This is similar to another idea that was posted before.
Looks like a normal hat, with a visor around the sides and back that looks very simliar to the visor worn by that guy from the old Star Trek series. The ring contains a great many xenon bulbs and flash assemblies with a pair of D-cell batteries in the top. Also, an infrared motion detector and alarm with variable volume.
Simply flip a switch on the underside of the bill to turn it on, and if any mugger or animal is detected within, say, 5 feet (you can extend the range with a dial in the bill) the xenon bulbs come on, blinding who/whatever is sneaking up on you. The alarm volume depends on the size of whatever is detected. If it's a sewer rat, you'll hear a low warning tone. If it's a human mugger, it'll be a blaring WW1 air-raid siren; noise-cancelling earphones activate to protect your hearing.
Edit: Title changed to reflect what this is used for.-- 21 Quest, Nov 24 2006 Won't this attract atention and cause you to be mugged?-- Germanicus, Nov 26 2006 This would not work if I was wearing a hat/sunglasses and was mugging you.-- Chefboyrbored, Nov 26 2006 Chef, you underestimate just how bright a Surefire flashlight *is*. Surefires are used as combat lights mounted on the barrels of Special Forces and SWAT Team weapons, and used by military maintenance crews to perform detailed night-time inspections.-- 21 Quest, Nov 26 2006 Yeah, but the advertising guff they spout about "temporarily incapacitating" the suspect, or even worse, when referring to the damaging energy directed at an individual, I remember one quote as being "whether it be 9mm projectiles at 1500fps, 7.62mm hollow points at 2800fps, or photons from a surefire torch...." ...or something similar.
Total flabbery. Yes they are bright, but the HID spotties on my vehicle are much brighter (both in flux, and intensity at close range), but you will never see me down on the ground throwing a fit just because I walked in front of my truck.
I like the torches, I think they are great, but a weapon... They're not.
Perhaps a small flashbang (now that sh#t is bright) charge atop the hat that fires the thermite/magnesium powder vertically? that'd certainly stop any attacker in their tracks.-- Custardguts, Nov 27 2006 How about a visor that pings down infront of your face and an auto-firing cs cartridge, that would be more effective.
Then you could indiscriminately CS people and get sued for assault.-- webfishrune, Nov 27 2006 //but you will never see me down on the ground throwing a fit just because I walked in front of my truck//
Maybe not, but you also can't see the gun or mace can I've just pulled out through the glare. Ever notice while driving at night you can't see anything through the windshield of an oncoming vehicle? At night, the bright light will *temporarily* blind you, like for a few seconds. Long enough for me to either run away or slam my elbow into your temple, or pull a sidearm and hold it to your forehead.-- 21 Quest, Nov 27 2006 Yes, of course it's distracting, and obscures vision in a dark room. I'm having a go at the advertising guff that makes them sound like a deadly weapon.
OK, if you a re walking along, and your hat detects an incoming attacker (according to your idea they are "detected") and goes off, you will be as surprised as he is. You might have as much as two or three seconds to run away (probably), "slam your elbow into [my?] temple" (I doubt it, that kind of thing is fairly specialised), or "pull a sidearm and hold it to [my] forhead" (you are a scary individual).
Seriously, you will be as surprised as they are, when your hat goes off. I mean, you should be able to see ok, but how quick did you say your reflexes were?
Lastly, surefire torches focus quite tightly. So I'd imagine you would need a huge number of xenon bulbs in order to saturate the entire area in light of sufficient intensity to get the jump on an attacker.-- Custardguts, Nov 27 2006 //contains a great many xenon bulbs and flash assemblies //
I was thinking have them spaced about a half-inch apart for maximum light saturation. I'm not suggesting the light is a deadly weapon; it is a distraction that impairs an assailant's ability to launch a successful attack, and gives the wearer time to either mount a defense or get away.
If xenon bulbs aren't bright enough, then install a sh*t-load of camera flashes.-- 21 Quest, Nov 27 2006 random, halfbakery