"Helium" Pump

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

I think I remember someone saying using memory foam for goalie pads for rebound control. This is a little along the lines of that..

Me and my friends were talking about random hockey stuff, and we came up with an idea for the pump (skate). Instead of pumping regular air in, what would happen if you pumped in helium? I know, it would be unbalanced, but say if you could get it around the whole skate to balance it out. Would that have enough impact to make the skate lighter? Then we got on talking about having zero-weight equipment...we wish.

I guess potential problems would be

-having enough helium to actually make the skate lighter

-helium leaking out of the skate (would have to line the air chamber with something)

-buying all that helium

-actually getting helium into your skate. I'd assume you either have an oxygen mask related thing (except for helium) as you pressed the little pump button. Otherwise, you'd waste a lot of helium just spraying it in the general direction and pushing the button-thing, and you'd waste a bunch of it.

[KYHockey3 0]

i dont think that would ever happen, nice idea.

i doubt the helium would make that much of a difference too. plus then you run into the problem of actually getting helium into your skate...

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

I don't think I explained it very well, lemme try again. Say you had an airtight thing covering the part where the regular air is supposed to enter the skate. then youd run a tube from your helium tank towards that, or something like that.

[G60 0]

you're overestimating the weight difference between helium and air.

helium weighs one gram less per liter than air.

so if you fill a liter bottle up with helium, it will weigh only a gram less than a regular liter bottle.

now, as you can probably tell, a pump skate bladder doesn't hold NEARLY a litler of air, so the difference would be unmeasureable.

as an experiment, a dollar bill weighs one gram. fold up a dollar bill and put it in your skate, see if it weighs you down.

or probably more accurately, cut a dollar bill into 15 pieces, and put one of those pieces into your skate.

[Gummer12 134]

Package the helium in those CO2 Cartridges like the original pump skates :P

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

I knew it'd never work, like those memory foam pads. it's just a cool idea if it COULD work.

[shute 4]

I knew it'd never work, like those memory foam pads. it's just a cool idea if it COULD work.

OH those memory foam pads do wonders!! they help you sleep better by using "space age" foam made in space or something. i heard they were made out of this special liquid so that is why it's unlike your normal run of the mill foam and i've heard that those CO2 cartridges used some of the same stuff... forget what the liquid was called so i'll just call it snake oil. <_<

[G60 0]

as for the memory foam goal pads, pad manufacturer's are way ahead of you. if memory foam was really a good idea, they would have put it in pads years ago.

they spend alot of money getting the least rebound out of their pads. trust me, they've thought of it all.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

I know, I know, I was just alluding to the fact that there alreay was a memory foam pad thread in the goalie forum. my bad.

[ATLstealth09 0]

You've got the concept, but helium is really not that much lighter to make a difference. You could take off more weight by simply wrapping the butt end of your stick one less layer. Besides, how big are you expecting these pumps to be? Maybe... five times the size of the skate?

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Helium.. ha real men would use hydrogen..

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

oh, man, flaming skates!!!

[MDE3 0]

as for the memory foam goal pads, pad manufacturer's are way ahead of you. if memory foam was really a good idea, they would have put it in pads years ago.

they spend alot of money getting the least rebound out of their pads. trust me, they've thought of it all.

Too bad they don't shave horses any more...."forgotten technology"... ;)

[Alias81 0]

as for the memory foam goal pads, pad manufacturer's are way ahead of you. if memory foam was really a good idea, they would have put it in pads years ago.

they spend alot of money getting the least rebound out of their pads. trust me, they've thought of it all.

Have they really though of everything?

What about water and cornflour filled pads, so when the puck hits the pad they turn rock hard and with no contact they are limp and mobile.

I plan to patent these ideas along with my chocolate teapot and frozen paint pencils. ;)

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

LOL, that would be sick.

[CCC8190 0]

on mythbusters they actually disproved the helium myth that you were talking about; not in skates though. they actually used footballs (WAY bigger compartment than the pumps ayway)- one filled with helium, one with regular air, and shot them through a mechanical passing machine. results were exactly the same. imagine that though, floatin around the rink? one day...

[bigmack 0]

LOL, chocolate teapot cracked me up.

[promqueen 0]

Maybe it would look something like this...

;)