap that it's the law.
So, what if helmets were the "law"? I have a feeling it simply wouldn't matter. I understand (but could be wrong) that where helmets are "required" alot of people blow it off.

I honestly don't care one way or the other, but the conversation in itself interests me :)

tomstock
06-13-2006, 02:27 PM
Well, I think you're right. common sense is not really what I should have said... excercising poor judgement would be better.

thats much better Tom... :? ...wait.... was that an insult?????

No way!

BTW, helmets look soooooooo gay! LOL

http://www.hmsocal.org/photos-website/Copy-of-Tony-head-injury.jpg

toby wilson
06-13-2006, 09:05 PM
Classic sign Chris!! Tom, I think that dude looks cool without a helmet on too!!! :roll: