Skateboard Helmets and Protective Gear, Why and Why Not

Parents want kids to wear helmets and all sorts of protective gear when they’re skateboarding, and while younger kids will usually do what their parents say, there’s an age when kids start taking their pads off once their parents aren’t looking or just openly refuse to wear them.

Should all skateboarders wear pads all the time? Should parents just give up? Everyone has their own opinion, as do we here at Sublimited. We also have some skateboarding injury statistics you might find interesting.

My opinion is that little kids should be padded up, and when my kids start skateboarding (assuming I have kids someday and that they want to skateboard) they’ll be wearing a bunch of pads. I believe protective gear can actually help little kids learn how to skate because it gives them more self-confidence. After all, they’re pretty light-weight to begin with, and with a bunch of gear on they’re virtually indestructible.

However, there comes a time when the expertise and size of the kids grows, and pads can become restrictive and potentially dangerous. There are situations where wearing pads is always recommended, such as when skating vert ramps. The speeds involved can pull your body down quickly and whiplash your head against the ramp. Even with a helmet on you can easily get a concussion, and without a helment on you could be more seriously injured. It also makes sense to wear knee-pads and elbow-pads on vert because they give you a predictable way to fall. If it weren’t for pads you’d have to fall on your behind every time and you’d be wearing through a pair of shorts or pants every single day. It’s just more affordable to fall onto plastic capped kneepads.

But for a kid to wear kneepads on the street just doesn’t make sense. Kneepads are for sliding on, and if you can’t slide on a surface they’re only going to stick and pitch you forward on your face into the ground. Don’t make your kids wear knee pads if they’re skating on asphalt or concrete, unless the concrete is the smooth stuff found in cement skateparks that’s pretty slippery.

Like it or not, your kids are going to get to an age where peer pressure is an issue, and if other kids aren’t wearing protective gear they’re not going to either. I’d use the magazines and videos as a cue. You can pretty much get your kids to wear pads wherever they see skaters in the media wearing them. Yes, you see pros wearing a wrist-guard once in a while while skating street. This isn’t preventative so much as it is reactionary. They’re wearing the guard because of an injury they’ve already had, and they’re trying not to re-injure it.

Skaters almost always wear pads on vert, so you won’t have a hard time convincing your kids to wear them there. But you might have a hard time convincing them to wear pads in a pool, since most of the guys skating pools don’t wear pads, unless you’re Salba and wear more pads than anyone else wears no matter what they’re skating. That guy’s a walking pillow.

But for street skating it just ain’t gonna happen. Your kid would rather quit skateboarding than go out and skate stairs and handrails with pads on. If you try to force it you’re fighting a losing battle. But take this into consideration:

Skateboarding is safer than you think it is. Don’t believe me? Ok, these stats are a little old, but probably still hold true since nothing about skateboarding or other activities has changed substantially other than the number of participants in skateboarding.

There you have it, statistically skateboarding is safer than baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, volleyball, or fishing.

Of course you’re probably going to get more bumps, bruises, and scrapes with skateboarding than other sports, but less hospitalizations, and isn’t that what you’re trying to really prevent?

These stats bear out with my own experience. I’ve been skating for 20 years and I have never hit my head, even though I’ve skated vert ramps and pools. In other words, if I had never worn a helmet, even when skating the type of terrain where head bonks are common, I’d still be ok. In fact, all of the injuries I’ve had that could be considered more serious, such as broken arms, sprained ankles, and badly bruised legs, wouldn’t have been prevented by the safety equipment most parents make their kids wear.

So to sum up, my stance is make your kids wear pads when they’re small (under 10) and let them make their own decisions when they’re older. Chances are they’ll do what everyone else does, and that has fared well for most people. If you don’t want your kids to ever get injured, don’t let them skateboard, and you can also cross basketball, fishing, and golf off the list.