Helmets are great. They help protect our noggins from the rough and tumble of getting it all terribly wrong. It makes sense to look after your helmet considering what you put in it but at some point they need to be replaced. A key replacement opportunity is straight after you’ve had cause to use it for it’s intended purpose – you see, helmets are one time use only designs when it comes to landing on them.
Helmets being made of an expanded foam, are designed to compress on impact, spreading the impact load over a wide area instead of having that lumpy rock dissipate it’s force directly into a single spot on your actual head. This is a job they do very well, however, once the expanded foam has compressed it stays compressed and there’s no way of undoing the damage. Obviously a helmet flat spot after an accident becomes a weak point for future impacts. The helmet, in that area simply won’t be able to repeat the job it did so well when you landed on it. So, the vast majority of helmet manufacturers strongly recommend binning a helmet that has been in a crash.

But before anyone shouts ‘conspiracy!’ and accuses the industry of just using this as an excuse to sell us all new helmets every time we fall off, bear in mind that some manufacturers offer a crash replacement scheme that allows you to get a new helmet for a fraction of the original price you paid simply by turning in your damaged one. If your lid qualifies for crash replacement then you may want to avoid the next bit and just return it. But you will miss out on the fun.
A few weeks ago our very own Chipps told the sorry tale of his partner Beate and how she ended up using her face as a brake in a road race. Her helmet took a serious beating along with her face and it was clearly time for a new helmet. But instead of just binning the still whole but damaged helmet, he decided it was a better idea to actually finish the thing off in style by hitting it with a large axe live on Periscope.tv. Why? Well, he didn’t want to run the risk of some innocent recycler spotting it in the rubbish and mistaking it for a lid disposed off purely for non-violent reasons. He didn’t want to run the risk of anyone else wearing a compromised helmet and so he despatched it with an axe. Sensible public service and great live TV all in one.
Well, crashing is a pretty commonplace event of late in the Singletrack office. Mark recently came back from a trip to the Spanish Basque country with one of his sons in plaster thanks to an unlucky but typical OTB. The tally was one fractured scaphoid and a flat spotted helmet around the temple area. And so, with Chipps setting the precedent, he marched out in the back garden armed with one duff lid and very large axe. Plus a variety of cameras.. These things must be documented of course.
So, have you got a busted lid? Worried it may end up in the hands of an innocent? Do you think you could despatch it appropriately in a spectacular way on camera? If you do then we want to see your footage. We’ll publish the best and send you a reward for being so public spirited. Extra points for gratuitous camera angles, slo-mo and other inappropriate special effects. Intro your video with a shot of you telling us your name and how you broke your lid. Send your videos (upload them to Youtube or Vimeo or the like first – don’t send us the video file unless it’s under 10mb) to mark@singletrackworld.com
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Before the stove users get in, that’s a logging maul.
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I usually cut the straps out of mine, before getting medieval on them.
Surprised me a little how well it stood up to the axe, sorry maul.
After using my skull as a brake last week I have one awaiting this treatment – I really am not sure if it was actually compressed or not but not worth the risk. It seems odd smashing something that appears ok still visually.
Is it only me that keeps crash damaged helmets? Not for wearing, but rather as a thanks for keeping me alive.
If the helmet saved my life, I think it deserves to be retired gracefully.
I keep them too, with the intention of sawing them in half and mounting on the mancave wall.
Still not got round to doing it though…..
Don’t forget that several helmet manufacturers offer a crash replacement policy that requires keeping the original…
Is disappoint. Thought it was going to be on someone’s head. 🙁
Discussion in the office just now: Apparently old helmets make good banana storage – the vents allow the bananas to breath apparently. Also, a hanging basket 🙂
Blimey, did you see the rotational force on that helmet when the maul hit it? 😉
Years ago I posted a video on STW of me testing the strength of a Giro Supermoto. I put a ball inside it and hit it with a large mallet. I shall try to find the video and win a prize.