ASRA - Australian Skateboard Racing Association

As some of you know I had a nice stack in the first heat of the juniors race that had me in hospital in a neck brace for 3-4 hours
Video: (will update when I get it)
Photo sequence: http://i50.tinypic.com/wjuknc.jpg

And heres the carnage on the Icaro 4flight lt (got it signed at the riders party)

Hard to show in pictures but it has hairline fractures over the entire shell

Now, the helmet definitely did do its job in protecting my head, however as you can see in the photo sequence, the tail may of caused more damage in the crash.

Alot of people think that if you know how to crash you can justify wearing these helmets but I'm not too sure, some accidents you just don't have control in the air/on the ground/ in the bales.

I guess all I'm trying to say is, in my opinion- If your going to get an hangliding helmet like an icaro, don't get something with a tail because the aerodynamic advantages just don't justify the extra risk you are taking with wearing one. As kibbling said to me "working on your tuck will give you much more of an aerodynamic advantage, then an aero helmet ever will".

Needless to say my next helmet will be something like a bell drop, or I will use my motorbike helmet and wait it out until David Price gets his purpose built downhill skateboarding helmets out.


On another note: thank-you to all who put effort into getting newtons together, I absolutely loved it, can't wait till next year.

Tags: 4flight, icaro, long, tail

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well said!
thats some pretty bad carnage!!!!
do u think u'd still b with us if u werent wearing the helmet?
Dude i have some awesome video of the stack mate i will try and get it up tonight
Nick, you were one of the rippers on the weekend. Nice to have you competing, good to meet you. Hope your shoes were ok in the crash?
yeah i think that those tails do more damage thatn good because in the photos of daddows stack it look like the reson the helmet came off was because of the tail...
as if you got up from that man! that looked MUCH worse than leeso's stack (his was majorly serious but far out, you got helicoptered!)
Christ mate!!!!!!!!! that is pretty serious stuff and i agree with Dale cant belive that you stood up after that but you looked a bit concussed when you did just to state the obvious
that is crazy!
hope your okay
Well said and thought out Nick. Gnarly stack! Glad you came out of it ok.
The average human head weighs around 12 1/2 pound, the brain makes tiny equations millions of times a day to balance this weight on your neck, when you move it changes the force of balance accordingly. It takes around 3 weeks for the brain to accept any change in the body, which is why when we are younger and have growth spurts we become clumsy while the brain recalculates the difference in length of our limbs.
When we put a helmet on we change the weight of our head, but the brain doesn't take this into account quickly which means any sudden movement of the head wearing a helmet results in over balance, and at speed as in a crash neck trauma.
2 things to help this, the first, wear a helmet for the rest of your skating life in order for the brain to get used to it, totally impractical eating pizza, swimming etc the second is to wear a light helmet. THIS IS THE TRAP.....very very few light weight helmets are designed to be used to protect your head at speeds and on surfaces ANY downhill skater will put them through.
We wear motorcycle racing standard leathers because we are putting our bodies in the same situation as motorcycle racers, why are our heads any different? why aren't we wearing helmets designed for motorcycle racing?. Heavier? yes, safer? yes, and as Nick says until a purpose built SAFE lightweight helmet is available you appear to have a choice, risk neck trauma or risk head trauma.
This is obviously something that could run and run and turn into a huge debate; I hope it doesn't, all I have written this for is so some of you will go away and think about the helmet you have chosen.
this is the reason why i went for a nitro motocross helmet, it might be bigger and heavier then any of the other options, but i can see outta it fine and its tough
i gotta say looking at that video i think a heavier helmet would have only added to the crash the way Nick was whipped around.
a heavier helmet can take a bigger impact yes, but will carry MUCH more momentum into an impact so you have to weigh it up. End of the day the flight helmet did its job of protecting his head in a pretty serious crash (still probably a good idea to steer away form the helmet with the tail tho).
But like Hank said its really down to personal preference, just do your research on both sides of the debate before buying..

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