Home Safety

Hedkayse One foldable helmet review

REVIEW – I survived a helmet-less era growing up and began wearing a helmet for my own preservation in action sports. Doing so had the added benefit of instilling that behavior in my kids which I’m tremendously thankful for. It’s pretty easy to grab a helmet with all your other gear as you head out of the house for a specific activity. It’s a different story when it comes to dealing with a helmet after getting to work, or having it handy as you decide to hop on a sharing service bike or electric vehicle to run lunch errands or get to a meeting across town. Hedkayse has introduced a helmet claiming to address these additional needs and more while meeting the standard needs of a cycling helmet. As luck would have it, I’ve got one here for review.

What is it?

Hedkayse One is a one-size-fits-all cycling helmet built to protect against impacts as well as being able to collapse to a compact size so you’re more likely to keep it with you.

What’s in the box?

  • Hedkayse helmet
  • Helmet bag
  • Compression strap (not pictured above)
  • Info cards

Hardware specs

Weight: 500g
Size range: 49.5-58.5cm
CE certification: EN1078 safety standard

Design and features

On first look it’s the materials and construction that stand out.

The heavy-weight cordura adds a sturdy but refined texture to the exterior of the helmet. All the materials are expertly cut and welded to flex and fold in the right places.

Part of the Hedkayse logos on the sides and all of the large dot on the rear are all retro-reflective for high visibility when hit with oncoming lights.

The rear has two plastic brackets that hug close to the shell and allow for the wide velcro to easily adjust the sizing and fit with a single motion.

The straps form an X from the rear of the helmet through the plastic clip down to under your chin. This auto adjusts to hug the base of your skull.

Enkyase is the material that they’ve developed to use as the foundation for the majority of the helmet. Helmets traditionally use a polystyrene (EPS) as a “good-enough” material that deforms to absorb large dangerous impacts while smaller impacts get transferred through to your head. It’s a key reason why you should replace your helmet after any serious crash. Enkayse is able to meet safety requirements and maintain that performance across multiple impacts both large and small. Here’s an image from their site depicting that information.

The inside of the helmet is super smooth and appears to be the “skin” of the Enkayse material as molded. It’s both flexible and wipeable. Small, soft pads are adhered in a few places for comfort, fit and to help absorb persperation during use.

Under the chin, the helmet closes with a ratchet strap that allows for micro adjustment and releases with a small pull tab that’s easy to find.

Folding is one of the key features of the Headkayse One. It’s not hard, but takes a time or two to start to do it quickly. Here’s how that works.

To fold: Undo the velcro on the rear completely and pull the whale tail outside the two velcro brackets. The helmet can now collapse in width and you can use the accessory wrap strap to keep it compressed if needed.

To unfold: Remove the wrap strap if used and repeat the process in reverse. Push the whale tail inside the two side panels and feed the velcro strap back through the receiver side and close the velcro in a loose position.

Setup

Unlike traditional, sized helmets the Headkayse One is designed to fit all users with a single size. Getting it setup for your head is a few adjustments and then some small tweaks for comfort. Let’s walk through it.

Put the helmet on and reach around to the velcro.

Find the loose end, pull until the fit feels comfortably snug then close the velcro. This is an adjustment you’ll need to make everytime you put on the helmet after unfolding.

The remaining adjustments should be a one-time affair unless you’re sharing this helmet with someone else. Reach behind and grab the straps running behind your ears.

Pull across away from your ears and the plastic guide in the back will slide up and automatically center. You should now be able to get a feeling for how much you will need to adjust the positioning clips that should sit under your ears and slightly above your jawline.

These clips adjust fore/aft with a cam-lever and up/down with a tension path through the clip. Play around with these until you get the fit comfortable and out of any annoying ear lobe contact. You may also want to check your fit with any sunglasses you wear in case further adjustment is needed.

Performance

Ok. So here’s the deal. How do you review the crash performance of a helmet without putting yourself in danger? Well, you don’t, or you spend a fair amount to have an independent lab run impact tests. (Fill this out)

What I can review is all the other things that come with wearing and living with a helmet.

How about fit and comfort? I was skeptical that a one-size solution could be a good choice for me. I mean, flex-fit baseball caps hurt my head after a short span of time. The Velcro adjustment here works well and more than that feels very secure. Additionally the helmet feels substantial which is a good thing, like you actually have protection up there.

Actually, the only area where I had a fit concern was at the base of my skull. Hedkayse One provides better coverage than most of the foldable designs that I’ve seen and more than a lot of standard helmets for that matter. Turns out that my regular cycling helmet has a dial that I crank in and provides more pressure. There’s actually the same amount of coverage, just a little less hugging feeling down low.

If you need to adjust the positions of the “sweat” pads, peel them back slowly and hold the adhesive velcro dots against the shell as you remove the pads as they don’t seem to stick to the Enkayse skin very securely until you’ve worn it a bit as now they’re stuck real solidly.

The ratchet mechanism under the chin is easy to close and open and the micro-adjustability is a great feature should you need a little more room to run a thin wind-block beanie under your helmet on a cold day.

How about folding? There are a number of folding helmets available on the market and they all seem to address it differently, many by possibly compromising protection. I can confidently say that Hedkayse kept protection their top priority. Folding the helmet reduces its width by about a third into a shape that almost resembles a football.

Using the compression strap creatively you can get that even flatter.

Either way it takes up a good deal less room in your bag than a full-size helmet which is super useful if you want to keep a helmet on hand.

There’s really only two small nitpicks that I’ve encountered in a month of using the helmet that I’ll poke at.
One: On unfolding, make sure to close the velcro after feeding it back through the receiver otherwise it’s real easy to have the velcro pull back out when putting the helmet on your head and it’s a real pain to feed it through while wearing it.

I’m not sure there’s a better way to do this as you do need to fully disengage while folding, but if you remember to close on unfold this becomes a non-issue.

Two: The compression strap is definitely helpful for keeping the folded helmet as small as possible, but it’s an additional thing to keep track of.

I got to work one morning and the strap was not in my bag or any of my pockets. At the end of the day I found it on the ground next to my car and was surprised it hadn’t blow away. I did find that with the straps adjusted to my head I was able to loop that strap around and just get one click. If one of the two chin strap sides were easier to slide, this might be a great solution for all.

I didn’t use the storage bag at all as it’s just an extra step. It will come in handy in the rainy season, or for storage for anyone that does have an off season.

What I like

  • The fit, comfort and look
  • Quality construction and hardware
  • Enkayse material and cordura shell

What I’d change

  • A solution for completely unthreading the velcro when folding/unfolding
  • A solution for folded compression that doesn’t require a separate strap that can get lost

Final thoughts

I live in Oakland, work in San Francisco and ride a bicycle almost every day. The number of cyclists I see without helmets scares me. When you look at riders on shared electric vehicles that ratio falls through the floor. I get it that as a cyclist or rider you feel in control of your vehicle, but road conditions can be abysmal and cars… well they’re just large and unforgivingly metal and heavy. Please recommend a helmet (any helmet!) to someone you know that is routinely on a personal vehicle in traffic. Help keep them safe. I’ve said my piece.

Overall I’m really happy with how the Hedkayse One fits me. The composition is reassuringly solid and if you do bump your head (or a friend bonks you on the helmet) it has a diminished feel to it instead of that instant jolt normal helmets tend translate.Hedkayse has an amazing product here. They didn’t set out to just create a foldable helmet, but have instead created a helmet that arguably protects better and collapses to make it easier to keep on your person.

Price: $180
Where to buy: Hedkayse
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Hedkayse.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: ,

Hedkayse One foldable helmet review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 24, 2019 at 10:30 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Be ready and safe with the Reach Safe from Vara Safety


NEWS – While no one can argue that there are way too many gun violence occurrences and tragedies across this country and around the world, there should also be an acknowledgment that there are millions of law-abiding gun owners who safely use firearms for reasons such as competition shooting, target shooting, and home safety. When maintaining a firearm at the ready for home security, it is very important that the readiness plan includes safety that does not allow anyone other than the desired individual/s to retrieve the gun. Not only is this common sense, but in many states within the United States, it is the law.

Vara Safety has designed a new device with this exact concept in mind. The Reach Safe is a mountable holster type of a firearm safe keeping device that uses a biometric fingerprint sensor to access the firearm in a “quick draw” manner. It is ergonomically correct so that retrieval is a part of the natural action of retrieving from a holster. Vara Safety manufactures inserts for the safe that will match the make and model of the firearm being used. In the event of a loss of power, there are also keys provided that will allow for manual access.

You can find more information on this product on the Vara Safety website and you can also pre-order the safe for $299. The first orders are scheduled to ship on August 31st, 2019.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

Be ready and safe with the Reach Safe from Vara Safety originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 22, 2019 at 8:24 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

RZMask M2 reusable air filtration mask review

REVIEW – One of my ongoing quests has been to find a air filtration mask for routine home improvement / hobby activities. I have several criteria, including

  • easy to use
  • comfortable
  • effective
  • versatile
  • cost-efficient
  • don’t cause my glasses to fog up

My specific use cases are filtering dust from machining wood, outdoor spray painting, clearing yard debris, including using chainsaw, and particulates kicked up during cleaning garages and storage buildings. Let’s see if the the RZMask model M2 Mesh Mask manages to tick off all of these criteria.

What is it?

The RZMask line of masks are soft, easy-to-adjust particulate filtration masks. RZMasks feature replaceable filter material and one-way valves design to reduce goggle / glasses fogging.

What’s in the box?

The M2 mask is packaged in a hang-tab box with a graphic / cutout on the front which shows the color / pattern of the mask inside.

The product box itself contains

  • the mask
  • two filters
  • a storage bag for the mask and filters.

The bottom of the box also has a handy sizing guide (a printed rule) to help you select the proper size mask.

Design and features

The M2 masks are constructed of multiple layers of materials with a mesh outer layer. The masks are latex- and BPA-free and have replaceable filters. They are designed to be

  • breathable
  • durable
  • reusable
  • moisture wicking

The mask uses a two layer filter, with a particle filtering outer layer and an inner active carbon filter. These replaceable filters are rated for particulates down to 0.1 micron including the capture of organic chemicals, bacteria, allergens, dust, and smoke. The filters have an expected lifespan of 20-30 hours in heavy dust environments such as heavy demolition, grain elevators, and off-road motoring. Medium duty homeowner activities should allow for a 50-60 hour effective life. The filters conform for NIOSH N99 filter efficiency standards.

I purchased the safety orange mask. My choice was dictated by two desires, 1. being able to find where I laid the mask down when taking a break and 2. being able to be identified when working on group projects (let’s be honest, my main concern was being able to find the mask when I took it off for breaks).

The mask features an adjustable nose clip and one-way discharge valves to help prevent the fogging of glasses. The mask is held in place with a single adjustable strap that closes with a hook and loop closure. The strap features a wide pad on the back of the head for comfort and to help keep the mask where you want it. I nice touch is that the hook side of the closure comes fitted with a piece of protective cloth so the hooks don’t catch on the mesh during shipping.

Airflow in the M2 mask is in through the mesh and filter and then back out through the one-way exhaust valves on the lower front of the mask.

Filters

The large filters on the M2 are easy to change. It is just a matter of twisting the lock on the inside of the one-way valve a quarter turn and then removing the outer louver.

You then pull the valve body out of the mask material.

This is repeated on the opposite side. Installation is the reverse of this process. The only gotcha is that you need to align the louvers pointing down and you have to line up the two small tabs on the valve body with the corresponding slots on the louvers.

Points of Comparison

To this point, I have used a combination of paper filter masks, consumer-grade nose and mouth canister masks designed for particulates, wet and dry bandanas, and full face masks both with and without remote canisters, but have not been happy with any one of these solutions. Bandanas are at best a filter for large particles of paper, leaves, grass, etc., but have done little to keep out smaller particles, and the lack of a proper seal over the bridge of my nose means my glasses fog up. Paper filter masks are easy to use and cost-efficient, but are not always comfortable, not that versatile, and only effective at filtering large particulates, for example, they don’t do a good job filtering out particulates from spray painting. Some paper filter masks are designed to have good seals over the nose, but others allow enough air leakage that my glasses fog within a few minutes. Nose and mouth canister masks are much more effective and, with the use of the appropriate types of canisters, very versatile. However, I find these masks uncomfortable, hard to adjust, and expensive, but my glasses generally don’t fog from exhaled moisture.  Full face masks with remote filters can be very efficient and versatile, again with the proper selection of filters. Full face masks are expensive and take a bit of time to adjust for comfort. I find them harder to use because my glasses tend to fog if sufficient positive airflow isn’t provided, and they interfere with my peripheral vision. I should note, that I have a full beard and mustache that is trimmed to a uniform 12mm length with which these masks have had to contend. To date, only the full face masks design has really been able to seal around my beard to my satisfaction.

Performance

The mask is easy to put on and adjust using the single hook-and-loop fastener on the back. Unfortunately, the design of the mask is incompatible with the combination of the shape of my head and my choice of prescription eye glasses and how I have them fitted. As you can see in the photographs, the mask fits high enough up on my nose that it pushes my glasses up out of position so I am unable to see out of my bifocals and the main grind of the lenses. I do wear my glasses down and close to my face, which is unusual, so your mileage may vary.

I was forced to complete my testing using inexpensive safety glasses. I was concerned that I had purchased too large of a mask, but all of the photographs online and on the packaging showed the masks sitting in the same position on the users’ / models’ heads as my mask was on mine. My mask may have been a bit too big for me, but based on the photographs the next size smaller mask would have interfered with my glasses as well.

I tested the M2 while building a kitchen work table for my mother. This involved running a router in a planing sled for flattening a 1.75″ thick ash slab cut from a tree that formerly stood on our property, sizing the slab using a track saw, and sanding the cut edges and cleaning up the surface of the slab using a random orbit sander, a belt sander, and hand sanding blocks. I also cut and sanded commercially prepared dimensional ash lumber to build a craftsman-style table base. For those of you unfamiliar with ash, it is a very hard and dense wood (it is one of the traditional woods used for MLB bats) and produces fine, hard shavings and dust. It is not as bad (or as hazardous) as cypress or teak, but the dust is very irritating when inhaled.

The RZMask M2 did a very good job of keeping particulates out of my airways. The one-way valves on the front of the mask allowed me to breathe freely and ensured that my safety glasses didn’t fog up. It was much more comfortable than the other masks that I have tried. These factors coupled with the reasonable price and easy availability of replacement filters would seem to tick off all of my requirements. Unfortunately, the incompatibility between my choice of glasses and the M2 mean it isn’t particulate mask nirvana for me.

What I like

  • Easy to put on
  • Replaceable filters
  • One ways valves to reduce eyewear fogging

What needs to be improved

  • Mask is not compatible with all types of glasses / goggles
  • The sizing guidelines need to include an illustration showing exactly where on your face to measure for size

Final thoughts

The RZMask M2 Mesh air filtration mask does a very good job as filtering particulates from the air and does keep your glasses / goggles from fogging up. Unfortunately, it does not tick off all of my boxes because of the style of prescription eye glasses that I wear. I am not able to comfortably wear my glasses and see out of them properly while wearing the mask. That said, it is a very good mask, and I do intend to keep using mine with non-prescription safety glasses for close up work.

If you don’t wear the same style of eyeglasses that I do, give RZMasks a try.

Price: $34.95
Where to buy: RZMask and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was purchased with personal funds.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: ,

RZMask M2 reusable air filtration mask review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 26, 2019 at 10:09 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

The Evergreen Elf monitors your Christmas tree to keep your family safe

NEWS – Forget the Elf on the Shelf; that little tattletale only makes your kids anxious.  The Evergreen Elf is useful; he will keep your family safe by preventing your real Christmas tree from drying out and becoming a fire hazard.

The Evergreen Elf will fit on any live-tree stand on the market now.  He has a probe on his back that fits into the water reservoir of the stand; it’s adjustable so you can push the probe down to the bottom of the reservoir.  The battery-powered Elf continually monitors the water level and alerts you when it’s time to add water.  You won’t have to crawl under the tree to check the water levels by sticking your hand in the reservoir any longer.  The Elf can also alert you when his batteries get low.  The monitoring method is optimized, though, so a set of batteries should get you through the Christmas decorating season.

The Evergreen Elf is offered at a variety of local vendors, and it’s available both in-store and online at the Home Depot and English Garden chains.  Go to the Evergreen Elf website to find a retailer close to you.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: , ,

The Evergreen Elf monitors your Christmas tree to keep your family safe originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 10, 2018 at 8:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Albedo100 makes sure you’ll always be seen at night

NEWS – Albedo is a measure of how reflective an object, usually a planet or moon, is – how much of the incident light is reflected by the object.  Despite how bright they are, the Earth’s albedo is only about 0.3, meaning 30% of light is reflected, and our moon when full is only about 0.5, or 50% of light reflected.  The permanent reflective spray from Albedo100 would seem to promise to greatly increase the reflectivity, and therefore the visibility at night.

Albedo100’s spray is a “permanent formula that dries a matte gray and can last up to three months, defying wind, rain, and UV rays.”  It’s intended for use on hard surfaces, and it works best on concrete, metal, stones, and wood.  Spray it directly on your bike frame, walking stick, sports equipment, shoes, or helmet to greatly increase your visibility and safety outdoors at night.

A can of Albedo100 permanent reflective spray is $18.95 at The Grommet.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

Albedo100 makes sure you’ll always be seen at night originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 3, 2018 at 10:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.