Lazer Sport, the makers of cycling helmets, eyewear and snow helmets, recently introduced a redesign of its site including all its new products for 2012. To celebrate, the company is holding the Love Lazer Official Helmeteer Contest. Continue reading Lazer Sport Launches New Website, Contest
Category: Snow Sports
Airhead Helps You Retain Stylish Hair, Can’t Do a Thing For Your Biking Skills
Helmet hair is the price one pays for the enjoyment of riding a bike. You know, that weird hairstyle created from hair being flattened, compressed, and shaped under a helmet, similar to hat hair. To help you avoid a bad hair day from wearing a helmet, Two Wheel Cool has created the AirHead, a removable, reusable in-helmet accessory ($25) that increases ventilation to reduce perspiration by creating space around your hair. It’s designed to fit any helmet, whether for motorcycling, biking, or snowboarding.
“Helmet hair is a condition caused by high humidity ironing of the hair under a compressive helmet,” according to Twowheelcool. “The Airhead increases air ventilation to reduce perspiration while creating air space for the hair. The Airhead is easy to fit, anti-static, anti-bacterial and non-allergenic. The new Airhead comes in many different colours and styles to suit your lifestyle.”
Now, if they can only do something about bedheads in the morning.
Two Wheel Cool Official Website
[Via Ubergizmo: AirHead helps prevent “helmet hair”]
Ski Helmet Doubles as Solar Charger
While there has been an increased focus on the protection that helmets can provide to the wearer, engineers at the Frauenhofer Institute are also considering how a helmet can also help provide some power for personal electronics. The team has developed a flexible solar panel that is durable enough to be mounted on helmets, and can optimize Bluetooth in the process.
The result is a helmet that can include speakers for a mobile device or music player and use solar cells to get juiced up by the sun, while a battery can ensure that collected power can be saved for those times when the sun might not be shining. The helmets still in prototype but should be arriving later this year.
[Via Ubergizmo: Solar Ski helmet keeps your gadgets charged]
Beverly Hills Studio Offers Simulated Ski Sessions
This winter’s mild weather has made for a slow ski season in many parts of the United States, but fortunately there’s a new destination winter sports aficionados can head to — Beverly Hills, CA. That’s right, the sun-drenched city know for its million-dollar celebrity mansions and fad diets is now home to SkyTechSport Ski and Fit, an indoor studio for ski and snowboard fans.
The club currently offers two ski simulators: the President Lux, an 18-foot-long ski simulator that’s paired with a 10-foot screen, and the larger Olymp simulator (pictured above), a 24-foot-long machine that’s paired with a panoramic display and 3D capability. (The facility is already looking to expand its offerings with a smaller 10-foot Leader Pro model to come later this year.) Continue reading Beverly Hills Studio Offers Simulated Ski Sessions
Helmet Goggle Link
There seems to be a magnetic connection this winter season when it comes to ski helmets and goggles – at least as a means to keep the ear protection attached to the head protection. While Anon has introduced its Magne-Tech lens technology, Casco has now developed the Magne-Link system, which also replaces the traditional wraparound headband.
Instead the goggles feature straps that line up with the aid of magnets and snap into place for a perfect fit – almost as if there is some sort of “magnetic” attraction at work!
[Via Gizmag: Casco ski goggles secure to your helmet with the snap of a magnet]
Don’t Change the Boots – Change the Soles
Being surefooted in the winter can be tricky. What works on ice might not work so well in slush or deep snow. Instead of changing the boots you can now change the soles with the Korkers , wading boots that can do double duty in a variety of winter conditions. Continue reading Don’t Change the Boots – Change the Soles
Bean Bag Helmet
Earlier this week we noted that helmet development continues as research has shown that rotational motion is something needs to be considered as well. Numerous helmets have tried to offer ways to provide additional support, and now we heard about Vacotechnology AG’s Vaco 12 technology, which used vacuum cushions that are comprised of small, round beads – the kind you might find in a stuffed animal or bean bag chair – and the concept here is to provide a snugger helmet that is comfortable and can help absorb impact up to four times more effectively than just a traditional foam helmet. Continue reading Bean Bag Helmet
Every Third Thursday Creates Snow/Surfboard
Don’t tell the guys at Signal Snowboards/Every Third Thursday it can’t be done. They’re created snowboards with iPads and boomboxes built in, and now they’re done what a lot of people would likely say can’t be done – a snowboard that can double as a surfboard!
Now on the surface a board is a board, right? Well, yes and no. Both do ride on water – just one is wet and the other is frozen. And while surfing has existed as long as man has tried to float, snowboarding is actually a fairly new concept. But the latter does often look to the former.
So how’d it work? Better than expected as the video below shows! Video after the jump
It’s Called a Brain Bucket For a Reason
The good old sports helmet has been around a while, and the first recorded use of a dedicated fitness helmet was probably designed for football – although British officers did use their pith or sun helmets to play polo in the 19th century. Today helmets are often called “brain buckets” as they do product the gray matter and much more.
And in the past couple of years a lot has been made of the importance of designing a better helmet, with MIPS AB being among those on the forefront of changing the way helmets should (rather than do) protect the head. As GearJunkie noted last week:
MIPS stands for “multi-directional impact protection system,” and the company touts its technology as mimicking one of the body’s natural defenses against trauma. The brain is surrounded by a “low-friction cushion of cerebrospinal fluid,” MIPS literature notes, adding that its technology imitates the brain’s way of protecting itself by giving the helmet its own “low-friction layer” between the outer shell and the liner. This layer, which is a plastic insert, absorbs energy created in a fall and better protects the brain, MIPS claims. Continue reading It’s Called a Brain Bucket For a Reason
Iceman Buildith Skating Rink
This winter has been a bit of a bust for snow sports, and the lack of snow followed by warm spells has meant that it hasn’t been easy to make the traditional outdoor skating rink. If temperatures exceed 32 degrees, which they have been doing, the backyard ice rink is likely to become the backyard pond.
Now Wayne “Iceman” Doughty is looking at creating a rink that could still stay frozen when the temperature outside is 45 to 50 degrees. But this is no mere “build it and they will come” field – make that ice rink – of dreams, nor is his notion just a frozen pipe dream. The Ferrum, Penn. Resident knows a thing or two about ice, and while maybe not in his veins, it is his business. He runs a cooling, refrigeration and heating business and has created a rink that can freeze water pumped into the rink via a heat pump. His current backyard rink looks a bit like a pool, but is about 12 inches deep. Continue reading Iceman Buildith Skating Rink
Marquette Skis Tackle Mild Winter
Normally winter in the backcountry means deep snow – but this year it can mean patches of dirt, grass and rocks. That not only can ruin a day on the skis, but in many cases it can also ruin the skis. Fortunately Marquette Backcountry Skis, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has created a hybrid pair of skis that are a little bit cross-country, a little bit downhill and even a bit of snowshoe.
The Backcountry Skis are not meant to replace either cross-country or downhill skis, but as a hybrid they offer benefits from each. Video after the jump
L.L. Bean Reaches the Big 100
It is hard to imagine but when out retailer L.L. Bean opened its doors the Titanic was about to set sail. That may have ended badly for the “unsinkable” ocean liner, but 100 years later and L.L. Bean is still sailing along. Not only that but the retailer has some big products to help celebrate this milestone. 100th Anniversary L.L. Bean Products
Folding Skis Let Snowboarders Ascend the Slopes
Over the years the concept of “folding” has been applied to numerous outdoor activity products – notably folding bicycles. So why not folding skis? This is the idea behind MTN Approach, which has developed the first (that we know of anyway) folding skis.
And here is the twist, these skis aren’t really meant for skiers but for snowboarders and as such aren’t really for the downhill aspect of the sport. It would be easy to see the company create a product that was meant to be used for hikers and others to climb up on foot and descend on the folding skis. But MTN Approach is taking another approach entirely. These skis, equipped with special skins, are designed to meant to help skiers climb a mountain and glide over short downhill sections. We first previewed the skis last summer, and now its seems these are finally making their winter debut. More images and video after the jump