Ah, the glory of belay duty with that post send glow. A mere 10 minutes ago, you styled a 5.10 finger crack, and now it’s your time to chill and watch your friend flail. You slide outta those Aspect Pros, pop off your helmet, and get comfy.
But wait … why’d you take your helmet off? Your partner is literally about to climb ABOVE your head!
Yet, this is common practice. Climbers wear their helmets while scaling rocks above someone, and then take it off to stand UNDER someone.
OK, maybe this isn’t you. Perhaps you’re a leave it on all the time kind of climber (we know you’re out there and we love you). But tell us, when was the last time you went bouldering? And are we right to guess that you didn’t wear a helmet? This despite the simple fact that you’re 100% guaranteed to take several ground falls per session—because EVERY fall is a ground fall when bouldering. But climbers hardly ever wear helmets during this endeavor.
So, what’s the deal? How do we decide when and where to don our helmets? Will helmets become more ubiquitous in all styles of climbing as time goes by or as technology improves? And will we look back on these days like a modern cyclist, gawking at Tour De France riders a mere 30 years ago bombing descents in the Alps wearing a strangely atavistic cotton cap?
In this Gear Myths, we open the lid (pun intended) on the topic of helmets, reaching out to the best climbers and product designers we know to learn more about their helmet-wearing decision making, and what the future holds for the good ol’ brain bucket.
In traditional fashion, a climbing helmet was worn when the objective was dangerous. So, who better to hear from first than the queen of scary trad climbing, Hazel Findlay. As the founder of Strong Mind—a coaching/community platform for building mental fortitude while climbing—Hazel’s insight into the world of dealing with risk is paramount. And for her, it’s all about assessing the situation.
“I use a helmet for 90% of trad routes now,” says Hazel. “Because in general there is more risk of loose rock, getting my leg caught behind the rope or decking low to the ground through gear ripping.”
But she only started doing this a few years ago.
“I used to not even use a helmet on hardcore trad … which seems crazy now.”
For belaying she wears a helmet on multi-pitch routes, but for single pitches, she prioritizes standing out of the way. Unless there’s loose rock potential, which in that case she’ll have her helmet on.
As in her own experience, Hazel has noticed an increase in helmet use over the years.
“As helmets improve, they are easier to wear so it becomes a question of ‘why not?’”
Carlo Traversi has also noticed an increase in helmet use during his 15+ years of being at the top of the game.
“Particularly with trad climbing and multi-pitch climbing it seems everyone uses one,” says Carlo. “Sport climbing has seen a bit of an increase in usage as well.”
Personally, Carlo breaks it down with two questions every time he ropes up.
“What are the fall risks?” he asks himself. “Or more specifically, If I fall, what is going to happen to my body? On Magic Line (5.14), it was easy to fall and get my leg between the rope and the wall causing me to flip, so a helmet was important. The other question is: What are the objective hazards? This typically relates to rockfall or anything falling from overhead. Rock type, rock quality, and history of rock fall all play a role in this question. If any of those three are questionable, I will usually wear a helmet.”
For belaying, Carlo thinks a helmet is almost “more important.”
“This is due to the climber breaking rock above you and also getting pulled off the ground when catching large falls,” he explains.
Solid advice. But as someone who’s established a plethora of boulder problems up to V15, how about the bouldering conundrum? Helmet or nada?
“I've seen a lot more people using a helmet while bouldering than ever before, and I think it's a good idea in some situations but not all the time,” says Carlo. “Highballs with uneven landings and roofs where you can fall on your back are great examples of places a helmet could be really useful.”
But he adds a point on how helmets could be a potential hazard while pebble wrestling.
“Using a helmet all the time while bouldering seems possibly dangerous if the edge of the helmet catches a natural hazard or the spotter on the way down. This could potentially lead to the neck being twisted in a dangerous manner.”
Good point.
“I would consider it more on specific problems, and I guess I’m just looking at the fall potential and the type of fall I might take,” says Timmy.
For the highball specialist, US National Team member, and all-around crusher Timmy Kang, a helmet is only considered while bouldering after he evaluates the fall potential.
“I would consider it more on specific problems, and I guess I’m just looking at the fall potential and the type of fall I might take,” says Timmy.
For the younger generation of climbers like Timmy, the helmet is more prevalent on trad routes or multi-pitch outings.
Just take of look at some classic footage of Sonnie Trotter or Didier Berthod gunning for the first ascent of Cobra Crack (5.14)—which in 2006 was arguably the hardest single-pitch crack climb in the world. You’ve got Didier running it out in a pair of jeans, no shirt … hell he even hiked the steep 40-minute approach barefoot. And then there’s handsome Sonnie, shirtless-sending in a backwards ballcap.
Fast forward over two decades and here comes Connor Herson, a new school crusher with a penchant for climbing old school routes, and he's sending the Cobra in a few tries... while wearing a helmet.
We chatted with Connor while he was still on his Squamish sending spree and he told us that anytime he's racking cams he throws on a Vapor Helmet.
"I wear a helmet on pretty much any climb that's multiple pitches or is protected by natural gear," says Connor. "In short, I don't wear a helmet only on single pitch sport climbs."
As for bouldering he says it’s not out of the question.
“If I bouldered more, I’d probably consider wearing a helmet on highballs or boulders with bad landings. But, since I don’t boulder much as is, I just kind of avoid boulders like that now,” he laughs.
According to Kolin (KP) Powick, who has been involved in the development, engineering and testing of products at Black Diamond for over 20 years, we’re only going to see more climbers like Connor wearing helmets in the future.
“Just like when I was a kid it was rare to see someone at a ski hill wearing a ski helmet, but now almost everyone is wearing a helmet while skiing … it’s the same with climbing,” he explains. “I’m definitely seeing more and more climbers wearing helmets at the single pitch trad and sport cliffs, and I’ve even seen it a few times at the gym!”
KP explains that the main factors for the increase in helmet adoption are improvements in technology—lighter, better breathability, and lower profile—but also cultural, societal, and educational.
“Just as above where it’s more common now for people to wear helmets at the ski hill—safety, protection, more knowledge about brain injuries, etc. … the times just change and that’s the same thing that’s happening in climbing,” he says.
And echoing Hazel, KP adds:
“It’s getting to the point that there is no reason to NOT wear a helmet while climbing.”
We chatted with Erica Dombro—Product Design and Development Engineer—about the process of creating helmets at BD. According to her, the most crucial factor for development is simple: making sure the helmet can pass the impact standards.
“None of the other features matter if the helmet does not pass impact or retention system effectiveness testing,” she explains.
But once that’s dialed, they work on the fun stuff, which involves the climber’s perspective.
“We consider durability, weight, usability, and protection,” she says. Plus, the team even considers when a helmet isn’t on your head.
“We have a test to emulate the squish your helmet might experience when it is being carried, for example, in a checked bag.”
As for the style of climbing a helmet is used for, Erica says sport and trad demand similar requirements so one helmet serves both. But the team does customize our Vision helmet for the winter climber.
She elaborates:
“If you are using your helmet for ice climbing, you might take the fit pads out of your helmet so you can wear a thin hat under it,” she says.
For that reason, our Vision helmet has the hook side of the Velcro on the fit pads so that the “snaggy” part of the Velcro comes out when the fit pads are removed.
That way, you can wear a hat under your helmet without the fit pads snagging your hat.”
Now that’s cool.
“We consider durability, weight, usability, and protection,” she says. Plus, the team even considers when a helmet isn’t on your head.
But there’s one other crucial factor that BD considers when designing and developing helmets.
“NOT looking like a dork!” as KP says bluntly.
And Erica attributes this to our hardworking industrial design team.
“Here at BD, we like good looking helmets, so profile and style are important. Shoutout to our industrial design team for making sure we don’t release helmets that make you look like a mushroom!”
As for the future of helmets, according to Erica, they’re only going to get better.
“I’m not sure if this will lead to people wearing helmets in gyms and while bouldering, but when you’ve got a helmet as cool-looking as the Vapor I wouldn’t rule out that folks might just wear one for the style-factor!”
With the new Vapor weighing in at an ultralight 155 grams or 180 grams in the large size—the lightest helmet on the market—there’s really no excuse to NOT look as cool as Connor sending the Cobra.
Or at least keep it on for your next belay.
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