What might explain skaters' aversion to wearing protective equipment? Personally, I only came around to wearing a helmet and pads a few years ago, after skating without them for over 20 years. Partly, the decision to put a helmet on and pad up was driven by my desire to improve my transition skateboarding. I suppose I’m not nimble enough to run down ramps when I bail. Also, I bail quite often so the risk factor would be very high in terms of injury. For transition skating, wearing a helmet and at least knee pads just makes sense because if you slam without them the amount of tries you get for a trick is extremely limited. How many hip and shoulder checks can even the toughest skater absorb before they’re out of commission for the day or even longer?

Another aspect of the motivation to wear safety equipment came from a very rudimentary equation that I sort of stumbled on due to my age. I figured, if I’ve gotten away with no serious injuries for 20 years, it became apparent that without any intervention, such an outcome would be a matter of when, not if.

See, I was diving back into skating hard after about a decade of inconsistent skateboarding. As you might expect, that brought on a series of minor, but still painful injuries. Some of which I realized were avoidable. Case in point, I really hurt my knee while working on a Kickflip Indy in the shallow end of the bowl at Owl’s Head Skatepark. I believed I could get away with using the low-cost Triple 8 pads with minimal cushioning that Zumiez. Turns out I couldn’t. The adrenaline and exhaustion of the three-hour battle seemed worth it at the time, but following that session I noticed that the innards of my knee were battered. And, this actually frightened me. In the sense that I realized I could really lose some of my ability to skate if I’m not more proactive about mitigating the risk of injury. Knee injuries are also very common in skaters who continue to sport into middle age. All in all, the conclusion was a blatant no brainer - wear legit pads or risk having to slow down my progression. And I wasn’t about to pump the brakes.

I’ve observed other fully grown men in particular offer reasons why they don’t need to wear a helmet or other safety equipment. Much of their position on the subject is based on their belief that they’re not skating dangerously, so they don’t need to anticipate being in danger of getting injured. In essence, they have slowed down as they’ve aged, relatively speaking, and it’s this approach that protects them, perhaps even more than any safety equipment would. Understandably, they also cite the discomfort or unnatural feeling of wearing a helmet and/or pads. All of which is logical, in terms of argument or perspective, however I don’t see this take as being completely relevant to the issue, because it’s a matter of probability, not individual control. I’m not declaring that these men are outright wrong, more, these are my friends or fellow skaters, and I want to see them flourish as they age, not get hurt.

I remember reading a quote by Hemingway, or maybe it was something Jim Harrison said, not sure, but basically it was like, by the time you’ve drank enough to enjoy the finest wine available, you’re going blind and dying from gout. In a sense, I see a skater’s life as very similar - in that, at the peak of our skill and experience, our bodies start to crumble from the abuse. Which, is just how the game goes. I don’t mind the reality of it, but I certainly don’t see that predictable trajectory as something beyond management. Which is where the helmet and pads come in. Cultural lameness shouldn’t be a consideration, either - we’re adults, we have families, jobs, and shit to do. Transition or street, I believe if you’re an adult skater you’ve earned the right to protect your neck. I wish I did it much earlier on.