Practical Paper Helmet

[berneart76]

Sort of related, a company making Bike helmets out of paper!   www.ecohelmet.com/

[oldschooldm]

"EcoHelmet absorbs blows from any direction as effectively as traditional polystyrene."

Ha! As effective as a styrofoam helmet. That wouldn't make ME feel safe.

Cool design though.

[bravesirkevin]

Nov 25, 2016 12:45:05 GMT -9 oldschooldm said:

"EcoHelmet absorbs blows from any direction as effectively as traditional polystyrene."

Ha! As effective as a styrofoam helmet. That wouldn't make ME feel safe.

As unsafe as it sounds, that's exactly what virtually every commercially available cycling helmet is made of. Motorcycle helmets are also mostly polystyrene but they have a hard shell on the outside and a lining on the inside so the polystyrene is pretty much completely hidden. The intention behind the design is that polystyrene will deform horribly during the impact destroying the helmet but also dissipating most of the energy protecting the head from the impact and preventing concussion and brain injuries. They generally work pretty well. This design works in pretty much the same way and I imagine it would be pretty good as long as it's not raining!

[glennwilliams]

Decades ago there was a book (Nomadic Furniture) by Victor Papanek wherein most of the furniture was made from paper products. As an engineer, he showed the remarkable strength of well-designed paper products, so I'm not surprised. That said, not sure I want to trust my brain to a Thanksgiving fold out turkey decoration. Which is probably the problem they'll have: no one will quite believe it does what it says, no matter how much testing they do.

[cowboyleland]

And actually, anything stronger than polystyrene would actually conduct the force into your head instead of dissipating it. Foam is like millions of tiny airbags.

[Vermin King]

I hear my high school friend's older brother Ron wears a helmet now. I wonder what he wears. He interned in the UCLA med school 'motorcycle wing' in the 70's. He said back then he would never wear a helmet again. Something changed his mind