i agree that full faces are ridiculous, but for actual REAL reasons. before i start, knees to face off anything under 50 ft doesnt hurt, dont be stupid. i knocked my teeth out coming off a rail and hitting my knees into my face. its like being hit by mike tyson.
but my reasons:
1. the people wearing full faces tend to be about 13 14 years old. still growing. this makes a full face dangerous for themselves. the way the helmet fits snug around your face, means that wherever the helmet goes, the head goes. there have been cases where kids have faceplanted wearing a fullface, and the resulting upward (think uppercut), violent movement has broken their necks. young kids are not strong enough to survive the forces that can be delivered to their necks like that.
2. full faces are solidly built. they are reinforced more that your standard g 10 or (ahem) bern baker. i dont know if you've been hit by someone in a fullface, but i have. some guy crashed into me and his full face hit me in the ribs. felt like i was hit by a brick, or a minitram. imagine if the guy had hit a small kid, not in the ribs, but the head, the helmet would go through the kid.
3. they look gay.
- i actually think fullfaces should be banned or at least controlled for on piste skiing. i dont know how, but they cause more problems than they solve under everyday circumstances. for any sort of off pistte though, fair enough. my buddy front flipped a small cliff the other day (15/20ft or so) and hit his knees to his face and fractured his jaw in 2 places.