RRC Archives

Whenever I am climbing or belaying at the gunks, I wear my helmet. To much loose rock and traffic up on the GT ledge not to wear one. Climbed there Saturday and had a .75 cam land right next to where I was belaying from which was dropped from the second pitch of the route next to where we were climbing.

ground score...

After biking for years with a helmet it occurred to me that climbing has way more injury potential...now I wear my helmet almost all the time at any crag (as an added bonus it is sun protection on my bald head).
Key that it fits though...the Camp silver star I was constantly pushing back into position...its now semi-retired and I'm back to an Ecrinroc

I agree. Most road and mountain bikers would never think of riding without a helmet, but few climbers do. Most bikers don't fall often, but most sport climbers fall everyday. Of course, 99% of falls are clean, but clearly it's the freak fall that we're protecting against.

Any activity which includes the possibility of 20 feet of rapid movement 1-5 feet away from a solid substance while possibly not in control of trajectory really demands a helmet.

And yet, I have rarely worn one.

I have decided to start wearing a helmet on anything close to vertical.

i have never worn a helmet sport climbing (minus guiding trips and Petrero chico). I do wear one at places with a high level of loose rock (Seneca Rocks).

I almost always wear it aid climbing. After i took a 70 footer upside down, i got myself a helmet. I do not wear it when I am climbing easy aid (C1ish, the nose of el cap, half dome, prow and south face of WC).

I also always wear it in the mountains (Tetons, Sierra Nevada).

I really dont think you need one sport climbing. trad climbing and more adventure climbing i think it is a great idea.

I should wear it all the time, but sometimes it is a pain in the ass to bother with...

bet this dude's psyched

yeah I think helmets are definitely essential anywhere that has loose rock, or anywhere that has multi-pitch routes where there could be climbers above you.

As a hardcore mountain biker, kayaker, and caver, I'm really used to wearing a helmet, and it has been programmed in to my brain that rock/concrete/trees and heads don't mix. It's my intent to always wear a helmet while leading, but I forget to put it on at least half the time I climb in the gorge.


Hitting my head story:

Last year I was swinging on a vine at night while I was drinking and fell to the bottom of this cave entrance and hit my head. I blacked out for about 3 seconds. My friends walked me to the shelter house and as soon as I sat down all I wanted to do was pass out. I was then driven to the hospital and my friends kept talking to me to keep me awake. It wasn't until after I talked to the doctor and was leaving the hospital that I got scared and realized when I go to bed I might not wake up, that sucked. You would think after that I would always remember to wear my helmet when I climb, but I still forget all the time. Now if the route looks scary or if I have a bad feeling I seem to always remember to put it on.


Reviews:

I use the Petzl Elios. I have found that it's extremely hot in the summer, still hot climbing in the spring/fall, and sometimes even when I'm crawling hard in a 50 degree cave I find it hot. I have found the foam around the edge covered in sweat on more than a few occasions. For the most part I think it's comfortable, but while caving and looking down at the floor sometimes it shifts and annoys me, but I think it's just from the extra weight of the headlight that's doing it, because it has never happened while I was climbing and looking down. My headlamp is really heavy, it's a 130 lumen PT Apex with the 4 AA battery pack that is behind your head.

I think if you are considering getting the Elios that you should get the Altios instead. Petzl addressed the heat issue by adding some netting to the Altios, as seen here:
http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/vertica ... ets/altios

The Altios isn't much more money than the Elios, and in fact you can get it for the same price if you shop around: http://www.google.com/products?q=petzl+ ... hl=en&aq=f . Campsaver.com has it on sale for $67. I ordered 14 quickdraws (Freewires for 9.60 each) from them once and they did good business with fast shipping.

Not that anyone on here would pay $95 for a helmet that isn't the Petzl Meteor III, I figured I would do a review for the Ecrin Roc anyhow, just in case you planned on getting one used or on sale:

I have tried out the Petzl Ecrin Roc for about 10 minutes, and it definitely doesn't shift around my head (with the headlamp on mind you) like the Elios does. In fact my brother gave away his Elios and got himself the Ecrin Roc just for that reason. The Ecrin Roc has dual size adjustments (that adjust the same thing, the band around your head) on each side, unlike my Elios that only has one on the back. Is it to help make it shift less, or for comfort I don't know, maybe it's for redundancy

Dang, just ordered an Elios. Well, I guess I will still wear it. Mostly because I don't want to spend the money to send it back, and two because it looks better than a lot of the other helmets. ( I know, call me vain, but some helmets are just plain ugly and I need all the help I can get). I would sometime pack a BD Half Dome of my wife's to the Red and hardly wear it. I however have changed my mind. I grew up riding dirtbikes and on the backs of Harleys, and I would never ride a motorcycle without a helmet. Why would I climb without one.
That is why I just ordered one. Finally getting a gri-gri too, after five years of climbing with an atc.