Overheard in LBS today.

Tumbleweed said:

I promise this is true, happened today.

Guy was helping woman to choose a helmet for her toddler
(who presumably will be going in a bike seat). He picks
one out of a box its in on the shelf and says (no irony
intended I'm sure); "must be careful not to drop it"

If that was our Guy I'm sure it was said with irony. ;-)
--
Michael MacClancy Random putdown - "Some cause happiness
wherever they go; others whenever they go." -Oscar Wilde
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk www.macclancy.co.uk

"Tumbleweed" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I promise this is true, happened today.

Guy was helping woman to choose a helmet for her toddler
(who presumably will be going in a bike seat). He picks
one out of a box its in on the

shelf

Quoted message said:

and says (no irony intended I'm sure); "must be careful
not to drop it"

I know what you mean - if it's going to break under the
impact of its own weight by dropping it, what protection can
it possibly offer your head in a collision - but it's
perfectly true that manufacturers say that dropping a helmet
might damage it - you'll often find something to that effect
in the instructions in the box, and I certainly think a
sales assistant would not want to render a helmet unsaleable
by virtue of having dropped it, which is what it would be. I
think the point is, they are designed to absorb the energy
of any impact by their own destruction - they are for one
hit only. Any drop (depending on height and surface dropped
onto) might well cause some small damage that could make it
less effective for a second, bigger hit when/if it's really
needed. I find that plausible anyway, having a helmet which
has a noticeable fracture in the shell from a time when it
'dropped' onto the road with my head in it. I'm quite sure
that has weakened it to the extent that it would be less
effective next time, were there to be a next time.

Rich