So this evening I got a case of the butter fingers. I knew it before it happened. As I was adjusting the chin strap to lock it into the helmet lock, I dropped my full face bell helmet onto the pavement.

Now I know that dropping a helmet generally means replacement, but in this scenario I just have to ask. It was dropped onto an asphalt parking lot. Visual damage is only a few tiny minor scratches  where it landed on some tiny bits of gravel.

I just want to know if this drop means automatically replace it. I mean in THEORY without seeing visual damage, it seems like such a 1.5 foot drop shouldn't cause damage and warrant replacement. But then again I always take very very good care of my helmet and even letting others try it on makes me sweat.

Opinions will make decision one way or the other easier, even if they are overwhelmingly for replacing it.  

I fumbled mine out of my hands one day, from about waist high.  Landed on the face shield, scratched the shield a little, maybe a few other minor marks.  I didn't replace it.  Personally, I think its a way for them to sell more helmets, if its preached that any bump can cause damage.  Obviously we are talking about our heads here, and want them as safe as possible.  But maybe I'm a little riskier than others. 

I wouldn't worry about a plastic helmet at all.
But a fiberglass or carbon fiber I would inspect closely.

I've always heard you should replace it after a 3ft or high drop. The reason is not so much the out layer, but the foam inside. It's really only made to compress once. Instead of cradling your head (which would cause your head to bounce around and hurt your brain) it absorbs the impact when compressing. A couple light scratches and foot and a half drop I wouldn't bother replacing. But as mentioned earlier, be careful with the cleaner you use to clean up those scratches.

There is nothing inside the helmet to compress the styrofoam inside with the hard case. Inspect the outer layer and inner foam. If no physical damge beside the outside scratches, I would keep wearing it.

Mostly, follow your intuition and feeling. If you feel safer wearing a new helmet, then buy a new one. Do not let that bother you, especially when riding

Safe and enjoy riding!

There is actually some fraying on the chin strap which was to the point I was going to ship the helmet off to the manufacturer and see what their warranty would do for it. This makes a good motive to that and while it's there, I can have them inspect it for damage. Who knows, maybe they'll just send me back a new shiny helmet! I'm not sure if a chin strap is something that can be replaced.

WD wrote on 08/09/11 at 18:31:36:


I love it, and can't commit to disagreeing with that, lol.

CalisOsin wrote on 08/10/11 at 09:22:45:

Helmets are designed to protect the wearer from an impact.
Let's call this impact 20 g's for simplicity.
Average wearer maybe 200 lbs.
So 20 times 200 = 4000 lbs (slugs... but let's not go into that)
This is distributed over an approximate 6" x 6" area
4000 times 36 (let's say 40) = 160,000 psi
yeah, I think the foam gonna crush.

Now compare that with an empty helmet (ok, no snide remarks... yeah I mean you)
Average helmet maybe 3 lbs.
So 20 times 3 = 60 lbs
This is distributed over an approximate 6" x 6" area
60 times 36 (let's say 40) = 2400 psi
I think the impact resistane of styrofoam is something like 8,000 psi... depends on the foam.
2400 << 8000, not going to crush.

OK that's a perfect world.
reality, the helmet going to deflect and push on the foam.  The foam having nothing behind it will deflect too.  So it comes down to how much does the helmet deflect and how stiff is the foam.  If you're worried about this, think about how much pressure you apply to put the helmet it on and how much you crush the foam every time.  

forgetaboutit.