JenJ
Well-Known Member
I know hats are a controversial subject on here, and I'm not suggesting anyone 'should' do anything, I'm just sharing my experience.
I almost always wear a hat, as I consider myself safety conscious (had too many broken bones to be complacent!) and for visual preference chose a fixed peak hat to wear. I had seen they were banned in certain competitions, but had never really understood the danger of wearing them.
Until Tuesday. My young ex racer took off and I couldn't stop her. Running out of uphill field before a slippery slidey downhill turn I chose to bail out in the hope she would be able to sort herself out without me on board (she did). I have no recollection of it, but it seems my plan to bail out didn't extend to how I'd land, and I came round an hour or so later to be surrounded by paramedics and friends all looking very concerned.
Was extracted from the field by a fire crew, blue lighted in the ambulance to a specialist hospital and had X-rays taken of my head, chest and pelvis, plus a ct scan. Initially they thought I'd broken my neck, but further examination the next day revealed it was ok. What I did have though, was a small bleed on my brain (listed on my discharge notes as a 'small left frontal lobe traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage' if any medics are reading...).
I'm so relieved that I was wearing a hat, as although I fell onto soft mud, given that it was forceful enough to give me a brain haemorrhage, I dread to think what the effect would have been if I was hatless. However, as the bleed was in my frontal lobe it was most likely caused by the force of the fixed peak hitting the ground and pushing back into my skull. If I had been wearing a skull cap with a silk on, I may well have escaped all injury.
Now I'm not for a moment saying that everyone who wears a fixed peak must go out and buy new skull caps, but please note my experience.
I am going out and buying a jockey skull cap and a silk with flexible peak before I ride again. I was lucky - I just have a banging headache, nausea and dizziness, but I won't push my luck by riding in a fixed peak hat ever again...
I almost always wear a hat, as I consider myself safety conscious (had too many broken bones to be complacent!) and for visual preference chose a fixed peak hat to wear. I had seen they were banned in certain competitions, but had never really understood the danger of wearing them.
Until Tuesday. My young ex racer took off and I couldn't stop her. Running out of uphill field before a slippery slidey downhill turn I chose to bail out in the hope she would be able to sort herself out without me on board (she did). I have no recollection of it, but it seems my plan to bail out didn't extend to how I'd land, and I came round an hour or so later to be surrounded by paramedics and friends all looking very concerned.
Was extracted from the field by a fire crew, blue lighted in the ambulance to a specialist hospital and had X-rays taken of my head, chest and pelvis, plus a ct scan. Initially they thought I'd broken my neck, but further examination the next day revealed it was ok. What I did have though, was a small bleed on my brain (listed on my discharge notes as a 'small left frontal lobe traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage' if any medics are reading...).
I'm so relieved that I was wearing a hat, as although I fell onto soft mud, given that it was forceful enough to give me a brain haemorrhage, I dread to think what the effect would have been if I was hatless. However, as the bleed was in my frontal lobe it was most likely caused by the force of the fixed peak hitting the ground and pushing back into my skull. If I had been wearing a skull cap with a silk on, I may well have escaped all injury.
Now I'm not for a moment saying that everyone who wears a fixed peak must go out and buy new skull caps, but please note my experience.
I am going out and buying a jockey skull cap and a silk with flexible peak before I ride again. I was lucky - I just have a banging headache, nausea and dizziness, but I won't push my luck by riding in a fixed peak hat ever again...
However, not taking away from your experience, but I was of the understanding that the new peaked hats had to have peaks that detached or crumpled on impact now? I know mine is very stiff foam, rather than the old fibreglassy plastic stuff they used to be.
