"Helmet Worked for ..." - Expectations

[Psamathe]

I don't quite understand what the "Helmet Worked For Me" thread are intended to achieve. Are they just a public note about a falling-off (in which case not really a Helmet sub-forum issue) or do OPs expect those who've chosen not to wear a helmet to suddenly "Oh my G0d, must start wearing one now".

My impression is that most non-casual cyclists have considered and continue to consider the evidence either way and have made a choice. Some will have investigated more deeply than others but to the point where they are happy with their decision.

I can't see any non-casual cyclists questioning that a helmet can work under some circumstances so a revelation that a helmet worked in a single situation is unlikely to change the balance of factors weighed up in deciding to or not to wear a helmet.

And I suspect most contributors here would be what I'd call "non-casual cyclists.

Ian

[ymfb]

The answer to your question is in the name of the thread.

Nothing sinister, not trying to pour scorn on the anti helmet brigade, just first hand experience that in my case I avoided a head injury because my helmet took the impact.

I wasn’t trying to be clever, if you think there is more to it, fill your boots.

[pjclinch]

The answer to your question is in the name of the thread.

Nothing sinister, not trying to pour scorn on the anti helmet brigade, just first hand experience that in my case I avoided a head injury because my helmet took the impact.

I wasn’t trying to be clever, if you think there is more to it, fill your boots.

Given that the "anti helmet brigade" by and large doesn't exist, but anyone who doesn't recommend helmets universally tends to get painted as part of the "anti helmet brigade" in a fairly scornful manner by folks who don't really understand the framing, looks like you've managed one of the things you were not trying to do.

Pete.

[cycle tramp]

In many ways, you're not going to hear alot of 'my bike helmet completely failed'' stories, unless you have a ouija board* rather than Internet access.... (*and even then you're up against the bureaucracies of heaven or hell to get a decent connection)

..ages ago I failed to open my garage door high enough and struck my head on the lower edge of it... as I was planning a bit of a ride, I was wearing my bike helmet and suffered only a bit of a dent to the ego....

...rather than suggest wearing a bike helmet even when off the bike, I've simply made a note to myself to make sure I fully open the garage door....

I've yet to hear of any thread which began 'planning ahead, whilst on the road worked for me...' which is a shame as it doesn't hurt to be reminded of this...

[ed.lazda]

A real problem with the "helmet worked" thread is that you don't know. Unless you have a decent amount of detail about the dynamics of the incident and the biomechanics of the impact, it's at best a bit of semi-informed supposition. Nurses and doctors in A&E departments are prone to make comments along the lines of "just as well you were wearing a helmet". Often they haven't a clue, but because they are professionals they are believed and it becomes "fact".

Two relevant examples from my own experience:

1. I took a bit of a flyer, broke my arm on the kerb, and had a bump and graze on one side of my head. I wasn't wearing a helmet. I could be criticised for this, but might a helmet have converted a glancing blow from the top of the kerb into a direct impact on the edge of the kerb? I don't know, but it's certainly possible.

2. I hit an unseen pothole and ended up cartwheeling into a hedge. I couldn't move immediately, because a branch had gone into one of the slots in the helmet and was pulling the strap too tight to undo easily. The helmet was almost broken in two, and the immediate reaction of my ride companion was "Just as well you were wearing a helmet." I don't think so, because there was no significant impact, but if I'd been on my own with no one to help release the helmet, it might have been a problem.

Wear a helmet by all means, or not (I usually do), and accept that it might or might be of benefit in a crash, but please let's avoid regarding anecdotal claims as fact.

[L+1]

2. I hit an unseen pothole and ended up cartwheeling into a hedge. I couldn't move immediately, because a branch had gone into one of the slots in the helmet and was pulling the strap too tight to undo easily. The helmet was almost broken in two, and the immediate reaction of my ride companion was "Just as well you were wearing a helmet." I don't think so, because there was no significant impact, but if I'd been on my own with no one to help release the helmet, it might have been a problem.

Wear a helmet by all means, or not (I usually do), and accept that it might or might be of benefit in a crash, but please let's avoid regarding anecdotal claims as fact.

What do you think happened to your helmet in the ‘hedge’ incident? A small impact adding to significant ongoing ‘wear and tear’ or something else?
To see a helmet broken in two would normally indicate quite a bit of force was involved at some point.

[re_cycler]

Maybe as balance there needs to be a thread for rides completed safely with no incidents.

[Cugel]

2. I hit an unseen pothole and ended up cartwheeling into a hedge. I couldn't move immediately, because a branch had gone into one of the slots in the helmet and was pulling the strap too tight to undo easily. The helmet was almost broken in two, and the immediate reaction of my ride companion was "Just as well you were wearing a helmet." I don't think so, because there was no significant impact, but if I'd been on my own with no one to help release the helmet, it might have been a problem.

Wear a helmet by all means, or not (I usually do), and accept that it might or might be of benefit in a crash, but please let's avoid regarding anecdotal claims as fact.

What do you think happened to your helmet in the ‘hedge’ incident? A small impact adding to significant ongoing ‘wear and tear’ or something else?
To see a helmet broken in two would normally indicate quite a bit of force was involved at some point.

The materials of a cycling helmet are quite flimsy and delicate. The major impact-absorption element is the polystyrene, which can absorb a bit of force from landing on a flat surface via the crushing action.

A snapped bit of polystyrene helmet-finger shows only how flimsy the design is. A cycling helmet so-snapped will have absorbed no significant force unless the polystyrene is somewhere crushed from fully expanded to near-flat. Snapping polystyrene takes very little force; and the force that does the snapping is unlikely anyway to operate with a vector that would impact the wearer's head.

One issue with helmets is that they project out a lot from the head and can catch on all sorts that your head would miss, in a fall. MIPS was invented as an attempt to prevent rotational forces being transferred from a helmet-catch to the riders neck, for example. I do know of a chap who fell off when near stationary (his front wheel sank in a soft verge as he stopped and he toppled slowly sideways, clipped in) resulting in severe and permanent trauma to his neck vertebrae. He's now in a wheelchair. There was a good chance that the helmet did that; or amplified the twist to his neck.

*****************
Cycling helmets (the ones of a decent design, at least) may be of use to those who do fall off or ride in situations where a head bang is likely or highly possible. Most road cycling falls not involving another vehicle or some seriously dense road furniture do not involve a head bang. When they do, a cycling helmet can probably absorb enough force to reduce the blow from concussive to just-painful. That's worth it for frequent fallers, perhaps, but hardly a life saver or anything near it.

In short, a helmet may be useful to some cyclists who are more likely to bang their head when cycling but the forces they can reduce are in a low range and nowhere near enough to deal with blows from motor vehicles or falling into a rocky ditch at 30 mph during a downhill. We know this because many a helmeted rider is killed by head injuries from motor vehicles and from falling on to rock-solid stuff at high speed. Manufacturers certainly make no "life-saver" claims.

[L+1]

2. I hit an unseen pothole and ended up cartwheeling into a hedge. I couldn't move immediately, because a branch had gone into one of the slots in the helmet and was pulling the strap too tight to undo easily. The helmet was almost broken in two, and the immediate reaction of my ride companion was "Just as well you were wearing a helmet." I don't think so, because there was no significant impact, but if I'd been on my own with no one to help release the helmet, it might have been a problem.

Wear a helmet by all means, or not (I usually do), and accept that it might or might be of benefit in a crash, but please let's avoid regarding anecdotal claims as fact.

What do you think happened to your helmet in the ‘hedge’ incident? A small impact adding to significant ongoing ‘wear and tear’ or something else?
To see a helmet broken in two would normally indicate quite a bit of force was involved at some point.

The materials of a cycling helmet are quite flimsy and delicate. The major impact-absorption element is the polystyrene, which can absorb a bit of force from landing on a flat surface via the crushing action.

A snapped bit of polystyrene helmet-finger shows only how flimsy the design is. A cycling helmet so-snapped will have absorbed no significant force unless the polystyrene is somewhere crushed from fully expanded to near-flat. Snapping polystyrene takes very little force; and the force that does the snapping is unlikely anyway to operate with a vector that would impact the wearer's head.

One issue with helmets is that they project out a lot from the head and can catch on all sorts that your head would miss, in a fall. MIPS was invented as an attempt to prevent rotational forces being transferred from a helmet-catch to the riders neck, for example. I do know of a chap who fell off when near stationary (his front wheel sank in a soft verge as he stopped and he toppled slowly sideways, clipped in) resulting in severe and permanent trauma to his neck vertebrae. He's now in a wheelchair. There was a good chance that the helmet did that; or amplified the twist to his neck.

*****************
Cycling helmets (the ones of a decent design, at least) may be of use to those who do fall off or ride in situations where a head bang is likely or highly possible. Most road cycling falls not involving another vehicle or some seriously dense road furniture do not involve a head bang. When they do, a cycling helmet can probably absorb enough force to reduce the blow from concussive to just-painful. That's worth it for frequent fallers, perhaps, but hardly a life saver or anything near it.

In short, a helmet may be useful to some cyclists who are more likely to bang their head when cycling but the forces they can reduce are in a low range and nowhere near enough to deal with blows from motor vehicles or falling into a rocky ditch at 30 mph during a downhill. We know this because many a helmeted rider is killed by head injuries from motor vehicles and from falling on to rock-solid stuff at high speed. Manufacturers certainly make no "life-saver" claims.

Indeed, thank you for all your thoughts….. but did you form an opinion about why an apparently visually sound helmet became ‘almost broken in two’ following a tumble into a hedge? Either the helmet wasn’t in as good condition as imagined, the impact was greater than the rider assessed, or something about the act of being ‘hooked up’ has caused excessive stress on the helmet but not, thankfully, serious injury. What do you think happened in this case?

[pjclinch]

What do you think happened in this case?

Lots of possibilities, not much information (I'd imagine even the rider in the hedge would have fairly limited info on exactly what happened).
I think that speculating on what we really know wouldn't solve anything much.

Pete.

[Cugel]

A hedge into a helmet ..... longer branch parts insert into the gaps between the poly-fingers, which tend to run front-to-back in most helmets. The branch part exerts a reactive sideways levering force as the helmet is pushed across the hedge. Very little polystyrene with a thin plastic coating hold all those helmet-fingers together. ......

Imagine you have a helmet strapped to a dummy head. You insert a 3/4" diameter green hawthorn or hazel branch between the fingers of the helmet and press sideways on the branch. How much leverage before it snaps the helmet-joins, resulting in two helmet parts held by a shred or two of the thin plastic coating the poly fingers? I would guess: not much.

Such a branch-force is not likely to do much to the cyclist's head other than give it a scrape. On the other hand, a branch arrowing down between the helmet fingers at the speed the cyclist falls into the hedge might do worse damage - the force of which completely misses the helmet.

[ed.lazda]

What do you think happened to your helmet in the ‘hedge’ incident?

I think, as others have suggested, that it was levered apart by a branch entering one of the vents.