# Half dome or Full face Helmet?



## BPSarge (Oct 9, 2007)

Went night riding earlier this week with a group and had a great time till a friend of mine went over the bars off a 6ft cliff and landed face first in the dirt knocking himself out for 
15 seconds or so!

We all were half dome helmets at night mostly because of the ease of mounting a light.

During the day we all were are full face helmets because of the speed increases when you can see.

My question is how many of you out there like the half dome verses the full face and why?

by the way my friend is doing well just has a four day hang over!


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## Dalis12 (Jan 15, 2008)

Haven't been night riding but did just buy a full face. Mostly I bought it for trips i am planning this summer(Northstar, Mammoth and a couple of day trips to state parks). It came yesterday and I wore it on a short ride in Annadel today. hit a sloppy patch and did a face plant on my way down. 

didn't really think i needed all that much over a regular half dome but I'm gonna where it for all my Dh now.


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## gab26 (Jun 6, 2007)

Big Bike = Full Face + Armor
Little bike = half dome - Armor


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## Blue Shorts (Jun 1, 2004)

Where were you when you wore what we're wearing now? 

After reading your post, I think it's probably too late, but wear the FF as often as you can stand it.


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## gobike (Jan 30, 2004)

*2nd that*



Dalis12 said:


> Haven't been night riding but did just buy a full face. Mostly I bought it for trips i am planning this summer(Northstar, Mammoth and a couple of day trips to state parks). It came yesterday and I wore it on a short ride in Annadel today. hit a sloppy patch and did a face plant on my way down.
> 
> didn't really think i needed all that much over a regular half dome but I'm gonna where it for all my Dh now.


After riding my xc helmet for a few trips to N* and Mammoth last year and realizing I was the only one riding down some of the trails in one, I chose to purchase a full face. Luckily it was the last weekend N* was operating the bike park so I picked up a new Fox Rampage for $50. Unfortunately, I have not been to a DH park or ridden anything too gnarly yet, and still have not worn it on a ride, but I figure it's a good investment safety wise for next year. It can stay in my garage along w/ my DH tires and armor and when I need it i've got it.


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

Wear a full face and you can be a handsome quadraplegic. I prefer to be a walking wounded.


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## BPSarge (Oct 9, 2007)

*Half dome full face*

We were up on the ridge in P-town.

nice single track.

I were the full face 90% of the time.


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## jjange68 (Feb 8, 2007)

*Older*

@ 21 half dome now @ 39 full face older and wiser.


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## waaskl (Jan 19, 2008)

pacman said:


> Wear a full face and you can be a handsome quadraplegic. I prefer to be a walking wounded.


I don't follow either


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## MrCrash (Apr 29, 2004)

pacman said:


> Wear a full face and you can be a handsome quadraplegic. I prefer to be a walking wounded.


If full-face users are any more susceptible to spinal injury than half helmet users, I'd have to believe it's because of the terrain. What have you noticed?


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## Brandon318 (Dec 15, 2007)

MrCrash said:


> If full-face users are any more susceptible to spinal injury than half helmet users, I'd have to believe it's because of the terrain. What have you noticed?


Ah, so terrain is a function of helmet style, which is a function of danger?


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## imridingmybike (Jan 16, 2005)

scfreak said:


> Went night riding earlier this week with a group and had a great time till a friend of mine went over the bars off a 6ft cliff and landed face first in the dirt knocking himself out for
> 15 seconds or so!
> 
> We all were half dome helmets at night mostly because of the ease of mounting a light.
> ...


The best thing you can do to increase your level of safety is to ride smart and ride within your limits.

The majority of (bad) crashes I've seen are people pushing to hard to keep up with others, or doing/trying something they're not ready for (IE - big jumps and drops).

Helmets only protect your head - riding smart will protect your whole body.

Also remember that full faces hold in more heat and reduce vision - both these can cause problems of there own.

Have fun - be careful!


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## Dalis12 (Jan 15, 2008)

I only wear my FF when im doing DH, all other times its strapped to my camel back.

as for the reduced vision, on single track stuff there really isn't too much of a need for peripheral and that seems to be all that i loose.


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## chute (Nov 30, 2007)

pacman said:


> Wear a full face and you can be a handsome quadraplegic. I prefer to be a walking wounded.


I assume you are reffering to the dangers of ones spinal cord or vertabre becoming damaged if the helmet back was to impact ones neck in a fall.

Is there any data confirming that the level of spinal and neck injuries are higher among riders with full face helmets? And are the statistics from incidents the on same terrains?

Full Face helmets seem to work fine for motocross and motocycle racing leagues. I recenetly experienced a pretty nasty motorcycle accident which im certain i would not have survived if not for a full face helment. The risk of spinal injury is apparent no matter which helmet you use, but the full face is the only one that protects your entire head, and upper neck.


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## JFR (Jan 15, 2004)

stripes said:


> There's really no logic to this. ---<snip>---.
> 
> Those are the risks you take. That said, I have tried to wear a full face while riding XC, and it's too dang hot.


It's not making sense because (as it appears to me), that a bunch of you misunderstood pacman when he said:

"Wear a full face and you can be a handsome quadraplegic. I prefer to be a walking wounded. "

All I think he was saying is:

"You can break your neck either way, but with a full face you'll still be handsome."

Least that's how I read it. (Edit: hmmm, then again, maybe not.....)


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## JFR (Jan 15, 2004)

I rode aggressive XC with a Giro Switchblade (half dome with a removable plastic jaw piece) for a couple years and put some scratches in the jaw piece on 3 occassions. Two were not that big of a deal, one would've mess up my nose/lips enough for stitches I recon. The latter was on a night ride.

As that helmet reached it's 3 yrd tour of duty, reports started coming in of some Switchblades jaw pieces that had snapped upon crash impact in such a way as to have severely injured the riders. Switchblade pulled the model.

I've been back to a half dome again for quite some time when riding xc. I wear a full face Fox mx helmet for DH.

I would not consider day vs night riding an armor related factor.


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## imridingmybike (Jan 16, 2005)

JFR said:


> It's not making sense because (as it appears to me), that a bunch of you misunderstood pacman when he said:
> 
> "Wear a full face and you can be a handsome quadraplegic. I prefer to be a walking wounded. "
> 
> ...


That's the way I read it, too.

Is this the same Pacman that just broke a vertebrae?

It's so easy to get hurt out there. Be carefull peeps!


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## g-funk (Jul 18, 2005)

scfreak said:


> We were up on the ridge in P-town.
> 
> nice single track.
> 
> I were the full face 90% of the time.


where is p-town?
I wear a regular helmet and I facking huck!! I'm still beautiful. I think if you question it you should wear a full face helmet. your grammar/syntax/spelling sucks maybe it's too late to make the choice


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## BPSarge (Oct 9, 2007)

*Half dome/full face*

Facking?

glad your still pretty!

thanks for the informative information?:thumbsup:

Hope the grammer is much proper?

I'm heading to the study now and sip some port!

stock's open at 8am tommorow.

?:madman:


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## g-funk (Jul 18, 2005)

scfreak said:


> Facking?
> 
> glad your still pretty!
> 
> ...


you can't write ****ING.

I'm just saying that if you are really concerned with whether to wear a full face or not, err on the side of caution and wear the full face because you wouldn't want to live with the consequences of making the wrong descision. I'm glad I'm pretty too! where is p-town? Pinole? how was the port, your stocks are completely eating shat right now, but if you have any money left it's an excellent buying opporotunity


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## Melt (May 24, 2004)

i have a dirtbike full face and that **** is ****in heavy ... worn it once and never again, not even at northstar .... i wasnt trippin that i was the only one riding an xc helmet


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## zx6roxy (Nov 20, 2007)

I thought about using my dirtbike helmet but I figured it would be too heavy with not enough ventilation.

Picked up a Giro Remedy FF. Lightweight and well-ventilated --- I'm happy with it so far.


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

stripes said:


> I'm not following your logic here. Can you please explain what you mean by being a quadraplegic from wearing a full face?


Suppose you land flat with your chest and face making impact with the ground. Both will be stopped suddenly and painfullly with the spine connecting the two. Now repeat but proect the face with X inches of material. The body still slams into the ground but now the spine has to make up that X inches of difference.

I'm not talking about a little head tilt but a full slam that knocks the wind out of your lungs, sort of like lying flat and having someone jump on your shoulders. Would you want your face propped off the ground?


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## croatiansensation (Feb 21, 2005)

pacman said:


> Suppose you land flat with your chest and face making impact with the ground. Both will be stopped suddenly and painfullly with the spine connecting the two. Now repeat but proect the face with X inches of material. The body still slams into the ground but now the spine has to make up that X inches of difference.
> 
> I'm not talking about a little head tilt but a full slam that knocks the wind out of your lungs, sort of like lying flat and having someone jump on your shoulders. Would you want your face propped off the ground?


 so you would prefer to have your face meet rock? Chances are that if you hit hard enough to receive a neck injury from your full-face helmet it would be hard enough to give you a closed head injury with out it so the point is moot. The only possible injury inflicted by a full-face that I have heard of (among motorcycles as well as bicycles) is a broken collar bone from the chin bar being pushed up into it, of which I have never seen an instance occur.

Of course I could be biased because I were a full-face 90% of the time that I ride off road.


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

croatiansensation said:


> so you would prefer to have your face meet rock? Chances are that if you hit hard enough to receive a neck injury from your full-face helmet it would be hard enough to give you a closed head injury with out it so the point is moot. The only possible injury inflicted by a full-face that I have heard of (among motorcycles as well as bicycles) is a broken collar bone from the chin bar being pushed up into it, of which I have never seen an instance occur.
> 
> Of course I could be biased because I were a full-face 90% of the time that I ride off road.


I'm biased because I can use all my limbs and chicks dig scars.

coincidence?


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## croatiansensation (Feb 21, 2005)

pacman said:


> I'm biased because I can use all my limbs and chicks dig scars.
> 
> coincidence?


The guy shatters his helmet and chest protector after plumeting to the earth from 15' in the air while going God knows how fast and you think it was the helmet that injured his spine. . . .okkkkkkaaaayyyyyyy


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## Prettym1k3 (Oct 11, 2005)

I ride so much more cautiously at night.

But 90% of my riding is on my lighter travel bike, and hence my knee pads, FF helmet, and other gear stays at home.


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

croatiansensation said:


> The guy shatters his helmet and chest protector after plumeting to the earth from 15' in the air while going God knows how fast and you think it was the helmet that injured his spine. . . .okkkkkkaaaayyyyyyy


Apparently you were not directed to the permalink -

_On an interesting but related side note, many of the extreme freeride snowboarding and skiing contests in Europe are no longer requiring full-face helmets as they have in the past. The statistics are showing that broken necks, when the chinguard hits the ground/snow/tree, are more common with a full face._


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## croatiansensation (Feb 21, 2005)

pacman said:


> Apparently you were not directed to the permalink -
> 
> _On an interesting but related side note, many of the extreme freeride snowboarding and skiing contests in Europe are no longer requiring full-face helmets as they have in the past. The statistics are showing that broken necks, when the chinguard hits the ground/snow/tree, are more common with a full face._


I would be interested to see where that information/statistic is coming from.


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## Baptistro (Nov 19, 2007)

I've gone down hard on dirt bikes and on road bikes wearing a full face helmet, I doubt I could crash/land harder on a mtb. I wouldn't trade the ff protection for anything. I ride like a puss with my xc helmet, I need to get myself a lightweight, vented ff asap.


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## jdubsl2 (Feb 6, 2006)

pacman said:


> Suppose you land flat with your chest and face making impact with the ground. Both will be stopped suddenly and painfullly with the spine connecting the two. Now repeat but proect the face with X inches of material. The body still slams into the ground but now the spine has to make up that X inches of difference.
> 
> I'm not talking about a little head tilt but a full slam that knocks the wind out of your lungs, sort of like lying flat and having someone jump on your shoulders. Would you want your face propped off the ground?


This sounds like a good description of what could happen landing face first with a full face. Definitely not something I would want to experience, anyway. I ride with a half-dome 99.9% of the time (new Fox Flux w/ extended rear coverage). I typically wear the full face on Downieville runs where speeds are highest... maybe not such a good idea after all. A high speed OTB = superman = face first with full face = ???

Scary.

I totally agree that the best way to stay injury-free is to ride within your limits. If you want to push it, be aware of the consequences of failure.


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## dangit (Oct 29, 2007)

Obviously, the type and location of your riding will be the determining factor, but….

I was riding Culvert in Auburn yesterday with a few buddies and we were hittin up all the jumps and stuff, so we wore our full face helmets. Well, one dude went down in a rocky area while going pretty fast and pretty much scrapped off all the paint from the chin area to the back on the entire right side of the helmet. He ended up with a concussion and some bruises, but I’m pretty sure that there’d at least be a broken jaw or cheek bone in there too if he was only wearing his half helmet.

And, if your buddy can’t remember what trail your on or how many times he’s been on it that day after a crash – take him to the emergency room!!! Fortunately, my boy’s doing better today and should be back on the trail in no time.


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## dagenhay (Mar 10, 2008)

*Full Face is worth it weight!*

I ride nights on some difficult terrain, Crack, Mile and BoyScouts. Riding up my full face is on the backpack. Riding downhill it has been worth every penny I spent on it (day or night). Yes, even with the lights speed decreases at night, but sometimes going slow can be just as challenging because you don't have the speed to carry you through the rocky sections. And the rocks look bigger at night with the shadows cast from the lights.

Check out this website for a couple of my night ride videos in a full face helmet

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=haygenda

or

http://www.youtube.com/user/haygenda

I put stick-on velcro on the side of the ff helmet and on the light to allow for easy and adjustable lighting. With a 2 inch by 2 inch patch of velcro on the helmet, you can angle the light to shine close in or further out. Only once on a really tight trail did the light get knocked off by the bushes, but I also ride with a light on the handlebars so it was only a reduction in light and not a total blackout. I also mount my helmet cam on the other side of the ff with velcro.

I also put some velcro inside the ear holes to mounted my ipod earphones. Makes it easier to take the helmet on and off with the earphones staying in place.

:madman:


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## ridindog (Jun 6, 2006)

dagenhay said:


> I ride nights on some difficult terrain, Crack, Mile and BoyScouts. Riding up my full face is on the backpack. Riding downhill it has been worth every penny I spent on it (day or night). Yes, even with the lights speed decreases at night, but sometimes going slow can be just as challenging because you don't have the speed to carry you through the rocky sections. And the rocks look bigger at night with the shadows cast from the lights.
> 
> Check out this website for a couple of my night ride videos in a full face helmet
> 
> ...


Cool videos! Id change the title of one of them though, nightring crack is ok but nightriding boyscouts might give people the wrong idea especially if their not from marin 
oh yeah I wear a half dome in the day and a ff at night with sunglasses of course


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## Freerydejunky (Sep 21, 2006)

I use my full face for night rides and bucket helmet(skate lid) for day time rides. 
I just mount the light on the SIDE of the helmet near the mouth piece. 

I go just as fast in the dark


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## Lowball (Sep 1, 2006)

dangit said:


> Obviously, the type and location of your riding will be the determining factor, but&#8230;.
> 
> I was riding Culvert in Auburn yesterday with a few buddies and we were hittin up all the jumps and stuff, so we wore our full face helmets. Well, one dude went down in a rocky area while going pretty fast and pretty much scrapped off all the paint from the chin area to the back on the entire right side of the helmet. He ended up with a concussion and some bruises, but I'm pretty sure that there'd at least be a broken jaw or cheek bone in there too if he was only wearing his half helmet.
> 
> And, if your buddy can't remember what trail your on or how many times he's been on it that day after a crash - take him to the emergency room!!! Fortunately, my boy's doing better today and should be back on the trail in no time.


Photo of said helmet!

You definitely take your chances. I've been thru that section at least 50x with my 'half-dome' and never fallen once...don't what happen this time...speculation is front or rear tire washout...but it was so quick I didn't even see it or have time to react. Absolutely no damage to the bike. I would say that 90% of the time I'm on the half-dome and will stay that way unless I'm shuttling or doing short distance xc with DH/jumping involved.

Be safe and I highly recommend safety gear whenever possible. :thumbsup:


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## bdamschen (Jan 4, 2006)

pacman said:


> Suppose you land flat with your chest and face making impact with the ground. Both will be stopped suddenly and painfullly with the spine connecting the two. Now repeat but proect the face with X inches of material. The body still slams into the ground but now the spine has to make up that X inches of difference.
> 
> I'm not talking about a little head tilt but a full slam that knocks the wind out of your lungs, sort of like lying flat and having someone jump on your shoulders. Would you want your face propped off the ground?


 http://www.leatt-brace.com/


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## fritzaholic (Jul 2, 2005)

I wear spandex and a halfie. But then again, I ride hardtails with one gear...
and I've got cuts and scrapes all over me from trying to use that setup in places and at speeds I shouldn't.

I think a lot of what people are missing is knowing how to fall. NOTHING will save you in some cases, and a full face will help protect your teeth, but knowing how to fall on your average mid speed OTB will be worth all the tea in China.
There's a great link on this...
Watch Bikerfox, he knows how to do it proper like.

http://www.bikerfox.com/Bicycle/bicycle.htm


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## audi0phile (Jul 6, 2006)

Someone once pointed out the leverage problems associated with a mx/mtb full face. You have all these fins on the back side ans this massive chin piece that extends out towards the front. The argument is that these will snag on something and turn the head (think of all those movies wear mr. special ops snaps the neck of some b=poor bastid). Pacman's argument is fairly valid in my opinion and this new I brought up has also made me think about full face helmets. Nowadays a lot of proffesional motor sports (cars, motorcycles) require racers to wear a Hans Device, something that restricts head movement so as to prevent injuries. Most of these sports also require a full face all thought typical helmets I see in F1 and MotoGP don't have this large chin protrusion and the helmet is more of an egg shape. Just some food for thought.


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## bdamschen (Jan 4, 2006)

The helmets in moto gpor F1 do have as large of a chin protrusion, you just don't notice because there is also a areodynamic visor over the eyes. As far as visors on a DH helmet go, they may stick out far, but they will rip off very easily.

I will always wear a full face when I ride DH. A blow hard enough to cause my own helmet to crack my spine would also be a blow to the face hard enough to probably turn me in to a drooling idiot in an XC helmet. There's a reason why the majority of DH riders and MX riders wear the helmets they do- the risks not wearing something like that are far greater thant he risks of wearing it.


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## croatiansensation (Feb 21, 2005)

audi0phile said:


> Nowadays a lot of proffesional motor sports (cars, motorcycles) require racers to wear a Hans Device, something that restricts head movement so as to prevent injuries. Most of these sports also require a full face all thought typical helmets I see in F1 and MotoGP don't have this large chin protrusion and the helmet is more of an egg shape. Just some food for thought.


Except for MotoGP that is pretty much comparing apples to oranges. F1, Nascar, etc. don't wear the Hans Device because they wear helmets. They wear them because sudden negative acceleration tends to try and stap your neck in a crash, whether you are wearing a helmet or not.



bdamschen said:


> The helmets in moto gpor F1 do have as large of a chin protrusion, you just don't notice because there is also a areodynamic visor over the eyes. As far as visors on a DH helmet go, they may stick out far, but they will rip off very easily.
> 
> I will always wear a full face when I ride DH. A blow hard enough to cause my own helmet to crack my spine would also be a blow to the face hard enough to probably turn me in to a drooling idiot in an XC helmet. There's a reason why the majority of DH riders and MX riders wear the helmets they do- the risks not wearing something like that are far greater thant he risks of wearing it.


Yup, broken facial bones and a closed head injury aren't any better than a broken neck in my opinion. To each his own I suppose. . .


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## jpine93 (Aug 7, 2007)

half dome for casual riding without anything too fast, technical, with jumps, or new. If im goin on a bigger ride where i know im going to go all out and probably crash at some time just by riding hard, ill go full face


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## audi0phile (Jul 6, 2006)

Well, I have been shown a thing or two.


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## macdaddyg2006 (Jun 8, 2006)

So how does one avoid landing on their head (as in cracked helmet, serious neck and back injury) vs doing a super man type landing (perhaps a collar bone of face injury) when going OTB? Is a matter of what you run into or has fast you are going?


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## Freerydejunky (Sep 21, 2006)

macdaddyg2006 said:


> So how does one avoid landing on their head (as in cracked helmet, serious neck and back injury) vs doing a super man type landing (perhaps a collar bone of face injury) when going OTB? Is a matter of what you run into or has fast you are going?


Do what motorcycle racers do. (moto GP, AMA etc) Go limp. When you try to do something you tense up and get hurt.


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## crash bandicoot (Feb 7, 2008)

I wish I'd had a full-face helmet when I endoed (sp?) and broke some teef. This happened on a fairly "easy" XC trail, the Cursed Salmon Falls. I get the point PacMan is making and the type of crash he gave as an example is exactly what happened to me, but I still don't think that argument has any merit...I think my neck would have been okay. 

Did I mention that Salmon Falls is cursed?


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## pacman (Jan 16, 2004)

crash bandicoot said:


> I wish I'd had a full-face helmet when I endoed (sp?) and broke some teef. This happened on a fairly "easy" XC trail, the Cursed Salmon Falls. I get the point PacMan is making and the type of crash he gave as an example is exactly what happened to me, but I still don't think that argument has any merit...I think my neck would have been okay.
> 
> Did I mention that Salmon Falls is cursed?


You think - but are you sure? If the odds were 9-1 that you would not break your neck would you take a do-over? Risk the rest of your life against a cosmetic change?


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## croatiansensation (Feb 21, 2005)

stripes said:


> Why is Salmon Falls cursed? I just rode there last weekend and no one told me this?!
> 
> Seriously, yer the second person I heard say this..


I have never had a problem there . . . .


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## Anchorless (May 15, 2008)

What a lame argument.

There's a reason all MXers wear a full face while riding and jumping.

I've crashed plenty of times MX'in while wearing a full face - when you land on your face the helmet is either pushed up or down, depending on the angle. I've gashed my chin because the helmet has popped up, and scratched my nose up when it's popped down.

The helmet position will give much faster than your neck and spine will. Of course there are those freak instances when a person will fall just right and break their neck, but those tend to very rare.

I'd rather risk those rare chances of a broken neck than an almost 100 percent chance of a broken face.


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## dascro (Apr 1, 2007)

Anchorless said:


> What a lame argument.
> 
> There's a reason all MXers wear a full face while riding and jumping.
> 
> ...


I agree with this 100%


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## Filthy-Mess (Jan 4, 2009)

Hi. First post here.

Greetings from Bonnie Scotch-land!

Been reading this with interest, particularly as I'm still recovering from from a nasty faceplant at Innerleithen on the third drop at Cadon bank. Some good points made.
I had initially stumbled across the forum after trying to find some 'data' on full face helmets and neck injury.
Glad I did. 

A broken finger (again) and 18 stitches in my face helped me re-think how I might keep my self ugly, and not get too much uglier.

A full face will be on it's soon, although I will still ride most stuff with my Giro Xen.
After some irrational talk about not "...ever riding again...", I was quickly helped to realise what I knew already. I was riding out-with my ability, was tired, cold, and all previous drops had been 'sketchy' to say the least, everything was screaming at me to roll around the third.

Basically, I did everything wrong. A full face would have saved my incredible handsome-ness, but as others have said, riding more sensibly would equally have been just as beneficial. 

I will go back and ride the third drop successfully, (despite my aching face telling me differently right now...:sad: ) but not before I have watched others drop it properly, many times, then go away and size it up again, and come back, do the same, practice run-ups until I feel able to it confidently without causing significant injury.

Anyways, good stuff, and nice to meet you all.

Ally.


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## Romad (Dec 12, 2008)

Interesting thread.
I ride dh mtb, xc mtb, moto and snomobile. With regards to moto, snomobiles and park riding dh mtb I would never even consider anything but a full face helmet. That being said, I also wear a Leatt neck brace doing all the above mentioned activitys. I really dont think twice about using a half dome for xc and roadie work. I have had some horrific get offs desert racing the moto, destroying the helmet and I am still brutally handsome I think we all realize the inherent risks associated with our chosen sports. I use a half dome for the Downieville xc race but opt for the full face for high speed runs down Butcher.

At 46 yrs old I dont take the chances that I used to but what fun is life if you can not at least see the edge even if your not willng to ride it. As I tell my wife and kids all the time. It would be a real tragedy if I got seriously hurt or killed at work. Not so much if it happened doing something that I find true joy and happiness in! :thumbsup: 






THIS WORK THING IS REALLY STARTING TO GET IN THE WAY OF MY RECREATION


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## Molly55 (Apr 17, 2007)

Many motorcycle riders feel that a full face helmet will break your neck easily due to the added weight and intertia being supported by your neck. Nothing to do with it hitting you anywhere, getting snagged, etc. That's why a lot of Harley riders wear skullcap helmets - because they believe that their neck will fare better with less weight flopping around on the head when they go limp and skid down the pavement.


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## ChipM (Jul 12, 2007)

Molly55 said:


> Many motorcycle riders feel that a full face helmet will break your neck easily due to the added weight and intertia being supported by your neck. Nothing to do with it hitting you anywhere, getting snagged, etc. That's why a lot of Harley riders wear skullcap helmets - because they believe that their neck will fare better with less weight flopping around on the head when they go limp and skid down the pavement.


I've been riding bikes for a while and haven't ever heard that argument. I hear Harley types complain that full face helmets "restrict their freedom" or make them feel claustrophobic. Note also that most of the Harley/Cruiser riders around here wear the worthless thin plastic non-DOT approved brain buckets. No EPS liner or anything to slow your brain's deceleration when you crash. Plus your face gets ground off by the road. And bugs in your teeth... but I digress. :madman:

Sorry to dig up an old thread, was just searching for info on full face helmets after a friend of mine ended up with multiple fractures to his face and a nasty concussion... and it was NOT a very gnarly trail.


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