Protective gear!

Hey going boarding for the first time in 3 weeks..
just inquiring as to the importance of protective gear.. wrist guards specifically.. i cbf with a helmet, that crap looks homosexual anything else worth considering?

cheers!

funny, i always thought wrist guards looked homosexual never ridden with em, never had a wrist injury, ridden w/o a helmet, and i have had a head injury, so i guess i wear the g a y helmet.

i think wrist guards are more homosexual than helmets. I always wear a helmet and so do all my friends. You might want to wear some crash pants too to protect your tailbone, especially if its your first time going out. 

surely helmets are only really necessary when you're doing jumps and stuff... right?

Originally posted by scottkUMA surely helmets are only really necessary when you're doing jumps and stuff... right?

dude your helmet is probably the most important piece of protection you can wear. see how puffy a helmet looks when you crack your skull on a sheet of ice and bloods drippin out of your ears.

LOL! How can wearing a helmet be related to your sexual orientation

Ahh helmets, I miss seeing them.

Japanese people do NOT wear helmets...EVER. Snowboarding, cycling...same thing. They have a thing against helmets. Maybe it messes with their hair?

Seriously, you can go an entire day at a resort and not see one helmet. The instructors dont wear them, the kids taking their first lessons dont wear them...

Only ones who wear em are a few pros going off trail or the park riders. (I would say half of the park guys wear em...less than half maybe. I'm not a park rider so I don't really notice) Regular resort folk, never.

This is for hakuba, gifu, koga shigen area.... Maybe it's different in Hokkaido where there are more foreigners.

Honestly, I think safety equipment is just not big here. Obviously its harder to see but from my friends, it doesn't seem like anybody uses wrist guards or padded pants either. I had to force my gf to wear the crap I bought her.

If wearing a helmet is g a y then I don't want to be straight...

Seriously, protect your noggin.

Yes it doesn't matter if you are beginner or advanced, ride in the park or on the mountain, everybody should wear a helmet. Even if you are riding slow and chilling you can catch that heel edge at any moment and whack the back of your head.

Originally posted by scottkUMA hahaha... mann i dont want to wear a helmet! i guess if i fall on my head ill be changing my tune :P

since this will be your first time boarding i can pretty much 100% guarantee you'll be slamming your head on the mountain after catching an edge.  but yeah, don't listen to the 20 people telling you to wear a helmet, def wait til you bang your head some ok? i mean what is the chance of becoming a vegetable or worse compared to looking/feeling cool?? amirite???

aside from the obvious safety benefit, my helmet has also been great for keeping my head/ears warm and holding my goggles in place.

Helmet has saved my skull a few times.  Icy conditions, hidden lumps, pedestrians, and the dreaded unexpected tree will teach you a lesson the first time you cross their path.  For starting out, I wouldn't drop tons of cash on wrist guards...try to borrow or buy used what you can.  The stuff exists for a reason (to prevent injury) but you can make your own call on what you deem necessary.  Seriously hope you reconsider the homosexual helmet thing though.

okay okay... you have made your point! i will get a helmet >.<
jeeeeeeeeeze! lol

yeah im just going to hire i think... ill prob buy one before the next time i go.. but super low on cash right now

if it is your first time, in addition to the above mentioned gear i reccomend bubble wrapping your entire body. that probably still won't protect you from getting bruises, but hey if you make it past your first week without quitting then you are good to go...

I'm actually thinking about getting one of these padded shorts as well as a spine protector
any idea anybody

I got all my protective gear from XS. It's rather unfortunate that Sierra doesn't carry this stuff. The spine protector has bailed me out on several occasions. I got it just because I was experiencing some unrelated back pain and didn't want to make it any worse. The things that bother me the most about the spine protector is that it rides up (but I'm 6'4" and might even be a little tall for the X-Long size) and that it can be pretty warm in spring conditions.

I opted against the full protective vest to avoid overheating. Make sure you get one with kidney protection. The spine protector is pretty comfortable and hardly restricts movement at all.

Originally posted by keljai l would seriously consider shin gaurds, it seems like the first few times those took the most damage and my wrist. they are relatively cheap and u can use your rollerblade ones also. l must say though, unless you go hardcore, the chance of a head injury is minimal

i would totally disagree about the head injury correlation to hardcore. It only takes one random noob on a double black or an unseen stump or rock to send you flying and whatever happens after that is luck. I would just say that its more of a decision like it is said, better to be safe then sorry. 

May not be your style, but I'd definitely go with a helmet.  Honestly, a lot of people wear them these days (and no one will care what you look like), and pretty much every snowboarder I know has gotten at least one nasty whack on the head that wasn't related to jumping.  I've also seen a few concussions (on two different occasions, this happened on the person's first day of snowboarding) - not fun to have to take your friend to the ER.  So anyway, I always ride with a helmet now, but have never used wrist guards, and only very rarely wear impact shorts.  It's really up to you whether or not you'd want to take a risk with your head/brain or if style is more important.

I'm going to get some padded shorts after falling and bruising my tailbone this past season.  I'm also going to pick up a helmet and maybe some knee pads.  But I think the helmet and shorts are the most important.

Whenever I hear a story about someone dying from a head injury they aren't wearing a helmet. Just get a nice cheap one like RED or Burn, you can even just use a skateboard helmet. I also seriously recommend some butt pads especially if you're a beginner because learning, you will spend most of you're day on your butt.   

prob with wrist guards. any one new to the sport might not buy gloves big enough for them. i know i like a tight fit on mittens or gloves. and if you bought big ones, you kind of need a second pair whenever you dont wear the wrist guards.

this is not the case if you have thin wrist guards. but then again i think only the bulkier ones work.

I've heard some complaints about wrist guards causing severe forearm fractures on extremely bad falls, but I still recommend them for novice riders. Seems like those types of injuries are pretty few and far between.

Originally posted by scottkUMA surely helmets are only really necessary when you're doing jumps and stuff... right?