lets say its hanging on the mirror and it just fell and hit the pavement. is it really toast and cannot protect your head at all after? is the entire protective structure rendered useless even though the point of impact on the helmet is the size of a quarter?
Ive accidently banged my Shoei walking out of gas stations and such. No, Im not replacing it every time that happens. If I smacked it during a 15km/h low side I would because chances are the shell was compressed on the inside.
there's also a big difference between dropping an empty helmet 4 feet and having one with a 10 or so pound head inside of it slammed into the ground by the twisting of a sliding body (that it's hopefully still connected to). that fancy snell cert doesn't go on the helmet if it can't take like 2 consecutive hits to the same place with a weight in it.
The reason helmets are junk after a crash is because the weight of your head will crush the foam between your skull and the outer shell. Dropping an empty helmet is a totally different thing. There is no head inside to do that crushing. If anything a tiny spot might be slightly dented where the outer shell flexed, but IMHO probably not enough to matter at all.
there's also a big difference between dropping an empty helmet 4 feet and having one with a 10 or so pound head inside of it slammed into the ground by the twisting of a sliding body (that it's hopefully still connected to). that fancy snell cert doesn't go on the helmet if it can't take like 2 consecutive hits to the same place with a weight in it.
I'm not made of money or anything, but I think my head is worth more than a few hundred bucks. If I had any doubts at all I'd get a new helmet in a heartbeat.
I hate questions like these... not because of the question itself but because every frigging self proclaimed expert has to chime in & give their answer... and most of the time it's wrong because for the most part, people on forums err on the safe side.
If you have any questions, send it back to Arai.
The short of it is, chances are, YES, the foam below the shell in the impact area HAS been compressed & therefore the impact protection at that spot has been compromised. How much so is unable to be determined without a qualified inspection. You can not diagnose the damage over the f-ing internet.
I'm not made of money or anything, but I think my head is worth more than a few hundred bucks. If I had any doubts at all I'd get a new helmet in a heartbeat.
I dropped my helmet! Do I have to go buy a new one?
Generally the answer is probably not. Helmets are one use items, but are quite durable otherwise, at least the ones we certify. Frequent dropping or spiking a helmet on the ground, or other hard surfaces may eventually degrade the helmet's performance. Similarly if the helmet falls to the ground at highway speeds unoccupied the owner must be aware that some degradation may have occurred. In general the real damage comes when the helmet contacts an object with a head inside. The Foundation recommends that if you are participating in an activity that requires that you wear a helmet, that you avoid hitting stuff with your head. It can be difficult to readily determine if a helmet has been damaged, and the protective capabilities compromised without a thorough inspection by a trained professional. Some manufacturers may provide this service or direct you to these others that can perform these inspections. The Foundation recommends that if you suspect your helmet may be compromised, then replace it. If the helmet has been involved in an impact while in use, replace it.
I dropped my helmet! Do I have to go buy a new one?
Generally the answer is probably not. Helmets are one use items, but are quite durable otherwise, at least the ones we certify. Frequent dropping or spiking a helmet on the ground, or other hard surfaces may eventually degrade the helmet's performance. Similarly if the helmet falls to the ground at highway speeds unoccupied the owner must be aware that some degradation may have occurred. In general the real damage comes when the helmet contacts an object with a head inside. The Foundation recommends that if you are participating in an activity that requires that you wear a helmet, that you avoid hitting stuff with your head. It can be difficult to readily determine if a helmet has been damaged, and the protective capabilities compromised without a thorough inspection by a trained professional. Some manufacturers may provide this service or direct you to these others that can perform these inspections. The Foundation recommends that if you suspect your helmet may be compromised, then replace it. If the helmet has been involved in an impact while in use, replace it.
All the helmet company has to do to check it is X-ray the helmet and check that the styrofoam liner hasn't been compressed past the acceptable amount. And I think even the S/H is free (for the good brands)?
The short of it is, chances are, YES, the foam below the shell in the impact area HAS been compressed & therefore the impact protection at that spot has been compromised. How much so is unable to be determined without a qualified inspection. You can not diagnose the damage over the f-ing internet.
Hehehe yeah... The difference is, I didn't give him a definite yes or no answer & tell a long story about how I dropped my helmet & I heard from so & so, blah blah blah... I just told him where to go to get a definite answer from a qualified person
Ok popular thought is if you drop it you should replace it, I say fuck that if it cannot withstand a minor drop it sure as fuck cannot protect me in an accident. So IM sure a drop is ok. As someone else said, my helment like it or not gets banged off of a door jam, maybe I fumbled and dropped it, Im not going to replace it every time I would go broke.
What people dont realize is just using your helmet lock and having a helmet hanging over a hot exhaust does compromise the shell.
Its your choice, I wouldnt worry about it, consider the odds of being in a wreck and hitting in that exact location you dropped it. Not likely.
Oh and I wear the same dirt Gmax helmet I crashed in and banged my head twice in pretty fuckn hard, I probably should replace it but it held up great in the second crash as well, that was hard enough I couldnt eat solid foods for two weeks...........
I am a packaging engineer, by degree and by profession
We deal a lot with reusable packaging, as well as single use.
Reusable packaging will use foam that recovers from a shock, so it can take another shock. It doesn't absorb as much impact, but can do it over and over again. Think of the foam in your couch cushions.
Single use packaging has cushioning that is designed to crush, and it doesn't recover. Think of they styrofoam blocks stereo receivers are shipped in.
Now, the difference - a crushable cushion absorbs more of the shock, but it's only good for the single crush, then it's performance drops off.
Helmets are typically designed with crushable, single use cushioning for maximum shock absortion. Hence, they are considered a single use item.
Now, bear in mind that is with a 15 lb head inside. IF you drop your helmet off the mirror, empty, it's very likely the cushioning received no compressive damage at all. There is nothing in the helmet to compress the cushion
That brings us to the shell material. A material like polycarbonate will typically rebound, and should be fine. Fiberglass will probably take the impact without structural damage, and should be fine.
Long story short, as a packaging engineer, my analysis would say the helmet is fine and fully usable.
The helmet manufacturers tell you this because of liability reasons. They lose nothing when they say you should replace your helmet after the smallest impacts.
If it fell off my handle bars no way. After a rode incident wear i lost controll and the helmet took any kind of damage then yes.
If there were no cracks or dents on the shell, I wouldn't worry. Mine is sratched to hell and I've knocked it on walls and doors multiple times when it is attached to my backpack. But I treat it like the rest of my gear- it can look worn and still be fine. Just so long as there isn't any damage I wouldn't worry. But that is just me and I'm not a helmet expert. I just give mine a once over after I wack it on something and make sure there isn't any visable damage (cracks and real dents).
Use your best judgement.
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