Dropped helmet

[G4L4XY]

It would be a really useless helmet if it was fucked from dropping it 40cms.

Especially when it's not cheap

[GrayWolf]

Thanks for the offer Kitty, I went to Cycletreads where I purchased it from, they said it should be fine. Not too confident in his information though, he told me you can essentially throw the helmet on the ground and it doesn't affect the white polystyrene stuff.

Once I get some more monies I might look at getting another one though

You'd be right not to be confident in that information..... the white stuff inside is designed to deform some and spread the load of an impact,,, 'cushioning' if you like.... take into account as was pointed out about an unrestrained baby in a car accident (weight is not much more than your head) at 50kph, Arnold Schwartzie would not be able to hold onto the kid (in his 'heyday') so the polystyrene has to absorb a lot of energy, by deforming, so cant be too soft, cant be too hard, hence why polystyrene is so good as a crash helmet 'impact' absorbing liner.
The plastic shell is a 'use once' direct impact shell that absorbs the high load (initial sharp impact) and transfers it to the white liner... if the shell is compromised, even a hairline crack, it could very likely split open and leave the soft inner liner to absorb the direct impact... which it wont.

[mossy1200]

Put a plaster on it. Its should heal as quick as a head injury.

[calfinm]

Would have thought your main danger would be from a penetrative force hitting close to the damage as you have lost the outer shell at that point. Have a wee peek at this video.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...elmets/283819/

That's interesting, so he's very specifically said if it falls off your bike seat there may be cosmetic damage but its fine. See around 7 mins. Man thats contrary to what I always thought, but what would he know he only makes them.

[jellywrestler]

I like to put it on the mirror which has worked every other time, but the clutch lever happened to be in the way this time and it never went on properly.

another reason to ditch it----- sticking it on your mirror often damages the interior polystyrene mould and diminishes the protection value that it has too. next worseerer step is sticking it on a gas tank on a hot day, the petrol fumes are really good at destroying the internal shell without ya even knowing

[Motig]

Gotta say if it was only 40cm it should be fine, mind you I do find it a bit hard to tell the size of the indentation from your photo. If moneys a problem at the moment its better than no helmet at all. Heck if you had to buy a new helmet every time it was dropped a short distance from the ground nobody would be able to afford to buy a bike to wear it on.

[G4L4XY]

another reason to ditch it----- sticking it on your mirror often damages the interior polystyrene mould and diminishes the protection value that it has too. next worseerer step is sticking it on a gas tank on a hot day, the petrol fumes are really good at destroying the internal shell without ya even knowing

How does putting it on the mirror damage it? I've always had it so that the mirror actually sticks out the part where your eyes look out of? Of course with the visor open, I does it this way because it makes it very difficult for it to then fall off. Come to think of it my last Oxford helmet was dropped plenty of times. I used to put that on the mirror too, I'd go into a shop and find it on the ground or put back on my gas tank haha. I'd even dropped it from a decent height and it landed square on top of it. And then I crashed and it was fine, thing is the shell was never damage like this one is.
I know at the end of the day "is the cost of a new helmet worth your life"

[HenryDorsetCase]

Accidently dropped my helmet yesterday, managed to reduce the impact a little by fumbling to catch it against my bike so the impact was from only 40cms or so.

Have uploaded a couple pics, do I need to replace it?

I saw a helmet xray on line (cant find it now) where the damage on the outer shell was minimal (bit more than your pic but not much) but the xray clearly showed the striations in the shell. remember you are looking at the underneath of the damage: It was pushed IN from this point so the other side of the shell is where the damage likely occurs.

[rastuscat]

For ones arse yes...and the odd sandwich.

I've found that a bike seat is fantastic for up to as many as a dozen donuts.

The other great place on a bike for a helmet is the red flashing light on the pole at the rear.

Um, haven't all bikes got one of those?

[BigAl]

Just ensure when you fall off favour the good side.

[HenryDorsetCase]

another reason to ditch it----- sticking it on your mirror often damages the interior polystyrene mould and diminishes the protection value that it has too. next worseerer step is sticking it on a gas tank on a hot day, the petrol fumes are really good at destroying the internal shell without ya even knowing

every kid did the polystyrene + petrol = DIY napalm didnt they?

not me, of course

[G4L4XY]

Just ensure when you fall off favour the good side.

Just have to make sure I don't go head-first into anything then

[varminter]

So, you lot are saying that my leather WW1 flying helmet isn't good enough, right?

[Scruffygit]

What make is it?

Some manufacturers (Arai & Shoei for certain in Europe and the US, don't know about here) will check out your helmet and tell you if it's ok or not. For a fee of course but a lot cheaper than a new helmet if it's ok.

A UK magazine (Ride) did a investigation into the "any drop wrecks your helmet" belief several years ago by throwing helmets down a stairwell and then putting them through the BS/CE test. All passed the "falling off your seat" test, one (Arai I think - years ago) survived being dropped two floors!!!!

[TygerTung]

I would definitely not get rid of it with a small fall like that.

I have dropped mine off my seat before and I still use it. I don't think it would be ruined just from that.

I would say that it'd be fine. Like someone said before, if a helmet is ruined from falling 40cm, it's gotta be a pretty crap helmet.