Originally Posted by alanbikehouston
Snell gave manufacturers a choice of seeking several levels of certification, sort of like "acceptable", "good", and "excellent", but the "stickers" were not easy to decode. If Trek wants a Snell sticker in its Vapor II helmet, Trek must pay Snell to test the helmet, and Snell will also being buying Vapor II helmets randomly in stores to make sure the delivered models are as good as the proto-types.
Then, if Trek modifies the Vapor II, Trek must pay Snell to go through the whole process again. The bike industry loves to introduce slightly modified new models every year, making Snell very expensive.
The CPSC deal is more of an "honor" system. Consumers must trust Trek will make sure that each helmet delivered to the stores is within "spec" as set out by the CPSC standard. I personally have a lot of confidence in Trek, and Bell, and some other major companies. But, I would hesitate to buy an "off-brand" helmet trusting only in its CPSC sticker - that sticker by itself does not mean much.
Yeah, that is what I got out of the link. But it does seem that since Snell does follow up to insure their standards, their stamp would carry the most weight. Expensive, probably. Should we rely on manufacturers to self-police. I wonder. The only thing I can do is sell helmets with a history of reliability. That is one reason, I strongly advise people to spend more for a helmet than less. The cheap ones I have brought in (under $20), I would not put on my dog. So, they sit and gather dust. I do use them to sell folks up to a better helmet. But usually it is a matter of style and then fit that are the deciding factors.