Should I always take a hard hat if I go scrambling?
Scrambling (also known as alpine scrambling) is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges
Quite often when I'm out on ridges in the UK, I rarely see people wearing any kind of safety equipment! I guess it depends on the geology of the area you are visiting!
It isn't necessary to always take a helmet. The main protection helmets provide is from things falling on you from above (protection from you falling and hitting your head is secondary).
When you go scrambling, before you start, make an assessment of how likely you are to encounter falling objects;
If your assessment is that the risk is high, and you don't have a helmet, then you can find an alternate route or wait for people above you to clear the pitch.
You're right it's very rare to see anyone wearing a helmet whilst scrambling in the UK, that doesn't mean it's not a good idea though! As with a lot of safety equipment, it comes down to personal risk perception.
One thing worth bearing in mind is how busy the route is. The popular routes in the UK will often have a lot of inexperienced scramblers on them, who might be less careful than you at not dislodging loose rocks. Countering this argument is that the popular routes have often had a lot of the loose stuff knocked off already!
Personally I would - unless perhaps you definitely know that for the particular area and route you're taking the risk is minimal. Just because others may not be as cautious doesn't necessarily make it ok!
Yes, there are practical disadvantages with carrying the thing and having to wear it, but it only takes one loose rock to strike you on the head to seriously injure you.
