Helmet Drop Question

 I tossed my Shoei full-face helmet onto my couch, and it rolled off and fell
about 2 feet onto a dirty dinner plate on my carpeted floor.

How far can one drop a helmet without damaging it?

I'm assuming that the one-shot foam on the inside wouldn't be affected
(nothing weighty pressing on it at the time of decel), but I'm just
wondering about invisible damage to composite shell.

Any thoughts?

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David, invisible damage is jus that - invisible. There is an impact
detector device you can put on a helmet that turns red when the impact
is strong enough to damage the integrity of the helmet. In the
demonstration video, dropping the helmet fomr a couple of feet wasn't
enough, but wearing the helmet and sitting on the ground and knocking
your head into a cement floor was.

That's why I don't spend alot on helmets. I don't mind replacing it.

greg

 

Please get a second opinion from mine, but the drop test done to meet DOT
standards is 6 feet with 11 lbs in it.

2 feet empty onto a dinner plate (and pick up that pig-sty house BTW!!!)
shouldn't be a worry.

 On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:38:20 -0800, "Eigenvector"


    Yeh !  Don't leave your helmet lying around like that !


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There are three lines of thought on this.

First, a helmet is an eggshell-delicate thing, to be handled with great
care. It must be kept in its fluffy-padded container when not in use and
under no circumstances are you to carry it by the chin strap, for that
could break it. If you have a dream that it got dropped from a couple of
feet onto the multicolor shag carpet downstairs, then you have to
replace it at once.

At the other end of the spectrum, a helmet is a burden imposed by The
Man, so if you drop your helmet from off the back seat of the bike onto
a rock and take a chip out of the outer shell, that's just a booboo and
won't hurt it any. Go ahead and loop that big heavy chain through the
face opening and leave it lying on the pavement next to  your bike.

A reasonable approach is, as Oasyco pointed out, to consider that the
helmet has to protect your head from a serious fall. Two feet onto a
dinner plate isn't going to hurt it. And thechin strap has to be strong
enough to hold the helmet on your head during a violent crash, so it had
damn well better stand up to carrying the helmet.

I asked the guys at Snell Labs this question a few years ago. They said
that a drop off the back of a bike won't hurt it, but they don't
recommend doing that a lot. A helmet should survive a moderate fall as
long as nobody's head was in it.

--
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