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well said josh
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OK so I joined the face cage + hockey gloves frenzy. I cut a bunch of bars since that pic, and Josh I'll tell you why: In hockey the risk is to take either a thin, sharp and pointy carbon fiber stick in the face, or to get hit by a heavy and extra quick puck, or to get cut by a metal blade. In polo a ball to the face will probably only result in a back eye, and it's unlikely to hit you as it travels slower than hockey pucks, giving you that split second to avoid it. The most common injuries come from mallets, which are WAY bigger than hockey sticks. So cutting a few bars for visibility is pretty safe in my opinion. I'll post a pic of how I modified my cage but I doubt a mallet could find its way to my face through the gaps...
Hockey gloves on the other hand... what a cumbersome thing. Meh.
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I'm gonna play the Open without a face cage or pads (if it's hot)... I still think it's more likely I'll get hurt in the traffic on the way to the court, rather than on the court itself.
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I'm gonna play the Open without a face cage or pads (if it's hot)... I still think it's more likely I'll get hurt in the traffic on the way to the court, rather than on the court itself.
You said my helmet was cool!
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The hurling helmets are cool, the best I've tried so far...
Statistically, that is probably an incorrect assumption
Heh. Well from personal experience I've been badly hurt more times on the roads than when playing polo and I spend more time playing polo than commuting.
(I'm just aware that the injuries of late might scare some people off, etc and I'd like to bang the devil's advocate drum.)
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Most of the injuries were when drunk cycling (not covered in training as far as I'm aware), but most of the polo I play is also under the influence (to some extent) so my statistic still stands?
At the end of the day it's down to individual choice and risk reduction, but the perceived danger of bike polo seems to be on the rise (which is primarily what I'm against).
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on Sunday we went to Rouen for pickups, and on the first game, Dadou (from DFA), who normally plays with a proper helmet and cage, decided to play without anything on his head, and got hit in the right eye in the first minute. Stitches, retina damaged, eye swollen, 3 hours at the hospital, etc...
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I'm gonna play the Open without a face cage or pads (if it's hot)... I still think it's more likely I'll get hurt in the traffic on the way to the court, rather than on the court itself.
!!
I have crashed maybe 4 times in 20 years of riding bikes in the city, drunk or not, and probably 7560 times in 4 years of playing polo... -
So how has polo become more dangerous, genuinely curious, maybe it's something we can try and counter?
In my opinion the play is "safer" then before despite the increase in speed/desire to win? (For example, more awareness of the rules, more enforcement of the rules, safer equipment, an understanding of dick moves/t-bones, self-regulation/calling out anyone who plays dangerously when starting out, etc.)
Would we rather have face cages as standard, or more enforcement of high sticking, etc? I don't think anyone's ever discussed it?
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Why would you try and mod/diy a piece of safety equipment?
I agree mostly, however bike polo doesn't have specific safety equipment and that's why all the mods. Ice-hockey helmets feel heavy and cover a lot of the head. I'm sure if they were playing in the sun and on bikes they may look slightly different.
It's more about the actual helmet than the cage imo.
Though strength is a factor and hockey / hurling helmets have been built to withstand impact, I still feel that a modded cycling helmet 'could' be great... -
The level is going up. Existing players are finding their edges diminishing and having to really push themselves if they want to win games. Some teams/players get desperate do things like sprint across the court with no intention of stopping, just to take a player out. Players will now try things if they think the ref can't see or won't call. New players see all this and push themselves beyond their learning curves. High sticking is everywhere these days - double digits in every game.
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I would prefer to see polo as a game where you can safely play without any padding. Some people I know only use padding in our casual games because of self inflicted crashing. I won't be getting a face cage or hockey gloves any time soon. I do wear gloves to protect my hands if I fall and have recently bought knee pads after giving my knees a battering. I understand that there are some cases of a high mallet but there shouldn't be enough to justify needing a face cage.
It seems that people care more about winning than playing and will do anything regardless of how dangerous just to win. If that's where the game is going then I'm out. I don't want some dick riding over me because he can't get the ball off me.
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have you ever played a competitive/tournament game?
Yes. Everyone should understand there's a line that you don't cross. There's being right on the limit scaring the crap out of the other guy because the thinks you're going to take him out, then there's the thing of actually taking the rider out just because you're a little frustrated and want to win.
As with leaning - I look to track sprinting as that's where I have history. Lean as much as you want but don't charge at the other guy.
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@moog
not aiming this post at anyone in particular, but after reading a coupe of pages of face cage debate i feel i should say something.
Why would you try and mod/diy a piece of safety equipment?
Existing equipment is designed to a standard so that it will protect you
I don't wear my face cage to look hard, or deflect minor incidental blows (although this is great) it is to stop the big hits which would actually cause some damage
why take the risk of wearing something which may smash and cause even more damage? or just do no good at all.
admittedly, in general play, it is unlikely you are going to get hit in the face, but for the 1 swing out of 1000 where you do, don't you want to be as safe as possible? rather than wearing a superfluous piece of face hardware which may make you feel safe, but when that one swing comes it ends up being no use at all.
in defence of hockey helmets-
they are designed to do exactly the job which polo requires (polo is like hockey on bikes..)
they are tested and extremely strong
they are pretty widely available
what is the point of trying to re-create something which already exists but will never be as good as the real thing?
one last thing,
if you were wise enough to buy a hockey face cage, why cut out the bars?
hockey helmets are actually used in a sport!
I promise you that within a month of regular play with a face cage on, you will forget the cage is there. Don't give up after one hour of playing and presume you can't deal with it, you just need to keep playing until you no longer notice it, which will happen.