Helmets
Oct 7, 1999 | 05:58 PM
#3
Pro Rider
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 1
Nearly all helmets today are either Snell95 or DOT approved or both. so the safety aspect is about the same from the lowest priced to the highest, highest being upwards of $400. The diference is in the fit, weight, ventilation, removal of interior for washing and purely cosmetic .Also the interior padding on the higher priced helmets are often of better quality and some have additional pads at the base of the neck.
tThe higher priced ones often have a carbon fiber shell which adds to the cost, but is considerably lighter for long or vigorous riding.
I wear a Shoei FX Troy Lee & it fits me just right. It currently is priced around $260..
not the most expensive but not the cheapest.
Whatever you do , don't buy any helmet without trying on the Specific model you like. Size varies in different makes & models.Be sure to buckle it and see how the cheek pieces fit.. they should be snug but not to the point they distort the cheeks like a chipmunk
Then shake your head vigorously side to side... the helmet should move with your head..if your head slides around inside the bucket is too big.
Now for the sermon: consider your new lid as tho it were an American Express card...don't leave home without it!;by definition, accidents are unplanned events, so riding across the street to show you neighbor your new toy can result in an unplanned event.
THE AZ HARD PACKER,
calmiller@kachina.net
------------------
save your riding area! join the Blue Ribbon Coalition online @www.sharetrails.org
[This message has been edited by hot_shoe_cv (edited 10-07-1999).]
tThe higher priced ones often have a carbon fiber shell which adds to the cost, but is considerably lighter for long or vigorous riding.
I wear a Shoei FX Troy Lee & it fits me just right. It currently is priced around $260..
not the most expensive but not the cheapest.
Whatever you do , don't buy any helmet without trying on the Specific model you like. Size varies in different makes & models.Be sure to buckle it and see how the cheek pieces fit.. they should be snug but not to the point they distort the cheeks like a chipmunk
Then shake your head vigorously side to side... the helmet should move with your head..if your head slides around inside the bucket is too big.Now for the sermon: consider your new lid as tho it were an American Express card...don't leave home without it!;by definition, accidents are unplanned events, so riding across the street to show you neighbor your new toy can result in an unplanned event.
THE AZ HARD PACKER,
calmiller@kachina.net
------------------
save your riding area! join the Blue Ribbon Coalition online @www.sharetrails.org
[This message has been edited by hot_shoe_cv (edited 10-07-1999).]
Oct 7, 1999 | 06:12 PM
#4
Pro Rider
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 656
Likes: 0
Earlier in the year I was riding in Black River Falls, WI. There was six of us in the group and I was riding out front. We were traveling between 30 and 40mph down the trail. Under complete control of our machines. I was coming up on a right hand turn, traveling on the inside. When I meet two dirtbikes traveling about 70mph, racing each other. They were side by side and there was no way that all of us were going to stop in time or make it past each other. Acting just on reaction. I took a hard right up into some tall grass to get out of the way. I thought that I was in the clear until I hit the stump hidden away in the grass. The machine stopped, but I didn't. I flew over the bars and smacked my head on a rock. I was knocked out for about 5 minutes. When I came too, I had one heck of a headache and one cracked helmet. It saved my life. Even though my group was riding under control out on the trail. You never know what the other guy is going to do or be doing.
My brother, who was riding right behind me ended up clipping one of the riders. Not enough to take him down. But close enough to know that they were going too fast.
The worst part was, they never stopped to see if everyone was ok.
Always wear a helmet.
Chris "00" 300EX
My brother, who was riding right behind me ended up clipping one of the riders. Not enough to take him down. But close enough to know that they were going too fast.
The worst part was, they never stopped to see if everyone was ok.
Always wear a helmet.
Chris "00" 300EX
Oct 14, 1999 | 05:03 PM
#5
Weekend Warrior
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Ah helmets. I have just finished three years of motorcycle road racing with two class championships to my credit. I have used many helmets (19 crashes) to save the rather feeble gray matter currently slopping around in my head. Since helmets come in many varieties and constructions. I wanted a light comfortable helmet that would hold goggles in place and still provide "some" protecton while keeping cost down. Knowing that the speeds would not be very high and therefore impact not as critical. I looked at ski helmets and found some nice choices of tough down hill racing helmets. After further investigation I felt that these type of helmets would work fine for ATV's. These helmets are poly carbonate, light (half the weight of MC helmets) , colorful and easy to keep clean. They might be down on the absolute impact protection of MC helmets however they are effective for trail riding. Some of you may disagree with my choice, but remember that down hill racers hit speeds over 70mph while wearing these helmets.
Don't break your egg
Don't break your egg
Oct 14, 1999 | 10:45 PM
#6
Trailblazer
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
I hope each and every one of you truely loves your helmet, for one day it may be a permenant part of your head.
For many years it was perfectly legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. This was due to the fact that when you're going more than 15 mph, the helmet will probably do more damage than good. My friend's dad was going 65 mph on his Harley one day when the custom fork gave out. He lost control and smacked the side of his bare head on the pavement. He is still alive 20 years later to tell about it. I am sure if he was wearing a helmet he definitely wouldn't be here. He has lost his hearing in that side of his head but has no other permenant injury.
Because it's a fact that HELMETS KILL!, Illinois has refused to enforce the federal law stating that every rider must wear a helmet.
Anyone who'd wear a helmet rated for less impact than a motorcycle helmet on an ATV has to be a complete idiot. I don't know what kind of trails you ride on, but whenever I have been on a quad and on a trail, 30 mph was way out of the question. Unless you're on a paved trail or something, this is highly excessive speed for a trail. Had you been at an appropriate speed, you could have stopped. If wearing a helmet makes you feel invincible, one day you may learn how worthless a helmet really is!
Imagine this: a 100 pound woman gets in an accident at 10 mph, flys over the handlebars, and smacks a tree. She has applied 1,000 lbs of force to whatever part of the body that hit the tree (so, we agree that a helmet can support 1,000 lbs).
Every time speed is increased by 10 mph, force increases by a factor of 4. Thus:
The same woman at 20 mph applies 4,000 lbs of force to her body.
The same woman at 30 mph applies 8,000 lbs of force to her body.
The same woman at 40 mph applies 16,000 lbs of force to her body.
At what point can this helmet no longer support this extreme amount of force? Either way, when her head hits the pavement, what kind of torque will be transmitted to her head?
Use your brain, I have given you the facts.
HELMETS KILL!
I know I may not make many friends for posting this, but I would rather state the facts than make friends. ANYONE WHO WEARS A HELMET HAS A DEATH WISH!
[This message has been edited by DreamofPolaris (edited 10-14-1999).]
For many years it was perfectly legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. This was due to the fact that when you're going more than 15 mph, the helmet will probably do more damage than good. My friend's dad was going 65 mph on his Harley one day when the custom fork gave out. He lost control and smacked the side of his bare head on the pavement. He is still alive 20 years later to tell about it. I am sure if he was wearing a helmet he definitely wouldn't be here. He has lost his hearing in that side of his head but has no other permenant injury.
Because it's a fact that HELMETS KILL!, Illinois has refused to enforce the federal law stating that every rider must wear a helmet.
Anyone who'd wear a helmet rated for less impact than a motorcycle helmet on an ATV has to be a complete idiot. I don't know what kind of trails you ride on, but whenever I have been on a quad and on a trail, 30 mph was way out of the question. Unless you're on a paved trail or something, this is highly excessive speed for a trail. Had you been at an appropriate speed, you could have stopped. If wearing a helmet makes you feel invincible, one day you may learn how worthless a helmet really is!
Imagine this: a 100 pound woman gets in an accident at 10 mph, flys over the handlebars, and smacks a tree. She has applied 1,000 lbs of force to whatever part of the body that hit the tree (so, we agree that a helmet can support 1,000 lbs).
Every time speed is increased by 10 mph, force increases by a factor of 4. Thus:
The same woman at 20 mph applies 4,000 lbs of force to her body.
The same woman at 30 mph applies 8,000 lbs of force to her body.
The same woman at 40 mph applies 16,000 lbs of force to her body.
At what point can this helmet no longer support this extreme amount of force? Either way, when her head hits the pavement, what kind of torque will be transmitted to her head?
Use your brain, I have given you the facts.
HELMETS KILL!
I know I may not make many friends for posting this, but I would rather state the facts than make friends. ANYONE WHO WEARS A HELMET HAS A DEATH WISH!
[This message has been edited by DreamofPolaris (edited 10-14-1999).]
Oct 14, 1999 | 11:49 PM
#7
Pro Rider
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 1,667
Likes: 1
DreamofPolaris, your post puzzles me.
From your previous posts, I understand you do not now own an ATV but wish to procure a Polaris.
I assume you've never attended the ATV Safety Institute Rider Course.
And, unless you are a master of satire and parody with sophisticated nuances far beyond my appreciation level, you've never read the Hurt Report (available on various websites).
The figures you quote have no validity in fact (you ARE joking, right?). Heeding your warning, "wearing a helmet may be hazardous to your health," could seriously injure or kill anyone believing that premise.
Let me assume your bogus numbers and your fallacious statements are a humorous "reductio ad absurdium," your approach to demolishing the arguments of those opposing wearing protective headgear by showing their illogical conclusion is absurd.
You then have my polite laughter, my good wishes to your someday acquiring your ATV, and my recommendation you attend the ATV Safety Institute Riders Course.
Oh, yes. Don't forget a helmet to go with that Polaris!
Tree Farmer
P.S. Your helmet post isn't part of your inverse Health Physics continuum, like your previous comment, "a human is an insulator (electrical conductivity)?" Is it?
T.F.
[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 10-15-1999).]
From your previous posts, I understand you do not now own an ATV but wish to procure a Polaris.
I assume you've never attended the ATV Safety Institute Rider Course.
And, unless you are a master of satire and parody with sophisticated nuances far beyond my appreciation level, you've never read the Hurt Report (available on various websites).
The figures you quote have no validity in fact (you ARE joking, right?). Heeding your warning, "wearing a helmet may be hazardous to your health," could seriously injure or kill anyone believing that premise.
Let me assume your bogus numbers and your fallacious statements are a humorous "reductio ad absurdium," your approach to demolishing the arguments of those opposing wearing protective headgear by showing their illogical conclusion is absurd.
You then have my polite laughter, my good wishes to your someday acquiring your ATV, and my recommendation you attend the ATV Safety Institute Riders Course.
Oh, yes. Don't forget a helmet to go with that Polaris!
Tree Farmer
P.S. Your helmet post isn't part of your inverse Health Physics continuum, like your previous comment, "a human is an insulator (electrical conductivity)?" Is it?
T.F.
[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 10-15-1999).]
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Oct 15, 1999 | 12:24 AM
#8
Trailblazer
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
i dont know if i can really try to argue very directly with what dreamofpolaris was trin to say, but i dont want to see or hear of any new riders headin out without a helmet on. helmets save lives. ive never been in a situation where i likely would of been killed without one, but definately serious injury. if u ride fast in the woods like i like too, a helmet and gogles let u fly through light brush and dangling brances like i wouldnt think to without. and i have mis judged the hight of tree limbs and accedently nicked the top of my head on them, wearing a helmet hurts a bit...more in yer neck than anywhere, but with out a helmet u might just be knocked out cold witha big ol lump on yer forehead. something ive become more common with since i got a dirtbike is hittin the ground. now theres no formula dreamofpolaris could work out for that, but ive fallen and hit my head on the ground at speeds far over 10mph. and got right back up. falling out of bed in the morning hurts worse.
ok kinda off ona a tangent there, but i was tring to make a few examples of my need for a helmet and to make sure any new rider knows that dreamofpolaris is most definately not in the majority in his opionion of helmet use
for me, helmets have prevented several possibly serious injuries, and for others there lives
ok kinda off ona a tangent there, but i was tring to make a few examples of my need for a helmet and to make sure any new rider knows that dreamofpolaris is most definately not in the majority in his opionion of helmet use
for me, helmets have prevented several possibly serious injuries, and for others there lives
Oct 15, 1999 | 01:06 AM
#9
Range Rover
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
DreamofPolaris, and others considering not wearing a helmet when applicable.......
Injuries to the scalp, skull and brain may be inflicted by a variety of mechanisms, and to protect against these different mechanisms requires a variety of approaches. The two fundamental principles for helmet design are centred on the use of padding to absorb energy and on the distribution of impact loadings. Any mass will accelerate when a force is applied to it. So you are partly correct. During impact, accelerations may be linear or rotational. During the impact process energy is transferred, and because the head is not rigid, deformation and injury may be the result. Because energy cannot be created or destroyed, it must be transferred or absorbed. Therefore, the basic aim of head protection is to reduce the forces that could injure the head by absorbing some of the kinetic energy through the deformation or destruction of something else. That is the function of the protective helmet.
The extent to which the forces generated at impact can be reduced is a function of how much deformation of the helmet's structure may be achieved and the force required for that deformation. This in turn will depend on the strength, the amount and the shape of the padding material and on its relationship to the head. Padding materials may be categorised either as plastic or elastic. If padding is plastic, it will not recover from any deformation that occurs during impact loading. If on the other hand the padding material is elastic, it will recover its original shape. As it does so, the head will resume its initial velocity but in the opposite direction (in other words it will bounce). The maximum force developed will be the same, but the time during which the head is loaded will be doubled.
Most padding materials are neither perfectly elastic nor perfectly plastic, and the selection of material will depend to some extent on the activity which threatens the head. For example, in the kind of helmet used in football, where the helmet must function time after time without replacement, materials that recover their shape and properties are to be preferred. Where the helmet must perform its protective function just once, but then to maximum effect, a plastic material will be the best. The deformation to the helmet will be permanent, and the helmet suitable only for scrapping.
One of the primary objectives of good helmet design is to maximise the area of padding that can interact with the head during impact. This is because maximising the amount of material used during the impact maximises the absorption of kinetic energy and thereby minimises the transfer of energy to the head. A wellfitting helmet will maximise the contact area between head and padded liner.
No known form of head protection can completely protect the wearer against all foreseeable head impacts. Even the best available padding material has a definite limit to its energy-absorbing capability. No material can crush more than its original thickness, and when a material is nearly fully crushed it will become very stiff and the forces then developed will become very high. At that point the unabsorbed energy will be transferred to the head
Alot of readers of these posts are young and impressionable. Please do not tell them not to wear a helmet. Your decision not to wear one needs to be yours alone.
I am a Lieutenant and Safety Officer with the Reidville, SC. Fire Department. Also a Certified EMS 1st Responder. I have seen the consequences of not wearing a helment. As a fellow (and I do hope you get your Polaris soon) ATVer, I can only say I wear a helmet.
Sorry so long a post.
[This message has been edited by SCman (edited 10-14-1999).]
[This message has been edited by SCman (edited 10-14-1999).]
Injuries to the scalp, skull and brain may be inflicted by a variety of mechanisms, and to protect against these different mechanisms requires a variety of approaches. The two fundamental principles for helmet design are centred on the use of padding to absorb energy and on the distribution of impact loadings. Any mass will accelerate when a force is applied to it. So you are partly correct. During impact, accelerations may be linear or rotational. During the impact process energy is transferred, and because the head is not rigid, deformation and injury may be the result. Because energy cannot be created or destroyed, it must be transferred or absorbed. Therefore, the basic aim of head protection is to reduce the forces that could injure the head by absorbing some of the kinetic energy through the deformation or destruction of something else. That is the function of the protective helmet.
The extent to which the forces generated at impact can be reduced is a function of how much deformation of the helmet's structure may be achieved and the force required for that deformation. This in turn will depend on the strength, the amount and the shape of the padding material and on its relationship to the head. Padding materials may be categorised either as plastic or elastic. If padding is plastic, it will not recover from any deformation that occurs during impact loading. If on the other hand the padding material is elastic, it will recover its original shape. As it does so, the head will resume its initial velocity but in the opposite direction (in other words it will bounce). The maximum force developed will be the same, but the time during which the head is loaded will be doubled.
Most padding materials are neither perfectly elastic nor perfectly plastic, and the selection of material will depend to some extent on the activity which threatens the head. For example, in the kind of helmet used in football, where the helmet must function time after time without replacement, materials that recover their shape and properties are to be preferred. Where the helmet must perform its protective function just once, but then to maximum effect, a plastic material will be the best. The deformation to the helmet will be permanent, and the helmet suitable only for scrapping.
One of the primary objectives of good helmet design is to maximise the area of padding that can interact with the head during impact. This is because maximising the amount of material used during the impact maximises the absorption of kinetic energy and thereby minimises the transfer of energy to the head. A wellfitting helmet will maximise the contact area between head and padded liner.
No known form of head protection can completely protect the wearer against all foreseeable head impacts. Even the best available padding material has a definite limit to its energy-absorbing capability. No material can crush more than its original thickness, and when a material is nearly fully crushed it will become very stiff and the forces then developed will become very high. At that point the unabsorbed energy will be transferred to the head
Alot of readers of these posts are young and impressionable. Please do not tell them not to wear a helmet. Your decision not to wear one needs to be yours alone.
I am a Lieutenant and Safety Officer with the Reidville, SC. Fire Department. Also a Certified EMS 1st Responder. I have seen the consequences of not wearing a helment. As a fellow (and I do hope you get your Polaris soon) ATVer, I can only say I wear a helmet.
Sorry so long a post.
[This message has been edited by SCman (edited 10-14-1999).]
[This message has been edited by SCman (edited 10-14-1999).]
Oct 15, 1999 | 04:20 AM
#10
Pro Rider
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 1,667
Likes: 1
DC400EX, I believe posts on your topic contain some useful helmet information responding to your initial post.
I mentioned the Hurt Report in a previous post; while this study treats mostly highway motorcycle accidents, its data extrapolates easily into ATVing.
You can read the Hurt Report conclusions at: http://www.roadriders.com/saftey/hurt_report.htm
Your consideration of helmets in your ATVing career helps insure you enjoy a long one. Good luck in your quest for an affordable new helmet offering adequate protection and fitting you comfortably.
Tree Farmer
[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 10-15-1999).]
I mentioned the Hurt Report in a previous post; while this study treats mostly highway motorcycle accidents, its data extrapolates easily into ATVing.
You can read the Hurt Report conclusions at: http://www.roadriders.com/saftey/hurt_report.htm
Your consideration of helmets in your ATVing career helps insure you enjoy a long one. Good luck in your quest for an affordable new helmet offering adequate protection and fitting you comfortably.
Tree Farmer
[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 10-15-1999).]