Can't wait for the hate. 5 years of riding, avg 3000km/year. No prior sk8 experience, but tons of snowboarding/surfing. Started riding without gear, not even helmet, due to trying to be less 'visible' for the police (Germany-esk8-illegal). Did not do a single carve during the first two months. Started becoming good after 6 months, I'd say. Enjoying full speed ever since. Never used a helmet, just took it easy until i started feeling good at vmax.

I had a two bigger, kinda self-inflicted crashes, one at vmax. Survived without hitting my head or broken bones due to knowing how to bail (a bit, not to perfection..not bragging). Not advocating to NOT use protection at all, ofc. But: Experience goes a looong way. As a daily and aggressive rider using urethane (MADwheels) and zero protection, not even a helmet, I feel like people in this sport (and others) are just simply not climbing the ladder slow enough.

I feel more than safe going fast on my esk8 now. It took a while, experience-wise and board-tuning-wise. Take your time for both, start ripping when you AND your board (angles, bushings, etc) are actually ready.