Originally this was a reply to the better hard hat - but then I realized that no: this was a quantum improvement on that concept - an amphibian walking out of the ocean and leaving behind its fish ancestry.

The Reactive Hard Hat. Based on the same principle as reactive tank armor, this hat would contain small charges behind plates. If struck with sufficient velocity, a small explosion will hurl the striking object away. With a sensitive enough trigger, this could be also used to protect the wearer from bullets.

This also addresses the requirement that hats must be replaced after being dropped, as any dropped hat would trigger the reactive armor and likely disappear over the horizon.
-- bungston, Dec 09 2002

Reactive armor http://thor.prohost...es/no_reactive.html
[bungston, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

(?) The unevolved ancestor http://www.halfbake...active_20hard_20hat
[bungston, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

This'd be great. Please bake this, I shall then buy a bb gun and skulk around building sites.
-- stilgar, Dec 06 2004


So, how many foot/lbs of energy does, say, a .357 magnum bullet exert at 50 feet from the muzzle?
-- bristolz, Dec 06 2004


yeah, "protect the wearer from bullets" seems a little hopeful.
-- stilgar, Dec 06 2004


Surely the explosive charge would blow the wearers head out of his arse?
-- rambling_sid, Dec 06 2004


You don't have to wear a hard hat do you [bungston]?
-- wagster, Dec 06 2004


I don't have to do nothing, see? You're not the boss of me.
-- bungston, Dec 06 2004


I wanna know what a "soft hat" is? [+] by the way.
-- skinflaps, Dec 06 2004


I'm currently wearing one. It is made of beige corduroy with a whittled redwood flower on the side.
-- stilgar, Dec 08 2004


Wouldn't this mean that everyone around the wearer would need Reactive Body Armor to protect against rebound?
-- calliedl, Dec 08 2004


//any dropped hat would trigger the reactive armor and likely disappear over the horizon.//

[+] for this sentence alone (or is that a clause?).
-- shapu, Nov 13 2007


//a quantum improvement// that would be the smallest possible unit of improvement, then?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 13 2007



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