New crash helmet regs

New crash helmet regs

Author
Discussion

eglf

Original Poster:

173 posts

223 months

Monday 25th January 2010
quotequote all
With the new Blue book crash helmet regs coming in for 2010 requiring SNELL 2005, and talk of SNELL 2000 being unaceptable within a year or two does this mean that by 2015/16 SNELL 2005 helmets will be out of date.

MGRacer

79 posts

229 months

Monday 25th January 2010
quotequote all
Snell 2010 has not been finalised quite yet so its implementation has been delayed. With regards to Snell 2005, it might be out of date in 2015 but then again it might not.

eglf

Original Poster:

173 posts

223 months

Monday 25th January 2010
quotequote all
This is my point, all those that have to get a new crash helmet this year may only get
5 years use out of it.

Edited by eglf on Monday 25th January 20:06

AWRacing

1,713 posts

226 months

Monday 25th January 2010
quotequote all
I dont see the issue, its recommended that you renew your helmet after 5 years anyway (not that i ever have).

Trev450

6,326 posts

173 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
quotequote all
That's the issue. Other than professionals, who realistically renews their helmet every 5 years, and particularly if you only use it a few times a year?

Edited by Trev450 on Tuesday 26th January 11:15

fergus

6,430 posts

276 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
quotequote all
Trev450 said:
That's the issue. Other than professionals, who realistically renews their helmet every 5 years, and particularly if you only use it a few times a year?
Don't worry about it. It's only your head that you're protecting.... rolleyes

Trev450

6,326 posts

173 months

Tuesday 26th January 2010
quotequote all
fergus said:
Trev450 said:
That's the issue. Other than professionals, who realistically renews their helmet every 5 years, and particularly if you only use it a few times a year?
Don't worry about it. It's only your head that you're protecting.... rolleyes
The degree of protection is not in question here. If I purchase a good quality helmet such as an Arai or Bell, look after it and use it occasionally, I would expect it to last longer than 5 years

speedychrissie

2,994 posts

240 months

Wednesday 27th January 2010
quotequote all
While it might realistically still be a good helmet in 5 years time, it would still be worth replacing because helmet design and construction will have improved so much.

I have been using my father's old helmet for trackdays for the last 2 years. When he bought it (about 5 years ago) it was a top-middle of the line helmet and very expensive. At the end of the summer I bought myself a new helmet. After having tried on a huge range of different ones I went with the one that fitted the best but also happened to be one of the cheaper ones (about £200). Even though my father's old helmet cost atleast twice that, the new one weighs a lot less, is made from stronger materials and has better overall design.

A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.

In the longrun replacing your helmet every 4-5 years is a relatively minor cost even if you are only using it for trackdays.

carl_w

9,196 posts

259 months

Wednesday 27th January 2010
quotequote all
speedychrissie said:
A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.
But buying a new car every 4-5 years isn't mandatory.

AWRacing

1,713 posts

226 months

Friday 29th January 2010
quotequote all
carl_w said:
speedychrissie said:
A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.
But buying a new car every 4-5 years isn't mandatory.
No, but buying new belts, fire extinguisher (ok - serviced at least) is.

anyway, buy a helmet to the latest spec and then it'll last at least 10yrs if you're worried about cost...

eglf

Original Poster:

173 posts

223 months

Friday 29th January 2010
quotequote all
AWRacing said:
carl_w said:
speedychrissie said:
A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.
But buying a new car every 4-5 years isn't mandatory.
No, but buying new belts, fire extinguisher (ok - serviced at least) is.

anyway, buy a helmet to the latest spec and then it'll last at least 10yrs if you're worried about cost...
But SNELL 2010 has been delayed until October of this year.

jagracer

8,248 posts

237 months

Saturday 6th February 2010
quotequote all
eglf said:
AWRacing said:
carl_w said:
speedychrissie said:
A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.
But buying a new car every 4-5 years isn't mandatory.
No, but buying new belts, fire extinguisher (ok - serviced at least) is.

anyway, buy a helmet to the latest spec and then it'll last at least 10yrs if you're worried about cost...
But SNELL 2010 has been delayed until October of this year.
I thought the reason to change every 5 years was due to material degradation with age. Just to add that I still use my 10 year old Snell 2000 Bell on occasions as it is more comfortable than my new one.

heightswitch

6,318 posts

251 months

Tuesday 9th February 2010
quotequote all
jagracer said:
eglf said:
AWRacing said:
carl_w said:
speedychrissie said:
A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.
But buying a new car every 4-5 years isn't mandatory.
No, but buying new belts, fire extinguisher (ok - serviced at least) is.

anyway, buy a helmet to the latest spec and then it'll last at least 10yrs if you're worried about cost...
But SNELL 2010 has been delayed until October of this year.
I thought the reason to change every 5 years was due to material degradation with age. Just to add that I still use my 10 year old Snell 2000 Bell on occasions as it is more comfortable than my new one.
Why not just buy a BS 6658 Type A/FR helmet and save all the bullst??


thunderbelmont

2,982 posts

225 months

Tuesday 9th February 2010
quotequote all
Because that standard may well be removed from the list by the MSA along with SNELL SA2000.

I have a new hat every 5 years, regardless of the amount of use it gets.

They're a lot cheaper, and more readily available than a new head.

Graham

16,368 posts

285 months

Wednesday 10th February 2010
quotequote all
<LOL> i was thinking of changing my helmet, but i think I'll hang on a bit until they decide where regs are going its a BS 6658 Type A/FR so currently valid!!

jagracer

8,248 posts

237 months

Wednesday 10th February 2010
quotequote all
heightswitch said:
jagracer said:
eglf said:
AWRacing said:
carl_w said:
speedychrissie said:
A simple analogy is vehicle crash testing. In the mid 90s if you were in a volvo everyone said you were practically invincible. 10 years later vehicle construction and design had improved so much that the same mid 90s volvo would be considered a death-trap by modern crash testing standards. I know that there is more money in car design but the principle is the same.
But buying a new car every 4-5 years isn't mandatory.
No, but buying new belts, fire extinguisher (ok - serviced at least) is.

anyway, buy a helmet to the latest spec and then it'll last at least 10yrs if you're worried about cost...
But SNELL 2010 has been delayed until October of this year.
I thought the reason to change every 5 years was due to material degradation with age. Just to add that I still use my 10 year old Snell 2000 Bell on occasions as it is more comfortable than my new one.
Why not just buy a BS 6658 Type A/FR helmet and save all the bullst??
Because the one I have is Snell whatever and it is more comfortable than the only one I could find in BS 6658 Type A/FR

911legend

218 posts

222 months

Wednesday 17th February 2010
quotequote all
yes i need to replace my perfectly good helmet with a snell 2005 one for this season, is it not just for fireproofing anyway? does anyone know of a supplier other than spending £400 at demon tweeks ?

carl_w

9,196 posts

259 months