On snowboarding: Preventative measures work better if you buy them before you need them

[mattbell]

On the ski lift today:

Me:  The fall wasn't bad. I had knee pads.
Woman: You have knee pads?
Me: Yeah.  I also have a tailbone pad and body armor -- that's wrist, elbow, shoulder, back, and chest pads -- and a helmet.
Woman: Wow... you must have been in a terrible accident.
Me:  (laughs)  No.  I want to avoid being in a terrible accident.  That's why I bought all that stuff.  
Woman:  Oh.  That makes sense.



---

People don't get it.  You can do more cool things in your life if you lower the cost of failure.  I was able to learn to snowboard faster because I was less afraid to fall and because the falls I did take bruised me up less, allowing me to spend more time on the slopes and less time sitting around feeling achey.  

This is one of those useful general purpose life lessons.  "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is true, but many kids are likely to ignore it because it sounds burdensome.  However, if it's reframed as "You can do more fun things if you also take care of these precautions", it's more positive and gets the point across better.  

Comments

[ferrouswheel.livejournal.com]

I think newer lighter composites also make the burden of wearing protection less annoying. At least, when I was younger and skateboarding, wearing protective gear was annoying because it was so clunky as to be distracting from learning to skateboard with any grace.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

I've had a similar experience with bike helmets. When I was a kid I refused to wear the helmet my parents bought me because it was ugly and uncomfortable. When they forced me to wear it I would take it off at soon as I was out of sight of the house. Then as a grownup I discovered that there were COMFORTABLE helmets that actually LOOK COOL! It's not entirely that I'm older and wiser that convinced me to start wearing a helmet :)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

That's true as well. I got the armor from Dainese, which seems to do a very good job of making their safety equipment look cool.


http://tinyurl.com/37yv3wq

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

It's true. Things have changed. My body armor is super light, and I can wear it all day while only rarely noticing it -- unless I happen to bang my elbow on something.

[divergio.livejournal.com]

It also helps that with snowboarding you're wearing a lot of external coverings to begin with.

With something like rollerblading, where you might just be wearing a pair of shorts and a shirt in the hot sun, the protection can become intrusive.

I was going to comment on the body armor. It does look quite sharp, and lightweight.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the fact that male snowboarder fashions involve super baggy pants and jackets is useful. I can hide all kinds of padding under there.

[merovingian.livejournal.com]

This is a very good rule!

[sacra-imbri.livejournal.com]

The average human learns from its own mistakes. The small child burns a hand and learns not to touch the hot stove. It is the exceptional person who learns to use precaution from someone else's injury. Thus, I'm thoroughly unsurprised at the woman assuming you've been in some terrible accident.

On the other hand, your body armor does look nifty. Back before Adam's bike got t-boned by a land-yacht I loved riding with him if for no other reason than to wear my splendid helmet and matching protective jacket.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

That makes sense, except that as a beginner snowboarder you take lots of little falls, and they hurt. So you are getting lots of data points from the beginning.

This is what happened to me. I thought "My tailbone hurts, and it would hurt way more in a big crash. What can I do about this?" and then I did some internet searches.

I recently met a woman who broke her tailbone while snowboarding, and if I hadn't bought armor already, her story would have made me go out and buy it immediately.

Knees

[paulmakepeace.livejournal.com]

This calls for armored semi-naked cyberwarrior pics with panning lens flare and mountain slope backdrop...

It's too bad with skiing one of the most common injuries, a twisted knee (or two..), is quite hard to prevent mechanically.

Re: Knees

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah... or I put some EL wire on it and go to the TRON premiere.

Re: Knees

[sacra-imbri.livejournal.com]

You can get over-the-counter knee stabilizers at most drug stores that reduce the probability of twist/sprain type injuries, especially if you have already touchy joints like mine. For something more robust, you actually have to seriously twist/sprain the joint, and then there're these awesome hinge-brace contraptions that make your knee incapable of side-to-side motion.

[ferrouswheel.livejournal.com]

Also, your photo for some reason looks like it's rendered in a game engine!

[ashliana.livejournal.com]

Neat. I hadn't thought of that, either -- and I used to be a downhill racer, so I faced a lot of risk and all I had was a helmet...

Unfortunately I don't see how the armor will protect you from one of the other big risks: tearing a ligament, etc. Though I guess that's more of an issue with skiing than snowboarding.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah... there are plenty of other injuries I can't prevent. I could still sprain my neck, twist my spine, or experience other unpleasantness.

[sarcazm.livejournal.com]

you know what i think is awesome? it looks like it could totally double as a kick-ass laser-tag outfit.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Definitely.

[antoinebugleboy.livejournal.com]

I always wear knee and elbow pads (from a cheap hockey set) when I go snowboarding.

Wait, those things should be in the past tense. I live in Hawaii now and can't afford to fly around to snowboard.

Anyway, people laughed at me, but I was having a grand old time.