Originally Posted by
deinonychi
Interesting. The helmet I crashed on, while it is definitely compressed some, also has numerous cracks and is even missing a small chunk at the point of impact. After reading your, and other, comments here I'm convinced more than ever that my helmet did not do nearly as good a job as it could have even given the constraints of constructing a light and well ventilated helmet. I do believe that the next time I need a new helmet I'm going to seek out something that is Snell approved, just to play it safe (which isn't that the whole idea?).
Ok...
1. My memory is that there are several Snell standards now. Go for the higher one, obviously.
2. Look for a thicker shell. The skater/bmx style helmets that can take multiple impacts have much tougher shells, but also have less cooling.
3. There are several new helmets with "anti-rotation" technology. Rotation is the main source of serious brain damage and it might be worthwhile looking at one of these.
4. Military studies on head impact have shown that protecting the sides of the head is often critical. Most bike helmets skimp here.
That said, I don't wear a helmet for casual road riding - or even light off road. I might pick up a TSG Kraken for more serious off road; on paper it scores exceptionally well on fit (the shell adapts to the wearers head), shell strength, and side protection. It's probably irritatingly hot for road riding.