Item — HN Reader

Not to detract from how amazing WaveCel might be. Any safety material advancement is great news. But this is assumes we need new head protection to fit the old moulds, so to speak.

OTOH, there are or will soon be options to replace our foam brain buckets with high-tech collars/airbags that may (?) be less sweaty and may (?) provide more coverage in a crash (chin, back, sides, etc.)

One example: https://hovding.com/how-hovding-works/

2 comments

Hövding is exciting because it's a new approach rather than an iteration on old helmet designs.

They claim you still have a 90% risk of head injury with a traditional helmet at 25km/h, but only a 2% risk with Hövding:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yOAkMZpbww

That's a pretty significant improvement if true.

The only reason I don't currently own one is that they say it's not as ergonomic for those using road/drop bar bikes. Presumably this is due to the weight of the air canister and battery in the pod that sits behind your neck, since the riding position is less upright.

If any road bike users wear Hövding, I'd be interested to hear about your experience.

That airbag "helmet" seems susceptible to pointy objects and edges, like the edge of a sidewalk. Also it's not designed for MTB use, which is understandable but quite limiting.