The ear sticking through the helmet design is driving me crazy 😡

[SolidTwilight 383]

As someone who's used a ton of helmets for both recreation and work having the ear stick out of the helmet from a safety standpoint is a terrible idea. If she crashes and rolls on her head she's going to grind off her ear between her helmet and the pavement! Every time I see it all I can think about is that horrible outcome.

 

[Venomous 18,813]

It’s either this or their ears are constantly squished being pressed up against the side of their head with constantly muffled hearing. It goes without saying that lack of hearing when taking part in athletics in public is dangerous. I’m sure Sunny would rather suffer an ear injury than sacrifice comfort along with one of her senses.

[SolidTwilight 383]

I think they could design a cavity for ears with slots for hearing. People have helmets that cover up their ears and they can hear just fine in them. I think this is an example of taking a human invention and just cutting holes in it and putting on a pony's head. I think in the pony world they would have designed a helmet a little differently to accommodate their ears from the start. But from a narrative point of view I think it's way cuter having your ears stick out and it also lets them convey emotion a lot better than if they're hidden behind a helmet.

Also I just noticed, her helmet has human ear cutouts. Now I'm even more frustrated 🤣

[Toastypk 920]

With this topic name I thought you were talking about the royal guards and the like.

Guess similar concerns apply there too?

[SolidTwilight 383]

Having smashed into the pavement and lost a bunch of skin sunny's helmet is what really stood out to me but now that you pointed it out The other helmets have the same problem. If they  got hit in the head with a sword it would slide off the side and slices his ear off. If the Royal guards actually got into melee combat there would be a large number of them missing an ear or two. 😳

Edited April 18, 2022 by SolidTwilight

[SharpWit 2,472]

I honestly don't know whether a covered or exposed design would be more or less likely to cause an ear hematoma from an impact?

You can be happy to know that horse helmets are indeed a thing.

This one is meant to protect their heads while working in and about trailers.

While this rather extravagant medieval armor piece provides a flap for ear protection, while still leaving the ears to move freely.

My guess would be that covering the ears would agitate horses IRL, and the sentient types in Equestria could probably ignore that discomfort, but it seems that having them stick out is the standard! 

[Toastypk 920]

8 minutes ago, SharpWit said:

My guess would be that covering the ears would agitate horses IRL, and the sentient types in Equestria could probably ignore that discomfort, but it seems that having them stick out is the standard! 

I think it accentuates and reinforces these guys' equine features and feel. 

(Plus I bet if I were to photoshop their ears away, it would look all sorts of weird!)

Edited April 18, 2022 by Toastypk

[EpicEnergy 22,090]

But it looks cute, especially Sunny with her ears flopping! It is dangerous though.

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

On 2022-04-17 at 8:56 PM, SolidTwilight said:

Having smashed into the pavement and lost a bunch of skin sunny's helmet is what really stood out to me but now that you pointed it out The other helmets have the same problem. If they  got hit in the head with a sword it would slide off the side and slices his ear off. If the Royal guards actually got into melee combat there would be a large number of them missing an ear or two. 😳

Ponies can survive without ears, they just might not be able to survive a blow to the head Helmets don't guarantee anything but a reduced risk of concussions.

[Splashee 28,537]

It is so infuriating to see Sunny traveling so dangerously!

[Misty Shadow 7,087]

As Toasty pointed out, the helmets have always been designed that way (I too thought that was what this thread was about before I clicked, heh), so it doesn't bother me. We all know Sunny's not actually going to trip and cut her ear and it's not like she's not wearing a helmet at all, sending a message that it's safe to roller blade without a helmet on. 

[Orchid_Fiore 199]

Well I don't know, it's a fictional work so I don't think it matters.

[Evil Pink One 13,001]

On 2022-04-18 at 8:29 AM, SolidTwilight said:

As someone who's used a ton of helmets for both recreation and work having the ear stick out of the helmet from a safety standpoint is a terrible idea. If she crashes and rolls on her head she's going to grind off her ear between her helmet and the pavement! Every time I see it all I can think about is that horrible outcome.

 

Because that specific helmet doesn't focus on your ears.

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,706]

6 hours ago, Orchid_Fiore said:

Well I don't know, it's a fictional work so I don't think it matters.

This is an answer that people who are very particular about lore, world building, etc. simply cannot accept!

[Props Valroa 26,051]

Yikes, I don't wanna be sunny when she crashes into the pavement. 

[HereComesTom 2,232]

They've done things like this before---choosing to have parts of a pony's body that are distinctive or expressive be exposed, even when covering those body parts ought to make more logical sense in-universe.

 

One thing I've noticed is that ponies' tails in G-4 were always showing, even in contexts where it'd make more sense for a pony's tail to be covered up:

Return of Harmony, Part 1:  Rarity's raincoat didn't cover her tail, even though that'd be a part of a pony's body that could absorb a lot of water if it got wet in the rain, and would therefore be much more logical if it were covered.

Read 'Em and Weep, and It's About Time:  Rainbow Dash, and Twilight/Pinkie Pie respectively, were wearing black outfits to make it easier for them to sneak around unnoticed at night---but in all cases, their brightly-colored, easily-spotted tails were showing, and not covered up by their black outfits at all.

 

I think the designers are choosing expressiveness and identifiability over practicality and logical safety when they're designing things ponies wear.

Of course, I think I'm biased toward paying closer attention to things ponies wear than other bronies, because I've spent about a year putting together a system in my fangame that lets you change the ponies' clothes.  Even now, I spent almost a year augmenting that system so their wings can be covered up by clothing!  (You'd be surprised how involved that was!)

[Toastypk 920]

2 hours ago, HereComesTom said:

They've done things like this before---choosing to have parts of a pony's body that are distinctive or expressive be exposed, even when covering those body parts ought to make more logical sense in-universe.

 

I've made a whole thread on ponies who have their tails through their clothes despite being impractical to do.

It really must just boil down to equine accentuating aesthetics.

[Splashee 28,537]

On 2022-04-18 at 2:29 AM, SolidTwilight said:

As someone who's used a ton of helmets for both recreation and work having the ear stick out of the helmet from a safety standpoint is a terrible idea.

No worries! With some 3D magic, I managed to fix the problem. Hitch's ear has now been..... tucked away (I dissolved the vertices of the ear, so maybe this would be Hitch after "the helmet accident" ):

The flaws of G5 can be fixed with 3D! With a little bit more skill, maybe the helmet can include an area for the ears, like viking horns? Who knows

[Ice Princess Silky 10,825]

Hahah oh my gosh, good point. Now I simply cannot unsee it 

[TransPirate 120]

Ear-through-helmet haters forget one very important thing: it looks really cute.