Bumped your Noggin?

[53-11]

I'm designing a new type of helmet which should provide greatly improved performance over the current designs out there. I can't go into too much detail right now because the patent is only in draught form and not filed with the IPO yet.

Something thats always concerned me though is where the best protection is actually needed. For example if it is very rare that people land right on the top of their heads then perhaps that area could be designed differently - likewise if it is very common indeed to land on one part then it makes sense to beef up the protection in that area.

Like it or not, design is always a process of trade-offs and compromise, and if any trade offs have to be made then I would much rather that those trade offs do not occur where the protection is actually likely to be needed.

So with this aim I would like to post up some piccys of my ugly mug and helmet with different areas identified, and if you have had a crash could you just post up (or send me) details of what part of your noggin/helmet took the blow? If there is an overall positive response then I'll just go right ahead.

I just thought I would ask first - polite isn't it?

 

[Fnaar]

Will it be like Noggin the Nog's noggin protection?

 

[Black Sheep]

as a mountain biker, I, for many years rode downhill wearing a full face motocross style helmet, this protects my face and especially my jaw.

for cross country and road use I wear a £50 spuik helmet, having replaced one that I was wearing while hit over the head by a bottle of cider or similar, the force of which actually cracked the back of the helmet away from the side I'd been hit from. The reason for this is cycle helmets, unlike motorbike helmets, are designed to dissipate the force away from the impacted area, allowing the helmet to deform in a similar way to a crumple zone on a car.

the system works, not sure what else could be done beyond a bit more padding here and there.

 

[Bicycle]

Will it be like Noggin the Nog's noggin protection?

I was always a supporter of the failed regent, Nogbad the Bad.

I think the public lacked trust in him because of his name.

The outcome of the Noggin story in which Noggin marries Nooka and takes the crown is deeply unsatisfactory on many levels.

It is a core part of my beliefs that if Nogbad the Bad had instead been called Jason the Friendly (or similar) the public would have embraced the notion of his taking over his brother's throne.

As to helmets, I like the designs that exist at the moment. They drive the anti-helmet lobby scarlet with rage, which is the only function I look for in protective headgear.

 

[400bhp]

I'm designing a new type of helmet which should provide greatly improved performance over the current designs out there.

Something thats always concerned me though is where the best protection is actually needed. For example if it is very rare that people land right on the top of their heads then perhaps that area could be designed differently - likewise if it is very common indeed to land on one part then it makes sense to beef up the protection in that area.

Strange - you claim to have designed a helmet with "improved performance", yet you don't appear to understand how cyclists fall off bicycles.

Am I missing something?

 

[Red Light]

Doesn't matter how people fall off bicycles. The standards demand that they fall off vertically onto the top of their heads but without any body attached. Designing for that is what you need to do as otherwise you can't sell them.

 

[classic33]

I'm designing a new type of helmet which should provide greatly improved performance over the current designs out there. I can't go into too much detail right now because the patent is only in draught form and not filed with the IPO yet.

Something thats always concerned me though is where the best protection is actually needed. For example if it is very rare that people land right on the top of their heads then perhaps that area could be designed differently - likewise if it is very common indeed to land on one part then it makes sense to beef up the protection in that area.

Like it or not, design is always a process of trade-offs and compromise, and if any trade offs have to be made then I would much rather that those trade offs do not occur where the protection is actually likely to be needed.

So with this aim I would like to post up some piccys of my ugly mug and helmet with different areas identified, and if you have had a crash could you just post up (or send me) details of what part of your noggin/helmet took the blow? If there is an overall positive response then I'll just go right ahead.

I just thought I would ask first - polite isn't it?

Mine wasn't what I'd call a crash. Driven into, side on side of helmet took the impact from the bonnet. However the left leg got trapped between the bike & the front of the car.

You can try to minimse the damage to any one area/part but you will nearly always just move the risk of injury to an unprotected area.

Having managed to lose count of the number of times I've actually cracked the my skull I can say that no two incidents have been the same or resulted in the same injury. I've gone face first into a marble floor with no injury, gone face first into a gravel road & broke the nose & suffered a few cuts that required stitches. In both cases I wasn't moving at the time.

 

[snibgo]

I recently saw a report that gave proportion of hits to different parts of the head. I don't recall if it was for UK cyclists, or Australia, or wherever.

 

[screenman]

Helpful bunch on here it seems. I have damaged two helmets, one over left eye other one right hand side above ear.

 

[screenman]

Just out of interest is that the same 53x11 that posts on or used to post on the LW forum.

 

[anyuser]

Both times i have come off and hit my head, the impact has been on the side in the temple area.

 

[snailracer]

I have hit my head twice.
Once I got a blow on the right side of face & brow whilst riding helmet-less.
The other time, a bus ran into the back of me and flattened the back of my helmet.

 

[snailracer]

Strange - you claim to have designed a helmet with "improved performance", yet you don't appear to understand how cyclists fall off bicycles.

Am I missing something?

You don't appear to understand the concept of research & development.

 

[fossyant]

Dons tin hat and runs for cover !

 

[Globalti]

The only time I had a heavy fall was when I got hit a glancing blow by a kid on a BSO who didn't check behind him and swerved out in front as I passed him quite fast. I bounced off, hit the pavement and somersaulted over the bars slamming the back of my head on the ground. I saw stars for a second but got up and rode home unhurt.

When I examined the helmet I found that the texture of the pavement was embedded in the back, which was flattened. The two rear straps were also embedded quite deeply into the inside of the shell and the shell itself had broken right down the middle. My conclusions were:

- The padding effect of the styrofoam certainly saved me from a nasty bruise and probably absorbed a fair amount of the impact, which could have damaged my brain.

- Cycling helmets being full of vents have no structural integrity at all in a fall but will still save you from a nasty injury by their padding effect at the site of contact.

This accident is the reason why I always wear a helmet and insist my young son does too; most of his riding is around the local streets where I believe he is also more likely to suffer the same kind of accident as I did.