Postby foam-n-fibre » Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:40 pm
Maybe this is all figured out, but let me just throw out some thoughts here. What are you going to use for energy absorption? The carbon and Kevlar will work for protecting from impacts from sharp things like board corners and fins, but if you whack your head on a smooth hard surface, like pavement, that skin will do very little. If the foam is too soft, it will feel cushy in a minor impact, and bottom out and do nothing in a hard impact where it really matters. Like setting your bike suspension way too soft, and landing it hard.
Look at the hardness of foam in bike helmets, and that's probably what you need for good protection in a serious impact. Then again, you might get away with something a touch softer since you have a stiff shell on the outside, able to distribute a point load on the outside.
If you model it like a paddling helmet, with suspension, that will probably work for drifting along in a river at a jogging speed and bumping into rocks, but I don't think any of those paddling helmets would pass a "real" helmet impact test like what is done for ski helmets, bike helmets or motorsports helmets.
I'd like to make a cool helmet too, so if you figure out the inner foam thing, let me know.
Peter
Last edited by
foam-n-fibre on Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.