Do you own a helmet? If so, what's it for?

[eyepaddle]

Helmet. Such a cool word.

(Oh yeah, I have two; one for cycling and one for , well, paddling!)

Just say "helmet!"

[indy_azcat]

1. just one

I use it to workout with.

Steve Albini rocks!

[eyepaddle]

4. I was wondering if anybody'd bust out with that band,

I had already decided that it counts! :D

[Streetdoc270]

54. 2

One for water rescue, and a fire helmet for regular rescue

[MidwestTransplant]

2. One for a little game I play.

Every time * says Terra, "Nuculear," or It's Hard, I bang my head against a wall. The helmet lets me keep the game going without doing permanent damage.

[eyepaddle]

3. Outstanding!

Be sure to check for signs that the shell might give up sometime! :rofl:

[CottonBear]

5. I own 7 helmets.

1 for paddling, 2 for biking and 4 for horseback riding. One of the riding helmets is purely decorative and is not a safety helmet so I don't wear it for riding. My favorite helmet is my black velvet show helmet. Very spiffy!

[eyepaddle]

12. What do you paddle

by the way?

[CottonBear]

19. A red Perception Dancer kayak.

I haven't paddled this year. We have a wonderful unspoiled river nearby (The Broad River in NE GA.) It's a tributary of the Savannnah.) There are 4 tributaries which form the Broad. It's got from class I to class III rapids. Perfect! I'm gonna start paddling the Apalachee, the Middle Oconee and North Oconee as wel.

What do you paddle? It is SO hot here. This weekend will be perfect to get on the river!

[eyepaddle]

22. There is SOOOOOOO much good whitewater in the SE.

I have a Pyranha H3 (yellow with apple) I just hit the Kettle in central MN yesterday. wonderful paddle, it's getting low to the point where it is straight up class II. A very fine river.
Here are a few shots:



I love seal-launching!

and it was about a foot lower, but Hell's Gate still rocks!



I actually saw two dancers at the takeout!

On edit: I'm not in any of these pictures. However the seal launch off of the rock, I was in the party just before the one shown. Bomber good time!!!!!!!!!!!! B-)

[CottonBear]

36. Wow! What a beautiful river. Great shots!

Thanks for sharing. You must have had a blast. That water looks cold!

Our rivers are a bit warmer. I have a friend who owns the Broad river Outpost canoe and kayak rental/outfitting/campground in Madison County, GA. He and his friends canoe and kayak the Chattoga in extreme NE GA! You should make a trip to the Chattoga (GA/SC) and the Nanatahala (NC) sometime!

I can't roll yet so I stick to the baby rapids. I need to practice. I could never quite get over. :(
My friends have a house on the Apalachee and they are on a peninsula in a big U curve. I'm gonna go practice rolling in a deep hole with not much current.
Wish me luck!

[eyepaddle]

45. The water is warmer now

one of the guys I was with didn't even wear a shirt this last weekend. My roll is still kind of iffy. I had to swin the bottom half of the section visible in the top photo--although it was on the far side from the picture. That is Blueberry slide. It's really shallow and I went over practically laying on my back deck, and if my regular roll is still a bit shaky, my back deck roll is non-existent. I didn't feel like sanding off my nose trying to set up so I punched out. Oh the shame.

After that though, I hit almost all of my practice rolls and never actually had to bail out (once a t-rescue was required).

Remember, finish your sweep, keep your head down, finish the sweep, keep you head down. :D :hi:

[CottonBear]

52. It's the head down part that gets me every time!

It goes against all of your best insticts to keep your head under water! I need to remain calm and KEEP MY HEAD DOWN!

[JohnnyBoots]

6. Scrum Cap, but I haven't been a center since high school

[tridim]

7. Two.. One for snowboarding

and one if I ever get a motorcycle again.

Yea, yea.. I know It's not "cool" to wear a helmet while boarding, but I've hit hidden tree stumps and smacked my helmeted head on solid ice several times.. I'm not taking any chances with my brain.

As for the motorcycle.. Pavement meeting the skull at 70mph isn't pretty.

[eyepaddle]

14. When you're playing with your own safety

"cool" is one of the last things I'm concerned with. Just like staying warm in the winter. Doing those thigs right is the actual cool.

I've got a few serious grooves in my kayaking helmet--I shudder to think what my noggin' would look like withou it!

[Justpat]

8. I ride horses for a living.

I have been wearing one for 35 years. god, it's hot wearing it
right now.

[CottonBear]

20. Do you train racehorses?

I'm raising an Oldenburg filly. Her dam is a thoroughbred out of the Native Dancer and Northern Dancer lines?

I know it gets really hot in the summer butr it's important to protect the noggin!

[Justpat]

48. Yes, I do.

I work with Thoroughbreds.

[CottonBear]

53. That must mean long hours and getting up very early!

I want to go to the racetrack when I'm in New Orleans next. I've never been to the track.

I've got my hands full with my naughty filly!
I just love horses. I had to wait until I was 40 to have one of my own! :)

The folks who bred my filly have wonderful Thoroughbred brood mares, several of whom raced. My filly's grand dam won quite a few races down in New Orleans!

[mark414]

9. i own two Helmets

one is for me to Strap It On and the other is for the Meantime

[eyepaddle]

11. I haven't listened to Helmet in years.

In the MEEAANNNNNNNNN-TTTTIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMEEEE

[ghostsofgiants]

13. But what about Betty?

[wideopen]

10. I've got 2

1 for enduro motorcycle riding, the other is for jetski racing. I switched toys last year though so niether of them is currently in use.

[sniffa]

15. my mother in Law has one

she's missing 1/4 of her skuLL.

she's getting a fake one put in this friday. :woohoo:

[Maddy McCall]

16. Dirt bike, go cart, and bicycle.

I have about four helmets, between the kid and myself. I rarely wear it, though. :( However, the kid doesn't get on any kind of motorized ride without one.

[In_The_Wind]

17. helmets ~ yes

my state requires a motorcyclist to wear a helmet so I have 1 large, 1 medium and 2 smalls ... all DOT approved

[greeneyedpookie]

18. One here

for riding around on my Yamaha Raptor 660!! :headbang:

GEP

:bounce:

[Lisa]

21. I own a Viking spangenhelm ...

... a late Roman Deurne cavalry helmet, and a 15th-century European sallet. (All replicas -- I haven't got the money or the facilities to collect the real stuff.)

I use them as visual aids when I'm doing history lectures. (And they do make pretty cool decorations too.) Currently I'm waiting for a first-century Roman Coolus "G", which I hope won't need much modification to make it look reasonably authentic.

[eyepaddle]

23. Now that's interesting,

I started just thinking "helmet" was a cool word--but I am learning cool things about DUers to boot! :hi:

[Lisa]

25. more trivia ... I've noticed that medievally-inclined folks favor "helm"

For example, if someone is in the Society for Creative Anachronism and fights in mock battles, s/he may refer to "my fighting helm". And if they're trying to sell one on eBay, sometimes the poster forgets (or deliberately wants to target only SCA members) and lists it as a "helm", although they'd probably get more bidders if they used "helmet" in the title.

A spangenhelm is a type of helmet assembled from multiple sections (4, 6, or even 6 triangular pieces, with bands to rivet them to). My late Roman helmet is a "ridge helm" (the main part of it was made in two halves, with a band down the middle). The Greeks and Romans were able to "raise" a helmet from a single sheet of metal. Some researchers think that people started to make helmets out of multiple pieces because the knowledge of raising was lost during the Dark Ages.

A lot of our modern helmet designs (especially for military helmets) were copied from earlier types. The brimmed helmet used by the British (and pre-WWII US) was based on the medieval "kettle hat", while the Germans used a type of sallet (which gave better protection for the neck). Even the US design (replaced a couple of decades ago by a more sallet-like shape) looks a lot like a medieval cervelliere. I've heard that the prototype was shaped with antique armourer's tools several centuries old, before it was sent off for mass production!

If you look inside museum helmets, there are often suspension systems which look a bit like what you'd see in a modern hardhat. The medieval warriors knew that even a thick metal shell wouldn't protect you from the force of being struck -- a good suspension system was essential. That, plus the mass of the helmet, would protect you from concussion.

[eyepaddle]

27. If your idea of a first date is burning down her village,

you just might be....a Viking! (It was just on the Simpson's;) )

Weren't the British and American helmets designed mainly with stopping fragments from artillery--which mainly came straight down as the troops were largely underground.

However, they could easily have looked at medieval helms for inspiration. :hi:

[Lisa]

28. I've heard one theory that the "kettle hat" was favoured ...

... and replicated with the broad-brimmed "Brodie helmet" design because it had such a familiar and positive association with British heritage (that classic "chapel de fer" helmet worn by the "stout yeomen"), even though the design didn't provide great protection against bullets and shrapnel. Also, and probably more significant in the end, was that it was simpler to manufacture than the French or German designs, and as a result it could be made out of thicker metal -- but the lack of neck protection took some flak (pun intended).

Plus its shallow profile meant it could easily come off if the chinstrap was broken or not properly tightened. (Doesn't sound like much, but if you're charging across a WWI battlefield trying to get to a trench, it can get in the way -- I've seen archival photos of troops running with one hand on top of the helmet!) A later improvement was to use hardened steel instead of regular mild steel (mild steel is softer than a lot of medieval armor -- that's why SCA armor tends to be thicker than the real stuff -- and even then, a 14-gauge fighting helm can be dented by hitting it with a wooden stick!). They also made the Brodie helmet deeper and narrowed the brim (more visibility, less wind resistance, and gave a little more protection). That's probably the version purchased by the US prior to entering WWI. The US Army kept on using it (manufactured Stateside) until 1942.

The British designers made the helmet even deeper in a WWII version. (I'd been wondering why the British/Canadian helmets I saw in antique stores seemed so different, until someone explained the changes.)

They could have switched to different styles anytime during the decades the helmets were being used, but it wouldn't be the first time that someone stuck with a familiar old design rather than making a drastic improvement.

Both the kettle hat and the sallet designs seemed to arise because of the original manufacturing process -- you raise a dome on a metal sheet, so what do you do with the excess metal surrounding it? On a sallet you shape it into a neckguard -- with the kettle hat you trim around it to leave a brim. Or if you're Alexander the Great, you fold it up to cover your ears and shade your eyes. I guess there are only so many ways to shape metal which are convenient, no matter which century you're in, so no wonder some designs look familiar. (Even the gear in "Star Wars" was often based on medieval models, e.g. sallets and samurai helmets)

http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/detail.aspx?ID=5836


The guy who designed the German helmet deliberately copied earlier German medieval styles.
http://www.inventionandtechnology.com/xml/2003/1/it_2003_1_feat_0.xml

He'd be amazed (and probably flattered) if he saw that many soldiers around the world are wearing similar designs today.

[Zuni]

43. I have noticed that alot of countries made military helmets that

superficially resembled ancient and medieval styles

The best military helmet design was probably the German coal scuttle style helmet, since adopted by many militaries in a modified form, including the US which replaced steel with kevlar

[Dukkha]

24. Two Helmets

Stormtrooper & Tie Fighter Pilot
I wear them too with my costumes.

[NV Whino]

26. Two

One for the bicycle I never ride. And one--a hard hat, actually--for the loft in my studio where I store my paintings. Low ceiling, doncha know.

On Edit: I hate that damned autofill.

[bigwillq]

29. No Helmet (nt)

[enigami]

30. I got two

For riding my Harley in some states. One for me and one for her.

[yellowdogintexas]

31. I have one helmet, leftover from when I was an active caver;

it has a carbide light on it.

[democracyindanger]

32. Two

Arai Quantum for around town, Arai RX-7 for the track.

[VOX]

33. I've got a WWII Civilian Defense Block Warden's helmet...

It's very cool, and who knows who may have actually used it????

[tinfoilinfor2005]

34. Helmet, from the ancient Thumian word, "helmetross"

Worn by the Thumesians in their quest to conquer the Aztecs. Daunted by attacking albatross, they devised a hard plated head gear shaped from the helm tree. The hard wood of the helm provided protection from the sharp strikes of the albatross beaks. Some of the warriors decorated their helmets with the feathers of the birds, signifying defeat over their enemy.
ok, so it's bullshit. ya got me.

[Tom Kitten]

35. The only helmet I currently own...

I was born with...A purple helmeted warrior of love...

[ProfessorGAC]

37. Yep! A Motorcycle Helmet. But, . . .

. . .i don't have a motorcycle! Used to. When i got DX'd with MS, i decided that was a risk not worth taking. I never used in crowded roads. More a "ride in the country" type of rider. Avoided traffic, in fact.

But, when i sold it to this guy from a college i was teaching at part-time, he didn't want the helmet. I wasn't charging extra. I was selling the bike and giving the helmet away. He didn't want it! Even if he didn't want it then, he could have had it for free. Go figure.

So, it's still in my garage.
The Professor

[no name no slogan]

38. A communal "stupid helmet" at work

Whenever somebody on my team makes a big dumb mistake, s/he is required to don the stupid helmet for one hour.

During a rather large system enhancement, I found myself wearing this a little too often, unfortunately :(

[eyepaddle]

47. Oh No! Say it isn't so!

Better luck in the future! :hi:

[no name no slogan]

49. It's getting better now

Turns out most of the "mistakes" in the project are due to limitations of the software and NOT the developer/installer (aka me). Looks like we may be ready to roll everything by the end of July-- if our governor doesn't shut down the state on July 1.

Bloody GOP politicians :grr:

[LynzM]

39. A rock climbing helmet....

Helmets bounce better off of rocks than skulls do... :)

[Deep13]

40. Yeah, because I'm Darth Vader.

So! You have a twin sister! Your feelings have now betrayed her too. Obiwan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side, perhaps she will.

[smirkymonkey]

41. Bashing my head against the wall everytime I hear W's voice

[eyesroll]

42. One bike helmet.

Something tells me I'll need a new one before the end of the summer, as my biking attempts so far haven't been pretty. (It had been more than 15 years since the last time I even got on a bike.) Better that than my skull, though.

[Beware the Beast Man]

44. Yeah, I own a helmet.

[progmom]

46. yup

helmet here.

[arwalden]

50. Is A Construction Hard-Hat Considered A "Helmet"?

If so... then my answer is "yes".

[eyepaddle]

51. Let's say yes, it does protect the melon.

Then I change my answer to five. (I have three hard hats) which I don't wear anymore, but just don't want to throw out.

[skygazer]

55. I have four

One for horseback riding.

One for snowmobiling.

Two construction hard hats.

The last three are in storage - I don't work construction anymore and there's not a lot of snowmobiling opportunities in the Bay Area.

[seemunkee]

56. Climbing and cycling

Opps forgot about the Darth Vader helmet in my comics room

[ForrestGump]

57. Currently three full-face motorcycle helmets, one kayaking helmet

I think that's it.

[Lilith Velkor]

58. I saw them open for Ministry back in '93

Your will to speak clearly
Exposed too much
Unsung once too often
Could not rub off

That's my Helmet!

[GumboYaYa]

59. I have a helmet and a funny story to go with it.

I ride a little red scooter so I have a helmet for that. Frequently my kids ride with me so they have a helmet they share as well. Sometines we keep our helmets on a shelf in the entranceway closet of our home. We keep our shoes in the same closet.

This weekend, my wife was working, so I was home with the kids by myself. We were getting ready to go to the park and I was getting my shoes out of the front hall closet. While I was kneeling to search for my shoes under the giant stack of kids' shoes, I accidently bumped something that made the helmets unstable.

My helmet fell off the shelf and wacked me square on the head. It knocked me out cold. There are few things stranger than waking up on the floor of your closet with no idea what happened to you.

I'm okay now, with nothing more than a sore head and a new lesson about where to keep my helmet.