A friend who has taken up riding with her three kids on a new Madsen stopped me today to ask if there was any way to avoid the dreaded chin strap pinch. Hurrying to leave the house she was helmeting her youngest when the wailing began. Ooops.
Lucky it was just a low grade - all tears and no bite. She just wonders if there is a way to adjust the strap so that it never happens...
I have that problem too. I've heard that the new nutcase helmets have magnetic closures to avoid this entirely. I'm intrigued.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing, yes. We were so intrigued when we saw these new Nutcase helmets yesterday, and our little guy found one he loved and he wouldn't let go of it, and his old one was bashed up from dropping 500 times, that we bought it. The second time I put it on him it pinched his neck. Sideways, not end-on like the regular Fastex buckle on every other helmet, and no lasting welt, but still. It does seem a little easier to use but it's not the complete answer. There's a little triangular tooth that grabs neck skin on one half of it. Darn it.
ReplyDeleteWho do you think feels worse when you pinch their neck - you or them?
P.s. We got the new Nutcase at J.C. Lind. He also has some of last year's small kid Nutcase helmets he's letting go on sale till they're gone.
ReplyDeleteDarn, I was gonna suggest looking at Nutcase's new magnetic closures. (I'm curious for myself actually, even though I just bought a new helmet less than a month ago.)
ReplyDeleteHi Rorow, don't count it out totally. It may have been an first times out pinch. Our smallest guys is crazy about the helmet nonetheless and someone with more clever fingers might have a better track record!
ReplyDeleteI read on Totcycle awhile back that it helps to cue your child to close his or her mouth and look up before buckling the strap. We still do get strap pinches occasionally using this method, but I've noticed lately that they occur most often while the child is eating. Maybe I should have my sons stop snacking before we buckle the strap?
ReplyDeleteOK- so we finally had time to look at the Nutcase magnetic closure helmet more closely without flailing little hands trying to knock it away. There is (after all) a good way to put it on - you don't have to slide the 2 halves together, you just put them on top of each other and the magnet magically clicks them together! So simple. Probably all of you knew that already. So since learning that it's been much easier to stop the pinches putting helmets on. Getting it off is still kind of a trial, but I'm sure there's a way to do it if only our small guy would stop yelling and shaking his head when we get near the clicker thing...
ReplyDeleteI created a little flap from some cloth(relatively thick) and wrapped and velcro'd it around the buckle so that it rests against the skin when you close the buckle to prevent pinching. It also helps to keep it slightly loose so you can put your finger in to create a gap.
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