Helmet Replacement - Do I need to?

[krhall]

I know that most people say that after even one off you shoul bin the helmet and buy a new one, so I guess that is the answer to the question.

However there are only scratches on mine although it did impact the floor with a bit of a thump, so replace or not?

If so what is a good/reasonably priced lid.

[rictus01]

well if it's an Arai you're laughing as you can send it away to be checked, and if not, why not ?

Cheers Mark.

[krhall]

It is a nitro n800v I think. Mainly due to cost but I genuinely believe it was a life saver!

[G]

I would swap, does your insurance not cover you equipment aswell as bike or are you not going through insurance. :(

[Luckypants]

It is a nitro n800v I think. Mainly due to cost but I genuinely believe it was a life saver!

If it was whacked hard enough to save your life, bin it. It has done it's job and probably would not handle having to do that all over again.

It is not worth the risk.

[Ceri JC]

If it was whacked hard enough to save your life, bin it. It has done it's job and probably would not handle having to do that all over again.

It is not worth the risk.

My POV too. I don't subscribe to the "oh, I dropped my helmet 10cm, I must replace it!", but I think if you have actually banged your head on the deck in an accident with it, it's due for replacement.

[krhall]

Yeah I think that as usual the org is spot on. I have t5o say I am really impressed with the helmet itself even though it was only £69.99, which most people think is too cheap.

[carlos]

I had an old, very low budget helmet (£30 from bike show some years back) and it saved my life when I slid down the A44 on my shoulder/head, ripped the visor clean off and a crack next to the visor clip. Obviously replaced it straight away but decided to see how much stick it would take before splitting. Took it out the back and proceeded to smash it as hard as I could on the patio and it took a good dozen or so attempts before it broke. I know when its on your head it has less flex and so less give but it took some real force to get it to break (the force I was giving it would propbably have broke the neck straight away). Even still, reassured that helmets do their job I would still get a new helmet if I had an off that involved a helmet/ground impact, or even a decent drop onto the floor. Would rather pay out now than be brain damaged (although some would argue that in my case that damage had already been done).

[gettin2dizzy]

Just fall on the other side ;)

[Bear]

I had an old, very low budget helmet (£30 from bike show some years back) and it saved my life when I slid down the A44 on my shoulder/head, ripped the visor clean off and a crack next to the visor clip. Obviously replaced it straight away but decided to see how much stick it would take before splitting. Took it out the back and proceeded to smash it as hard as I could on the patio and it took a good dozen or so attempts before it broke. I know when its on your head it has less flex and so less give but it took some real force to get it to break (the force I was giving it would propbably have broke the neck straight away). Even still, reassured that helmets do their job I would still get a new helmet if I had an off that involved a helmet/ground impact, or even a decent drop onto the floor. Would rather pay out now than be brain damaged (although some would argue that in my case that damage had already been done).

The danger with crashed lids isn't that they split and break, more that the part of the lining that received the impact becomes a focus point for any force in the next crash, so rather than dissipating force across the whole of the lid all the energy is concentrated on that one spot working a bit like a chisel to the skull, or so I've been told at least!

[drefraser]

I think if you have actually banged your head on the deck in an accident with it, it's due for replacement.

I couldn't agree more. I'm on my third head now. The only issue is having to change photos on driving license, etc. and not being recognised by your family.

[Ceri JC]

Yeah I think that as usual the org is spot on. I have t5o say I am really impressed with the helmet itself even though it was only £69.99, which most people think is too cheap.

Yep. The Takachi TK-30 also does remarkably well in crashes (better than some £150 lids), considering it can be had for as little as £59.99.

[yeti46]

me shoei raid 2 faired pretty well when my old cbr125 spat me off cos of a disel spill on a round about.

[yorkie_chris]

The lining in helmets works like a crumple zone in a car.

As the edge of the helmet hits the deck at some speed, your head is going to decellerate at some rate, given by the distance between your noggin and the edge of the lid, the foam absorbs this energy by compacting.
Its massively high G forces that actually damage the brain, so if you were to take a hit on foam thats already been compacted to maybe half of its total thickness, then you only have half the distance in which your head is going to decellerate, giving double the G force (decelleration) and significantly increasing the chance of you joining the ranks of the cabbage people.

So, IMO, if the lids taken enough of a knock that you felt/heard it hit the deck, then the foams done its job, and its time for a new one.

[rictus01]

whilst I have had in the passed, some "budget" helmets, I won't ever again, I truely believe the quality of the Arai I had on saved my life and the fish bowl indentation in the car windscreen tends to support that, in fact most of the emergency crews at the time were amazed I survived at all.

Don't get me wrong, most of the helmets on sale today are more that good enough most of the time, but in the real world you get what you pay for, and I for one want the best I can get.

Cheers Mark.

[wyntrblue]

my philosaphy is "if you have to ask if it needs replacing then it does"

[Draper]

with regards to hitting your helmet on a floor to see how long it breaks... surely this doesn't tell you anything about what happens to your head inside the actual lid as your whole bodyweight at a good speed drives it into the tarmac?

also good work on the 666 posts, looks pretty cool

[krhall]

I think I'm with all the views on here.

Can I salvage the visor though? It is off my wifes helmet and she'll go mental if she has to replace it because I borrowed it?

[krhall]

Might've known that I was near 666 yesterday - It was quite a day.

It is also the wifes birthday today and something bad always happens in the day before or on the actual day of her birthday.

[sv-robo]

years ago in a near fatal m/bike accident when i slid off at high speed (head 1st into a tree)i was only wearing a cheap laser helmet.although i broke my neck in 2 places & the helmet caved in at 1 side i still believe this helmet saved my life.

yes i am sure you get what you pay for but also think whatever helmet i was wearing the outcome would probably have been the same as i had no head injuries.

[carlos]

surely this doesn't tell you anything about what happens to your head inside the actual lid

Of course it doesn't, and that wasn't what I said, what I did say was:but decided to see how much stick it would take before splitting.

Was never meant as a scientific experiment or as proof that it'd save your head in a spill. I was reassured helmets do their job becuase it had earlier saved my life when I hit the tarmac at speed and walked away with just bruises to my ribs (made worse by the fact I broke my wrist out on the Stella that night:rolleyes:). It was just one of those things I was curious about and wasn't going to smash up a perfectly good helmet.

[Draper]

ahhh yeah sorry mate wasn't being gobby :smt023, i too would be intrigued to find my lids breaking point. But for now i'll be happy that i dont need to

[drefraser]

Just another piece of pro-Arai propaganda - I dropped my helmet from about 7 feet high onto lino. I was going to bin it but at the bike shop they told me to send it to Arai instead. They checked the helmet for free gave it a clean bill of health and got themselves a customer for life.

[-Ralph-]

It depends how hard the lid it the deck, if it just touched down as you slid along and scraped the paint a tiny bit, it's OK. If it hit the deck and bounced replace it. It's a budget lid, for what it costs to replace better safe than sorry.