Helmet Longevity (Lifetime)
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,760
Likes: 211
From: Manila, Philippines
One of the guys needed to be backrided to an event and forgot his helmet. We found a spare fullface that has been lying around for years. Put it on and half the styrofoam just about had disintegrated and came pouring out.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 4,626
Likes: 98
From: Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
Well, of course, the manufacturer is going to tell you to replace your helmet. How else do they make more money off you? Our entire economy is based on deliberate obsolescence to get you to keep buying the same thing again and again.
All right, I know it's just the cynic in me talking, but I'm curious to see some actual data that would back up the notion that helmets degrade over time, if so, how quickly and how much. I mean data from someone who doesn't have a vested interest in selling me a new helmet.
All right, I know it's just the cynic in me talking, but I'm curious to see some actual data that would back up the notion that helmets degrade over time, if so, how quickly and how much. I mean data from someone who doesn't have a vested interest in selling me a new helmet.
I have yet to see an independent study that shows a helmet will degrade enough to be unusable after five years. I have five or six helmets in my closet that are well over five years old. Some of them have hardly been worn or worn maybe six or seven times in a year for maybe a total of twenty hours. Those helmets should be pitched?
Everyone knows polycarbonates are affected by UV rays. I've got equipment here on the farm that have plastic parts on them and they sit outside 24/7 and sure they are faded but are they unusable? Not in my book.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,601
Likes: 189
From: east texas
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,513
Likes: 116
From: OKC
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,906
Likes: 145
From: SE Louisiana
...helmets in my closet... hardly been worn or worn maybe six or seven times in a year for maybe a total of twenty hours...
Everyone knows polycarbonates are affected by UV rays. I've got equipment here on the farm that have plastic parts on them and they sit outside 24/7 and sure they are faded but are they unusable?...
Everyone knows polycarbonates are affected by UV rays. I've got equipment here on the farm that have plastic parts on them and they sit outside 24/7 and sure they are faded but are they unusable?...
I recently bought new 3/4 and modular helmets. There's no indication on the helmet or box it came in as to when it was manufactured. What if it sat in a warehouse in Vietnam (place of manufacture) for several years? Tires are required to have a readily visible date code on them -- maybe helmets should more visibly show the manufactured date? Otherwise, how do you know really how old it is?
All that said, I still tend to replace helmets after about 5 yrs of use. Maybe I'm overly conservative -- but it's my head!
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,719
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From: Los Angeles