Protective Headgear???

Hi,
I'm just starting to unicycle. I'm also doing a product design
engineering project at uni. The focus of my study is protective
headgear for extreme sports. Therefore, since I have an interest in
unicycling I have decided to investigate protective headgear within the
sport.
Does anyone out there wear a helmet or anything to protect their head?
Are there specifically designed helmets for unicycling?
Also could you suggest the areas of the head which are specifically at
risk when unicycling.

What sorts of activity are most popular on unicycles? Off-road? Hockey?
Stunts? Also which is the most dangerous?

Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance,

Euan


--
smegy88
------------------------------------------------------------------------
smegy88's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11246
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

i always wear a helmet. Every time i ride.
I don't believe there is a helmet specifically made for unicycling.
Most of us just use bike helmets or skate helmets of some kind.


--
abbabibble

Cheers, Mat.
-----------------------
SUPER AWEXOME SUPER-UNI SHIRTS! PREORDER YOURS
TODAY!!!http://unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44230
--"to maxis: STOP. GRAMMAR TIME." -Fwgen0moB?
"abababilbel" - General Dibbles
------------------------------------------------------------------------
abbabibble's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/10751
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

'Here' (http://tinyurl.com/82gxb), 'here' (http://tinyurl.com/bk6hf) and
'here' (http://tinyurl.com/9rrpd) are just three threads about unicycle
helmets.

Hit the 'SEARCH' (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/search.php) with
terms like ''helmets'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sea...searchid=17482)',
''skate-helmets''
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sea...searchid=17482),
_'b*ke-helmets'_ and ''protective gear''
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sea...searchid=17484) and you'll
come up with enough reading for a month of Sundays.

A lot of the discussion centers around 'should you/shouldn't you' but
some of it does touch on the technical aspects.
Between that suggested reading and the discussion that's bound to be in
this thread, you're likely to get more than enough info.

I'm not sure if there's a KH UniHelmet in the pipeline, maybe you can
ask?


--
GILD

'three short gs and a long e-flat'
(http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven_sym5_1.wav) - 'map'
(http://www.frappr.com/unicycleworld)
'\\"freedom is just chaos, with better lighting.\\" entropy'
(http://tinyurl.com/77lom)
'harper' (http://tinyurl.com/c9epx)
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://www.lyricsdir.com/d/deep-purp...ld-in-time.php)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GILD's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/657
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

Some additional thoughts on that.
though I use a skate helmet all the time I was wondering if a kayaking
helmet will do the job for muni?
(there seems to be kayak guys around this forum);
why this?
the helmets I have seen such 'as that one (the red one)'
(http://tinyurl.com/ajscx) are used for sports such as beach sailing -a
fairly dangerous sport-
pros: good protection , good envelope, + eyeshade (not shown on the
picture).
cons: wondering how it fits to your skull (when you are sweating like
mad)
any advice?


--
wobbling bear

One Wheel : bear necessity
------------------------------------------------------------------------
wobbling bear's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3716
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

I think there should be thin, light weight helmets for trials and
street, because you aren't ever going faster than running speed, and
crashes aren't normally bad at all

As for general muni, skate and bike helmets are fine


--
DK

*\"faster, faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of
death.\" - hunter s. thompson*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DK's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8054
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

Let's not get into the should you/shouldn't you. That way dissent lies.
God told me so.

I think most active unicyclists wear a helmet some of the time. Many
wear one all of the time. Some perfectly good riders make the choice
not to.

As this is such a minority sport, there is no such thing yet as a
special unicycling helmet.

A bicycle helmet is often designed for aerodynamics and style. Most
unicyclists have little need for the aerodynamics, and unicycling is
stylish enough as it is! A bicycle helmet will protect against most
but not all normal riding impacts. It is lightish and fairly
comfortable. There is an argument that a road bike helmet won't
protect you well if you fall backwards - this is not a typical
direction of fall for a road bicyclist.

A BMX or downhill helmet is designed for accidents involving falling
and rolling, often on an uneven surface in unpredictable directions.
Generally, they look less well ventilated than road cycle helmets.

A full face helmet gives greater all round protection (did I mention
the 7 stitches in my chin ) but is hot, uncomfortable, and
restricts your field of view.

A kayak helmet gives good all round protection, and is designed for
multiple knocks and bumps. They usually have a deformabe polythene
shell. Theoretically, a bicycle helmet is "use once and discard".
Kayak helmets are designed to let water out, so they are reasonably
well ventilated. The straps can be uncomfortable. They can look a bit
dorky.


--
Mikefule

Did you hear about the computer programmer conspiracy theorist who put
10 and 10 together and made 101?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mikefule's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/879
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

No, there are no unicycle-specific helmets being manufactured (same goes
for shoes, pedals, and many other parts).

But to get into specifics, one must first break down the various types
of riding to be done. There's a huge difference between Trials or
riding on broken rocks and hockey, or Freestyle, or road riding.

So there are two main kinds of helmets people use, bike and skate.
Skate is the more robust, offering greater coverage and more impacts,
but at the cost of greater weight and more heat inside. Bike helmets
are much more comfortable but offer less protection and are often
compromised after one good blow.

If the project is to design a unicycle-specific helmet, you will also
have to first determine to what level of riding it should protect. Why
doesn't everyone just wear a full-face motorcycle helmet? For obvious
reasons of comfort, weight, visibility, etc. So a successful helmet
design has to be as unobtrusive, lightweight and good-looking as
possible. Those may be marketing concerns, but that's an important part
of any useable product design.


--
johnfoss

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

I prefer a skate board type of helmet because it (I think) provides
better protection than a bicycle helmet. However, my helmet is not
comfortable. I wish I could find a skate board type of helmet with
better ventilation (at a reasonable price). They are very hot in the
summer time.


--
Wheel Rider

A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else. - Waite Phillips
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wheel Rider's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/10656
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

Mikefule wrote:
There is an argument that a road bike helmet won't protect you well if
you fall backwards - this is not a typical direction of fall for a road
bicyclist.


I "tested" my helmet with a hard impact to the back of the head this
morning. On the way to work (on the road bike) I hit a patch of ice
and went down VERY suddenly and somehow the back of my head hit the
road HARD. The helmet has cracked, like they are designed to do, but I
got away with a sore neck, some nasty bruises and feeling a bit shakey.
I walked home (I'd only made it 1/4 mile down the road ) and
drove the car to work. I'm sure if I'd not been wearing the helmet I
would have been knocked out. So it seems road helmets do provide quite
good protection to the back of the head. I'll be having to buy a new
helmet now, but I've had it a few years so it's not really that much of
an expense over that time. I didn't used to wear a helmet for road
riding until I moved here, where there is more chance of ice and wet
leaves, but I'm glad I was wearing it this morning - that was just the
sort of accident that a bike helmet is good at (relatively low speed
sudden fall onto flat ground, not involving other vehicles).

I use(d) the same helmet for muni and mountain biking, but I reckon
there would be more chance of injury in a fall onto uneven rocks. A
pointy rock could easily hit me on the back of the skull below the
helmet or in the face. But the alternative would be to wear a fuller
helmet like a downhill or skate-type helmet, which would get a bit too
hot (I don't really like wearing the road helmet in the summer, but
I've got used to it).

Rob


--
rob.northcott

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to
skydive twice
------------------------------------------------------------------------
rob.northcott's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/7436
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45044

On Mon, 28 Nov, rob.northcott wrote:

The helmet has cracked, like they are designed to do,

They are supposed to crush, not crack. Polystyrene cracking is a
relatively low energy failure mode - it should crush progressively.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|