Seriously. Wear one on your head. most tornado injuries are blunt force trauma.

Any PPE should help prevent injury, so don't limit to only your head.

However i think choosing the right helmet can be a hard decision. There is no tornado certification for a helmet. Hard shell, with primarily protection from above, or foam type with side and above protection? With or without chinstrap? What kind of chinstrap (brake away anti strangle one or not)? Does it need to compatible with visors, ear protection, headlights, etc?

I think the kids would wear something like a skate board helmet..

Any helmet is better than no helmet and an unprotected cranium. Even a construction hardhat. Right now I could choose between a climbing helmet (Petzl), a bicycling helmet, and a construction grade hard hat, courtesy of CERT training. Typical retail costs range from eight dollars (hard hat) to around 100 bucks (climbing helmet). The climbing helmet offers the best protection and will most likely remain on the head after first impact.

The Cert hard hat, my most recent acquisition, came without a chin strap, seriously diminishing its capability. I was glad to find one that works. Now it is actually useful around modest hazards.

Well most hardshell climbing helmets do not really protect from side impacts. It's not a part of the certification for climbing helmets. The chinstrap does keep the helmet on, but having the helmet knocked off you head also reduces the impact on you head and prevents you from being strangled...

The one I am most likely to wear is my bicycling helmet because the best helmet to wear in a tornado is the helmet you have with you. It is a Kong Scarab (Italian) with European certification for mountaineering, canoeing and white water sports, equestrian activities, and cycling and 'users of skateboards and roller skates." Doesn't say a thing about tornadoes or windstorms - darn those careless Europeans! I really like it - it is comfortable, reasonably protective, and it stays on my head, thanks to an excellently designed chinstrap.

I would think, in addition to a helmet, it would be smart to get your body, especially the cranium, into a protected location (behind the sofa or next to the bed) and provide additional shielding with one's arms.....

At $10 seems like a deal

With the addition of a wind mitigation device and hearing protection, should serve well for tornado applications.

I use an older style PASGT Kevlar helmet and suppliment it with one of those vietnam era flak jackets (USMC m1955(?)), mostly because I just had them laying around.

You can find the helmets for ~$50 and surplus flak jackets run about the same when you can find them. I know there are some german surplus flak jackets floating around the internet too. Obviously you'd need to check your local laws on the legality of owning body armor in your area.

A helmet without a chinstrap in >100mph wind is going to be gone in a split second.

While cowering in the basement in one of the few times we've done so because of imminent tornado threats the fact that my personal hardhats were within reach meant they went onto our heads while we waited.

Couldn't hurt and might help. Be stupid to get whacked in the head by collapsing house when a hardhat is right there doing nothing but protecting the shelf it's on.

one of the better ideas i've seen.i have a couple old hard hats,the ones with the brim,stuck away someplace.i'll dig them out and hang them on the inside of the somewhat reinforced storage space under the basement steps.
last summer a rare twister went thru North Minneapolis so here in the South end of the city i guess we could take a hit.
the plan is to pull the trash cans of dog food out of this tiny room and pull the sleeping bags,i have many in stuff sacks,around us and hang on.
basements seem sort of "iffy" to me,gas and water pipes and a lot overhead to fall in but that the best i can think of for shelter.
by the way i was so "what could happen" when the sirens sounded for that storm i stood in the back yard taking videos of the nasty looking sky------

I thought the issue of helmets and tornadoes seemed like a random topic that popped up of nowhere, but I guess not.

Here's a short May 3, 2012 statement by the CDC on helmets and tornadoes.

Basically, they say that there isn't any research that shows that helmets help, but it can't hurt--but only if you don't waste time finding the helmet instead of seeking more appropriate shelter.

Helmet

I've had a lot of concussions. So I have a personal multi sport helmet by Pro Tec. One of their skate helmets with lots of air vents due to my climate. I've worn it quite a bit in all sorts of adventuring from bouldering, to atv's, to horseback riding. B/c of my amount of concussions and the thought that the more you have the easier they are to receive (a theory I subscribe to), I even wear it when climbing a ladder.

Recently Pro Tech started selling a line of military helmets that provide rails for lighting and NVG. As a GOPRO user I may pick up one of these for a more stable camera platform.

I'm curious--for someone with your history, did someone like a neurologist ever recommend that you wear a helmet for more than the usual helmet-wearing activities?

Helmet technology is getting better and better all the time. Unfortunately, until we develop a "brain helmet," we all still face the problem of a soft brain slamming into the inside of our hard skulls. Actually, I guess a lot of effort nowadays is also going into developing sensors which help people gauge if they've hit their heads hard enough to be worried and take additional steps, like whether deciding to take a high school player out of a football game, for example, even though they may not show obvious signs of a concussion. The sensor is the easy part. The hard part is correlating that data with what's going on with your brain since we still have a lot to learn about what is happening in there.

I can't see spending a lot of money on a "tornado helmet". Sure, a helment would be better than no helmet, but how much would it really add to your protection? Similar to wearing a Nomex suit every time you get in to drive your car (worn in preparation for an accident and fire). It's true that Nomex is better than no-Nomex, but other than race car drivers, this is not a safety preperation you normally see being done.

If you can find an inexpensive helmet - a used construction hard hat maybe - I'd say go for it. Spending a lot of money on a helmet seems like a waste though. Tornados uproot trees and throw them through houses. They pick up cars and throw them across the field. I don't think a helmet is going to do much for you if you find yourself flying with the trees and cars. Inside, maybe it would help against falling debris. But I think taking that expensive helmet money and building a cinder block cubby in your basement would be better protection for your dollar.

I think it would be more reasonable course would be to use the helmet you already have acquired for your favorite activity - motorcycling, football, climbing, whitewater canoeing, etc. and press it into service during a tornado. It shouldn't hurt you and it should increase your margin of safety. That is not to say that you won't be impacted in such a way that no kind of helmet would allow you to survive. That is always the case in activities in which helmet use is already fairly common.

Over the years I have become a habitual helmet wearer in two of my favorite pstimes in which I originally did not wear any protective headgear - climbing and cycling. i wouldn't ride my bike five feet today without putting on a helmet - same policy for climbing/caving situations. For me the shift is a result of treating and witnessing a lot of head trauma and realizing how many lives would have been saved by proper headgear.

I don't spend much time in tornado country, so the tornado-headgear issue is basically moot for me. I imagine a helmet would be useful in an earthquake, but I would never have any advance notification.

It will be interesting to see what results future research might produce for a tornado helmet - versatile, effective, and reasonably priced......

My daughter is big time into climbing. As a birthday gift a few years back we bought her a good quality climbing helmet. We now find out that if her belayer does not have a helmet, she gives hers to them. Good logic. If you lose your belayer, you're in a world of hurt. But that leaves her exposed if she loans her helmet. So now we're off to buy a second helmet for her to give to her lesser-equipped climbing buddies should the need arise. Most of her climbing partners DO have their own helmets, but not 100% of them (the old "poor college student excuse"!) We just bought her a new rope for her birthday this year. Wow, now THOSE are expensive! I had no idea. But even that rope cost pales in comparison to this newfangled "trad rack" that she wants. Ouch! And I don't even think that "trad" ("traditional") is quite what I would have called traditional back in my day. We had chocks and nuts. Now they have these expensive cable-springy-geary-cam things that look like something off of Star Wars. It used to be so much cheaper to climb back when I was young and doing it...

You post gives me some warm memories. My first climbing rope cost all of $20 - even then that was fairly cheap. Pitons were a dollar or less, carabiners were two bucks, and I considered climbing and backpacking fairly inexpensive pursuits.

One consolation for the higher gear of today is that it is considerably more effective. Those Star War thingies provide much more solid protection than the pitons of yesterday. They can be installed and removed more rapidly, with less damage to the rock. I will bet your daughter climbs at a level of difficulty that didn't even exist back when - that would be anything over 5.9, maybe 5.10, on today's scale - which is essentially just where things are beginning to get challenging for today's young lions.

hikermor -

Ever seen one of these (see picture link below)? This is what I'd call "trad gear". My old rapelling and belaying device (I still have it!) Made by MSR, called the "Longhorn Ring". Clip into the loop, pull a bight of rope through the loop and then throw the bight around the horns. Worked like a Figure 8, but you didn't have to unclip from it to remove the rope like you would have to with a Figure 8 (just pull that bight back over the horns). And you could quickly tie off by throwing a wrap or two of the unweighted rope end horizontally around the horns and then just let the rope go.

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/1034/imag0075dr.jpg

I thought it was a really neat and clever device. Never saw many of them around though...

I live in the Oklahoma & I don't think I've heard anyone suggest buying a helmet specifically for tornadoes. However, several sources have suggested some sort of hard shell helmet would seem to be beneficial since so many tornado injuries are from flying debris. The common sense approach I have heard is that if your kids have baseball batting helmets, football helmets, motorcycle/atv helmets laying around go ahead and throw them on if you have to take cover from an imminent threat; especially if you are sheltering somewhere that is not a hardened shelter.

Thanks, haetig!

I would have thought I was up on all the various rappeling gadgets that have been produced over the last few decades, but I have never encountered the Longhorn Ring, although I am definitely a fan of MSR products. I'll bet the Longhorn kinked the rope like crazy, however.

I've had a few doctors recommend a non-specific helmet for activities that might involve a fall or hit. (By non-specific they meant, you should wear a helmet for motorcycling or bicycling but if you didn't do those, having A helmet for protection is smart in my case)

I went to a neurologist after my last concussion and had a serious issue with him after two sessions, blew him up and walked out. Long Story Short: I went to a general meet and greet one day with my wife, then came back with her and I did a 7 hour mental assessment profile, basic school type testing and some electrical profiling. After he gave me the usual good new, bad news he tried to pigeon hole me into being depressed and putting me on meds. I was not depressed and after an argument over that I walked out. It was like the word 'depression' was raining money from heaven on him if I copped to it. I will grudgingly go back to a neurologist when/if I get another but not that one.

Normally after my concussions if I had any follow on work it was for issues watching swelling and subdural hematomas and/or shrinks and cognitive therapists to work on the functional skills I needed to adjust my daily patterns.

(emphasis mine)

Gosh, I really hope you meant to say "blew up at him"--images from The Hurt Locker came to mind...

I'm not saying this applies to you personally, comms, but just using this space to say that we're really only scratching the surface of acknowledging, let alone understanding, the often subtle but very real cognitive and emotional effects of head injuries, even ones that don't seem that severe. These effects often last a lifetime. A decade spent fighting two wars where the IED is the main weapon of choice and where traumatic brain injury is the defining injury of these conflicts has pushed the issue to the forefront. Medicine is still pretty simplistic in how it evaluates the more subtle aspects of head injuries.

I guess we shouldn't leave athletes out either. Football player Junior Seau's recent suicide (along with many other suicides by NFL players) illustrates the toll that repeated blows to the head can take. Knowing what we know now, if I had children, I don't think I would let them play football. Autopsies reveal that even high school players can already show signs of permanent brain injuries, and these changes can occur in players who say they've never had concussions.

But back to the original question for a sec, brain injuries can be incredibly severe and debilitating, so if a helmet of some sort can prevent or at least mitigate the damage from some sort of blow to the head during a tornado (or even when walking around the debris and torn up structures afterwards) then it is well worth it. Not sure how practical it is to expect to get to it in many tornado situations, but worth it if works out.

You sometimes see people on gun forums brag that they have a gun within two steps in every room of their house, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility for someone in tornado alley to have a hard hat or other head protection in multiple places. (How come you never see folks bragging about having a first aid kit in every room? )

It isn't that hard to know where your protective gear stays and have it handy. Consider keeping it close by when the weather forecast is unfavorable, a time when you might take other precautions (something like Wildman's HurCon scale).

I don't keep a first aid kit in every room in the house, but I always have one in my briefcase and another in my backpack. A third formal kit is in my waist pack when on the bike. I always have band-aids in my wallet. More and more often I carry a set of nitrile gloves together with a bandanna in my hip pocket.

Haven't you picked out a closet (or a spot) you'll hide in? Just keep the helmet in there, along with a crowbar in case you need to pry your way out -- if you survive a direct hit.

A full motorcycle helmet seems like the way to go because of the built-in eye protection and the excessive padding. Accordingly, football, batting, hockey, climbing, biking, or a whatever helmet seems to be inferior for our purposes here.

"My daughter is big time into climbing. As a birthday gift a few years back we bought her a good quality climbing helmet. We now find out that if her belayer does not have a helmet, she gives hers to them. Good logic. If you lose your belayer, you're in a world of hurt. But that leaves her exposed if she loans her helmet. So now we're off to buy a second helmet for her to give to her lesser-equipped climbing buddies should the need arise. Most of her climbing partners DO have their own helmets, but not 100% of them (the old "poor college student excuse"!) We just bought her a new rope for her birthday this year. Wow, now THOSE are expensive! I had no idea. But even that rope cost pales in comparison to this newfangled "trad rack" that she wants. Ouch! And I don't even think that "trad" ("traditional") is quite what I would have called traditional back in my day. We had chocks and nuts. Now they have these expensive cable-springy-geary-cam things that look like something off of Star Wars. It used to be so much cheaper to climb back when I was young and doing it..."

i used to do a lot of climbing.
In my days helmets were considered bulky and a "nuisance" ... we only used them on routes where there were known rockfall hazards. Although a few climbers were injured/killed from impact between head and rock face - it was really pretty uncommon. However, times have changed and it appears that many climbers are wearing them now. I suppose that's a good change, really.

Ropes have always been a BIG issue in climbing. Considering the "advanced technology" you would think that companies could wind a good rope. But truth is ... a lot of ropes (even expensive ones) are NOT as good as they are cracked up to be. It's not a problem with strength. It's a problem with how they handle during repetitive usage ... they tend to kink, or are not supple enough, if they are not made well. I owned several ropes over my years in climbing, but only thought highly of one. That was an Edelrid rope (Switzerland) - but couldn't honestly tell you if they are still in business. The rest of the gear , incl. the rack, adds up to a lot of $$.

Funny thing. I was just thinking about my years of climbing a couple of days ago. I climbed SO MANY rock faces using protection that was sketchy ... I had pro into the rocks, but the small items would never have taken a long fall. They would have just ripped out. It was darn lucky I didn't come off - on some of the run-out routes. Hahahaha ! I guess we all survive our crazy younger years :-)

Pete2

My best and hardcore climbing days are behind me now as I slowly lost interest in the sport after doing it for years. Nowadays, when we do the few yearly climbs, a helmet is mandatory for all climbers, or you do not climb with us and there is absolutely no exceptions to this rule.

My helmet of choice is the Petzl Ecrin Roc which was recently discontinued by the manufacturer after several successful years of sales but is still widely available online until retailers thin out their inventory.

As for rope, many thoughts on this but do not want to hijack the thread any more then it already is.

Some years ago climbing helmets were indeed bulky and a nuisance. The "Joe Brown" was a fiberglass monster - heavy, bulky, but protective - I treated one victim whose life was undoubtedly saved by his JB. Like Teslinhiker, I have used a Petzl Ecrin with great satisfaction - it is about time I retired mine, but about all I do now is the occasional rappel, although all of my recent ones have een in situations where a helmet is mandatory. They are well worth wearing, so if I were ever in a tornado, I would hope I would have the opportunity to slap a helmet of some sort on my head

The old JB's were indeed monsters! Heavier then an old Buick and with no ventilation which would make your head drown in sweat...Thankfully newer technology has made these old helmets a relic of the past.

I'm glad to hear your opinion here. Especially because the rope I chose for my daughter was an Edelrid Eagle Pro (yep, they are still in business!) To be sure, I had my "marching orders" ... 70 meters, 9.8mm, dry coat, easy to see middle marker, etc. ... but after finding all the ropes that matched the required specs, I chose the Edelrid based on how it felt in my hand and the sales persons recommendation that it was his favorite rope (due to its not kinking and pigtailing as bad as other ropes).

p.s. - Sorry for the thread hijack. I didn't mean for this to get into climbing ropes. I started off intending to talk about climbing HELMETS, but got carried away.

@Arney, sorry I didn't respond sooner. Yeah I totally agree with what we understand with TBI, (traumatic brain injury) has gotten much better only b/c of the problems we are having with our military returning with them. Prior to that TBI was a very small and more organic aspect of medicine. Organic as that once you were discharged, your long term care was through local brain injury groups meeting in homes or hospitals.

My massive injury in 1986 which included losing my entire life of memories to amnesia (with no return) had some sort term care but nothing like today. I was lucky my cognitive therapist had just got this really cool new home computer from a company called Apple, and she set my new brain functions for memory to act like folders and files rather than using true memories or emotional connections to images in my mind (for what I had lost-part of my recovery was getting oral historys from my friends).

When I had my last one a couple years ago, they were just finding that those like me that suffered massive TBI 20+ years ago (and ongoing concussions) needed to see doctors to get, for lack of a better term, 'updated' training from the things they just now discovering about TBI and people like me never got.

"I'm glad to hear your opinion here. Especially because the rope I chose for my daughter was an Edelrid Eagle Pro (yep, they are still in business!)"

Tell her to VALUE that rope :-)
Like I said ... best rope I ever owned.
I think I bought the Edelrid back when I was getting ready to do the traverse on the Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite.
hair raising. makes you appreciate a rope :-)
Hahahaha !

Second best was a rope made by Chouinard, back before they ever re-named themselves Black Diamond. And Blue Water ropes weren't too bad. But that Eedelrid rope was a beautiful piece of work ... it's nice to see people who still value old-fashioned craftsmanship :-)

Pete2

Very slight correction Pete.

(From Wikipedia) In 1989, Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection in order to protect it from liability lawsuits. The hard assets of Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. were acquired by its employees through the Chapter 11 process, and the company was reestablished as Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd.

For those who are not familiar, Yvon Chouinard is a legend in the climbing world and perhaps best known for his improved piton design then later, aluminum chockstones (hexes) that changed climbing forever.

My Favorite Chouinard quote:

"The reason it was so scary was that there was only one climber capable of rescuing us, and that was Layton Kor, and he was in Colorado."
Yvon Chouinard, on the first ascent of North American Wall

(North American Wall is in the Yosemite Valley, California)

@comms: Sorry to hear of your terrible head injury. It must have been tremendously debilitating, not to mention painful. I'm sure it took a lot of hard work and persistence to get back on the horse of life, not to mention courage. I hope you've been able to return to a full and fulfilling life!

I was lucky, I am lucky, there are so many other people who hit their head and become low functioning humans or they die. Liem Neesons wife, actress Natasha Richardson, died from a head injury she received falling on a beginning ski slope. Our injuries and lucid moments prior to full term of injury were very similar.

I have to have a daily routines to keep track of things. Its not like I can't improvise and live a normal (ish) life but I have to be more aware about my surrounding, where I put things.

I won't ever play a pick up game of basketball or football due to the fact I just don't know if I would get a hit to the head, pushed, dropped, tackled, elbowed by someone. When I was in the military I got a few more concussions just going CQB and once just walked into a tank turret. You never know!

Teslinhiker ... yeah good point.
Wow it's been a long time :-)
those were the good old days.

yeah it comes back to me now - there was a crazy incident. some well known climber (who was that??) was guiding some folks. i think it was over on the Tetons. they were doing a multi-pitch climb. And one of the clients took off his harness so he could go and take a leak. when he came back, he didn't tie the harness on correctly. then he fell later while climbing, the harness came off and I think he was killed. the guide was blamed and Chouinard was faced with a lawsuit. As usual, it was a ridiculous charge filed against a really good company. And I think that's when they changed their name and did the filing you referred to.

Anyway ... did not mean to hijack this thread.
we obviously need a separate thread to talk about climbing gear and old, old stories!

Someone pointed out that protective helmets have come a long way. YES they have. We mostly didn't use them because they were cumbersome and far too bulky. But the modern ones look much better. And so do the Pro Tec helmets and skateboard helmets. I would think that any of these would be great for tornado purposes.

Pete2

We're glad you're still around to join the fun here at ETS, comms! Hang in there. I guess when you really think about it, all we can do is appreciate what we have on a daily basis because you never know when your number is up.