Whether you’re cruising around town on your longboard or sharpening your kickflip skills in the park, wearing a skateboard helmet is always a good idea. Falling and crashing come with the territory, and since you can’t predict exactly which way you will fall – look for a helmet that protects from impacts from all angles.
A great sport, and also the perhaps most fun way to get around town. You can feel the adrenalin rush at the skate park as you are about to drop, and the asphalt under your feet as you ride down the street. But as with all vehicles with small wheels, there is always the risk of the journey coming to a sudden halt. Cobblestones, gravel or a sneaky pinecone that makes faceplanting a 100% certainty are among the dangers faced by every skateboarder.
Given the nature of the sport where you can fall in any direction, a skateboard helmet that offers good protection from impacts from all angles is a wise choice. It should cover your forehead as well as the back and sides of your head. There are a number of skateboard helmets on the market that are perfectly good helmets, and which differ only in color and design, so which skateboard helmet to choose is up to personal taste.
However, it is vital that the helmet fits you properly and it’s a good idea to shop around until you find one that does. A helmet that is too big offers less protection. A helmet that is too small will be uncomfortable to wear and is likely not to be used at all. Make sure that straps and adjustments are easy to use and in the right positions for you.
The Mips system is designed to help direct the rotational motion away from the head. But what is rotational motion? Let us explain:
If you fall while skateboarding, your head will most likely hit the ground at an angle. At the moment of impact, rotational motion can make the head rotate more or less, depending on the object or surface of impact. The energy from the impact can be directed further into the head, which can cause brain injury. Rotational motion is thus the result of oblique impacts to the head.
The Mips safety system mimics the brain’s own, natural protection which allows the brain to move slightly inside the skull. Our safety system consists of a low-friction layer that allows the head to move 10–15 mm inside the helmet in all directions. This can help reduce the risk of brain damage in an oblique impact.