There's lots of evidence of one (safety gear reducing injury), and not so much of the other (foil hats protecting from alien abduction).

 

Correlation does not imply causation. Maybe, just maybe, the wreck wouldn't have injured a naked guy.

I don't mean to discourage anyone from wearing safety gear. I do encourage folks to use their brain and do it for the right reason. I also recognize and hope we all recognize that the safest thing to do is to just stay home and not ride, we all accept an amount of risk and we all implement varying levels of safety gear to minimize this risk that corresponds to our varying level of fear.

What's right for you may not be right for me.

 

True story there. Idaho still does not require helmets for those 18 or over. I see a lot of sport bikers with no helmet, flip flops, shorts, and t-shirts. Brilliant for them. Not so brilliant to me. We should get to make our own safety choices up to the point that bad choices don't directly infringe on another's safety and rights (case in point - texting drivers are selfish and dangerous and should not be on the road IMO).

Correlation doesn't necessarily imply causation, but I think there is enough evidence/data/fact out there on safety gear and injury. We may not know the specifics on that one naked guy who crashed without injury, but we do know that riding naked, although perhaps fun to some, is a lot more likely to be injured in a crash than when geared up. If you, or I, choose not wear the gear, that's our choice.

 

Your message is loud and clear Highbeam.
So we have established that some of us have a higher level of fear of pain and injury; that is to say, we would rather keep riding after a crash than spend time in recovery.

 

Do you ever get to the end of a road and wonder... why am I here? Sorry for hijacking and debating, I am all for good safety gear. Really I am. Also, I fight for the right to choose. I even wear my seatbelt while mowing the fields, spent 12 hours doing that on Sunday.

Back to boots.

 

Boots are safe!

 

Weakest excuse I've ever heard.

A better correlation would be "I had a head on crash and my seat belt kept me from flying through the windshield. I recommend wearing seat belts to keep from being tossed through the windshield."

I've caught my foot on a rock at speed on an uphill in a harescrambles. I've also run over both my feet with a three wheeler before I got the hang of keeping them on the pegs. In neither case did I have any injury. I've had my shin smacked with a piece of a branch with the boots on and hit the back of my calf against the foot peg with boots on. Again, no damage and a continued day of riding. Then there are the times when I've had to put a foot down in a creek and come out the other side with dry feet.

So if you see safety gear as "a foil hat"... well, that doesn't give your opinion or knowledge much credibility.

 

Don't know if you're still looking but check out Cycle Gear on Cave Creek RD (pretty decent selection of boots from mx to sport) or the Helmet Center at about 38th ave and union hills, if i remember correctly. Done business with both shops and can't say anything bad about them.