just wanted to know some opinions on this, i have had my current helmet for a period of 6 months, and i wanted to wait about a year before i bought a new one, but i dropped it out out my hand this morning while walking into work and it got a paint chip so now i can see the fiber glass, should i be concerned and push up my new helmet purchase to something like....now? for reference the chip is like .5 centimeter squared.

 

they say it should be replaced even if dropped. but IMO and what i know about composites. unless you dropped it off the roof of your house onto a paved driveway a small 2-3 foot drop is not goign to weaken the helmet. if it was damaged that easily i wouldn't trust it to hold my brain.

 

yeah, that is what i was just thinking.

 

I agree with KB on the composites, but I have heard that it does do something to weaken the helmets, another marketing ploy?

 

if it was sropped badly enough it could cause a crack inside the composite that would not be noticable untill it was actually impacted. It takes a pretty big impact to do that though. its more likely to happen from thousands of warming and chilling cycles. (warm helmet go outside and gets cold then goes inside and gets warm)

 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_high_u..._deemed_unsafe

Answer From the Snell website: "Helmets are normally comprised of four elements; a rigid outer shell, a crushable liner, chin straps or a retaining system and fit or comfort padding. The rigid outer shell when present adds a load-spreading capability, and prevents objects from penetrating the helmet. It's kind of like an additional skull. The liner, usually made of EPS (expanded polystyrene) or similar types of materials absorbs the energy of an impact by crushing. The chin strap when properly buckled and adjusted along with the fit padding helps the helmet remain in position during a crash. Helmets work kind of like a brake or shock absorber. During a fall or crash a head is traveling at a certain speed. Since the head has weight, and is moving there is a certain amount of energy associated with the moving head. When the helmet along with the accompanying head impact an unyielding object; a rock, a wall, a curb or the ground the hard shell starts by taking the energy generated by the falling helmet (head) and spreads it over a larger portion of the helmet, specifically the internal foam liner. The foam liner then starts to crush and break which uses up a lot of the energy, keeping it from reaching the head inside. Depending on how fast the head is traveling, and how big, heavy and immovable the object is the faster the head slows down, and the more energy is present. In short everything slows down really quickly. A helmet will effectively reduce the speed of the head by breaking and crushing which reduces the amount of energy transferred to the brain. The whole process take only milliseconds to turn a potentially lethal blow into a survivable one." Because of the different layers involved in how a helmet reduces the impact of an accident, coupled with the fact that the part that absorbs most of the impact is not even visible, a drop of anything higher than 1 - 2 feet onto a hard surface can, effectively, render a helmet useless as protection in an accident - even if there is no visible damage.

 

Probably is OK. The important part (IMHO) is the stryofoam and crush stuff. If it didn't hit hard enough to compress, loosen the liner,or put a big crack in the outer shell, I'd still wear it.
If it was a few years old, I'd say scrap it, though. Typically, by that time, the glue has begun to deteriorate and separation of the plies can be an issue.

 

i thought it was ok right away, but the more i think about it the more i worry, cuz now i got all sorts of thought in my head about how this was like a 2 foot drop (and i am sure i have banged it around a bunch of times before by accident) and it chipped the paint to the fiber glass, if the paint was scratched then i think i would feel better, i will post a pic later tonight. butright now i am a little freaked of ending up like this [sm=outcold.gif].

anyways i started to look at some scopions 700 for me and a 400 for the wife, just in case.

 

You'll love the Scorpions. Buy the photochromic shield. Worth every penny.

 

I think its worth it to just buy another helmet, even if there is nothing wrong with your current helment, atleast you'll have the piece of mind that you have sufficient protection.