Heyo!

All you newbies out there... and lazy vets, just a friendly reminder... WEAR A FREAKING HELMET!!! I was boarding the other night, not to crazy of winds... hit a soft spot in the field and WHAM!!! head first, in the blink of an eye, right in the ground... I really think my bucket saved me a trip to the hospital... i hit pretty hard, and was able to shrug it off... my neck and back are a little sore, but i'll take that over a lengthy hospital stay...

The old condom rhyme seems to fit here too... dont be a fool, wrap your tool! (lol maybe, hahaha) :puzzled:

Same thing happened to me the other day while landboarding in some tall grass with lots of uneven terrain. I was rolling to a stop when I did a header. Only my ego was injured because I haven't fallen in the last 2 months. Embarassing thing was I was showing a prospective landboarder the basics. But he said, "Now I see why you wear all that protective gear." I always wear a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves and good sunglasses. Keep safe dude.

You know I ALWAYS wear mine!

Inspect the helmet well. If you hit hard enough to damage it you should replace it because it might not withstand another blow. Glad you were wearing one.

I wouldn't imagine that to be the case with the plastic helmets we got, Stetson ... their primary function is to stop damage to skull from pointy things and to provide a little cushioning - like rolling out of your canoe onto the rocky river bed or sliding down a half-pipe.
Well that's assuming it's like the nylon thingy I got - they'll take repeated knocks and keep on trucking.
If it's something more substantial like a motorbike helmet, that's a whole other kettle of fish ...

Most helmet manufactures recommend replacement after any serous blow, some of the higher end ones even offer free exchanges so that they can preform research on the damaged lid.

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From the 611 site I have a SixSixone Helmet, how do I care for it and how do I know if it's still good after a crash? The following information should provide all the guidance you need. Also, always read the owners manual that comes with every SixSixOne helmet for important information regarding your specific helmet. Helmet Replacement (All Models) Although your SixSixOne Helmet is constructed with the best materials available to offer a long-lasting product, it will eventually need to be replaced. Immediately replace your helmet if: It has suffered an impact. Your helmet is only designed for ONE impact. An impact may fracture the outer shell or compress the impact absorbing liner. You may not be able to detect this damage. Any impact in a crash or a drop from as low as 4 feet is enough to damage your helmet. The shell, lining, or retention system is damaged. The helmet shell, the impact absorbing lining, and the retention system must be in good condition to provide you with the most protection. Even if your helmet has not been damaged, it needs to be replaced every 3 to 5 years depending on how much you use it. Over time, UV rays and adhesive and component aging will damage your helmet. Wearing a damaged helmet may increase your risk of serious injury or death in an accident. If you are unsure if you need to replace your helmet, contact SixSixOne before using your helmet again. Inspect Your Helmet Regular maintenance and proper cleaning will ensure the longevity of your helmet. Check the visor screws and retighten if necessary. Be sure not to over-tighten any screws. Plastic base plate screws can break and aluminum visor screws can strip the screw sleeves if over-tightened. Check the helmet for damage. If your helmet is damaged or cracked, stop using it immediately. See "Helmet Replacement" section for further information. If your helmet has been dropped, you may not be able to see the damage. Check for worn or damaged parts. Plastic components may wear out over time. If you find worn or damaged parts, replace them or purchase a new helmet. Helmet Disposal If you buy a new helmet, destroy the old one to ensure it cannot be reused. Do not sell or give away your old helmet, even if it has not been damaged. Over time the protective foam in the helmet will adjust to the contours of your head. If someone else uses this helmet it will not provide them with as much protection.

Glad you were wearing it, going to the ER sucks.

Bike helmets yeah but these are just plastic buckets with bits of foam in, no? Bike helmets function 100% differently ...

... basing this on the helmets (like mine) being made outa the same stuff as knee/elbow pads which according to google is (or may be) polyethylene ...

god I can't sleep so heres the "best of" results of a hour+ with Google and "copy and paste"

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Source MULTIPLE IMPACT SKATE HELMETS (THE ASTM STANDARD) The ASTM F-1492 skateboard helmet standard requires skate helmets be capable of absorbing multiple impacts. The softer foam liner inside these helmets absorbs impacts and immediately rebounds to it's original shape. So, ASTM certified skateboard helmets are designed and certified to be multiple impact helmets. However, this does not mean ASTM helmets are approved for bicycle use! To be approved (and legal) for bicycle use, the helmet must also meet the CPSC bicycle standard. SINGLE IMPACT BIKE HELMETS (THE CPSC STANDARD) The CPSC bicycle helmet standard requires helmets to protect the rider from a single impact. In a typical bike helmet, the hard foam liner inside the helmet crushes as it absorbs the force of the impact. This is by design, so the foam absorbs the impact instead of your head! But, since the foam crushes at the point of impact, the helmet will no longer offer the same amount of protection in that area. How much protection is lost? It depends on how fast you were going, what you hit, the condition of your helmet, etc. etc. Helmet manufacturers recommend (naturally) that you replace your bike helmet after any significant impact. What is significant? Can't say for sure. For certain, if the shell is cracked or you can see that the foam is crushed - replace the helmet. But, not all damage is visible. So, ultimately, it's your call. MULTIPLE IMPACT BIKE AND SNOW HELMETS In the last few years, ProTec has introduced their SXP line of multiple-impact helmets. According to ProTec, due to "advanced chemical structure and sophisticated processes used to create SXP liners", their SXP helmets rebound to their original shapes to maintain their impact qualities. Bell and Giro, for their part, do not claim to be multiple impact helmets. They argue: No helmet, regardless of the liner material used, can offer unlimited multiple-impact protection There is no way to predict how hard you might hit your head the next time you fall As a result, Bell and Giro both recommend replacing your helmet after a "serious impact."

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Source Two basic types of helmets Helmets are usually in two categories: one-use and multi-hit. Single use helmets are mostly made with expanded polystyrene (EPS) because it is cheap, light, easy to manufacture and has excellent crush characteristics with very little rebound. Once crushed it recovers some part of its thickness, but does not recover its protection. If you don't discard it after the first hit, you will be in for a nasty surprise if you happen to hit on the same spot for a second hard impact! Bicycle, motorcycle, roller skate and equestrian helmets normally use EPS for impact energy management. The first multi-use bicycle helmets were made with expanded polypropylene (EPP). EPP looks like EPS, but has a slightly rubbery feel. It recovers slowly after a blow and is good for more hits. Nobody can tell you how many more hits, but some. Its crush and manufacturing characteristics are not quite as good as EPS, so the helmet might have to be thicker, and it rebounds enough during the impact sequence to make it less than ideal, although the rebound occurs after the lab has measured the performance of the helmet and is missed in standards testing. EPP is used extensively in automotive padding, for things like the foam to back up a bumper. There are now on the market a few EPP helmets that meet both the CPSC bicycle helmet standard and the ASTM F1492 skateboard helmet standard. They have stickers inside telling you that. We list them on our page on dual-certified helmets. Multi-hit helmets are mostly made with butyl nitrate foam, a "squishy" but dense foam that is good for many impacts. It is mostly black or gray. It is heavier than EPS and cannot manage as much impact energy for a given thickness. Hockey and football helmets are made this way, and so are whitewater, old-style skateboard and aggressive trick skating helmets. You don't have to throw the helmet away after a hit, but it normally is not much thicker than an EPS helmet, and that means it will not manage as big an impact. Typical lab drops for multi-use helmets are one meter. For single-use EPS helmets the typical drop is two meters. That's a very large difference in impact protection. Another "squishy" foam, but with superior impact characteristics is the foam marketed by W Helmets as Zorbium. Behind the glitzy name is a really good foam, good for multi hits and "rate-sensitive" to make it stiffen up if the impact is really hard and ease up if the impact is lesser. It might be a good choice if avoiding concussions is your primary goal. (Most helmets are designed to protect primarily against the high-end impacts that cause catastrophic brain injury, letting enough energy through to give you mild concussions.) Zorbium helmets from W Helmets are hot, heavy and soak up sweat, but some of them meet bike, ski and skateboard standards.

So it all depends what helmet he got knew most of that already but thanks for searching & posting!
My 'sport' helmet (hockey & kites) seems to be like a canoe helmet I got a Shoei X-11 for the bike though

Simply, a single-use or motorbike helmet has a rigid shell for impact (piercing) protection and to spread & lower the force of an impact over the entire helmet and an EPS liner to absorb energy and to 'slow down' the moment of impact, lowering the G-forces your brain experiences within your skull.
Dropping such a helmet could crack the shell and/or compress the EPS liner, neither of which would be visibly detectable by your average Joe and both (separately or together) would drastically reduce the effectiveness of the helmet.

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Originally posted by Kamikuza Bike helmets yeah but these are just plastic buckets with bits of foam in, no?

So that pic is you with the bucket on. Whatever works. I work in an ER and would rather see someone wearing one of those than nothing.
Happy flying

BTW I am used to seeing pretty high impact stuff so as long as it isn't damaged, might be ok

If you haven't guessed yet, when I say 'bike' I mean 'motorbike' ... not bicycle

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Originally posted by Kamikuza If you haven't guessed yet, when I say 'bike' I mean 'motorbike' ... not bicycle

...crotch rocket... pfft :smug:

lol just kidding, i ride a honda... but its got lots of chrome... and doesnt sound like a "pissed of weed eater"... lol... sorry, i couldnt resist... the sport bike crowd around here is pretty bad... too many 16 y/o doing wheelies through every neighborhood

After a couple of e-mails to 611 they replied with this.

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Re: General Info--crash replacement policy > Gary McClelland wrote: Cycling helmets have a 50% off retail crash replacement available only directly through us. Moto helmets, (Flight & Fenix) don't have an official crash replacement warranty because they are tougher than a typical cycling helmet, but most times if you ask, you can still get a big discount on a replacement if you wreck one. The replacement warranty really originated with the road style cycling helmets which pretty much are wrecked after one crash on the pavement. Although it's a cheap insurance policy, it still was tough for people to pony up $60-$90 every time they fell down. All of our current helmets are much more durable than that.

Now I wonder if Moto helmets are multi impact?

i took a big hit straight to the head a few times with my cheap little bell helmet, and was not too worried about keeping on wearing it... until i found that i had fractured the foam beneath the plastic.... i ordered a replacement today, but if it was all i had, i would wear it, as opposed to not wearing one...

i didnt replace mine after the first blow, but after repeated blows, i dont feel comfortable wearing it anymore....

even with the helmet on, i gave myself some bell-ringing impacts... the hardest i hit was one of the slowest times i was ever boarding.... im pretty sure i would have knocked myself right out if i hadnt been wearing the helmet that day

uh ohh I wear a Giro Snowboarding helmet. Does that mean the protection is not as great because snow isn't as hard as a feild?

Helmet isn't going to absorb all the shock, it's not a giant wad of cotton wool - you're still going to get a jolt! But the difference could be unconscious or brain damage versus seeing stars ...

You got ice, rocks and trees on your ski fields no, dgkid? Then I'm sure it's fine, if not better than a canoe hat

... how many times do you fall off your bicycle? :puzzled: helmets are a consumable item anyway, they don't last forever! Manufacturers of bike helmets suggest replacing them every 2 to 3 years, but most stores say up to 5.

S'ok Drew, I like going around corners so I don't ride a cruiser and don't bother with wheelies. Also, I got a 1L V-twin so no weed-eater sound effects ...

R=THATS WHY YOU ALWAYS LEAN BACK

Crazy Lid story:

Today I got out to the field (45 mins away) and the wind was at about 15mph.... I got out there and realized I HAD FORGOTTEN MY HELMET! i was so mad, so I called up my friend who was on his way and he said he would bring an extra (a sweet old bike helmet, hey, something's better than nothing i thought). So i just kinda boarded easily back and forth no jumping till he got there with the helmet. Put that sweet bad-boy on and off i went. Well i'd say about 15 minutes into my session with the helmet on I lost my balance heading back goofy(right foot forward) and my foot came out of one of the straps.... I ended up with my feet the opposite way i was traveling and i landed on my back and THWAP I NAILED my head on the hard dirt!!! I was like THANK GOD I was wearing the little helmet or I would have had a concussion! Another story to tell that helmets are definitely required, not an option when you're out there :P . Thank God, that's all I have to say!

Yes but if you weren't wearing your helmet, it wouldn't have happened :D