purpose of the small handle on handles?

iced out ryan · Newbie Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 8 City: Seattle

I was just wondering what the purpose of the handle that is farther up than the main handle is for. It is the little one. And also is it good to have those on your rope handle or are they worthless? And also do helmets work very well because sometimes i fall pretty hard and i hurt my head. I was just wondering if they actually stop anything. Thanks

wakehype · Soul Rider Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 460 City: Fresno

They are used for wrapped tricks...

wakehype · Soul Rider Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 460 City: Fresno

And yes, helments help, alot.

anti-shoobies · Posted: Jul 04, 2003 5:59 am Post subject:

wakehype, pretty much summed it up.

Wake upPp · Soul Rider Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 338 City: NOR-CAL

if ur hitting obstacles then helmets definetly help. if ur just hitting the water they can make it worse.

gvb · Posted: Jul 04, 2003 9:17 am Post subject:

How can helmets make it worse on the water? I just got a pretty bad concussion and I was thinking if I was wearing a helmet it would have obsorbed enough of the shock to prevent the concussion.

-gvb

iced out ryan · Newbie Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 8 City: Seattle

So i should get a handle with the smaller handle on it?

calair03 · Posted: Jul 04, 2003 1:16 pm Post subject:

Depending on how you fall helmets can produce drag on the water that makes it feel like your head is going to rip off.

MrBlean · Posted: Jul 05, 2003 2:35 am Post subject: Helmets

Concussion is caused when the brain bangs into the inside of the skull. Can be caused by the brain (and skull) moving at high speed and the skull stopping quickly (the brain doesn't so they collide) or the brain and skull being stationary and the skull being accelerated fast with the brain stationary (like what happens when being punched by Mike Tyson).

So a helmet does little or nothing to reduce the acceleration of the skull but, as Calair says, if the helmet catch in the water on a fall it could INCREASE the deceleration of the skull and hence the impact of the still moving brain.

However, when hitting a solid object, a helmet will protect the skull from damage (that's why they are recommended for motorcyclists) but whilst you may not damage your skull, you will probably still suffer from concussion.

I windsurf a lot in big waves and wear a helmet with face guard to protect me from impact with the mast and boom but this is to save my teeth getting smashed out and to stop my scalp from getting split open. I wouldn't expect it to prevent me getting concussion from a mega wipe-out at high speed.

The trouble with saying they help a lot is if you wear one and don't get concussion, how do you know the impact was big enough to have given you one in the first place?