I will tell you a story that outlines the events that led me to come to my current helmet decisions.
It started in 2007. I was riding an easy trail I'd ridden a hundred times before. I was at the top of "Four Mile Hill," and I'd be back at my truck in half an hour. I noted that it was 1:00 p.m. The next thing I knew, and the memories are still vague, I was laying on a gurney at the trauma center and a nurse as asking me annoying questions. My face was jacked. I looked pretty bad. Two surgeries were required over the next two years.
Apparently a couple more riders found me at 3:30 p.m. and I got a chopper ride that I don't remember. I returned to the bike in a couple months and rode with a full face until I became comfortable again. And that's the end of that part of the story.
Fast forward to 2022. I was riding a double black that I done many times. Since I had it dialed, I was just goofing around and riding fast. There is a bit of a rock drop before a tight switchback that leads to a calamitous drop if you don't stick it. I stuck it, my front went in a hole, and I went right over the bars, right onto my face. Blood was dripping all over my pretty bike, it hurt like hell, and my friends couldn't say for sure whether I needed a hospital. I was several miles of painful riding to get back to the truck. I said to myself, "Self, you are a stupid, stupid man. There is no excuse for not wearing the proper gear. You're not a pencil-neck who doesn't have the muscular strength to hold his head up strait if he has a couple ounces extra on his head. Wear your full-face."
So that's pretty much how I currently look at the "full face question." My buddy who was following sees the validity of my reasoning and now wears the full face exclusively. Another rides the full face more frequently than before. Others still ride with their half-shells. But when people ask, I tell them the story so they might make the most rational decision for their situation.
