Helmet rigidly attached to armor?

[Throckmorton]

I've been wondering this for a couple years. Why don't we have motorcycle (and car racing) helmets that attach rigidly to a hard armored breastplate, to prevent neck and spine injuries? The helmet would be big enough to be padded while also allowing your head to rotate.

Like this:

 

[Elfear]

It would be a lot more cumbersome to get in and out of I imagine. Maybe the dorkiness factor plays a role too since you'd be riding around in a space suit. I'll bet it would help with neck injuries though.

 

[punjabiplaya]

why not just wear a HANS donut?

 

[Throckmorton]

why not just wear a HANS donut?

Because then you can't move your head, which you'd need to on a bike

 

[punjabiplaya]

Because then you can't move your head, which you'd need to on a bike

Yeah, I was implying that the head movement is why you can't wear it. At least with the donut you can rotate your head while you stare at the bike instead of the road because you can't look up (sportbike at least)

 

[JCH13]

Definitely couldn't do this comfortably in a race car. Your shoulders basically cannot move once you're strapped in, so your vision would be restricted to "dead ahead" only.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Definitely couldn't do this comfortably in a race car. Your shoulders basically cannot move once you're strapped in, so your vision would be restricted to "dead ahead" only.

They do wear a HANS device in F1 and I think they wear them in neckcar now as well. I don't know how these compare to what the OP posted but they are designed to reduce the chance of head and neck movement/injury in the event of an accident.

I'll never forget, years ago, the nascar drivers were complaining about how difficult it is to get in and out of the race car while wearing one of these devices to which David Coulthard responded, "How easy would it be to get out of the car with a broken neck?"

 

[Howard]

They do wear a HANS device in F1 and I think they wear them in neckcar now

huh?

 

[Throckmorton]

Definitely couldn't do this comfortably in a race car. Your shoulders basically cannot move once you're strapped in, so your vision would be restricted to "dead ahead" only.

But I'm saying the rigid helmet would be big enough that you can move your head inside it like a space suit.

 

[JCH13]

They do wear a HANS device in F1 and I think they wear them in neckcar now as well. I don't know how these compare to what the OP posted but they are designed to reduce the chance of head and neck movement/injury in the event of an accident.

I'll never forget, years ago, the nascar drivers were complaining about how difficult it is to get in and out of the race car while wearing one of these devices to which David Coulthard responded, "How easy would it be to get out of the car with a broken neck?"

True. They allow your neck to rotate though, just not tilt. I think the tilting/bending motion is what causes most injuries, not so much the twisting, but I'm no bio-mechanics expert.

huh?

NASCAR => RedneckCAR => neckCar... maybe?

 

[JulesMaximus]

huh?

 

[Kroze]

The real question is...why involve in a sport that require such ridiculous armor.




Guys, we're going to play counterstrike IRL with live ammo. What do you recommend as far as armor plates? brand/type/threat level? etc..

 

[JCH13]

The real question is...why involve in a sport that require such ridiculous armor.

Because it's awesome.

 

[JulesMaximus]

The real question is...why involve in a sport that require such ridiculous armor.

Why wear seatbelts for that matter?

Guys, we're going to play counterstrike IRL with live ammo. What do you recommend as far as armor plates? brand/type/threat level? etc..

We already do that. It's called war.

 

[punjabiplaya]

The real question is...why involve in a sport that require such ridiculous armor?

same reason I love skydiving.

 

[Howard]

I know what HANS is, just wasn't sure what neckcar was.

 

[Zargon]

they have them


they are hundreds of dollars

 

[kornphlake]

If you can move your head inside the helmet it's not doing anything. That's why racers don't wear space suits.

 

[Vette73]

Not only the movement issue but also safety. If you have spinal injuries you need a saw to cut you out and even then may move you badly.

 

[Throckmorton]

If you can move your head inside the helmet it's not doing anything. That's why racers don't wear space suits.

I don't buy that. When the side of the space suit hits the ground, your head keeps moving and hits padding. How is that different from your head, including the standard bike helmet, hitting the ground and being cushioned by its padding?

 

[JCH13]

I don't buy that. When the side of the space suit hits the ground, your head keeps moving and hits padding. How is that different from your head, including the standard bike helmet, hitting the ground and being cushioned by its padding?

When the helmet fits tightly then the load from the impact is spread out more evenly across the skull. In a loose helmet only a small part of the foam (the hard foam that protects you, not the soft foam that's there for comfort) is in contact with your head, which is more likely to damage the user.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I don't buy that. When the side of the space suit hits the ground, your head keeps moving and hits padding. How is that different from your head, including the standard bike helmet, hitting the ground and being cushioned by its padding?

Motorcycle helmets should fit very snug. You should NOT be able to twist the helmet around or off your head while wearing it. If you can, you are wearing the wrong size helmet.

 

[Zargon]

^^^yup

 

[vi edit]

My wife works trauma rounds in the only trama center in the area. Spinal injuries are by percentage a relatively small percent of motorcycle injuries. The overwhelming majority of injuries are pelvis and leg crushes. When head injuries happen it's usually a matter of time before the Gift of Life crew come in, so they can't be ignored. But by the numbers it's not the most common thing they need to treat.

I think you'd be introducing a whole different problem of physics if you start adding rigidity there and not everywhere else. That energy has to get displaced somewhere. If not the head then other parts of the body.

 

[Bignate603]

My wife works trauma rounds in the only trama center in the area. Spinal injuries are by percentage a relatively small percent of motorcycle injuries. The overwhelming majority of injuries are pelvis and leg crushes. When head injuries happen it's usually a matter of time before the Gift of Life crew come in, so they can't be ignored. But by the numbers it's not the most common thing they need to treat.

I think you'd be introducing a whole different problem of physics if you start adding rigidity there and not everywhere else. That energy has to get displaced somewhere. If not the head then other parts of the body.

I would almost bet that those leg injuries are relatively low speed accidents, people just tip the bikes over on themselves.