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GroundquestMSA wrote:I'm really not trying to be subversive, I just don't feel that helmets need to protect us from bumping our heads. It isn't that hard to watch where you are going. I wear one when on rope, or when in the company of those who would be otherwise irritated. Ohio caves are indeed made of rocks. They are also mostly crawls. Helmets are a pain in crawls, and how much damage can I do to my own head while crawling? Even if I did have the tendency to whack my head on the rocks, I'd rather have some bumps and scrapes and gashes than always have to mess with a helmet.
Scott McCrea wrote:GroundquestMSA wrote:Even if I did have the tendency to whack my head on the rocks, I'd rather have some bumps and scrapes and gashes than always have to mess with a helmet.
You should laminate this quote on a card that you can hand to the rescuer that hauls you out.
ian mckenzie wrote:Is Marion caving with four lights? A bit much for pit-bobbing.
I wonder if the three-light-rule was developed when lights and batteries were not so reliable. Two seems reasonable now, except when soloing.
The comment about helmets restricting your vision and height perception leading to more clunks than without are correct, although most cavers agree that a helmet's protective benefits far outweigh their marginal drawbacks.
Anonymous_Coward wrote:No offense intended here, but your above quote makes it clear that you have not done much caving, at all. I consider myself pretty careful, and I always "watch where I am going," and I have had my life saved by my helmet more than once. As you start to do more caving, the sheer amount of time that you spend underground will lead to incidents of head bumping, rocks hitting your helmet, and you will fall, eventually. None of this means you are an unsafe caver, it just happens.
Please start to cultivate safe practices now, and then the gear will be there to help you when you end up needing it. You may not want "to mess with a helmet," but as Scott implies, rescuers (other cavers) do not want "to mess with rescuing you," because you decided to ignore a well-established, basic caving safety practice.
BrianFrank wrote:One of the greatest. As in these pics, many of the pics I have seen of Marion O Smith caving, he has a spare light around his neck. If he does it, then it is good enough for me.
Scott McCrea wrote:GroundquestMSA wrote:Even if I did have the tendency to whack my head on the rocks, I'd rather have some bumps and scrapes and gashes than always have to mess with a helmet.
You should laminate this quote on a card that you can hand to the rescuer that hauls you out.
The only uses for a helmet are to have some place to mount your light ... and to protect your brain. Not really worth the hassle for some.
GroundquestMSA wrote:The only uses for a helmet are to have some place to mount your light ... and to protect your brain. Not really worth the hassle for some.
Well done Derek. It's good to see that your fine safety habits have preserved your own brain and its ability to formulate these keen insights.
Amazingracer wrote: And instead took a me first approach.
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