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Like a lot of helmets mines date stamped, & wondering what's the general rule of thumb as to helmet life?, I'm from a motorbike back ground & personally liked to change to new one every 2 years,i always had a couple of Arais so used to alternate them as they were date stamped.
On some race tracks for instance they won't let you on if it exceeds 5 yrs old..thing is I hit a tree with my head quite hard earlier in the year,should I change it?.
replace when dented or broken
Life span is around 3years. But if it has taken a serious knock it could be worth replacing it now.
If you've hit your head hard then it needs replacement, the foam will be at least partially, probably fullt crushed in the impact area making it useless. Bike helmets are only designed for small knocks so take care!
To be fair it's hardly marked externally or internally,& it's certainley not fractured otherwise I'd have changed it ASAP !,I'm quite funny with owt like tht,I guess it's a conscience thing !,thx anyway ..
+1 for change it, as The Brick says, it's designed to crush and absorb energy. It's done that, and it won't do it again.
Or, just cross your fingers that you never need it...
APF
Takes an aweful lot more than you expect to damage a helmet but when it does happen it's very hard to tell.
That said, EPS, which is what most helmets are made of I AFAIK?, is mechanically stable indefinitely (apart from creep when under constant load), it's closed cell, water resistant and isn't affected by most head related chemicals. I've got 10 year old helmets and I'm fairly happy with them still being my protectors.
Mine is 5 years old and starting to show its age. I might get another year out of it.
I think 6 years is about right.
The last one I replaced (as the foam split in two when I head butted a tree at some speed) was years old - maybe 5 or 6. I only replace them when either they get too disgusting to wear, or I break them.
Every two years for me same when I had a motor bike used to have a row of helmets in the loft mainly AGV and Arai 😀
what coffeeking said, though not so sure you can't tell the damage.