Helmet saved my life yesterday

[srw]

Adrian, my proposed experiment would replicate it closer that your grasp of physics ever could.

I tell you what. You be the punchee and I'll do the punching. But I get to choose exactly which bit of your head I punch.

 

[dellzeqq]

for whatever reason this thread prompted me to look this up...........

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw2Lptf7K0E


don't thank me.............

 

[Accy cyclist]

I do believe we might have been over this once or twice before now. Because they work by compressing the foam relatively slowly to absorb impact. A split helmet occrrs rapidly and usually shows little compression of the foam and hence doesn't achieve much by way of usefull deceleration.

They do however look dramatic and are thus normally taken to indicate certain saving from death.

You're quite correct about the "special effects" Aidy, a split helmet looks spectacular! It was a cheapo helmet and if i'd have had my Bell helmet on it probably would've stayed intact, but that doesn't mean that the force of the impact wasn't severe enough to split my skull! I remember hitting the ground shoulder first, then head second and believe the helmet saved me a lot of pain and injury!

 

[Red Light]

You're quite correct about the "special effects" Aidy, a split helmet looks spectacular! It was a cheapo helmet and if i'd have had my Bell helmet on it probably would've stayed intact, but that doesn't mean that the force of the impact wasn't severe enough to split my skull! I remember hitting the ground shoulder first, then head second and believe the helmet saved me a lot of pain and injury!

The usual scenario is the shoulder hits the ground and then the head stops short of the ground - its how the human body has evolved over millennia to deal with falls. But with an extra couple of inches all round on the size of the head, a helmeted head will often hit the ground where without the helmet the head wouldn't.

And as I've said many times before its amazing how many helmet wearers have stories like yours to tell and yet although non-wearers outnumber wearers by 2:1, they very very rarely have tales of outcomes such as you are predicting would have happened to you without a helmet.

 

[green1]

You're quite correct about the "special effects" Aidy, a split helmet looks spectacular! It was a cheapo helmet and if i'd have had my Bell helmet on it probably would've stayed intact, but that doesn't mean that the force of the impact wasn't severe enough to split my skull! I remember hitting the ground shoulder first, then head second and believe the helmet saved me a lot of pain and injury!

Youmay have spilt a bit of claret, but little else. If a helments cracks and it is absorbed S.F.A. energy. It has failed to the the job it was designed to do.

See this post I made in an earlier thread:

Not on the side of the helmet it will fracture as its unsupported.

Easiest way I can think to describe it take 2 identical sheets of polystyrene 1 inch thick. Take the first one and hold it by the edges, now get someone to start pushing in the middle of the sheet with 2 fingers. It won't take much to snap the sheet in 2 as it is not able to absorb much energy. Now take the 2nd sheet and hold it firmly against a wall and get someone to punch it. It won't break as it is fully supported, and it will deform, It has absorbed far more energy than the first sheet without fracturing. Polystyrene is good at absorbing energy when it is fully supported and it is a blunt impact, the only time you'll get this with a helmet is if you land on top of your head. If you land on the side of it chances are the helmet will just fracture.

 

[Davidc]

Yawn.

The OP is quite right. Helmets are good for temporary storage of glasses, gloves, and I'll add trouser clips to that.

Helmets are also useful for keeping the head warm in cold weather.

*********************************************************************************************!!

Large scale data analysis does however show one thing they're of no use for. That's providing head protection in accidents.

If you want to wear a helmet I'd never try to stop you. Please do me the same courtesy when I don't want to.

 

[BrumJim]

Can we not go to the Comedians' Convention system for dealing with this? The one where various people get up to make speeches and every so often members of the audience shout out a number. Every time someone shouts a number the whole audience laughs. A new attendee asks someone what is going on and they explain that, since everyone in the audience is a comedian, they all know all the heckles and jokes so they number them all to save time and just shout out the number.

And in reply to screenman, SEVEN.

Is this the one where the visitor yells out "63". The audience fall about the floor in fits of histerics, and it is a good 10 minutes before order is restored. The visitor asks his guide what happened, and he replies:
"Oh, its nothing. Its just that that is one that they haven't heard before"!

 

[Accy cyclist]

The usual scenario is the shoulder hits the ground and then the head stops short of the ground - its how the human body has evolved over millennia to deal with falls. But with an extra couple of inches all round on the size of the head, a helmeted head will often hit the ground where without the helmet the head wouldn't.

And as I've said many times before its amazing how many helmet wearers have stories like yours to tell and yet although non-wearers outnumber wearers by 2:1, they very very rarely have tales of outcomes such as you are predicting would have happened to you without a helmet.

Well maybe the extra inches of the helmet stopped my head from travelling too far, therefore avoiding whiplash!

 

[ufkacbln]

Actually they are most useful for carrying small bits of shopping in in the supermarket.

May I point out yet again how vents compromise helmet design. With larger vents there is less material to retain the small bits of shopping, and snag points can get a caught on trolleys, pushchairs and other furniture.

If you are carrying small bits of shopping then a helmet with a smoother design and small vents is more practicable.

 

[Drago]

The usual scenario is the shoulder hits the ground and then the head stops short of the ground - its how the human body has evolved over millennia to deal with falls. But with an extra couple of inches all round on the size of the head, a helmeted head will often hit the ground where without the helmet the head wouldn't.

And as I've said many times before its amazing how many helmet wearers have stories like yours to tell and yet although non-wearers outnumber wearers by 2:1, they very very rarely have tales of outcomes such as you are predicting would have happened to you without a helmet.

Quantify "very very rarely" please. It's pointless whipping out a stat to support one side of an argument, and then being vague re another figure in the same argument.

 

[Drago]

It shows that BikeRadar doesn't understand what proper research looks like...

Yeah, BokeRadar (sic) are like Adrian - you don't want them on your side on a debate!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Would any of the anti helmet lot on here not wear a helmet on a motorbike if they rode one that is, and if the law allowed them to do so?

 

[ufkacbln]

Bicycle helmets and motorcycle helmets are two completely different things. I'd suggest you go off and educate yourself in the basics before throwing that red herring in and making yourself look stupid...

For a start you can fit a lot more shopping in a motorcycle helmet, and it is held more securely as there are no vents.

 

[Davidc]

...
The parallels with elbow, knee and shoulder protection are all completely valid. The fact is that people, myself included, wear helmets for predominantly emotional reasons but don't take similar steps to protect themselves from other common injuries

Perhaps we should all dress up like a Star Wars storm trooper!

 

[Raging Squirrel]

The usual scenario is the shoulder hits the ground and then the head stops short of the ground - its how the human body has evolved over millennia to deal with falls.

hold on......have you just suggested that we grew broad shoulders so that we would hit the floor shoulder first rather than hit our head on the floor in a fall?

that's the most bizarre thing I've heard