trike's helmet as tip of velomobile

gear/mobi/trike/helmet

4.15: mobi/caution sign/aerodynamic when spring-loaded:

. with a large warning sign on a spring-loaded hinge,

it's only up when slow .

...

. then again, being slow may not be the problem;

I've seen more than one rear-ender

happening when people were distracted

and either not looking ahead

or confusing brakes with accelerator .

. might be better to have a small sign that conforms,

(slow vehicle triangle)

and then get people to see it with a strobing beacon .

. be thinking about how to avoid blind folks .

4.20: helmets

how-to buy helmets

Arai's Renegade is a fav' .

Lazer Century, $170 modular -- quietest

(hybrid: flip-back jaw shield)

Motorcycle full face helmets

. Full faced masks need

at least a finger in front of your chin.

. Press down on the top of the helmet (hold it there)...

make sure it feels comfy and surrounds the whole of your head.

. dirt bikes get the cheapest full-face helmets .

[. the main point is dog shielding above the collar .]

4.24: aq.gear/walmart#kolb&speedway:

. fuelhelmets.com` f1 street helmet medium /80

-- dot fmvss #218 sh-f10015w

-- The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)

known as FMVSS 218 (49CFR571.218),

describes in great detail the requirements for "DOT" certification

of all helmets sold in the United States for use by motorcyclists.

UPC-A: 702587105009 is not in upcdatabase.com

but they let me add the item

parts for f1[model]001[black]5[medium.size]

PARTS: F1 PIVOT KIT BLACK stock#QC000P $4.99

PARTS: F1 CLEAR SHIELD CLEAR stock#QC050S $19.99

buy at parts-request

--. davidson.com? defunct

. polystyrene

. when on your head fastened,

you should be able to move your scalp as you move the helmet .

. it does not fit well if you can

roll the helmet forward off of your head by

firmly pulling upward from the rear while it's securely fastened .

4.27: proj.gear/helmet/getting in there with glasses:

. the usual way of getting glasses into a helmet

is by having straight ear arms,

and going in through the front;

but I have glasses with a strap,

and I'd like to keep it that way .

. worse, I have glasses that are bulging out an inch from eyes

(because they don't see close-up eno'

without putting them on the end of my nose);

here's how to get them into the full-face helmet:

. remove the cheek cusions,

and slide the glasses to top of head,

then get half-way into the helmet,

and drop the glasses into place (reaching through the front) .

4.30: proj.gear/helmet/paint prep:

. rdy paint by soap-scouring, rinse,

then scouring with arub,

then cleaning with tissue paper and arub .

proj.gear/helmet/paint:

. spray with high-temp enamel,

then when dry to touch spray with neon orange enamel .

. I tried to do avoid getting it on the rubber trim

by spraying close to the trim at close range .

. when I tried spraying the neon this way,

it melted into the black .

. I was distracted by holding my breath

instead of just shaving and using an air filter .

. I dropped it,

which smeared the orange off and possibly the black too .

. let it sit before trying the repair .

...

make sure helmet vents are not painted shut,

one vent cover popped out rather than move,

but popped back in again .

...

sun helmet, rotate 3 times .

5.3: proj.gear/mobi/helmet/neon`2nd coat:
. used last of neon, tried to melt it some with clear spray,
but it seems to melt less than the orange on black .
mis:
. the clear spray seemed to never stop spraying even when upside down,
so not sure if it will be unclogged but it says that should work .

5.3: proj.gear/mobi/helmet/decals n vents:
. razor to remove the tape exposing the decals,
make sure the vents are still working -- I'm breaking things
(was it really important I paint these?!)
. add another layer of clear to start protect the edges of the paint
around the decals (the removed paint is in the form of an asterisk) .

5.5: strobe attachment
. it has vents that can be drilled to anchor led strobe .

proj.mobi/helmet/clear paint

5.26: proj.gear/helmet/filter access:
. is there any way to wear an air filter with the helmet on?
the helmet is a tight fit exactly where the mask needs to be .
. the best bet to retain full face protection
is to find some way to connect the helmet to a partial coat,
. and then have some way to seal the coat to shell;
then if the cabin air could be filtered ... .

mis.gear/helmet/paint job on rubberized parts:
. near the bottom where the rim is rubberized,
the feel of the paint is very different than on the hard parts .
and there are places where it still doesn't feel dry
-- weeks later !
. hang it on the ladder to get some sun exposure .

5.27: mis.mobi/helmet/chronically ulcerating paint is worse under sun:
. the part that was sticky at room temp'
is like fresh paint out in the sun .
. maybe a few more sun's will help,
else need to scrape and cover with a reflective tape .

5.29: proj.gear/helmet/light fixture:
. the strobe is being attached to the back of the helmet,
anchored via drilled holes through vents,
where string go in hole and then out the back of the vent .
. the strobe I have is magnetically attachable,
so if I attach a short piece of 2x4 angle iron,
that will provide a place to attract the magnetic .
. mount it corner up, like the letter A,
with the long side facing the rear .

6.6: paint remaining sticky:
. the paint wouldn't harden on the helmet's soft plastic parts?
it could be that the hardening is from a cross-linker,
and the plastic was made to stay soft by being impregnated (and covered with)
an antioxidant that prevents cross-linking .
. may try smearing it with silicon caulk (try a sample first)
in order to stop it from being sticky .
sticky paint shaved off:
. using razor, all the sticky paint was shaved or scraped away .
. the plastic it was on was rather waxy,
so it left a fairly clean surface .
paint chipping:
. the paint is chipping easily,
both where it apears to to have be bumped,
and along groves of the vent,
perhaps both because the module was shifted,
and because it was not properly sanded within that groove .
. the shifting could have occured while trying to force the opening,
which had a valve that had been painted while shut, and was frozen .

6.19: reflective tape:
. apply reflective tape in patches since this is expensive flat tape
going on a curved surface .
. it should also be shaped like [slow-moving vehicle].sign in back:
orange triangle with clipped red borders .
. the white tape up can go up front around all the forward edges .
6.20:
. what is the angle of the [slow-moving vehicle].sign? see mobi notes:
an equalateral, all angles are 60deg (60*3= 180)
and the triangle is oriented with a point at 90 deg .
. the borders meet by being clipped perp to center;
eg, the upper point is clipped for an edge that is angled 0 deg .
. my version has a border 2" thick,
and has a height limited by what is visible on the back of my helmet .
. the easy way to make this reflective border is using segments
so that there is no wrinkling as this flat tape is applied to a round surface .
. also, to simplify the job of forming the clipped shape,
divide the job first into the 3 clipped borders;
each of these 3 borders has a rectangular portion
that is capped on either end by 2 right-triangles .
. for example, at the top point, the left border's triangle
has it's long side at the horizontal,
with a 30deg angle on the left,
and a 60deg angle on the right .
. the left-side of this triangle is the width of the reflective tape: 2" long,
and then when you figure the right-side`length
(seemed about 1.15" after playing with geometry),
then you can form these caps by cutting a rectangle x * y,
and then cutting that rectangle diagonally in half .
mis:
. I thought that if a rectangle is cut diagonally then the pieces would
each be useful as caps on either end; not true .
. to have a pair of symmetrical cap's,
if one rectangle is cut diagonally upward,
then the other rectangle must cut downward .
mis"trig:
side#opp60/ sin60 = side#opp30/ sin30
2 / 0.866 = side#opp3 / 0.5
2 * 0.5
-------- = side#opp3 = 1.1547
0.866
mis"calculator:
. to get math functions, you need to "(import math),
then do something like ada's "(use math) or specifiy the package explicitely:
math.sin(math.radians()) .

6.20: proj.trike`helmet/fitting glasses in:
. getting into helmet with glasses not easy, ideas?
they can fit in from the front, and not fall off since being recumbent;
and if it seemed like they were going somewhere,
the helmet visor would hold them in place .

7.25: mis.gear/nicad.batt's:

. right now there are not eno' AA nicad's for even usage:

the radio goes through 2

while the helmet light goes through 3 .

. if you mix these pools, and one changes much more than the other,

there will be mixing of old and new,

with differing discharge characteristics .

9.2: todo.trice/helmet/shield stay:

. need to drill the visor and wire it to open just eno' so that

in case it fogs you can see underneath,

but can't open far eno' to give dog access to face .

10.4: co.net/trice/safety/protection/my reply:

friendly reminder how "(personal choice) can backfire:

I once thought if an accident was bad eno' to need a helmet,

I'd rather be killed by it

than live with disability and recovery pains;

along the way, I met a lot of head injury cases

as I worked at a place where they'd get rehabilitated:

. it's amazing how often the severely damaged brain will survive,

and the results are downright ugly:

emotions are difficult to handle,

and emotions are hit a lot when the world is suddenly harder to understand .

. relationships get shallow and brittle;

because you're not the same person !

. head injury is a nightmare .

10.8:

[...]

> All any of us can do is look at the available information,

[...]

. yes, that was my point exactly:

when I first started out cycling,

I had no idea of the hideous consequences of head injury,

and what a surprising nightmare epilepsy can be .

. I also didn't know that a full-face helmet

resulted in less brain injury risk than a skull cap,

as impacts to the face tend to be transmitted to the brain .

. I'm not advocating the use of helmets

just for seeing everyone is fully informed .

-- enjoy real choice .

10.13: sci.gear/earbuds/under helmet:

. try getting into helmet with earbuds:

ok, that's another plus to adding radian's custom-formed earplugs to them .