Climbing sans-helmet

Eons ago, when I had the choice between buying a helmet and buying a lovely new pair of wool knickers for Price Glacier, I chose to keep my legs warm.
Then I watched my partner get bonked on the head by a wee pebble while negotiating the rock band onto the plateau, and noted not only the surprising amount of blood from that minor hit, but also the bill for stiches.
I bought my first helmet within 3 months of that climb.
I never wore it for sport though - until my other friend caught his leg behind the rope at the Red, flipped upside down and smacked his bare head against the wall.
He was never quite right after that.
Then there was the big rock that would have crushed my frontal bone in the North Chimney, the chunk of ice that didn't smash the top of my head on the Sphinx, the rock kicked from the top of the crag by a would-be toproper, etc.,etc.,etc.
I mean, It is A  Free Country and all, but that's a stupid reason for doing just about anything...

It's uncomfortable. I know that is not a good enough reason but there it is. I don't like it. I'm sure I'd change my mind (if I still had one) after a serious accident. 

I don't wear a seat belt either.

Kevinmurray wrote: I don't wear a seat belt either.

Badass!

After witnessing a close friend convulse and drool while unconscious for an hour, then suffer through a year of recovery, I’m pretty likely to be wearing a helmet most of the time.

Fernando Cal wrote: i think most replies are from people that wear helmets or typically wear helmets except when climbing offwidths. And im not trying to preach (Eric), just looking for input of climbers that chose to tie in and use protection but no helmet (bouldering and free solo climbers excluded). What is the decision making process that dictates, "ehh i dont need this"?

If I’m being honest with myself, I’d say that it would definitely be a safer decision to wear a helmet, but I just don’t like doing it, so I don’t in many situations.  It’s not that I’m fooling myself into thinking I’m safer without it. I’m just willing to accept that risk for the reward which is a similar decision to what we all make when we choose to climb. What I don’t get is why people get sanctimonious with how other people choose to manage risk. (Honestly not calling anyone out in particular-it just happens a lot)

Max Tepfer wrote:

If I’m being honest with myself, I’d say that it would definitely be a safer decision to wear a helmet, but I just don’t like doing it, so I don’t in many situations.  It’s not that I’m fooling myself into thinking I’m safer without it. I’m just willing to accept that risk for the reward which is a similar decision to what we all make when we choose to climb. What I don’t get is why people get sanctimonious with how other people choose to manage risk. (Honestly not calling anyone out in particular-it just happens a lot)

I fall into this camp. I always take my helmet with me climbing but don't always wear it unless I think something might be falling from above.

I'm not completely naive. I've spent enough time in the mountains and at the base of crags to know you can't predict rockfall/icefall/slides, and we all know you can never predict humans. I do however think I have some sense of how likely rockfall is based on where I am at, how many people are around, and what those people are doing. Snow and ice are more nuanced, but the information is also there to make a sound judgement.

My primary concern is rockfall. I'd mention icefall, but I always wear a helmet when that's a possibility. I'm not sure I've ever not been hit with ice when ice climbing.

I'm not super worried about flipping upside down as I fall. If it happened I would be very aware how stupid I was to not wear a helmet. However, I've never put a helmet on for this reason. It was once brought up to me by a more experienced climber, so that plus this thread has me thinking at least.

Tradiban wrote:

Badass!

Badass or Deadass?!?!

One factor, I think, is that all the rock climbing photos in the climbing mags almost universally show climbers without helmets.  True, in an article on alpine climbing, or ice climbing, there will be helmets, but on the "pure rock climbs" (sport or trad) nary a helmet is to be seen.

Used to be climbing helmets were hot, ill-fitting, and a bit heavy.  Also, somewhat "ugly" as the design on early ones (with the exception of the Bell TopTex) was taken from industrial "hard hats".  But today's helmets are a whole different story.    

Kevinmurray wrote: I don't wear a seat belt either.

On behalf of the rest of the gene pool, thank you.

Robert Hall wrote:
... the design on early ones (with the exception of the Bell TopTex) was taken from industrial "hard hats".      

Yea, but are you telling me THIS GUY isn't cool?

Max Tepfer wrote:

If I’m being honest with myself, I’d say that it would definitely be a safer decision to wear a helmet, but I just don’t like doing it, so I don’t in many situations.  It’s not that I’m fooling myself into thinking I’m safer without it. I’m just willing to accept that risk for the reward which is a similar decision to what we all make when we choose to climb. What I don’t get is why people get sanctimonious with how other people choose to manage risk. (Honestly not calling anyone out in particular-it just happens a lot)

^^This. I bought a helmet when I first started climbing outside. Or rather, it was bought for me. I wore it for leading sport the first few times I led, but quickly discovered that it hurt my neck. The helmet didn't fit me well, it was the smallest Petzl, but I still had to tighten it a lot, and it hung too far back. So i stopped wearing it for sport climbing. This was back in the day when most people didn't wear helmets for climbing, especially single-pitch sport, and the helmets that were available were the helmets that were designed to protect you from things that fell from above, rather than from you hitting your head on something in a fall, and it was an easy justification for me to not wear it in single-pitch sport climbing.

Tried wearing it again when I started leading on gear, still hated it, and more often than not chose not to wear it (single-pitch trad). Then it cracked (because I sat on the pack while it was in the pack, not in use), and I threw it out. When Petzl came out with new women-specific Elia, I thought I'd give it a try. Nope, still hate it. And then my partners that I used to climb trad with moved away, and I am now climbing almost exclusively sport, and the helmet is sitting in the closet.

To anyone who is wondering whether they should wear a helmet, I always say that they should. And I definitely see more people wearing helmets now, and there are more options available of foam helmets that are meant for the situations of falling upside down and head striking something, rather than for stuff falling on you from above, and I am sure they will also offer a better-than-nothing protection for stuff falling down on you. But I'm unlikely to change my habits.  

  

Max Tepfer wrote:

If I’m being honest with myself, I’d say that it would definitely be a safer decision to wear a helmet, but I just don’t like doing it, so I don’t in many situations.  It’s not that I’m fooling myself into thinking I’m safer without it. I’m just willing to accept that risk for the reward which is a similar decision to what we all make when we choose to climb. What I don’t get is why people get sanctimonious with how other people choose to manage risk. (Honestly not calling anyone out in particular-it just happens a lo

What's the reward attained by not wearing a helmet?

I was climbing in Utah when my friend took a lead fall leading to a traumatic brain injury. She probably would have died without her helmet.

its only a matter of time before all the "old" guys pass on and most everyone wears a climbing helmet outside.

just look at how far cycling and skiing have come in the past 25 years...

I used to not wear (or own) a helmet.  Then I took a pretty big upside down fall.  My shoulder was the first thing to impact the wall, but it could have pretty easily been my head.  If it was, I would not have walked away from that fall.  I was very lucky.  Now I wear a helmet 100% of the time when I am leading, including sport.  I generally do not wear one while top roping or belaying single pitch stuff.

~ Gabe

Re Gunkiemike's Clint Eastwood photo.  Of course Clint's "cool".  But I'm not so sure about his helmet.  Looks to me like some screen writer's idea of what the viewing public believed a helmet should look like.  Surprising, considering the many Brit's who assisted in the filming of the Eiger Sanction; but in Europe, in 1974/75 (filming and release) the "Helmet to Beat" was the Joe Brown....or as the Alpinist stated "Brown's helmet was nearly indestructible—in 1968 the German Alpine Club ranked it first out of sixteen helmets in every test—plus its low sides offered side-impact and rockfall protection. His design remained virtually unchanged for the next three decades. "

I don't know what's protecting Clint's "keppe" but it's not a Joe Brown.  Looks more like a miner's helmet.

In the US the Bell TopTex (lighter than the Joe Brown) was still popular.  It's "failing" was the total foam-insert did not allow for ventilation, hence rather hot in the summer. [I believe it was designed for pilots, since in the late1940's and 50's Bell was a leader in developing the "radical" new jet aircraft of the day.]    However, even here the "failing" was sometimes an asset. I remember a climb on the Adirondack's Wallface where my partner wore her new, suspension-equipped-Joe Brown and I wore my old Toptex.  The blackflys just crawled up inside her helmet and feasted in her hair!

Same reason I never bring a daisy chain up anything... generally, when rock climbing, I prefer to take the minimum amount of gear possible to do a climb within the risk level I'm comfortable with. I think many climbers share this minimalist aesthetic. It's probably equal parts style and practicality (it's harder to climb with extra shit).

- If I'm doing clip-ups at a steep sport crag with decent rock my rack is shoes, chalk bag, harness, rope, shorts, and quickdraws (if necessary).
- If I'm doing a 60-foot verticle hand crack in bullet granite with anchors at the top, I'll probably just add a couple #1's and 2's to what I mentioned above (note, still no daisy chain).
- If I'm concerned about loose rock or a bad fall, I'll toss the helmet on. If I'm not concerned about either of those, I don't.
- If I'm doing a climb with many unknowns, like a multi-pitch trad climb in a new area, onsite, with parties ahead, possible loose rock, possible overnight bivy etc. etc. I'll bring the gear necessary to get me home safely within my margin of safety (full rack, helmet, headlamp, puffy, food, water etc.)

curt86iroc wrote: its only a matter of time before all the "old" guys pass on and most everyone wears a climbing helmet outside.

just look at how far cycling and skiing have come in the past 25 years...

Have you met young men?

Everett wrote:

Have you met young men?

no, but im sure i'd like him