Helmets, you need to know this

[Shalom Rider]

Helmet technology is changing, we are starting to see motorcycle helmets with a slip plane know as Multi-directional Impact Protection System (MIPS).

Neurosurgeon know that they still get patients with brain injuries even when they had been wearing a motorcycle helmet at the time of their accident. Greg Shapleigh decided to change helmet design, because current helmets aren’t doing enough. Greg’s research resulted in a slip plane that allows the head to rotate in any direction by 10-15mm. This reduces the forces that are transferred to the brain by up to 40%.



The uptake of MIPS by motorcycle helmet manufactures has been slow. Here’s a link to the best motorcycle helmets.

-LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN-

Like most safety technology it takes time for it to be widely adopted, but pro riders are starting to request it.

What do you think?

[brajon]

I find Arai helmets to be the best since they fit my head comfortably.

[centerstand65]

For me, choosing a helmet is all about comfort. Used helmets are already broken in. There is a direct relationship between sweat and softness. Along with sweaty comfort comes stink. The more a helmet stinks, the more comfortable it is to get in and stay in, all day.

I prefer well-worn Arai and Icon helmets because guys wear them and sweat in them to where they'll stink up a room. That's when a helmet is at its best.

[centerstand65]

This is one of my favorite used lids. Look at the padding. It feels and smells just like it looks. Cool on the outside. Hot on the inside.

[centerstand65]

This is one of my favorite used lids. Look at the padding. It feels and smells just like it looks. Cool on the outside. Hot on the inside.

This kind of quality takes a lot of work to achieve. I appreciate guys who are willing to put their sweat into a new helmet so that I don't have to. To me, this is as new as I ever want to get. The guy who broke in this beautiful Icon very rarely washed his hair, and I can smell it every time I get in it.

[centerstand65]

This is another of my favorite Icon helmets. Just like my Alliance, the once white padding inside this Variant is now a charcoal gray with sweaty, yellow-brown accents. On eBay, it is described as an "old, dirty, used ICON Variant." Just like the Alliance, the Variant fits me like it's custom-made, right out of the box. It smells like slightly sour oregano spice.

Both of these Icons, the Alliance and the Variant, effectively absorb my sweat and then secrete it out the pores at the base of the neck roll.

Getting in the Variant for the first time was as much fun as the Alliance. The helmet swallowed my head in one gulp. The straps went into place the way they had several thousand times before, but it was a first for me. The very sweaty pads that had protected another guy's head for at least five years gently pressed against my cheeks, ears, and forehead. I felt awesome and cool putting my head in another guy's lid for the first time.

I am a proud wearer of another guy's very hot "old, dirty, used ICON Variant."

[NorthernPete]

My brain feels dirty. Lol

[jstark47]

Centerstand65, if I understand you right, you prefer to wear old, used helmets? Do you know anything about the history of these helmets? And can I ask HOW old? I assume you're aware the expanded polystyrene layer inside a helmet's shell stops being effective crash protection for your brain after about 5 years or so, right?

[centerstand65]

Sure, over time, there will be some reduction to impact absorption in a used lid. However, there will also be a dramatic increase in comfort.

Then, there's the smell. Nothing washes away the smell of resin and glue better than the slow flow of oily sweat. Of course, oily sweat has its own smell. Yet, washing a helmet is the biggest contributor to diminished safety. The best way to keep a helmet at its best is to regularly wear it without washing it, and then sell it on eBay when you can't stand the smell, anymore.

Getting in a well-worn lid for the first time is the easiest part of motorcycle riding because there's no break-in time. It feels and smells like it's been worn (by another guy) for thousands of hours because it has.

I prefer that other guys sweat out the details so I don't have to!

[centerstand65]

The history of these helmets is simple: they were worn for several thousand hours, each, by guys who didn't often wash their hair and who never worried about their helmet stink. Had a couple of minor scrapes. Were worn in very hot summer heat.