Unless they've changed their testing methodology, the VTech testing starts with the assumption that humans:
don't have hair but rather a sticky bald head
don't have a movable scalp
don't have a neck
don't wear any beanies or skullcaps underneath
So there's no surprise that generally any helmet with a MIPS or equivalent device, that basically compensates for humans as described above, will test well.

My head being close to a size 8 (USA) my main requirement for a helmet is "anything that will fit". Shoes are the same situation (but not gloves).

The VA Tech Helmet Lab is run by a bunch of people with PhDs in fields like Biomedical Engineering. If you're going to critique their work, perhaps you should share your credentials with us.

same people that wear baseball hats backwards.

I purchased a Specialized Tactic awhile back because it was the highest rated helmet at the time.
I had to modify the helmet with extra padding to make it fit better around my more oval than round noggin. It fits better wearing a skullcap but is black in color and it is really not a good warm weather helmet. I put reflector tape on it and it is my early morning and evening helmet.

So it was the best, but not the best for me.
Make sure the best also fits you best and understand the difference between the classic oval shaped helmets and the more round shape for the Asian market.

That's a cop-out. Look at their methodologies for every other sport's helmets, which have better thought out procedures with rotating and bending head forms. For the bicycle helmets they made the head form rigid and then dropped anvils on them.

A couple supporting charts, from different PhDs, showing significant closing of the gap when just a neckform is added to the testing between conventional and "mitigated" helmets.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a0de79e712.jpg
No Neckform
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d6a70fbd74.jpg
With Neckform

That's what I figured.

I will continue to take advice from trained professionals, especially when my health and safety are concerned.

Don't sell yourself short. You're a bright guy and can also think for yourself.

Bottom line. Wear a helmet that fits. Not rocket science

I was wearing a $200+ Giro when I had a slow speed crash. It happened so fast that when I hit the pavement I was still holding the handlebars. I struck the ground right where the helmet covers my right front forehead. I ended up with 16 stitches and brain contusions. I didn’t know about the contusions until weeks later. Ended up with two brain bleeds and emergency surgery. What’s my point? Buy and wear any helmet you can afford. Price, style and color don’t mean squat. What matters is you have one and you wear it. I’m convinced there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be typing this if I wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Go to a LBS and try on a few. Buy one that fits comfortably enough that you’ll actually wear it all the time.

​​​Essentially where I am too with all this.

Made my choice, expect word of its having shipped shortly. Local LBS wasn't much help when I bought the Bell I've been wearing back two years ago. Others are a significant drive distant so I'll have to wait to see whether what I'm expecting is something I find comfortable.

Highly rated in that study referred to, and in a bright color as well this time! Kind of an early birthday present to myself? In view of what I'm doing these days (once the weather's nice enough again to enjoy riding outdoors) it's worth what it costs.

My bike and ski helmets must be too old to be on the VA Tech list.

The only helmet I have that is listed is the Bontrager Starvos I wear when I ride my road bikes. My Giro 9 ski helmets and Giro Bishop for mountain and gravel were not listed.

Latest helmet thread merged into Helmet Thread 2.

Helmet Wearing Could Impact Cognitive Function -- Zoaktafi, et al (2021)
 

I'm on a roll today with finding interesting reading material. I'd never seen a study like this attempted before, and found it interesting.

Having a crash without a helmet could also impact cognitive function, and your life. There is a lot of nonsense on the internet these days, and most of it are all lies.

Good find.

The reported results aren't particularly surprising, given that they were looking at 800-gm cricket helmets. That's quite a weight to be carrying around on your head. Most decent bicycle helmets are around 300 grams.

The different requirements of the two sports more or less mandate the weight difference---or to put it another way, the practical upper limit for helmet weight is lower for sport and racing cyclists than for cricket players and football players.

But with those findings, here's hoping that attempts will be made to reduce the weight of cricket helmets while maintaining protection at as close to the present level as possible.

Are you suggesting that you believe wearing a cycle helmet prevents that possibility? If you are, that's rank nonsense, as the thousands of people who die in cycling helmets annually would attest, if they could. Most of the world's cyclists -- by far -- ride without a helmet, and yet they do not die at a greater rate than helmeted cyclists do.

Maybe their decreased cognition is partly why.

Not prevention---mitigation. It's not either/or.

Am I dumber when wearing a helmet? Hard to say as a helmet actually saved my life. Sure, for years I did not wear a helmet. Not on my bike or my motorcycle. Its because the feeling was so good. Almost euphoric. But in actual reality, a helmet did its purpose...

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...147fd11f6d.jpg
Long Story 2013: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ga-chromo.html

Then again, there are other helmets. Yep, we fight the way we train...

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b462688fd3.png
Long before my Active Duty time...

Let me see, 360° view, radar approximation of approaching vehicles, terrain features of on coming vector, vitals monitor with Vo2Max, GPS locations, offensive armaments disabled, and of course Led Zeplin. Now thats a bike helmet for sure...

A valid observation -- on the other hand, the study period was only 1 hour, and was static, seated at a computer and very much not engaging in physical activity.

This study -- like virtually all of them -- suggests that further studies ought to be carried out. If anyone locates such, potentially with test conditions that are closer to cycling, please share.

With respect, can we keep this thread on topic? I am aware that many cyclists religiously believe that their helmet saved their life. Many people also believe a bearded man in the sky looks after them, but only if they remind him everyday with prayers, because apparently he has ADHD or something. Let's leave personal religious beliefs somewhere else.

Photos of a broken helmet prove nothing. I could crash wearing a baseball hat, and post pictures of its ruined state. Would that convince you that it saved my life?

Why does this "mitigation" stubbornly refuse to appear in any of the world's cycling fatality statistics? At some point, one has to consider the possibility that you've been misled about their effectiveness. After that point, one might want to consider why they don't work, and this is one potential partial explanation.

Would cognitive performance be affected by the helmet blocking their view of the ball? Or view of other players?

I said this many years ago in a previous incarnation of the main helmet thread; but it bears repeating:

If anyone here is, or has a friend who is, a professor who teaches logic, recommend Bike Forum helmet threads for rich sources of study material.

The lack of logic or twisted logic are often quite stunning.