Helmets and protective shields are seen on a gurney for emergency use in the Secure Housing Unit at the Pelican Bay State Prison near Crescent City, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011. State prison officials allowed the media to tour Pelican' Bay's secure housing unit, known at the SHU, where inmates are isolated for 22 1/2 hours a day in windowless, soundproofed cells to counter allegations of mistreatment made during an inmate hunger strike last month. More than 6,000 inmates refused state-issued meals at 13 of the state's 33 adult prisons during a three-week hunger strike that originated at the maximum security prison in Crescent City and peaked over the July 4 weekend. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)