I grew up in a generation where only vert skaters were seen wearing helmets. As I've gotten older and have hit my head several times where it scared me, I think it's important for everyone to invest in a decent helmet. Not all helmets are created equal and if you are going to fork out the cash, you might as well purchase a helmet that actually works and protects your head from severe injury. In my opinion S-One helmets is a cool company. They have cool helmet designs as you can see with the "Misfits" helmet above and they have some cool riders wearing their helmets. There is a stigma surrounding helmets and street skating and I don't know if that will ever go away. In some cases, kids are made to wear helmets at skateparks and I am all for that. I mean, if everyone is wearing one it doesn't matter, no big deal. I am embarrassed to say that even I as an adult who's almost 40 years of age even have trouble wearing a helmet around skaters who are not...even in my 30s I have been made fun of for wearing a helmet. It sucks that there are people out there who don't respect it and will crack jokes just to make you feel uncomfortable. Sometimes you just have to take a stand and figure out what is more important...what people think of you or your life. Whenever I was going to try a maneuver that I thought was more dangerous or when I was going to skate terrain like a swimming pool that is obviously more dangerous, I would wear my helmet, but the truth is, you should wear a helmet at all times when riding a skateboard because you never know when something is going to go wrong. I broke my foot doing the smallest trick only a foot off the ground! So invest in a good helmet...check out the video below to see why S-One is who I recommend for protecting your noggin!

S1 Lifer Helmet Vs. Soft Foam Helmet (Helmet Testing Lab) from s-one helmet co / s1helmets on Vimeo.