Safety

Wrist Protectors.

I'm a slow learner, but I've finally learned that I need wrist protectors when I ride. I broke my wrist on a fall when I was 17 years old and since then I have had some other hard falls that hurt a lot. I won't ride without them and I don't let my son ride without them either. When a person falls, the first thing they do is put their hands out to keep their body from smacking the ground. In 90% of the falls, wrist protectors allow you to take the full force of the fall on your hands without getting hurt. You can get some cheap ones that are made for roller blading and these will work just fine. If you want to look cool, you can spend a lot more money and buy the Harbinger wrist protectors that look like weight lifting gloves with the fingertips cut off. They don't work any better than the cheap ones, but they look like gloves instead of wrist protectors.

Knee Pads.

The next most important piece of safety equipment is knee pads, although I usually only wear them when I am trying something new and I think I will be falling a lot. Occasionally, even with the wrist protectors, I am not able to keep my knees from hitting the pavement when I fall. But, with the wrist protectors, I am able to break most of the fall so that my knees don't hit hard. (It doesn't take much to tear a hole in the knees of a pair of jeans, though.)

Elbow pads.

I occasionally wear them when I am going to try something very aggressive. I would recommend them to beginners and for use during aggressive riding.

Helmets.

Some people think helmets are the most important piece of safety equipment for riding. I used to live on an Army post that had a regulation that required roller bladers to wear helmets. Whoever made up that reg probably had never been on a pair of roller blades. There was no requirement for wrist or knee protectors. I have never come close to hitting my head when I have fallen from roller blading and the same goes for unicycling. I did recently order a skate boarder's helmet for when I ride rough terrain. On rough terrain, there is a chance that my head or another part of my body may hit a rock or a log before my hands reach the ground. In that kind of terrain, I also wear arm protectors and shin protectors.


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		If you have fallen a few times from a unicycle, you know that certain parts of your body hit the ground in a predictable order. First your hands, then your knees, and sometimes your elbows. A good and cheap solution is to buy a set of roller blading pads from a discount store like Wal-Mart or Target, etc.



		Wrist Protectors. I'm a slow learner, but I've finally learned that I need wrist protectors when I ride. I broke my wrist on a fall when I was 17 years old and since then I have had some other hard falls that hurt a lot. I won't ride without them and I don't let my son ride without them either. When a person falls, the first thing they do is put their hands out to keep their body from smacking the ground. In 90% of the falls, wrist protectors allow you to take the full force of the fall on your hands without getting hurt. You can get some cheap ones that are made for roller blading and these will work just fine. If you want to look cool, you can spend a lot more money and buy the Harbinger wrist protectors that look like weight lifting gloves with the fingertips cut off. They don't work any better than the cheap ones, but they look like gloves instead of wrist protectors. Knee Pads. The next most important piece of safety equipment is knee pads, although I usually only wear them when I am trying something new and I think I will be falling a lot. Occasionally, even with the wrist protectors, I am not able to keep my knees from hitting the pavement when I fall. But, with the wrist protectors, I am able to break most of the fall so that my knees don't hit hard. (It doesn't take much to tear a hole in the knees of a pair of jeans, though.) Elbow pads. I occasionally wear them when I am going to try something very aggressive. I would recommend them to beginners and for use during aggressive riding. Helmets. Some people think helmets are the most important piece of safety equipment for riding. I used to live on an Army post that had a regulation that required roller bladers to wear helmets. Whoever made up that reg probably had never been on a pair of roller blades. There was no requirement for wrist or knee protectors. I have never come close to hitting my head when I have fallen from roller blading and the same goes for unicycling. I did recently order a skate boarder's helmet for when I ride rough terrain. On rough terrain, there is a chance that my head or another part of my body may hit a rock or a log before my hands reach the ground. In that kind of terrain, I also wear arm protectors and shin protectors.






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