Skateboarding Helmets For Skateboarders

Skateboarders fall off – often (even good ones). They fall on their heads (see photo) – often. Skateboarders need to wear the right protection – always.

The first important thing to remember before you take to your skateboard is to wear the correct helmet – a bicycle helmet won’t do, it is designed differently and will not keep you safe on your skateboard, so you need to buy a specifically designed skateboarding helmet. Skateboarding helmets are harder for the inevitable frequent falls, and they are designed to protect more of your head. It is actually law in some states that you must wear a correct skateboarding helmet in order to be allowed in some skateboarding parks.

The first time you fall off your skateboard, the chances are it will be the first time you realize just how hard the pavement actually is, with your head! You can mend a broken arm, broken legs heal and broken collar bones can be good as new within a few weeks, but break your head and scramble your brains and it could be broken forever. You only get one head so look after it the best you can.

Skateboarding Helmet Features

• Shell – the outer shell of a skateboarding helmet is much harder than that of a bicycle helmet. Skateboarding helmets are designed to withstand multiple impacts, bicycle helmets crack after one hit!
• Lining – skateboarding helmets are usually lined with expanded polypropylene (EPP) which is similar to that used in bicycle helmets, maybe a little more rubbery. Anyway, EPP is used because it recovers to its original shape after a hit – ready for the next time you take a tumble.
• Shape – skateboarding helmets cover more of your head and face for extra protection. They are shaped so that whether you fall forewards. sideways or backwards your face and head is still protected by the rounded shape.
• Color – unlike bicycle helmets, which are bright colors so that you can be seen and stay safe, skateboarding helmets are generally black or darker in color. Most skateboarders don’t want to be seen on the street.
• Fastenings – you need to be able to secure your skateboarding helmet at all times, it won’t offer any protection at all if it falls off every time you take a tumble.
• Sizes – skateboarding helmets are more or less the same size, and you just make them fit with adjustable foam pads inside. These pads can easily be removed or replaced, they generally just velcro into place and are available in different thicknesses for a really snug fit. (Some even wear a baseball cap underneath to make sure it’s a snug fit – or is that really for style?)
• Safety – a real proper skateboard helmet ought to have a sticker inside to say that it has reached an adequate safety standard – ASTM F1492. If your helmet only has a CPSC sticker then it is a bicycle helmet and will not do at all.
• Replacements – unlike bicycle helmets, you don’t need to replace your skateboarding helmet every time you have a crash, as long as it is ASTM F1492 certified. Check the straps and buckles are in good order though, so that you can keep it firmly on your head at all times.