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Would you wear a helmet?


stuartasutherland

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I was sent SuperDell's latest youtube video yesterday. I found it difficult not to comment on him instructing ground handling and PPG flights with the student not wearing a helmet.

[youtubevideo]

[/youtubevideo]

I said "For a man who goes on about other equipments failings in safety - I find it strange you send a student away without a helmet on! Nice vid though."

Dell Said "Yes there are many many many extremely important factors to paramotor design that people need to know as their life depends on it. Helmet use with a Flat Top, on a beach, near water is not one of them. That's why it is important to train with true experts that know what is and isn't extremely important to your safety."

Someone else said "I am sure that you are a very good intractor to be with, I can see you running around your students and helping them all the time. This way they are going to learn very fast..!!!

Just one question, why dont you give them a helmet?

This dune must be between San Francisco and Los Angeles right?"

Dell Said "A helmet has very little importance in this scenaro. Certainly not enough importance to even waste a comment about. I could explain in great detail both sides of that but the bottom line is that it is not important enough to even discuss. People making comments about helmets are only those with very limited experience and knowledge in this industry"

The oracle has spoken. :?

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In Scotland you have to wear a helmet just to stay warm!

I guess you could make the same argument about a squashy green hillside being safe enough that you don't need a helmet, but there is always something hard (other people's heads, walls, the occasional rock) so its best to be on the safe side - especially while training. Even if you are using frikkin' awesome gear!

Must be annoying wearing a helmet in a hot country though, at least until you get up into the air.

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I am sure he doesnt wear a helmet when training is because of the heat.........and as he has proved time and time again.. hes allready got a Hot-Head..... :lol::twisted:

yaaaaa huuuu....fruckin...whhaaaa..hooo

and the equipment he is using is the best and so

would never hurt anybody :? because it always behaves impeccably :mrgreen:

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just as an aside, he is sending his students on their first flights right out over the sea!!

Thats no problem - Dell can magically part the waves if they fall in ...... :roll:

It kind of makes you wonder where his brain resides when he is so proud of the FT's crumple zone to protect the ass, but is indiferent to head protection ....

Anyway his immense skills also exempt him from needing seatbelts for his children or safety catches for his handguns (or at least until he was caught) !! His blog clearly demonstrates the effects of not wearing a helmet, which is the best possible reason to wear one !! :

http://dellschanze.blogspot.com/2009/09/dell-schanze-hero-once-again.html

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  • 6 years later...

I have looked  about and talked too many people that all wear helmets when flying.

My question is how many people manage to land on their head from flying or have been saved by wearing a helmet?

but to land on your head. this to me, seems like some bad luck.

I get the broken ankles, legs, and back, has a high chance of happening. 

 

Does anyone here have videos of 1st hand stories of people that were saved by a helmet?

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There are a number of helmet 'save's on Youtube. One guy was struck before he took off, by another guy taking off. Huge dent in helmet. The most common injury is when ending by on your side and then getting face planted into the ground. If you ever had to throw a reserve then you could end up any way up and landing anywhere!

I fell off my bike years ago on ice and went hard onto my side. Without the helmet I would be dead - the helmet was split and I was knocked out. The problem landing on your side is you can't stop your head hitting the floor.

An inquiry into a paragliding accident in the Alps debated whether the pilot would have survived if his helmet had stayed on his head.

This is one of those things where the probability of whacking your head is small, but if/when you do, the risk of serious head injury is great. 

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Always wear a helmet whenever you start your motor, even for maintenance. It's not worth the risk, people can get caught with kickback as shown recently on this forum.

Also if you have a slip on wet grass (ground) you can get a smack on the head from the paramotor frame.

There is an argument for always wearing your helmet as a trainee was dragged into a stone wall when ground handling when a gust made him lose control. Having his helmet on prevented injury, apart from his pride.

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for someone like D... to have a student die in training, not flying a paramotor still just training on a beach, ground handling upwind of rocks where the poor guy died of blunt force trauma to the head. You would think D... would be very strict on helmets when teaching. You think his super skills would not allow ground handling upwind of obstacles. He will argue that someone else was instructing under his guidance. I would argue if you have had any bad experience like this, you would be handing out helmets to everyone.

There is lots of information on google, I will not link here or name the unfortunate student. simply Google for it.

Accidents can happen, but then we change and adapt as to not repeat. We learn from it. That shows super skills, what I see is super stupid.

I have flown without a helmet at times, I understand the risks a student does not. Majority of the time I fly with a helmet. It is somewhere to mount my gopro and my headphones are attached to the helmet.

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Whilst sometimes tempting, I always wear a helmet - got a bang on the back of the head from the cage once, the lid made the difference between it being a problem and it being a non-issue. Why wouldn't you wear one?

I always wear a lightweight helmet when ground handling too. It's just not worth the risk.

I see people on YouTube without helmets but I always just think that they've never had an accident or witnessed one. It's the same with people I see riding a motorbike in a t-shirt - you just know that they've never come off and experienced gravel rash (or worse).

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One thing people have not mentioned, is that it is surprising how little force it takes to sustain a head injury, granted our craniums are designed pretty tough, but even if you fall backwards from a standing position and the back of you skull hits a solid object, you will not get up in a hurry. Now add the momentum of a failed launch or tripping and falling while doing what we do into the equation

Broken legs, arms, feet, hands will mend     a broken brain normally does not, that is our "engine room" or "hard drive", you break that and your life will change forever, a helmet may be that difference between being a vegetable, to being able to fly another day

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On 9/28/2017 at 23:05, MrPK21 said:

I have looked  about and talked too many people that all wear helmets when flying.

My question is how many people manage to land on their head from flying or have been saved by wearing a helmet?

but to land on your head. this to me, seems like some bad luck.

I get the broken ankles, legs, and back, has a high chance of happening. 

 

Does anyone here have videos of 1st hand stories of people that were saved by a helmet?

it's not about landing on your head... It's (as 1 example) about landing and falling forwards and a 30 KG Paramotor smacking you on the back of the head. And yes, I have seen this happen. 

SW :D

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Thank you all for your replies.

 

Would still be good to get some links to the related videos.

I do have, and wear my helmet when flying.

 

But

 

I am also a biker, if I had my choice I probably wouldn't wear my crash hat all the time.

If I intended on riding stupid and taking more chances then I want my hat and full padding.

 

I think as my confidence grows, my want to wear a hat will become less.

 

but I do intend on videoing most of my flights and don't think I could put up with the earache that would go with not wearing one.:coptor:

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...

I know I'm late to the party, but why would you need a helmet just to kite a wing?  These are new students learning to kite and ground handle.  Rest assured that Dell puts a helmet on everyone that straps on a motor.

Edited by PPG7G
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I allways wear a helmet , was kiting when I yust started and having fun , got lifted off my feet about 4 feet , by a gust and got slammed on my side into the ground. 

I hit my head so hard with that I was shaken up :: without my helmet on it would  have been a lot worse.9_9 Stay Safe

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