How to Pick the Right Rock Climbing Helmet for You

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Bill with Zoar Outdoor here on behalf of expertvillage.com. Today we're at Chapel Ledges in Ashfield, Massachusetts, Trustees of the Reservation Property and in this series we're going to be talking about rock climbing gear. I want to talk to you about climbing helmets. It's not a bike helmet, it's a hard shield with a suspension on the inside that's going to protect you from things falling down on you. It's not for you crashing in into anything because that isn't really what happens with rock climbing. What you're concerned with is things falling from the cliff and hitting you. This particular helmet has a couple of adjustment wheels on the sides. It adjusts the headband and the straps. You want it to fit comfortably snug but not give you a headache. If it doesn't fall off, it does fit and you do want to attach the chin strap to make sure that it stays on even if you turn upside down by accident. If you hear someone at the top yell rock, that means something is coming down, it might be a stick, it might be a carribeaner, it might be their backpack, but they'll yell rock and what you want to do then is stay under your helmet. You don't want to put your hands on top of it, cause you don't want your hands broken and you helmet not scratched. You don't want to look up, because you'll find out what it is the hard way. So, helmet protects your head from things falling down, I recommend if you're at the cliff you keep one on."