new helmet design

[superfly5]

Saw a new helmet story on Fox News developed by a Doctor for his son who rides motorcycles.

http://www.lazerhelmets.com/en/motorcycling/superskin/index.php

[fastfraser]

:2thumbs: Looks good.

[canam9]

Pass.

[Saluda]

Someone once said to me that what we think are the neatest things (inventions, ideas) are just a copy of nature in one way or another.

[COOLMACHINE]

Someone once said to me that what we think are the neatest things (inventions, ideas) are just a copy of nature in one way or another.
Sounds like a smart someone. BTW, I like the helmet idea.

[bone crusher]

Interesting concept. I'll assume the superskin is on the outside of the helmet...

[Tom in NM]

. . . . this is an extension of what works. It is this kind of thinking and innovation that has been sadly lacking in helmet design and manufacturing.

My rant is that helmets have not fundamentally evolved in the last 40 years. :yikes: They get all excited about "no fog" shields and sexy paint jobs, but have evaded doing anything about brain damage ( shearing & contusion - like this helmet works at addressing) or upper spine/neck damage (something like a air-bag, perhaps) or even hearing damage.

Are there memory foam or self-forming injection ( or gel ) liners that will give most any head a "custom" and safe fit? Certainly not in the mass market.

They got a market - evergreen every spring - (mostly) legally mandated and enforced by the government. They have expensive price tags on a mass-produced plastic product - that gives them very little legal exposure. Yup, they got lots of reasons to change and make a better product.


:cus:

OK, I know there are good people working in these companies, people who care. I know that wearing today's helmet is the right thing to do - they do save lives and reduce injury. But, really, over 40 years of no major improvements . . . if there were such a thing as Criminal Inaction, they would qualify.

:chill:

Sorry for the rant. This helmet looks to be a step in the right direction. Too bad it is only in Europe and South America at this time.

Tom

[bone crusher]

. . . . this is an extension of what works. It is this kind of thinking and innovation that has been sadly lacking in helmet design and manufacturing.

My rant is that helmets have not fundamentally evolved in the last 40 years. :yikes: They get all excited about "no fog" shields and sexy paint jobs, but have evaded doing anything about brain damage ( shearing & contusion - like this helmet works at addressing) or upper spine/neck damage (something like a air-bag, perhaps) or even hearing damage.

Are there memory foam or self-forming injection ( or gel ) liners that will give most any head a "custom" and safe fit? Certainly not in the mass market.

They got a market - evergreen every spring - (mostly) legally mandated and enforced by the government. They have expensive price tags on a mass-produced plastic product - that gives them very little legal exposure. Yup, they got lots of reasons to change and make a better product.


:cus:

OK, I know there are good people working in these companies, people who care. I know that wearing today's helmet is the right thing to do - they do save lives and reduce injury. But, really, over 40 years of no major improvements . . . if there were such a thing as Criminal Inaction, they would qualify.

:chill:

Sorry for the rant. This helmet looks to be a step in the right direction. Too bad it is only in Europe and South America at this time.

Tom


Unfortunately, you'd have to run real-life experiments to see if the damage was really reduced. It's not that easy. Sure, this helmet may not roll as much, but who's not to say that it doesn't lead to more compression?...if the skin is sticking to the surface, it could lead to more compressive forces due to such...this would lead to different injuries.

Simply put, I don't think you can directly relate outside helmet 'stickiness' and reduction to rolling to what is going on inside the helmet. We are strapped in, but we are not truly part of the helmet...it's like wearing a seatbelt in a car...we absorb a lot of the damage if the vehicle does not deform due to energy transference...that's why you're better off hitting the brake hard when you're going to get rear-ended as opposed to trying to accelerate to get out of the way...if you're hit while you're moving, your damage is far worse...let the car absorb the impact. In this case, the helmet may decrease rotation, but this might not mean much to brain damage...

[Tom in NM]

Unfortunately, you'd have to run real-life experiments to see if the damage was really reduced. It's not that easy. . . . . . . . . . .

Good points, Bonecrusher - I agree with you (besides, you are THE expert). But, I would add that we all are out there in real-life and I don't see any signs that the helmet manufacturers are working with anybody to evaluate the effectiveness of their products in real life and death "experiments". What an irresponsible waste (my opinion). Decades and thousands of deaths and injuries - just wasted.

Do you ever see helmets rated for safety? - - - not the DOT and Snell lab certifications, but which styles work in which conditions - in the real world. Nope, they don't talk about how their products function in real accidents - how they are better than their competition in the real world - or how you can expect their product to protect you and to what limits. My opinion is they don't know, but they suspect that none of that kind of analysis would be good for their business.

So what happens is that riders put on their helmets and think/assume they are "safe" - or at the very least - safer. And they are, but most likely not as much as they are assuming they are.

Tom

[chris56]

[QUOTE=Tom in NM;208799]. . . . this is an extension of what works. It is this kind of thinking and innovation that has been sadly lacking in helmet design and manufacturing.

My rant is that helmets have not fundamentally evolved in the last 40 years. :yikes:

I heard something about a new BRP RT helmet...like this ??

[dltang]

They don't appear to be available in the US