Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 October 9

= October 9 =

Voltage in Japan
Hi, I will travel to Tokyo for a week. The voltage there is 100V. My Panasonic Lumix DE A66 battery charger can take an input of 110v through 240V. Do I really need a voltage converter or can I go without it?79.32.245.131 (talk) 07:16, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * This forum thread reports successful results with a Panasonic battery charger in Tokyo. Note that you may still need an adaptor to use an American plug with a Japanese socket - see AC power plugs and sockets. Tevildo (talk) 08:40, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your answer!79.32.245.131 (talk) 09:23, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Note that it will take longer to charge (only a little bit longer if you normally use 110V, but far longer if you normally use 240V). StuRat (talk) 14:06, 9 October 2016 (UTC)
 * No, it won't. See battery charger.  The output will be regulated to give the designed charge rate, and will not depend on the input voltage as long as it's within the operating range of the device.  A modern battery charger isn't just a simple step-down transformer.  Tevildo (talk) 15:15, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Fin on firefighter's helmets
Why do many firefighter's helmets, old or modern, have a fin on top that goes from back to front? &#x2013; b_jonas 12: 56, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Think you will find it is called a Comb. It is like a 'web' used in engineering to add strength and resist flexibility.--Aspro (talk) 13:50, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * It could also add protection if a board with nails sticking out falls on their head during a building collapse, by keeping the board far enough away from the skull that the nails, even if they penetrate the helmet, will not penetrate the skull. StuRat (talk) 14:10, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * The City of London police have this on their helmets.  I thought it was for ceremonial reasons, to distinguish them from the Metropolitan Police (in whose area they form an enclave) and indeed the British Transport Police, who operate in that area but don't wear helmets. 2A02:C7F:BE2B:5600:A89E:AAC0:EA7:6596 (talk) 14:55, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Use of a strengthening rib can be traced back to 350-300 BC in a Greek helmet made in South Italy. The head of London's Metropolitan Fire Brigade who adopted a similar helmet found himself the unexpected center of attention on 25 November 1882 in the audience at the Savoy Theatre when the Fairy Queen addressed him from the stage in song: "Oh, Captain Shaw / Type of true love kept under / Could thy brigade with cold cascade / Quench my great love, I wonder?". This fame bestowed by a fictional queen played by Alice Barnett in the comic opera Iolanthe may have contributed to the good Captain Shaw subsequently being knighted by the real Queen Victoria. The lyric from the event has remained for 133 years in performances of the opera, see this video at 2:00, which mystifies audiences that don't know the background. AllBestFaith (talk) 16:04, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * It's one of those curious chains of events:-


 * 1) In 1762, the French Army were looking for a way to make their dragoon cavalry stand out from the crowd and came up with the dragoon helmet, loosely based on Ancient Greek and Roman designs as they were understood by 18th century antiquarians. It had a high crest and was adorned with a feather plume, a long horsehair mane and a "turban" of cloth or fur.
 * 2) Napoleon's guard engineers, looking for a way of making their job of digging trenches and so on appear more glamorous, adopted the dragoon helmet.
 * 3) In 1810, Napoleon reorganised the Paris Fire Brigade, making them a branch of the military engineers. This gave them a chance to strut about wearing dragoon helmets too, complete with feathers and horsehair (presumably since nobody had yet invented the risk assessment).
 * 4) By the 1860s the French were wearing a slightly more practical version of their helmet when they were visited by Eyre Massey Shaw, who had been given the job of reforming the London Fire Brigade and realised that the French were doing it rather better than we were. He was rather taken with their headgear and ordered a similar version to be used in London called the Merryweather helmet which continued to be worn until the 1930s. This helmet was copied throughout the Empire. I'm not sure if the Americans took their inspiration from the French or British but they used leather instead, which was probably sensible.
 * 5) Whenever anybody designed a new helmet, they tended to retain the crest, since everybody knew that firemen had crested helmets. As stated above, it adds strength, but plenty of effective helmets don't have them. Alansplodge (talk) 19:51, 9 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Interesting history, thank you. &#x2013; b_jonas 19:56, 9 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Because the US used leather helmets, maybe that's why they had up to 64 combs (as I called them above) for strengthening. See photos:  . The eagle on-top of some of them may represent the Phoenix (mythology) but the text does not say, yet it was a common fire insurance motif, both in the US and Europe.--Aspro (talk) 15:43, 10 October 2016 (UTC)