Lazyass

926 F2d 331 Sexton Sexton v. Bell Helmets Inc | OpenJurist

Lazyass

Take a hammer and hit your head with and then without a helmet. Tell us the results. You can crack your bare skull open with just a light impact. So much fail in this thread.

Reynolds 

If I expected to take a hammer blow while riding, I'd probably wear a real helmet. Never hit my head with a hammer while riding though.

StanSeven

I think I'll get some people to try that. Around 2:00 tonight at the party. I'll post results tomorrow.

LesterOfPuppets

Whenever we head out on the tandem I make sure the little lady doesn't have a hammer. Helps cut down on helmet replacement costs.

LesterOfPuppets

Bike helmets are terrible hammer fight helmets. Talk about fail.

10 Wheels

I let my grandson hammer up some old helmets.

They were very very strong.

JohnJ80

I suggest you read the entire article again.

But, if we are to stay on topic, none of this matters anyhow. You'll do what you want as will I. So this discussion will go nowhere constructive.

J.

LesterOfPuppets

Ball peen or claw?

Or Mason hammer- thats THE hammer to have when going after bike helmets and their contents.

10 Wheels

Ball peen

LesterOfPuppets

I'd probably let someone hit me with a Nutcase helmet on.

My helmets are too holey even for ball peen attacks though.

joejack951

Can you find anything more relevant than a 25 year old case about an incident that happened over three decades ago involving a child on a motorcycle helmet?

Note that Bell's statement about their bicycle helmets not protecting against death even in low speed, low impact crashes appears to be crafted to protect against cases such as the one you dug up.

joejack951

A couple things:

1. I've been smacked in forehead with the leading edge of a shovel. No skull damage.
2. Concussions can occur without even hitting your head.
3. Wrapping your head in bubble wrap would also help protect against that hammer. So would not hanging out with people who might try to hit you on the head with a hammer.

joejack951

I have read it a few times just in case. How about you reread it and remember to distinguish between a simple head injury (something that might require stitches at wprst) and a fatal blow to the head.

scott967

Thanks for that. Made me bust out that bad boy. Doesn't seem to have any problems. Probably perfectly fine to use.



scott s.
.

mrodgers

Seems you guys are now attempting to get this locked as a helmet vs no helmet argument...

Why you want to replace your helmet when you are involved in a crash and take an impact to the head..

I've been working in the expansion and molding manufacturing of foam beads for 20 years.

This is a photo of expanded polystyrene foam beads (otherwise known as EPS. Styrofoam is a brand name.)



The foam beads are molded into a solid shaped part by steam which partially melts the surface of the beads and sticks them together once cooled. You all know what that looks like, just look inside your helmet.

This is a photo of the internal cell structure of a cut EPS bead.



Molded EPS (and EPP or EPE, other formulations of plastic expanded foam beads) is used for 2 main things. First is their insulation properties such as you see in the foam insulation boards at the building warehouse stores. Second is for energy absorption. In the photo of the internal cell structure of the EPS beads above, you can think of the walls of the individual cells like the crumple zones in a car. These cell walls collapse and absorb the force of the impact lessening the force going to your skull. With EPS, there is no resilience in the cell walls that allow it to rebound and it crushes. Once an impact has occurred, it has done it's job of absorbing the energy of the impact and will no longer have any energy absorbing properties.

With as light as bicycle helmets are, just merely bumping it around tossing it in the trunk of your car or missing hanging the strap on your handlebar and dropping it to the floor, I doubt would be a big enough impact to compromise the integrity of the foam bead cell structure. In the case of the few who posted that they've dropped their helmets and the foam cracked, that would be a failure in the melting fusion or the sticking together of the individual beads themselves. Obviously you would want to replace that helmet if you were to find actual cracks in the foam.

Now for deterioration of the foam, or "degrading" as the term was used in this thread and the comments about "styrofoam" not degrading in a landfill but degrades in helmets. There is a difference in the degrading of the foam as in deterioration of the molded foam product and degrading as in decomposing in a land fill. The degrading of the molded foam product, helmets in this case, would be a deterioration of the strength of the plastic in the cell walls and in the melted fusion between the beads themselves. Just like any other plastic, heat, UV rays, sweat, chemicals, etc. will affect the plastic making it brittle as lack of a better term just like any other plastic product that you've had for many years and it finally got brittle and broke on you. Over time this deterioration of the plastics will allow the molded foam to crack easier with less impact, much like a few reported from dropping from 3 feet and will also allow less energy absorption during impact in a crash where the internal cell walls of the foam beads will break rather than crush.

I hear fireworks. Happy New Year everyone.

colnago62

You did say, "many years", right?

a1penguin

And generally you will live through a second crash on a helmet. That is the thing that bothers me. Without the ability to have a good level of confidence that a helmet is still crashworthy, I would prefer to purchase a new one. This is also why I do not leave my helmet with the bike when I ride to work. The helmet sits on my desk with me.

roadwarrior

This is not an argument you win like over a frame size. If you believe that go for it. It is your brain. But between racing (which I fully realize is, at least what I did, beyond most) and dealing with thousands of people who ride, you would be amazed at what can happen.

Go for it. It is your brain.

roadwarrior

I had one of those for racing. Intimidated everyone. I kept saying, "Are you not entertained?". That and a chain mail jersey works great. Even better in sprints. If you think you might not win, just impale the guy.

Lazyass

My point flew so far over your head you'll have to jump up to catch it.

joejack951

This statement from a self-proclaimed racer is so ironic it's painful. For one, it assumes that everyone takes the same risks as you do (they don't). Second, it assumes that the only risks to one's brain are on the bike, or maybe you really do wear your helmet 24 hours a day and want everyone else to as well (I am nearly certain you don't wear your helmet off the bike). Finally, it implies that the helmet you've chosen to wear is the epitome of brain protection (if it is a bike helmet, you could do far better if you really wanted to, but hey, it's your brain).

StanSeven

Even the most expensive helmets go on sale. It works out to be a six pack or two of good beer a year. With all the constant changes in fit, comfort, weight, air flow, adjustability, and looks, I don't see why someone wants to keep an old helmet. Besides why take the chance an old helmet is no longer good?

surgeonstone

My daughter just came back from a business trip to the Netherlands. Said she has never seen so many cyclists in her life, winter though it is. Oh, not a helmet in sight. Strange and yet, no difference in head injury or death rates.
Part of the cycling uniform here, and it is a uniform we wear. Not part of the uniform there.

LesterOfPuppets

Helmet hammering talk can be interpreted as a subconscious desire to hammer heads. It can be construed as a sign of psychopathy.

Unless you're good with emoticons.